- Internal stakeholders usually have different – and often conflicting – needs and expectations that require careful facilitation and management.
- Vendors have well-honed negotiating strategies. Without understanding your own position and leverage points, it’s difficult to withstand their persuasive – and sometimes pushy – tactics.
- Software – and software licensing – is constantly changing, making it difficult to acquire and retain subject matter expertise.
Our Advice
Critical Insight
- Conservatively, it’s possible to save 5% of the overall IT budget through comprehensive software contract review.
- Focus on the terms and conditions, not just the price.
- Learning to negotiate is crucial.
Impact and Result
- Look at your contract holistically to find cost savings.
- Guide communication between vendors and your organization for the duration of contract negotiations.
- Redline the terms and conditions of your software contract.
- Prioritize crucial terms and conditions to negotiate.
Master Contract Review and Negotiation for Software Agreements Research & Tools
Start here – read the Executive Brief
Read our concise Executive Brief to find out how to redline and negotiate your software agreement, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:
- Master Contract Review and Negotiation for Software Agreements – Phases 1-3
1. Gather requirements
Build and manage your stakeholder team, then document your business use case.
- Master Contract Review and Negotiation for Software Agreements – Phase 1: Gather Requirements
- RASCI Chart
- Vendor Communication Management Plan
- Software Business Use Case Template
- SaaS TCO Calculator
2. Redline contract
Redline your proposed software contract.
- Master Contract Review and Negotiation for Software Agreements – Phase 2: Redline Contract
- Software Terms & Conditions Evaluation Tool
- Software Buyer's Checklist
3. Negotiate contract
Create a thorough negotiation plan.
- Master Contract Review and Negotiation for Software Agreements – Phase 3: Negotiate Contract
- Controlled Vendor Communications Letter
- Key Vendor Fiscal Year End Calendar
- Contract Negotiation Tactics Playbook
Workshop: Master Contract Review and Negotiation for Software Agreements
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.
1 Collect and Review Data
The Purpose
Assemble documentation.
Key Benefits Achieved
Understand current position before going forward.
Activities
1.1 Assemble existing contracts.
1.2 Document their strategic and tactical objectives.
1.3 Identify current status of the vendor relationship and any historical context.
1.4 Clarify goals for ideal future state.
Outputs
Business Use Case
2 Define Business Use Case and Build Stakeholder Team
The Purpose
Define business use case and build stakeholder team.
Key Benefits Achieved
Create business use case to document functional and nonfunctional requirements.
Build internal cross-functional stakeholder team to negotiate contract.
Activities
2.1 Establish negotiation team and define roles.
2.2 Write communication plan.
2.3 Complete business use case.
Outputs
RASCI Chart
Vendor Communication Management Plan
SaaS TCO Calculator
Software Business Use Case
3 Redline Contract
The Purpose
Examine terms and conditions and prioritize for negotiation.
Key Benefits Achieved
Discover cost savings.
Improve agreement terms.
Prioritize terms for negotiation.
Activities
3.1 Review general terms and conditions.
3.2 Review license- and application-specific terms and conditions.
3.3 Match to business and technical requirements.
3.4 Redline agreement.
Outputs
Software Terms & Conditions Evaluation Tool
Software Buyer’s Checklist
4 Build Negotiation Strategy
The Purpose
Create a negotiation strategy.
Key Benefits Achieved
Establish controlled communication.
Choose negotiation tactics.
Plot negotiation timeline.
Activities
4.1 Review vendor- and application-specific negotiation tactics.
4.2 Build negotiation strategy.
Outputs
Contract Negotiation Tactics Playbook
Controlled Vendor Communications Letter
Key Vendor Fiscal Year End Calendar