Part 1: Complete The Contract Plan Template To Use A Third P ✓ Solved

Part 1: Complete the Contract Plan template to use a third p

Part 1: Complete the Contract Plan template to use a third party for the new website for HWE Accessories. Customize the template to fit HWE Accessories and include the following: evaluation and selection process; contract management; vendor risk and relationship management; software escrow; and software licensing.

Part 2: Review your project plan from Week 2. Add project milestone dates and dependencies to your tasks and subtasks. Write a 1–2 page summary of your project milestones and dependencies and answer: How will you know if your project is on track? What will you do if a task or subtask is not proceeding on time? What criteria besides time may be used to measure the project’s success?

Paper For Above Instructions

Executive Summary

This document provides a customized Contract Plan for HWE Accessories to engage a third-party vendor for a new e-commerce website (Part 1) and a detailed set of project milestones with dependencies and monitoring approaches (Part 2). The Contract Plan addresses vendor evaluation and selection, contract management, vendor risk and relationship management, software escrow, and software licensing. The project milestones define dates, dependencies, and success criteria with contingency actions if tasks fall behind schedule (PMI, 2017).

Part 1: Contract Plan for HWE Accessories

1. Evaluation and Selection Process

Objectives: Select a vendor that meets HWE Accessories’ functional, security, compliance, budget, and timeline needs. Process steps:

  • Requirements confirmation: finalize functional and non-functional requirements with stakeholders (UX, marketing, IT, legal).
  • RFP/RFQ issuance: publish a concise RFP including scope, SLAs, data handling requirements, and acceptance criteria (ISO 27001; PMI, 2017).
  • Scoring matrix: evaluate proposals on technical fit (30%), security/compliance (25%), total cost of ownership (20%), vendor experience and references (15%), and delivery timeline (10%).
  • Interviews and technical demonstrations: short-list vendors for demos and reference checks.
  • Proof of concept (PoC): require a limited PoC to validate integration, performance, and UX assumptions for finalists.

2. Contract Management

Contract structure should include clear statements of work (SoW), milestones with payment tied to acceptance, detailed SLAs (uptime, response/resolution times), change control procedures, termination clauses, IP ownership, confidentiality, data protection, and dispute resolution. HWE Accessories will assign a contract manager responsible for governance, invoice verification, SLA monitoring, and change approvals (NCMA guidance).

3. Vendor Risk and Relationship Management

Risk assessment: perform vendor security, financial, and operational risk assessments before award and quarterly thereafter (ISO 31000; NIST SCRM guidance). Relationship management practices:

  • Establish a vendor governance board with monthly status meetings, escalation paths, and KPI dashboards.
  • Define KPIs: on-time delivery, defect density, mean time to recover (MTTR), SLA compliance, and customer satisfaction.
  • Include right-to-audit provisions and security questionnaires to validate controls and incident response capability.

4. Software Escrow

Rationale: protect HWE Accessories from vendor insolvency or failure to maintain critical code or build processes. Include escrow requirements in the contract specifying escrow agent (e.g., NCC Group or Iron Mountain), deposit schedule (initial code + build scripts at acceptance; updates at major releases), release triggers (vendor bankruptcy, failure to support, material breach), and verification/restore testing intervals (ABA & escrow provider best practices) (NCC Group, 2020; ABA, 2018).

5. Software Licensing

Clarify licensing model (perpetual, subscription, SaaS), scope (production, staging, backups), restrictions, and transferability upon termination. Ensure licenses cover third-party libraries and open-source obligations and that the contract requires vendor to provide all licensing documentation and indemnities for IP claims (software licensing counsel guidance).

Part 2: Project Milestones, Dates, Dependencies, and Monitoring

Project Timeline and Key Milestones (Example: 6-month rollout)

  • Project kickoff — 2025-01-15 (No dependency)
  • Requirements finalized & sign-off — 2025-02-05 (Dependency: kickoff; stakeholder interviews complete)
  • RFP issued & vendor responses due — 2025-02-06 to 2025-02-20 (Dependency: requirements)
  • Vendor selection complete — 2025-03-01 (Dependency: proposal evaluation, demos)
  • Contract signed & escrow arranged — 2025-03-10 (Dependency: selection; legal review)
  • Design completion & approval — 2025-04-01 (Dependency: contract and kickoff of design sprints)
  • Development complete (MVP) — 2025-05-15 (Dependency: finalized design)
  • User Acceptance Testing (UAT) complete — 2025-06-01 (Dependency: development and test cycles)
  • Go-live (production launch) — 2025-06-15 (Dependency: UAT sign-off, training complete)
  • Post-launch review and warranty period end — 2025-07-15 (Dependency: go-live)

Task and Subtask Dependencies

Major tasks are decomposed into subtasks with finish-to-start dependencies. For example, Development -> Integration Testing -> UAT (development must finish before integration tests can begin). Content migration subtasks depend on final data mapping from the design phase. Training and support documentation tasks run in parallel with UAT to ensure readiness for go-live.

Monitoring: How to Know the Project Is on Track

Use an integrated monitoring dashboard combining schedule variance (SV), cost variance (CV), milestone completion percentages, defect counts, and SLA KPIs (PMI, 2017). Weekly status meetings with burn-down charts, risk registers, and action logs provide early warning. Acceptance milestone gates with objective criteria (test pass rates, security scan results) control progress. Regular stakeholder sign-offs at milestones ensure alignment.

Corrective Actions When Tasks Are Delayed

If a task or subtask is not proceeding on time, apply a standard escalation and recovery workflow:

  1. Immediate impact assessment: quantify delay, affected dependencies, and cost/time impact.
  2. Prioritize remaining work and re-sequence non-dependent tasks to reclaim slack time.
  3. Authorize scope adjustments or resource reallocation (overtime, contractor surge) if within budget/contract allowances.
  4. Invoke vendor penalty clauses or accelerate delivery via negotiated change orders if vendor-caused delays persist.
  5. If delay threatens critical path, consider scope reduction for initial launch (phased release) with subsequent sprints for deferred features.

Success Criteria Beyond Time

Measure success across multiple dimensions: quality (defect density, UAT pass rate), performance (page load time, transaction throughput), security/compliance (vulnerability scan results, privacy controls), user adoption (conversion rate, bounce rate), and business KPIs (revenue per visit, average order value) (ISO 9001; Google Analytics/GA4 standards). Customer satisfaction and operational maintainability (ease of updates, vendor responsiveness) are also key measures.

Conclusion

By using a structured vendor evaluation and contract framework, embedding software escrow and comprehensive licensing terms, and maintaining a milestone-driven project plan with active monitoring and recovery mechanisms, HWE Accessories can reduce vendor and delivery risks while protecting business continuity. Regular governance and multiple success metrics (not only schedule) ensure the new website meets business, technical, and customer expectations (PMI, 2017; ISO 31000).

References

  • Project Management Institute (PMI). (2017). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) — Sixth Edition. https://www.pmi.org
  • International Organization for Standardization. (2018). ISO 31000:2018 Risk management — Guidelines. https://www.iso.org/iso-31000-risk-management.html
  • International Organization for Standardization. (2013). ISO/IEC 27001:2013 Information security management. https://www.iso.org/standard/54534.html
  • NIST. (2020). NIST Special Publication 800-161: Supply Chain Risk Management Practices for Federal Information Systems and Organizations. https://csrc.nist.gov/publications/detail/sp/800-161/final
  • NCC Group. (2020). Software Escrow: Best Practices and Considerations. https://www.nccgroup.com
  • American Bar Association (ABA). (2018). Software Escrow and Source Code Escrow Agreements — Practical Considerations. https://www.americanbar.org
  • National Contract Management Association (NCMA). (2016). Contract Management Body of Knowledge (CMBOK). https://www.ncmahq.org
  • Harvard Business Review. (2015). Managing Third-Party Risk: A Practical Guide to Vendor Management. https://hbr.org
  • Baker McKenzie. (2019). Software Licensing and IP Considerations for Technology Contracts. https://www.bakermckenzie.com
  • Google. (2023). Measuring Website Success: Core Web Vitals and Business KPIs. https://developers.google.com/web/core-web-vitals

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