10 November 2006 | Helen Gilbert

New guidelines to help buyers and suppliers when drafting or negotiating contracts for IT products and services were launched this week.

New guidelines to help buyers and suppliers when drafting or negotiating contracts for IT products and services were launched this week.

The Contract and Commercial Guidelines, produced by Intellect, the UK trade body for the IT, telecoms and electronics industries and law firm Beachcroft, cover topics from managing risk to outsourcing.

According to John Yates, technology and commerce partner at Beachcroft, there has been "significant change" in the way commercial contracts are agreed in the past six years.

"Contract managers and commercial managers are at the heart of this new procurement landscape," he said. "The contract can no longer be divorced from the deal as something that only lawyers need to worry about." The guidelines, which explain how to work out the profitability of a contract, are particularly aimed at contract managers - who draft, negotiate, manage and administer contracts - and commercial directors, who are often involved in negotiating complex deals.

The latter also play a strategic role in shaping an organisation's policies and processes in a bid to ensure it wins and delivers profitable contracts and manages its risks effectively.

Yates added that the guidelines were particularly important for small firms, where one person often acts as contract manager, commercial, finance and sales director.

Copies of the guidelines are available by e-mailing sjyates@beachcroft.co.uk

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