What are typical legal and technical documents that you would provide with a solution as a vendor?

Question

What typical legal and technical documents do you provide with a solution as a software vendor?

Documents would be like:

• SLA
• Privacy Policy
• Terms and Conditions

When you are responding to a proposal which documents do you typically include?

Answer 1

A proposal can include the following technical and legal information:

Technical information:

• High-level technical solution: this is to provide the client with information that's detailed enough so they get an understanding of what technologies will be used and how and what design approach may be taken. It shouldn't be too detailed though - your goal is to convince the client you can provide the right technical solution, not to give it for free!
• When providing technical information as part of a proposal, it is always subject to assumptions made about the client's needs, constraints and objectives.
• The detailed technical information (such as detailed functional/technical design, infrastructure, code, etc. on an IT project) only becomes final during the execution of the project.
• Proposed SLAs. Once agreed, these will become legally binding.

Legal information:

• Your usual terms & conditions.
• Your policies regarding proprietary information, non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements, and information privacy.
• Often in a proposal these are added as an appendix to the main document, but will form part of the contract.
• If you have a legal department in your organisation, they are the people who should provide this information for you to include.

NOTE: A proposal is not a legally binding document until it gets discussed/negotiated, agreed and signed by both parties: typically this is done under the form of a separate document, the contract (which may refer to the proposal but will include other legal elements). In fact, to avoid any misunderstanding with your client, it is good practice to say that upfront in the proposal.