Technology & Outsourcing

Whether you are procuring a technology or business process service, we advise you on the best way to structure your contractual sourcing model in order to balance an appropriate investment of time and money, as well as achieving a robust and durable agreement with your vendor. 

How we can help?

We have worked with multiple sourcing structures, including: 

• single-source and multi-source;
• parallel negotiations to the wire;
• phased down-selection of vendors;
• early contractor involvement (ECI), market engagement, collaborative dialogue and other forms of collaborative contracting and project delivery methodologies;
• panel procurements;
• prime/sub-contractor arrangements;
• operating level agreements between vendors; and
• partnership arrangements.      

We advise on all stages of the lifecycle of procurement and outsourcing of technology and business processes, from design of the procurement process to contract implementation and management. 

We act as advisers to both buyers and suppliers on many of Australia’s largest technology contracts. We know the positions that major suppliers take on key issues and can advise on not only what would be desirable, but what is likely to be achievable in a negotiation. Our experience means we are often able to recommend different approaches and reduce the time taken to get to a commercial end point.

How we can help?

We advise on:

• applications development and maintenance services;
• infrastructure services (including desktop, centralised computing, IaaS cloud deals and data centre co-location arrangements);
• hardware supply;
• service desk arrangements;
• major system developments (utilising waterfall, agile and hybrid development models);
• systems integration and implementation;
• SaaS product terms;
• software licensing arrangements (including defending licence audit disputes);
• collaborative dialogue models;
• State and Federal Government standard term procurement models; and
• major technology transfer and licensing arrangements in complex projects, including defence technology transactions.

We start our advice on any BPO process with the fundamental questions: What tasks are being outsourced? For what period? What assets and employees are affected by the outsourcing? What other contracts will be affected? How will performance be baselined and measured? And how will pricing remain flexible to cope with volume fluctuations and changes to corporate structure? From there, we assist with determining the appropriate structure, documenting the services to be outsourced, assisting you with the tender process and negotiating the agreement. 

How we can help?

Our BPO experience spans the full range of services: 

• finance (payables and receivables);
• general accounting;
• payroll;
• HR services;
• service desks; and
• customer contact centres (voice and non-voice).

Increasingly, captive shared services models are becoming as commonplace for global or regional organisations as BPOs. We also advise on the legal architecture required for SSC models, including the steps to future proof for corporate carveouts, acquisitions or even future spinouts of the SSC.

Processes for the procurement of enterprise-wide telecommunications services have a number of particular features. We have advised both private sector and government clients on the procurement of major network rollouts and enterprise-wide telecommunications services arrangements traversing the full range of product offerings:

• fixed voice;
• data;
• mobile;
• managed telecommunications services;
• UCAS; and
• transformation and systems re-engineering.

How we can help?

Our experience covers both domestic and regional deals, and we have regularly advised corporate customers on the other side of the country's largest enterprise telecoms suppliers.

We are also experts in advising on the complex access implications and issues which may arise under the Telecommunications Act and the Competition and Consumer Act.

Although we work closely with clients on the sourcing process and the negotiating the contract to execution, we recognise that is only the start of the relationship between customer and supplier. We also advise clients on how to manage the supplier relationship through its term in order to optimise the contracted outcomes.

How we can help?

We assist client with:

• transition and implementation execution;
• in-contract management and optimisation;
• resets and renegotiations; and
• exit management and dispute resolution.

And, at the end, we also advise on the steps to be taken to ensure services can either be brought smoothly back in-house or transferred to another supplier.

Wherever you are on your digital transformation journey, our team has the experience and expertise to support you. Our deep knowledge of the legal, regulatory and commercial environment informs everything we do and is central to how we deliver for our clients.

How we can help?

Our digital transformation services include:

• transforming or optimising existing processes
• navigating and leveraging the regulatory environment
• driving strategic growth
• unlocking data value