In cases of multiple vendors, ultimate responsibility for the project should rest on the prime vendor. Subcontractors and third party vendors should be identified and approved, and their commitment to develop, test, and maintain their components should be stipulated. Third party sublicense agreements offered by the prime vendor should be negotiated as necessary to fit the user's needs. The software license, consulting, equipment purchase, and service agreements, as applicable, should be balanced and effective in all other respects. They will typically require substantial re-negotiation from the standard vendor forms, in such areas as warranties and warranty disclaimers, limits on vendor liability and user remedies, and dispute resolution.
Vendors typically earn substantially greater margins in some areas than in others.
They need to be effectively implemented and enforced. This process is loaded with legal pitfalls for the user, as many rights can be lost for failure to notify the vendor of defects or otherwise assert claims in a timely and proper fashion, as contemplated by the agreements. However, their mere existence is a strong deterrent against nonperformance. Effective legal remedies for failure, coupled with strong resources from experienced user counsel, will help motivate the vendor to perform. User remedies are often better than even bad contracts might appear to provide.