Improve Your Statements of Work to Hold Your Vendors Accountable
Identify and reduce performance risk before you execute your next SOW.
- SOW reviews are tedious, and reviewers may lack the skills and experience to effectively complete the process.
- Vendors draft provisions that shift the performance risk to the customer in subtle ways that are often overlooked or not identified by customers.
- Customers don’t understand the power and implications of SOWs, treating them as an afterthought or formality.
Our Advice
Critical Insight
- There is often a disconnect between what is sold and what is purchased. To gain the customer’s approval, vendors will present a solution- or outcome-based proposal. However, the SOW is task or activity based, shifting the risk for success to the customer.
- A good SOW takes time and should not be rushed. The quality of the requirements and of the SOW wording drive success. Not allocating enough time to address both increases the risk of the project’s failure.
Impact and Result
- Info-Tech’s guidance and insights will help you navigate the complex process of SOW review and identify the key details necessary to maximize the protections for your organization and hold vendors accountable.
- This blueprint provides direction on spotting vendor-biased terms and conditions and offers tips for mitigating the risk associated with words and phrases that shift responsibilities and obligations from the vendor to the customer.
Member Testimonials
After each Info-Tech experience, we ask our members to quantify the real-time savings, monetary impact, and project improvements our research helped them achieve. See our top member experiences for this blueprint and what our clients have to say.
Client
Experience
Impact
$ Saved
Days Saved
Childfund International
Guided Implementation
10/10
$619K
32
Great conversation. It's nice to speak with someone with like minded goals and purposes. The tools and immediate follow up scheduling of meetings... Read More
Workshop: Improve Your Statements of Work to Hold Your Vendors Accountable
Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.
Module 1: Assess SOW Terms and Conditions
The Purpose
Gain a better understanding of common SOW clauses and phrases.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Reduce risk
- Increase vendor accountability
- Improve negotiation positions
Activities
Outputs
Review sample SOW provisions, identify the risks, and develop a negotiation position.
- Awareness and increased knowledge
Review Info-Tech tools.
- Familiarity with the Info-Tech tools
About Info-Tech
Info-Tech Research Group is the world’s fastest-growing information technology research and advisory company, proudly serving over 30,000 IT professionals.
We produce unbiased and highly relevant research to help CIOs and IT leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. We partner closely with IT teams to provide everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.
What Is a Blueprint?
A blueprint is designed to be a roadmap, containing a methodology and the tools and templates you need to solve your IT problems.
Each blueprint can be accompanied by a Guided Implementation that provides you access to our world-class analysts to help you get through the project.
Need Extra Help?
Speak With An Analyst
Get the help you need in this 1-phase advisory process. You'll receive 2 touchpoints with our researchers, all included in your membership.
- Call 1: Review common SOW pitfalls, performance risk–shifting phrases, and ways to hold the vendors more accountable.
- Call 2: Discuss next steps for the SOW and any applicable negotiation required with vendor.
Contributors
- Pat Campbell, retired IT executive
- Dave Whitinger, Consultant, SELect IT Consulting
- CJ Anderson-Johnson, Senior Manager, Indirect Sourcing, Sleep Number Corporation
- 3 anonymous company contributors
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