Contracts & Procurement
What an owner's technical representative does on an IT project
Why agencies hire independent technical oversight for large implementations, and what the role involves.
When an agency implements a major system, the vendor brings a project manager, a solution architect, and a team. All of them work for the vendor. An owner's technical representative is hired by the agency to represent the agency's technical interests throughout the implementation.
Why agencies use one
Agency staff are busy running the current systems and rarely have experience with the specific platform being implemented. The vendor has done dozens of implementations; the agency is doing one. Independent expertise levels the conversation.
What the role includes
- Reviewing vendor deliverables such as design documents, configuration specifications, and test plans against the contract
- Tracking risks and issues and escalating to agency leadership
- Analyzing change requests for necessity and cost
- Validating data migration results
- Overseeing acceptance testing and advising on go-live readiness
- Advising the agency's project sponsor on decisions
What it does not include
Managing the vendor's team, performing the implementation, or making decisions that belong to the agency. The representative advises; the agency decides.
Independence
The representative should have no financial relationship with the vendor being overseen. Firms that resell or partner with the vendor have a conflict. HQT does not resell the products it oversees.
How it is procured
Typically as a professional services engagement, fixed-price or time and materials, scoped to the implementation timeline with defined deliverables such as review reports and readiness assessments.
Where it pays off most
Large ERP, permitting, utility billing, public safety, and case management implementations, where the consequences of a poor implementation last for a decade.