Vertex Law

Outsourcing is essentially an arrangement whereby one organisation provides services to another organisation that would otherwise have been provided in-house. Outsourcing can be for a specific technology function (such as website hosting or e-mail filtering), or an entire business process (such as accounting or human resources).

Procurement, put simply, is the structured process by which goods and or services are acquired. This can be reduced to the following key steps:

1. Identify and define the business need
2. Develop and refine a functional specification to meet the need
3. Set budgetary constraints (understand the total cost of ownership)
4. Evaluate potential suppliers 
5. Take possession of the goods and or services and make payment

Outsourcing and procurement contracts are often highly complex with elaborate provisions for change control and benchmarking and evolution of technological capability to ensure appropriate service delivery for the client and payment for the supplier as the contract evolves during its lifetime. Our technology lawyers have experience of assisting our clients in the whole outsourcing and procurement process including:

• Drafting 'Invitations To Tender' ('ITT')
• Drafting functional specifications
• Reviewing 'Responses to Tender' 
• Negotiating final agreements 

Our technology lawyers have advised on the outsourcing of IT infrastructure support, software development and systems procurement for a wide range of clients including a major insurance broker, a major football club and a number of financial, technology and media companies in the Kent and the south-east.