Maximize Value With IT Services Contractual Terms

May 3rd, 2012

Wolfgang Benkel

With contributors:

Christine Ferrusi Ross , Sean-Paul Mauro

Summary

A contract is the foundation of any outsourcing relationship. It describes all aspects of the engagement, including the scope of work to be performed, the obligations of all participating parties, and the service delivery elements. A rule of thumb is that anything that is not defined in the contract doesn't exist in the outsourcing relationship. Forrester hears a lot of clients complain about too little flexibility and no innovation. Many of their concerns are caused not by their provider's incapability of providing innovation and flexibility but rather by the way certain elements are defined in the outsourcing contract. Sourcing and vendor management (SVM) professionals need to answer the following questions: What are the necessary contract elements that will increase the flexibility of my outsourcing contract? How can I introduce more agility in our outsourcing relationship? What are the best practices I can include in our outsourcing contract to better support innovation and increase our ability to master our multisourcing environment? This contractual terms report gives SVM professionals an overview of the best practices in today's existing outsourcing contracts to maximize the value in IT services outsourcing relationships.

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