Statement of Work Management | Services Procurement | Master Services Agreement

Statement of Work (SoW) engagements are increasingly on the rise, with organisations looking outside of the permanent workforce to work with specialist companies to deliver specific services, results, and outcomes. Within the technology world, procured SoW engagements can range from an outsourced service desk to building new application software. Lorien’s SoW Management and Services Procurement brings transparency and visibility to your Statement of Work spend by ensuring control and governance, while embedding efficiency and cost savings. The result is an agile yet compliant workforce that delivers the outcomes you need to stay ahead.

What is Statement of Work Management?

A SoW Management or Services Procurement Programme can add value at multiple points within the SoW lifecycle, however SoW Management typically records, monitors, and manages SoW transactions and engagements, whilst overseeing deliverables to provide security and governance. A services procurement partner may also take responsibility for sourcing and running RFX processes within a programme. This may involve setting up a preferred panel list of suppliers or running the bid and negotiation of separate SoW agreements with a pre-selected panel of suppliers. A SoW Management provider may also facilitate the payment elements of any SoW programme, including activating payment of milestones / deliverables, any applicable bonuses, and managing the query and resolution of any disputed delivery. A SoW Management Programme will typically involve the implementation of a Vendor Management System (VMS) with a specific SoW module to track and capture data such as projects, spend, milestones and supplier performance.

Is a Statement of Work Management solution right for me?

If you have limited visibility of your SoW engagements and overall SoW spend it may be worth considering a discovery assessment. This includes if you find it challenging to quantify and identify contingent workers engaged in your programmes on SoW engagements in detail, as well as SoW suppliers or consultancies. SoW Management Programme provides companies with the transparency needed to benchmark the competitiveness of supplier rates and ensures that contracts with suppliers are uniform and do not leave them open to regulatory compliance risks. You might also consider a SoW Management Programme if your existing contingent workforce programme or MSP is not optimised to incorporate SoW engagements and lacks the scalability to handle future growth or contraction without losing stringent governance. Lastly, many businesses choose a SoW Management Solution to better measure and understand SoW satisfaction amongst internal stakeholders and engagement managers.

What are the benefits of outsourcing your SoW Management?

Optimised supplier panel_

Ensure you have the right balance of engaged suppliers on your panel to enable your business access to the skills and expertise required.

Visibility_

Achieve full visibility of your Statement of Work spend across classifications, activity of all your engagements and the workforce engaged on your projects.

Risk mitigation_

Consistent contracts across all of your suppliers and protection against worker misclassification and mis-screening, insufficient insurance protection and loss of intellectual property.

Deliverables management_

Have peace of mind that all deliverables and milestones are achieved before sign-off and payment.

Efficiency_

Create an efficient process that will enable your business to capture the skills required at a rapid pace without losing governance.

Engagement definition_

Improved definition of requirements and engagements. Prevent scope creep and high volume of supplier extensions and change requests.