Draft for Tamir's review. Not published.
Find out what makes the vendor hard to replace
Ask whether the dependency is factual, contractual or the result of earlier choices. Then list what you hold today without the vendor: documentation, source or configuration, data exports and staff who know the system.
Price the service against the market even if you intend to stay. A renewal increase tends to be sized to what it would cost you to leave. The switching cost is real, and you should know what you are paying for it.
Renew on terms that keep the next decision open
If you renew, ask for a shorter term, exit assistance with a defined scope and the right to move parts of the service. Cap price increases and tie them to a published index. Make any extension conditional on closing your gaps in documentation, data and knowledge by set dates.
An export has to keep what makes the data usable. A file download that loses approvals, revision history or business rules is a weak exit. Ask to see a full export before you sign, and at each milestone while the system is built. Your bargaining power drops with every milestone you pay.
Where the seats differ
If you're on the board, a renewal compared only with the cost of switching is a renewal at the provider's price. Require the service record against the contract measures, a market comparison and a plan to reduce the switching cost over the next term. In the public sector, procurement and counsel decide the lawful route. The technical question is whether the sole-supplier claim holds.
If you run the company or the agency, judge your position in three years. An extension that buys time to prepare a real tender is useful. One that only delays the same dependence is a loss. If you're the CIO or CTO, set exit terms before you sign: documented interfaces, export formats, return timelines and who pays for transition help.
What to check before you decide
- List what you hold without the vendor: documentation, source or configuration, data exports and the people who know the system.
- Get indicative market prices for the main services from two other providers, even if you plan to renew.
- Ask the vendor to justify any price increase service by service.
- Ask for a full data export in an open format, and check that it keeps history, approvals and business rules.
- Read the contract for ownership of deliverables, license terms after termination and exit assistance.
- Ask what a second vendor would need to take over, and whether such vendors exist.
- Pick one service to move as a test of the market and of the vendor's claim.
Questions people ask
Management recommends renewing our outsourcing contract because switching is too expensive, what should the board require?
Require a market comparison of the services even if the intention is to renew, service performance against the measures, and renewal terms that keep the next decision open: shorter term, exit assistance and the right to re-tender parts. The switching cost is real; the board should know what it buys for it. It depends on how much knowledge sits only with the provider and on the service record.
Should directors require an exit plan for an overseas charging supplier?
Require a current dependency assessment and proportionate exit options. The response depends on service criticality, retained access, substitute capability, and verified contractual rights rather than assumptions about geography alone.
What evidence should a public board require for claimed sole-supplier technology dependence?
Test whether the dependency is factual, contractual, or a consequence of previous choices. The permitted procurement route depends on the specific requirements and authorised process, as determined by procurement and legal owners.
We won a tender requiring electric buses and IT systems we've never run, how do we choose the systems without getting trapped?
Start from the tender's reporting and operating obligations and work back to what the systems must do; then buy for openness, because the bus and charger suppliers will change over the contract's life. A package is faster and a trap if its data cannot be used elsewhere. It depends on the contract's length and on how many depots and supplier types you will run.
Our IT outsourcing contract is up for renewal with a price increase and the provider says switching is too hard, what are my options?
Price the service against the market even if you intend to stay, because the provider's increase is sized to your switching cost. Split the contract into parts that can be re-tendered separately and ask for exit assistance in the renewal. It depends on how much knowledge and documentation sits only with the provider and on which services other providers could take quickly.
Our main system vendor wants an extension without a tender and legal says a tender is possible, how do I decide?
Decide on the agency's position in three years rather than next year: an extension is right if it buys time to prepare a real tender, with documentation, data and knowledge in the agency's hands. An extension that only delays the same dependence is a loss. It depends on what your procurement rules allow and on how much of the system's knowledge sits only with the vendor.
Automation integrator requires ten years of its own maintenance in the contract, can I accept that and what should change?
Long support terms are common; uncapped price increases and exclusivity are what to change. Ask for price caps tied to an index, the right to train your own staff, access to documentation and spare parts from other sources, and exit after a shorter period. It depends on how specialised the line is and on whether other firms could support it.
Should our mobility startup depend on one vehicle manufacturer's integration roadmap?
Distinguish available capability from an uncommitted roadmap. Dependence is justified only when the business can tolerate delay, alternatives are understood, and customer promises match confirmed access.
Should we accept a cloud subscription tied to machinery support and warranty?
Ask the supplier to distinguish a genuine support dependency from a commercial bundle. It depends on machine function, maintenance evidence, available alternatives, and the warranty terms interpreted by counsel.
All ticketing platform bids propose proprietary back ends, how do I avoid lock-in in a public transport tender?
Lock-in is set by what you can take out, so score bids on documented interfaces, data export and the right to have others integrate. Ask each bidder to demonstrate an export and a third-party integration before award. It depends on whether your tender rules allow clarification rounds at this stage.
Signing a cloud migration order under a government framework, what exit and data terms should be in the order itself?
The framework sets the ceiling, and the order sets what you actually get, so exit and data return belong in the order. Specify export formats, timelines for data return and who pays for transition help. It depends on what the framework already guarantees and what it leaves to each order.
Vendor is building our government system on their low-code platform and the license ends with the contract, what are my options?
Raise it now, because your bargaining power drops with every milestone paid. Options include a perpetual or transferable platform license, escrow of the built application, and a documented export of data and logic. It depends on whether the platform license is separable from the vendor and on what your contract says about deliverables ownership.
What evidence should precede handover from our departing municipal technology supplier?
Assess whether another maintainer can reproduce and operate the existing system. Prioritize source access, build inputs, credentials, configuration, and verified contractual rights over presentation completeness.
What cloud exit costs hide inside our integration architecture?
Assess exit at the application and dependency level. The decision depends on data movement, proprietary interfaces, retained services, and how a transition would operate alongside production.
Can we leave our document platform without losing approvals and revision history?
Require exports that preserve the relationships needed to interpret the work. Adequacy depends on revision history, approvals, references, and whether a replacement environment can reconstruct them.
How I can help with this decision
- Ask or talk (Free)
- I give my view on how to test the switching claim and which terms keep your options open at renewal.
- Review (Pay if it was worth it)
- I write an independent assessment of your dependence, the service record, the market alternatives and the exit terms. I recommend renewing with conditions, renegotiating or preparing to leave.
- Retain (When it makes sense)
- If you renew, I stay close through the term to review the vendor's reports and handover deliverables against the terms you agreed.