TABLE OF CONTENTS Sometimes, you ll decide not to develop the whole system in-house. In that case, you ll need to procure all or part of it externally. You ll need to define what you want to purchase, choose a suitable supplier, and control the process so that what you want is actually delivered.
Typically, you will turn the requirements from the Analysis stage into an Invitation to Tender (ITT) and issue it to potential suppliers for their response. Hopefully, you ll choose a supplier and establish a contract with them, they ll do the development and deliver work to you.
There are a number of different forms the contract and development can take. You must choose an appropriate form, and make sure that the procedures you adopt are suited to it.
You then have a responsibility to test, accept (or reject) and integrate what the supplier delivers. You, as project manager, have various responsibilities including controlling the communications with the supplier, monitoring their progress and reporting on that progress as an integral part of the project reporting. The vital thing is to keep control - you must know what is happening, and understand why.
I ve assumed that you work for the purchaser of the software. You may, instead, work for the supplier. In that case, your responsibilities are what we ve defined in the rest of this book, but it s not a bad idea to read this chapter so you understand what your counterpart has to do, and how you fit into the process.
