How do you deal with enhancements to a #SaaS product in your #contract.
What do you do when an upgrade is designed to “break” the current implementation? This happens most often when the SaaS application is heavily integrated with other third-party systems or is heavily configured before implementation.
Some things you should consider in such a situation:
1. Does the supplier get sufficient notice before an upgrade? Both parties time to get their ducks in a row – plan, reconfigure, test, and deploy
2. The extent of rework required in such a situation. Is this something the customer’s IT department can do easily? Do you need the specialized skill-set from your supplier to reconfigure your systems?
3.The party responsible for the costs. Should the customer have to pay more for services just to be able to continue using the software? Should this fall on the supplier – after all it is an upgrade they are forcing on the customer?
4. Rejection or termination rights if the upgrade is too cumbersome for the customer.
And as always, all these need to be considered in the context of the engagement itself – the criticality, ease of substitution, cost.
Nothing is ever black and white when it comes to contracting.