Five Steps for More Successful IT Contract Negotiations

Business depends on technology; this fact is what drives businesses to adopt new solutions from vendors and providers around the world. If your business needs to acquire new technology solutions to maintain operations, you’ll likely be working with third parties to make it happen. Today, we want to discuss the idea of business contracts and how to get the best deal from IT vendors you possibly can.

Understanding an IT Contract

An IT contract is an agreement you enter into with a vendor that establishes the various elements of your business relationship with them. This is a document that includes the following:

• The End User License Agreement: This gives an organization the license to use a given service, defining the contract's length and other terms.
• The Master Services Agreement: This defines the services being licensed to the recipient organization and outlines the expectations the licensee should have.
• The Bill of Materials: This outlines any goods and services to be delivered to a client, covering everything in detail.

While there’s a lot that goes into a technology agreement, you can safely count on the above being included. To help you facilitate these dealings, we’ve put together a few tips.

Ways to Boost Your IT Contract Negotiation Skills

Know Your Goals and Requirements

It helps to know exactly what you need right from the beginning of the conversation. If you can address these ahead of your meeting, you’ll be in a better position to come out successful.

Research Ahead of Time

If you can enter the conversations with prepared research, you’ll be better equipped to make better decisions. Specifically, look at prices and trends in your industry. Think of this as a bargaining chip to make sure you’re getting a competitive option.

Look for Mutual Wins

When you work with vendors, you’ll have a much easier time landing a successful partnership when you approach the conversation from a place of mutual interest. After all, no one wants a one-sided deal.

Don’t Overcomplicate It

You know what they say: keep it simple, stupid. If you make the arrangement too complicated, it will make deployment and implementation too difficult, especially at the beginning. Start with the basics and make adjustments as necessary.

Don’t Rush the Proceedings

While the arrangements will likely take time to get just right, you shouldn’t push to get things in order too quickly. Take your time and make sure that you’ve covered all your bases.

Follow these steps and you’ll likely have an easier time with vendor negotiations. If you need more support in your IT acquisition efforts, be sure to contact us at (848) 202-8860.