Hello everyone, first let me apologize for any rambling in my question. I'm a BA in the phase 2 of a software implementation project.
Prototype was successfully developed in Phase 1, but the project was shelved for a couple of years and has now been picked up again. However, upon completion of phase 1, my employer purchased advanced support services from the vendor for coverage post Phase 2 (btw. I was hired during the planning phase of phase 2).
The advanced support services contract addresses response times to all severity levels defined in the contract. As for resolution times, the contract simply states that "vendor shall use commercially reasonable efforts to acknowledge and resolve notification of issues.” We are close to signing the contract for phase 2 implementation and I have been trying to use the ongoing contract negotiations as a leverage to get the vendor to reconsider changing the language of the contract to include resolution times or sign-off on some Quality of Service requirements (with stated resolution times). So far, the vendor has not budged. I understand the vendor’s concerns and the legal ramifications of agreeing to stated resolution times, but I need to find a way to protect the interests of my employer as well. Does anyone have any idea on how to get what I want or something close to it? Or is this a lost cause?
Thank you for your help
RSarumi
This is always a challenge. No vendor wants to be on the hook for something that is an unknown. However, if you are creative you might be able to work around this.
Let's say a problem is identified and recorded. Your contract outlines that the vendor will respond within a certain period of time. What is a response? Does that mean they just acknowledge the reported issue? They should be able to diagnose and triage issues within a certain agreed upon time frame as well. Once they understand the issue, have diagnosed and triage it, then they should be able to provide an estimate for the amount of time it will take to fix it. This is the unknown. However, you can maybe have something in the contract that states once an estimate is provided that the problem will be fixed in a time that is no longer than 150% of the estimate (150% being an arbitrary example). The point here is that they are agreeing not to sit on the issue indefinitely and you are ensure it will get done. If they go beyond the 150% there would be some kind of monetary penalties applied.
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