Contract

Definition

A contract is the management work product that formally documents a mutually binding, legally enforcable agreement specifying the obligations and resulting benefits of the development organization and another (e.g., customer, subcontractor, or vendor) organization.

Objectives

The typical objectives of a contract are to formally obligate the:

• Development organization to provide the specified work products and services to the customer organization within the agreed to schedule and budget.
• Customer organization to pay the development organization for the specified work products and services if properly delivered.
• Protect the interests of both the development and customer organizations.

Benefits

The typical benefits of a contract include:

• Each party to the contract knows explicitly what is expected of them.
• Existance of a good contract minimizes risk.

Contents

A contract typically has the following contents:

• Endeavor:
  • Description
  • Objectives
  • Scope
  • Duration
• Deliverables:
  • Work Products
  • Services
• Stakeholders:
  • Obligations
  • Benefit

Stakeholders

A contract typically has the following stakeholders:

• Producers:
  • Management Team:
    • Contact Center Management Team
    • Data Center Management Team
    • Program Management Team
    • Program Management Team
    • Project Management Team
    • Reuse Center Management Team
• Evaluators:
  • Management Inspection Team
  • Customer Representative, Subcontractor Representative, or Vendor Representative
• Approvers:
  • Management Team:
    • Contact Center Management Team
    • Data Center Management Team
    • Program Management Team
    • Program Management Team
    • Project Management Team
    • Reuse Center Management Team
  • Technical Leader
  • Customer Representative, Subcontractor Representative, or Vendor Representative
• Maintainers:
  • Management Team:
    • Contact Center Management Team
    • Data Center Management Team
    • Program Management Team
    • Program Management Team
    • Project Management Team
    • Reuse Center Management Team
• Users:
  • Management Team:
    • Contact Center Management Team
    • Data Center Management Team
    • Program Management Team
    • Program Management Team
    • Project Management Team
    • Reuse Center Management Team
  • Organization:
    • Customer Organization
    • Subcontractor Organization
    • Vendor Organization

Phases

A contract is typically produced and maintained during the following phases:

• Business Strategy: Completed
• Business Optimization: Completed
• Initiation: Completed
• Construction: Completed
• Delivery: Completed
• Usage: Maintained
• Retirement: Archived

Preconditions

A contract can typically be started if the following preconditions hold:

• The management team is properly staffed and trained in the relationship management and scope management tasks.

Inputs

A contract typically has the following inputs:

• Work Products:
  • None
• Stakeholders:
  • Customer Representative
  • Subcontractor Representative
  • Vendor Representative

Guidelines

• A contract is typically only required if the parties belong to two separate enterprises.
• Contracts should be kept consise as the detailed information is provided in the separate statement of work (SOW).
• Use the procedure in the associated work flow to produce this work product.
• If you tailor this work product, then tailor its associated standard, template, and inspection checklist.

Conventions

A contract is typically constrained by the following conventions:

• Work Flow
• Content and Format Standard
• MS Word Template
• XML Template
• Inspection Checklist

Examples

• Example Contract