Contract Management

Contract Management is a specialised aspect of external Partner Management, which deserves separate discussion.

Contract Management includes:

• The review, negotiation, and management of all software contracts including the structuring of software contracts.
• The monitoring of supplier performance to ensure suppliers meet or exceed their contracted service level.

Proper contract structuring is an important aspect of SAM. Where possible, contracts should be structured to reflect the lines of responsibility for SAM. For example, in a decentralised organisation, it will typically facilitate License Management if each separate unit managing its own has its own sun-agreement for reporting purposes. The alternative 9centralised reporting) can make it difficult to reconcile orders to license confirmations, to identify licenses at the time of demergers and, in general, to manage licenses at the level where SAM responsibility lies.

Software ‘maintenance’ or ‘Insurance’ contracts need to be monitored against software releases, to ensure all available upgrade rights are identified, even if not immediately utilised.