Covering the Topic of Contract Lengths

Can IT contracts be short?

That’s a question that many companies posed with the duty of creating an IT contract are forced to consider. To answer this, you must first weigh the number of items that you need to fit into a contract versus the amount of space you will need. Oddly enough, the larger companies – such as IBM, Salesforce and others – tend to have shorter contracts.

One of the main benefits of having a short contract is that you won’t have a convoluted contractual agreement. There isn’t a conclusive form of thought leadership that dictates whether or not a short or long contract is better. But as a rule of thumb, if you can say it in less than 10 pages, do so.

It’s important to keep in mind that you need to cover yourself legally in your contracts. You should never overlook this fact. For more information on technology and law contracts, watch the full video from OpenView Labs featuring Jeremy Aber.