Dealing with an Unreasonable Contractor (Sole Source)

Your Scope of Work - SoW- ( or part of it) includes a service / product that is available from just the ‘one source'. Efforts to negotiate better terms (including more reasonable price) with the provider fail. Here are some suggestions as to how to deal with the situation: A) Short to medium term choices:

• ‘Reluctantly and temporarily‘ go with the deal, possibly until you figure out a longer-term solution.
• Negotiate a Long Term Price Agreement ( you may get better terms if you commit for a longer period)
• Scrap / replace the service / product in the SoW.. whenever possible !
• Go for a ‘substitute' ( similar not identical).
• Use an alternative service / product that may (somewhat) achieve the purpose.
• Amend some features of the service / product in order to remove the ‘proprietary' aspects.
• Approach other suppliers for suggestions.
• Approach other suppliers outside the ‘Monopoly' area (including possibly the original supplier of the service/product)
• Combination of two or more of the above.

•B) Longer-term choices:

• Explore possibilities for a Barter (scratch my back, I'll scratch yours) . The supplier may need some of your products /services and therefore may show some flexibility.
• Explore possibilities of ‘ Who knows whom' in your / supplier organizations. Personal relationship (especially at the Top) may work miracles!!
• Redesign your Sow to :
• a. Exclude the subject service / product
• b. Use an alternative service/product
• c. Include an ‘in-house' product/service (available within your organization)

FINAL NOTES:

• 1) If you invest enough time and attention in preparing your SoW , you should be able to avoid including any ‘proprietary' service / product that may lead to a ‘Sole Source' situation.
• 2) When awarding a contract special care should be given to avoid putting ourselves in a ‘Monopoly' situation ( such as availability of ‘maintenance' services and spare parts exclusively from the OEM)