IT Outsourcing and Procurement

Our Group

Miller Thomson’s Information Technology Group includes a number of lawyers who have extensive experience with large-scale IT procurement and outsourcing projects. Lawyers who form part of this practice area, work in collaboration with our lawyers from other practice areas — each using his or her legal experience to assist clients with their procurement and outsourcing projects.

Our Clients

We have assisted a variety of private sector businesses in relation to procurement and outsourcing transactions. These clients include a variety of mid-stage and mature corporations who may be either the acquirer or provider with respect to a procurement or outsourcing transaction.

We also provide advice on procurement and outsourcing matters to many public sector clients, including government agencies and departments, municipalities, hospitals, colleges and universities and regulatory bodies.

With this public and private sector experience comes an understanding of the complex policy and accountability envelope that surrounds public procurement, combined with an understanding of the business and other goals our clients seek in these transactions.

Our Services

Our lawyers have worked on many procurement and outsourcing transactions involving information technology. If it is the client’s preference, we will work as a part of the client’s team — not replacing the client’s professionals, but supplementing their expertise and contributing our own expertise at all stages of a procurement or outsourcing project.

We have assisted clients with the development of a project approach and preparation of the documents needed to begin the outsourcing or procurement process, and we have continued to provide assistance through the:

• Selection of a vendor
• Negotiation of the agreement
• Management of legal issues during the course of the project
• Termination or expiration of the agreement
• Transition to a new provider

We have also worked with clients who wish to take different approaches, such as seeking assistance on discrete portions of the process.

Our Expertise

The extensive experience of our Information Technology Group with various technology transactions enables us to provide helpful advice on all aspects of a large-scale IT project, the risks associated with the project, and a number of measures that can be taken to reduce the risks and to ensure a successful outcome.

Our expertise is apparent from our experience, and the books, articles and other publications written by the lawyers who form part of this practice group. It is also demonstrated by the number of presentations our lawyers have been asked to give on related topics relating to outsourcing and procurement matters. This information is set out in the biographies for the group members.

Our Experience

• Assisting the Ontario government in preparing RFPs and template agreements, negotiating agreements, technical schedules and amendments, and advising on ongoing issues arising under the agreements in connection with the acquisition of network services for use by the government
• Advising a government agency with the preparation, negotiation and finalization of a multi-year agreement with a wholly owned subsidiary of a publicly owned electricity transmission and distribution company for network services
• Assisting with various RFPs and agreements to support public sector and broader public sector entities to procure hosting, network and network management services
• Supporting a Crown corporation with the preparation of an RFP, agreement and statements of work relating to its acquisition of an asset management information technology system and related services;
• Assisting with the agreement for deployment of human resources information system to be used by a large number of health care organizations
• Helping a government agency with the negotiation and drafting of a tri-party agreement, which included the provision by the agency of network services in relation to a CMS system
• Assisting a government agency with the procurement of services for the development of new business processes and technology, and for the provision of ongoing support, maintenance and related services to support the agency’s mandate
• Assisting in connection with the preparation of an RFP, Master Agreement and statements of work relating to the implementation of a project management information system for use by a corporation and its clients
• Assisting with various agreements for the procurement of call centre services;
• Assisting a municipality with respect to the develop of an RFP for the acquisition of wireless telecommunication services and negotiating the resulting agreement
• Advising a publicly traded company on various transactions to supply technology solutions, professional services and support services to customers including public sector and broader public sector clients