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 Subject : Re:Timelines for implementation negotiations.. 12/03/2021 01:12:53 PM 
Ruth Ginzberg
Posts: 21
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Hi,

As was said previously, you'll likely get a wide variety of responses to this.

So I'm going to push back on making that metric available to your leadership at all (even if you have it).

Reasons:

1) Urgency is a vendor tactic. The more they push on your constituents, leadership, end users, customers, etc., making a signature on the current document at hand (whatever it is) appear to be absolutely essential by yesterday if not sooner, the more pressure you will be under to sign "any old ****" because the ONLY thing anyone cares about is that it is SIGNED ... and YOU wind up looking like the business-killing barrier to moving forward in this melodrama.

2) You really don't want to give your own organization an urgency metric that everyone will be trying to meet-or-beat in order to preserve their own compensation (or job).

3) Instead you need to be at the table with other strategists within the organization creating strategic frameworks for decision-making about individual transactions (including contract signings, SOWs etc) while balancing the organization's needs for agility, security, stability, accountability, regulatory compliance, etc.

MHO. Please note that my opinions are my own and do not necessarily represent those of my employer.
 Subject : Re:Timelines for implementation negotiations.. 12/03/2021 12:45:17 PM 
Posts: 1
Location: 
You're going to get a wide variety of responses. Key factors beyond just MSA vs ancillary documents include: your due diligence process, whether you're in a regulated industry, and other risk-related issues (ie: are you building a nuclear power plant, or something for the government).

Beyond that, I typically budget 2-3 MONTHS for a MSA. Things have just slowed to a crawl these days. And if you have no relationship to start from and have a lot of risk-related language, it's going to take time. It will also depend on whose document you start from and whether you're a fast reader/redliner if you have to start with someone else's paper. I also use this as a way to delight customers: under-promise and over-deliver.

On a SOW off an established MSA that is otherwise up-to-date, and assuming the Business Owner is fully engaged in the process, we can be done in a few weeks, if not sooner. Key here is whether they come to your team with a fully-baked description of the work to be done and whether the financials have already been negotiated. If you get neither, then this could take a few months, too, especially on the financials (and, if I'm being honest, on the business terms, too).

Do you not track your current workflow to see how long things are taking you?
 Subject : Timelines for implementation negotiations.. 12/03/2021 09:55:33 AM 
Ms. Dani Spanjer CTPE
Posts: 1
Location: 
I am looking for some metrics to present to my management. How long do you find the average MSA and SOW negotiations take? On the same note if you already have an MSA in place, how long does the average SOW negotiation take? I work for a mid-sized company and this metric would be leaving out large implementations.
 
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