Managing Software Deliverables: A Software Development Management Methodology

4.10 Contracts/Agreements (CA)

Once the bid/proposal (or RFP) process has been completed, the contractor you have chosen will need to submit a formal contract before beginning work. Your organizational guidelines for contract processing should be closely followed, but here are some items that you should ensure are present in any agreement:

• Terms: Make sure all contract terms are written in clear, simple language; if you cannot easily understand the terms in a contract, it should probably be rewritten. There is nothing that says complicated legal wording is necessary.

• Cancellation policy: Be sure one is included because this is often overlooked.

• Pricing: Ask for a summation page with all pricing indicated and stipulate that in the event that there are any discrepancies in prices on other pages, pricing will defer to the price found on the summation page.

• Licensing: Be sure to get all license information reviewed by your users to ensure that the license procured is what is needed to satisfy requirements.

• Patents and trademarks: Ensure that any infringements on patents or trademarks as a result of contractor work will require the contractor to provide legal protection and/or defense to your organization.