Agile contracting for IT services - myth or reality?

摘要

In the information technology industry, one of the most challenging aspects of a lawyer's work has been - and remains - the successful documentation in an appropriate contractual vehicle of computer software development or complex implementation projects in outsourcing agreements. This is essentially because these are both high-risk activities in which customers and suppliers alike invest considerable time, energy and expenditure and take on significant potential business exposure. Different approaches have been utilised, some of which lend themselves to traditional, more rigid contract vehicles, and others which are more flexible but present particular challenges in terms of contractual certainty. One from the second 'flexible' approach is what has come to be known as the 'Agile' development methodology.