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Model IT Contract Toolkit

A guide for public buyers: how to write technology contracts that deliver what was promised.

  • 6 Modules
  • Guidance CC BY 4.0
  • Sample Clauses CC0 1.0
Model IT Contract Toolkit cover with six module tabs, A through FA cream field-guide cover with an embossed contour map, six index tabs lettered A to F on the right edge, and the title Model IT Contract Toolkit.ABCDEFTHE FRONTIER STATEFIELD GUIDE · MODULES A–FModel ITContractToolkit

Two Ways Projects Go Wrong

The Design Comes After the Purchase

The contract is signed before anyone checks the product fits the work. Every later gap becomes a change order.

It is like paying for a house before anyone has written down the square footage, the number of rooms, or where the kitchen goes.

Fixed inAAcquisition

The Contract Sits in a Drawer

Most contracts promise on-time delivery and say little about what happens when it is not.

It is like a lease that never says what happens when the roof leaks.

Fixed inBBudgetEEnforcement

What It Covers

Model IT Contract Toolkit: six modules across a system’s lifeA survey line runs from Discovery to End of Life. Six modules hang from it: A Acquisition (Discovery), B Budget (Contract), C Controls and D Data (Delivery), E Enforcement (Operations), F Follow-through (End of Life). D and F are dashed because they are still being expanded.DISCOVERYCONTRACTDELIVERYOPERATIONSEND OF LIFEABCDEF
  1. Discovery

    Acquisition

    Test before you commit.

    • Proof of Concept
    • Design Phase
    • Track Record
    • License Ownership
  2. Contract

    Budget

    Pay for results.

    • Payment Setup
    • Hourly Limits
    • Performance Rewards
    • Open-Book Costs
  3. Delivery

    Controls

    Keep the project on track.

    • Clear Roles
    • When It Stalls
    • Named Key People
    • Knowledge Handover
    • Change Control
  4. Delivery

    Data

    Protect the public’s data.

    • Sensitivity Levels
    • Security Rules
    • Subcontractors
    • Privacy
  5. Operations

    Enforcement

    Plan for when things go wrong.

    • Liability
    • Ownership
    • Exit and Handoff
    • Scorecard
  6. End of Life

    Follow-through

    Plan for life after go-live.

    • Build Separate From Run
    • Renewals
    • Upgrades
    • What Comes Next

How to Use It

  1. Start With What You’re Buying

    • A Subscription Service
    • Customized Off-the-Shelf
    • Custom Software
    • Multi-System Programs

  2. Fit It to Your Rules

    Your laws and budget rules set the numbers. The toolkit explains the choices. You make them.

  3. Have Your Own Counsel Review It

    This is a reference. It is not legal advice or a finished template.

The full toolkit opens at launch.

Tell Me When It Opens →

Contributor: Jamie Grant.

Guidance text licensed under CC BY 4.0. Sample clause text dedicated to the public domain under CC0 1.0.