Whilst this discipline to a large extent entails the application of fundamental corporate and commercial principles, it represents an area of distinct specialisation, the complexity of which is greatly underestimated by both business people and the uninitiated advisor.

Due to our exposure to the multidisciplinary environment, both at Deloitte and in our own practice, we have been involved in all stages of the IT outsourcing, development and implementation lifecycle, enabling us to appreciate the risks that manifest themselves at the different stages of this lifecycle. We have also acted on behalf of both users (including multinational and large public sector clients) and vendors and thus understand the risks, constraints and fears experienced on both sides of the negotiation table.

In addition to providing our clients with sound commercial advice, our services in this regard include:

• Drafting and negotiating of all forms of information technology related agreements including:
   

  • IT Outsourcing and Service Level Agreements;

  • Software Implementation Project Agreements (including those relating to SAP and Great Plains);

  • Software Licence and Development Agreements;

  • Volume Purchase Agreements;

  • Turnkey Solutions Agreements;

  • Consultancy Agreements; 

  • Reseller and Distribution Agreements; and

  • Hardware Supply / Leasing Agreements.
     

• Assisting clients with specialised due diligence audits and reviews, with particular emphasis on information technology contracts and/or information technology companies.

• Drafting and implementation of Acceptable Use / Electronic Communications Policies with regard to the use of e-mail, Internet, company network and voicemail.

With regard to suppliers of IT goods and services, we have developed a highly scalable and modular contracting model which enables vendors to maximise sales opportunities into a client, whilst maintaining good governance and keeping the amount of time spent negotiating to a minimum.