SLA Lab Results-Based Contracting

Online Event • February 7-9, 2023 

Overview

Early in the acquisition process, effective negotiating teams must agree upon the concept of which contractual approach they will use to drive the deal. ICN’s advanced training course SLA Lab: Results-Based Contracting helps you understand the difference between contracting for resources and contracting for results and shows you how to implement a “results deal”.

This “results versus resources” decision establishes which side of the bargaining table will bear the responsibility for the results you’re expecting from the deal. In a “results deal,” the vendor is responsible, while in a “resource deal,” it’s the customer.
In SLA Lab, you’ll gain an understanding of critical elements that can help you shift risk and responsibilities to the vendor and monitor ongoing compliance.

These include:

• A 10-step Service Level creation process
• Contract and RFP Development tools for developing Service Levels
• Corporate alignment—getting input & buy-in from stakeholders
• Data gathering and measurement—a “how to” process and pitfalls to avoid
• Document library—examples and tools for Service Levels
• Handling of vendor ploys in Service Level areas
• Internal teams—organizing customer stakeholders to make better Service Levels
• Management policies and practices—getting critical management buy-in
• Monitoring and compliance—ensuring agreed-to SLAs are followed
• Performance reviews and escalation—how to solve Service Level disputes
• Reconciliation strategies—how to balance Service Level debits & credits over time
• Remedies and rewards—Motivating vendors to extraordinary performance
• Results-based services—obtaining outcomes, not activities
• Sample templates and forms—examples of Service Level contracting tools
• Scorecards and Dashboards—examples of management reporting tools

Takeaways

• Service Level Template
• Sample Service Level Measurement Formats
• Scorecard Templates
• Dashboard Illustrations
• Position Paper
• Sample Service Level Agreement
• Financial and Non-financial Incentives
• Responsibility Matrix
• Negotiations Ploys and how to handle them
• Performance Pools
• Reconciliation Strategies

Critical Elements Including

• Inducements
• Warranties
• Remedies
• Acceptance Testing
• Effective SLAs
• Deliverables
• Contract Management
• Milestones
• Developing Metrics
• Meaningful SOWs
• Payment Triggers
• Monitoring Compliance
• and more

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Statements of Work Done Right! Successfully Draft, Negotiate and Manage

Online Event • February 22-23, 2023 

This highly interactive SOW workshop uses classroom discussion and group exercises to develop and improve skills in the following areas:

• Best-practice elements of great SOWs
• Getting input from stakeholders for SOW requirements
• Preventing vendors from using SOWs to modify master agreements
• Revising vendor-written fuzzy wording that might shift risk to the customer
• Licensing principles that maximize protections and money savings for customers
• Drafting SOW acceptance tests so customers get what they pay for
• Countering practices used by vendors to defeat customer protections in SOWs

Attendees will also come away with sample templates and checklists providing a solid foundation for negotiating, drafting and managing SOWs.

Overview

In Statements of Work (SOWs) we spend a lot of money while many products and services are bought. Oftentimes SOWs fail, causing delays, financial loss and other damages. Some SOWs written by a customer can be so unclear that acceptance testing is almost impossible. SOWs that are written by a vendor are often riddled with fuzzy words that shift all the risk to the customer. Additionally, vendors will use SOWs to modify key terms of a Master Agreement that inevitably put the customer at an increased disadvantage. Even customers with the best templates and negotiated SOWs still get burned by skilled vendors adept at managing the engagement and in turn, bypassing any written protections.

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Fundamentals of Technology Licensing

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Total Vendor Management Getting What You Pay For

Online Event • March 7-9, 2023 

Benefits

• Identify which vendors to manage
• Enhance relationships with vendors
• Ensure vendor performance
• Exercise your rights
• Monitor vendor obligations
• Learn to use Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
• Implement an effective vendor management system

Overview

Tired of worrying about your vendors’ performance? Concerned about contractual disagreements and products/services that don’t measure up to standards? This workshop will show you how to control your vendors and get what you pay for. You’ll learn techniques to establish and maintain a meaningful working relationship with your key vendors. And you’ll discover how to create and utilize leverage that improves vendor performance.

Topics Include

• Essential Governance Structure and Tools
• Vendor Classification
• Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
• Relationship Management Techniques
• Managed Acquisition Process

Whether you currently have or are interested in establishing a Vendor Management Office (VMO) you’ll gain valuable insights by attending this seminar.

Register Now -->Total Vendor Management Getting What You Pay For

IT Contracting Boot Camp Get Informed. Leave Empowered.

Online Event • March 28-30, 2023 

If you’re new to IT contracting or just want to get back to basics, then our IT Contracting Boot Camp is for you. With a curriculum purposefully designed to provide those new to the profession, and veterans looking to get back to basics, with practical tips and tactics for negotiating a better deal with suppliers, this 9-hour interactive workshop will leave participants feeling informed, empowered, and excited about their future in technology procurement. Sessions are hands-on, collaborative, and facilitated by some of the industry’s most engaging professionals.

Do Better Deals Workshop - Are you Begging or Negotiating?

Benefits

• Identify and counter vendor ploys
• Use RFPs to negotiate with power
• Maintain leverage throughout your negotiations
• Utilize sourcing/procurement best practices
• Increase vendor accountability
• Maximize your contractual protections
• Develop advantageous relationships with your key suppliers
• Prioritize deal objectives

Overview

Designed to help you maximize your leverage throughout the procurement process, this workshop has helped large and small companies, governments, and organizations of all sizes save billions of dollars during the past thirty years. By focusing on best practices in a variety of areas (RFIs, RFPs, contract drafting, negotiations, contract management, and vendor management), you can begin improving your deals, increasing vendor performance, and reducing costs. The procurement of goods and services is not an isolated event—it’s a process—and to do it well requires teamwork. Every stage of the process involves an opportunity for you to strengthen or weaken your bargaining position with your vendors. Whether you are directly or indirectly involved in the sourcing and procurement of goods and services, this class will help you get the most out of your vendors—no matter what type of deal you’re doing.

Register for Do Better Deals Workshop

Certification: Practical Legalities in IT Procurement - Answering the Difficult Questions - $40.00 - Complimentary for CAUCUS members

Members - Please view in the Education Center

Non-members - Order Now

*This meeting was LIVE on 6/20/2018 and was very interactive! Purchase the recording above.

Join us to learn some of the procurement industries most challenging legal questions. Get additional legal insights and how they may effect some key negotiations with vendors and other general procurement activities. We will be hearing from thought leaders in the field today with in-depth experience on these legal procurement issues. Interaction from attendees will also shed significant light on these topics and more!

This event will be centered around the most difficult CTPS/CTPE certification exam questions, historically, we have observed over the years and will set you up to get certified. Not only will this session better prepare you for the exams, it is a learning session for all.

Certification: Contract Management - Answering the Difficult Questions - $40.00 - Complimentary for CAUCUS members

Members - Please view in the Education Center

Non-members - Order Now

*This virtual meeting was held on 4/10/2018 (purchase recording above).

Join us to learn some of the Procurement Industries most challenging questions regarding Contract Management. Get additional insights into these questions (below) and how they may effect some key negotiations with vendors and other general procurement activities. We will be hearing from a panel of the foremost thought leaders in the field. Interaction from attendees will also shed significant light on these topics and more!

This event was centered around the most difficult questions, historically, we have observed over the years and will set you up to get certified. Not only will this session better prepare you for the CTPS/CTPE exams, it is a learning session for all.

Certification: Sensible IT Procurement - Answering the Difficult Questions - $40.00  - Complimentary for CAUCUS members

Members - Please view in the Education Center

Non-members - Order Now

This virtual meeting was held on 5/10/2018 (purchase recording above).

This class reviewed some of the Procurement Industries most challenging questions. Get additional insights into these questions (below) and how they may effect some key negotiations with vendors and other general procurement activities. The session included a panel of the foremost thought leaders in the field. Interaction from attendees also shed significant light on these topics and more!

Certified Technology Procurement Executive (CTPE) and Specialist (CTPS)

If you are interested in Industry Certified the Certified Technology Procurement Executive (CTPE) or Specialist (CTPS) please click here to see our Certification Page.

Certification Benefits

Numerous benefits accrue as a result of acquiring CTPS and/or CTPE accreditation.

• Professional recognition. The designations CTPS and CTPE identify a level of achievement, which is recognized and respected by others in the procurement profession.
• Growth potential. The CTPS certification is the first step in establishing achievement in the field of procurement. It is a stepping stone to higher level achievement—CTPE accreditation, which awards advanced certification.

CAUCUS Certifications

• Identify you as possessing technical competency
• Recognize your commitment to professionalism
• Provide opportunity for self-improvement
• Offer you greater recognition on the job and among your peers
• Raise the professionalism of your company
• Identify your company as being committed to hiring qualified professionals

The CTPS & CTPE Study Guide

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Once you purchase this guide, a quality hard-copy will be mail to you the next business day.

About This Guide
The CTPS & CTPE study guide was developed in an effort to assist in preparing applicants for the CTPS & CTPE examinations. This study guide will help you become familiar with the structure, format and content of these examinations. Familiarizing yourself with these aspects of the test and CAUCUS™ recommended reading list will contribute to effective preparation for a successful test taking experience. Relying strictly on the study guide to prepare for the CTPS & CTPE examination will not guarantee a passing score. A pdf Study Guide already comes with the basic CTPE program purchase, however this item if for people that like hard-copy quality printed material.

This study guide covers the structure of the test in regard to examination format, passing criteria and retaking the examination if necessary. Test preparation techniques, such as process of elimination and going with your intuition, will also be covered in this study guide. Each section contains information such as definitions of key terms, sample questions, rapid reviews and additional resources for each module of the CTPS & CTPE examination.

On-Demand: Identifying and Defeating Vendor Ploys

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Want to be prepared the next time a vendor attempts to sway a deal to his favor? ICN’s explanation of popular vendor ploys will arm you for many of these tricks. Learn how to counteract the “I cannot give you a better price than…” ruse, understand how to deflect the “that is not the way we figured the deal” scheme, and thwart the “if we lower our fee, we can’t give you our best consultants” stunt.

Having ICN’s online presentation of Vendor’s Ploys in your arsenal gives you an advantage in negotiations to do better deals. We’ll show you how to neutralize some of the most common ploys, including:

• Booked Order
• Form Contract
• All Included Price
• Try It, You’ll Like it
• Who has the Keys to the Company Store
• We Don’t Need to Write That Down, You Can Trust Me
• We Can’t Do it for you Because We Would Be Setting A Precedent
• Unfortunately, I’ll Have to Get Any Changes Approved By Corporate
• and many more!

You’ll naturally feel greater confidence by being prepared to counter these common ploys. With negotiations in your favor, you’re sure to do better deals.

On-Demand: Managed Acquisition Process (MAP) Online Class

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Course contains two sessions

Designed to help you maximize your leverage throughout the procurement process, the Managed Acquisition Process™ (MAP™) is designed to help large and small companies, governments, and organizations of all sizes save resources and money. By focusing on best practices in a variety of areas (RFIs, RFPs, contract drafting, negotiations, contract management, and vendor management), you can begin improving your deals, increasing vendor performance, and reducing costs.

The procurement of goods and services is not an isolated event—it’s a process—and to do it well requires teamwork. Every stage of the process involves an opportunity for you to strengthen or weaken your bargaining position with your vendors. Whether you are directly or indirectly involved in the sourcing and procurement of goods and services, ICN will help you get the most out of your vendors—no matter what type of deal you’re doing.

Class consists of two online courseware sessions, one at 55:45 minutes and one at 71:29 minutes.

Online Meetings: Partly Cloudy with a Slight Chance of Contract Enforcement

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By Ruth Ginzberg CTPS, Senior IT Procurement Specialist, University of Wisconsin System Administration

Virtual Meeting date - January 16, 2019, 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm on the Zoom.us platform.

3rd party vendors are involved in roughly 60% - 70% of all data breaches. If you are relying on your legal counsel, procurement department, or I.T. department to lock down the security risks in your cloud contracts, then you probably have security vulnerabilities you don't realize you have. This is true regardless of how good your cloud supplier’s technical security controls are. The contract itself and its administration can create vulnerabilities.

This goes beyond, "Do I own my own data?" or "Did we attach our company’s cloud contract rider?" Good cloud contracts require information security professionals' involvement in all aspects of their creation, administration, and enforcement. Managing 3rd party risk in the cloud requires the application of supply chain management risk reduction practices to the cyber sphere.

• Understand how unnecessary risks can be introduced during the contracting process
• Identify the most important security risks in existing contracts in your organization
• Develop strategies to transfer, mitigate, avoid or eliminate those risks

Online Meetings: Procurement Transformation - Eastman Chemical Company Case Study

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Online Meetings: The Tech in IT Procurement: Answering the Difficult Questions

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Virtual: Artificial Intelligence (AI) - Changing Your Procurement World!

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Online Meetings: Final Steps in Onboarding a Supplier for PO Issuance

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