Training Course
Syllabus:
Taming the Maintenance Monster - Negotiation /
Software Maintenance Training Seminar The benefits include:
- Understand your options
- Identify negotiation leverage
- Maximize your contractual flexibility
- Avoid common pitfalls
- Draft meaningful service levels
- Set clear software maintenance goals
- Understand the role of source code escrow
- Negotiate more favorable terms and conditions
Overview
For many organizations, negotiating a new
software maintenance agreement can be a daunting task. The issues are complex,
and the time and expertise required to do the deal properly are frequently in
short supply. As a result, the vendor’s standard maintenance agreement is often
signed…as is!
However, your best chance to protect your interests occurs before the initial
contract is executed. After that, it becomes tougher and tougher with each
passing year to negotiate any significant concessions from the vendor upon
renewal…if you even bother to try.
Taming the Maintenance Monster focuses on drafting and negotiating new software
maintenance agreements, helping you get it right the first time.
Workshop Outline
Level Setting
- What vendor MX is not
- Panacea
- Insurance or annuity
- Substitution for good contract negotiations
- Usual components of standard MX
- Patches, workarounds
- Bug fixes
- Support (phone, email, onsite, etc.)
- Updates, Upgrades
- Version releases
- Other entitlements
- If MX were an IT service project
Sample MX problems
- Historical context
- Sold with FUD
- Non-negotiable
- Not Cancellable, park-able, nor partionable
- Re-instatement fees & other games
- Direct Costs - ever escalating
- Indirect costs
- Payment terms
- Service Levels
- Remedies for Service Levels
- Custom code
- Forced upgrades
- Minimal flexibility/locked in
- Vendor chooses MX provider
- MX Data and information
- Sudden loss of MX
Parameters for MX solutions
- Address actual MX needs
- Positive ROI
- Demonstrated business case
- Set clear goals for MX
- Envision the future state
- Buy only MX needed
- Pay only for actual use
- Reduce customer costs
- Require Service Levels
- Other accountability
- Require & enforce Remedies
- Flexibility & change control
- Data preservation
- Customer long term learning
- Preparation for replacement MX provider
- Draft MX contract philosophies
- Plan MX negotiation strategies
- Protect against M.A.D. & other threats to our
SW investment
- Build in flexibility/change control
Assess your current MX rights
- Where are your current MX rights found?
- Governing laws
- Software license
- Other license agreements
- MX exhibits and MX contracts
- Governing laws
- Copyright
- Patent
- Trade secret
- Trademark
- i-Limits
- Samples of software licenses and other
license-based agreements
- Existing MX provisions
- Past & current practices between parties
- Status Update Meetings
- Information exchanges
- Reporting
- Other actions
Improving your MX rights
- Option-1: vendor offer
- Option 2: negotiate the offer
- Other possible options
- Customer-provided MX
- 3rd party-provided MX
- Professional services agreement with Vendor
- Periodically re-buy SW
- Combination
- Common negotiated improvements
- How source code rights can help MX
Negotiate IP for better
MX
- License grant
- Authorized users
- Customer Data
- Who selects MX provider
- Right to continuation of MX
- Source code escrow
- Other provisions
Update ops practice for
better MX
- Be strategic
- Create customer RACI
- Deal with legacy SW agreement
- Require accountability
- Monitor Service Levels
- Enforcing Remedies
- Appropriate payment terms
- Obtain Customer Data
- Other contract management
MX
for SaaS and other cloud services
- How does MX apply to cloud services
- What MX is needed for cloud services?
- MX offered by cloud service providers?
- How do MX needs differ from vendor offers?
- Cloud service MX negotiating strategies
De-monsterfying MX – summary checklist
CTPE, C.P.M, Certification
CTPE
ICN courses qualify for CTPE credits. Caucus awards up to
18 continuing
education hours to attendees of this workshop toward their Certified Technology
Procurement Executive certification.
C.P.M.
Those successfully completing this
workshop can receive up to 18 C.P.M.
points. ISM's consent to award points is not an endorsement of this program or
its contents. |