The client
A national charity supporting people with learning disabilities, autism and mental health needs.
The work
As part of our management of an end to end Request for Proposal (RFP) for a fully managed network solution and a new telecommunications system we reviewed supplier contracts for fitness for purpose.
How we helped
Once the successful supplier was selected we conducted a comprehensive review of the proposed contract for supply of network management and telecoms solutions. The aim of the review was to ensure that third party risks (such as SLA breach, breach of contract, data breach, fraud, adverse media) were adequately catered for within the contract terms & conditions and that the client had suitable legal recourse in the event the contract was not fulfilled.
Our review identified a number of shortfalls and departures from good practice which we were able to negotiate into the contract on the client’s behalf. Specifically this covered the Rights of Audit, specific statement on service credits for SLA breach, obligation for regular service reviews and reporting, and more comprehensive Data Protection clauses.
Value added
Firms habitually tend to sign a supplier’s ‘vanilla’ contract as supplied. This is almost always set up in the suppliers favour and commits them to the bare minimum. Our knowledge of third party risk and extensive experience of technology contract review enabled timely adjustment of the contract in the client’s favour and greater protection from third party risks while they were still in a position to influence.