What is a statement of work and why is it important?
A Statement of Work is a legally binding document that specifies the scope of work for a service provider or vendor on a certain project. This includes the deliverables, standards, and other critical details about the who, what, where, and when of the provided work.
Is a SOW considered a contract?
A good SOW functions as both a contract agreement and a project management tool. For example, if your company is hiring a freelance writer to create blog posts for your website, you might include an SOW with their contract to communicate expectations for a projects workflow, deadlines, and payment details.
What is the difference between RFP and SOW?
A Scope of Work (SOW) is a fundamental piece of a Request for Proposal (RFP) and describes what the company is looking to achieve as a result of the RFP. The SOW helps ensure that the product or service meets the companys needs and establishes the parameters of what could be included in the resulting contract.
What is the difference between SLA and SOW?
While the SOW mainly deals with specific deliverables associated with the development of a website, the Service Level Agreement (SLA) details the terms of any ongoing services provided by your digital agency. This typically includes services like web hosting and site maintenance. All computers eventually fail.
Who creates the statement of work?
The SOW is typically written by the client, but authors may vary, and more than one author may participate. This may include anyone from the project manager to a third-party contractor to the Chief Information Officer in the case of IT and software development projects.
Is a statement of work the same as a contract?
A statement of work is legally binding, but it is not the final, formal contract signed at the end of the contracting process. It can be thought of as the formal foundation of a final contract.
Are SOWs binding?
A SoW is not legally binding. As such, it is often accompanied by a formal legal contract that outlines the specifics of an agreement such as the parties, terms, reporting requirements, payment obligations, etc.
How do you start a SOW?
These are the steps you can take to create a simple, but well-defined statement of work. Introduce the project. Define the vision. Set the project requirements. Define the scope. Set the deadline of the project. Allocate key resources. Create the schedule. Specify the terms of payment and due dates.
Can statement of work be changed?
Any contract resulting from this Statement of Work (SOW) may be modified at any time to accommodate increases or decreases in the number of end users supported, the number of systems requiring support, and legislative changes that affect agency system and/or data requirements.
Is a signed statement of work a contract?
A statement of work is a highly detailed, legally-binding contract, while a project charter is a shorter, high-level, non-legal overview. Youll often create project charters after the SOW. Theres no difference between a scope of work and a statement of work.