--- title: SOW - The Great Chameleon | Contrax Blog description: If you have been tasked with understanding SOW spend, you have not doubt run into the guise that these contracts are too complex for procurement to handle. image: https://www.contraxworkforce.com/hubfs/Canva%20images/Canva%20Design%20DAEqLtuROOU.png --- ![Laptops on desk](https://www.contraxworkforce.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Canva%20images/Canva%20Design%20DAEqLtuROOU.png?width=1920&height=500&name=Canva%20Design%20DAEqLtuROOU.png) 4 December 2017 # SOW - The Great Chameleon | Contrax Blog - - - 1 min read ![Canva Design DAEqLtuROOU](https://www.contraxworkforce.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Canva%20images/Canva%20Design%20DAEqLtuROOU.png?width=2240&name=Canva%20Design%20DAEqLtuROOU.png)In many cases after peeling back the layers of the SOW agreement we find that they are in fact traditional contingent staffing. Vendors are using the SOW agreement as an effective tactic to avoid MSP programs and associated fees; beef up their margins and build much stronger relationships with the business leaders they service. Business leaders are happy to engage in these agreements because they get a one to one vendor relationship and are able to justify it if the costs come under budget. They fail to realize that in many cases the rates they are paying are well over market. So how do we quickly identify if an SOW agreement is being used as a mask for Contingent Staffing? A quick scan of the agreement will tell you. If in the agreement you see that the vendor is signing up to specific deliverables and/or milestones with specific acceptance criteria which triggers invoicing and payment (in essence they are responsible for delivery) then this is an SOW and the supplier is justified in pricing increased margin to account for the added responsibility and risk of delivery. If the agreement is based on labour and expenses and billing happens as a matter of course without any acceptance criteria attached to delivery this is pure contingent staffing. Once you have identified that the agreement is staffing based you can understand more about the skills required, the experience and the location of work to compare the bill rates to the market bearing rates for other resources with similar skills. You will be amazed how much savings you will find…….. ![Free Your Procurement Teams To Focus on What is Important](https://www.contraxworkforce.com/hubfs/What%20is%20an%20MSP%20and%20do%20I%20need%20One-1.png) ### Contrax has a supplier management solution just for you. [![Lets Chat](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/3836091/0091c387-673a-4a6f-974c-43d80b7b7866.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/3836091/0091c387-673a-4a6f-974c-43d80b7b7866) ## Popular Articles ![What is SOW Contingent Labor?](https://www.contraxworkforce.com/hubfs/2022%20Blogs/What%20is%20SOW%20Contingent%20Blog.png) ### [ What is SOW Contingent Labor? ](https://www.contraxworkforce.com/en/blog/what-is-sow-contingent-labor) [ Read more ](https://www.contraxworkforce.com/en/blog/what-is-sow-contingent-labor) ![A Complete Guide of Contingent Workforce Management Solutions](https://www.contraxworkforce.com/hubfs/2022%20Blogs/Complete%20Guide%20to%20Contingent%20BLOG.png) ### [ A Complete Guide of Contingent Workforce Management Solutions ](https://www.contraxworkforce.com/en/blog/a-complete-guide-of-contingent-workforce-management-solutions) [ Read more ](https://www.contraxworkforce.com/en/blog/a-complete-guide-of-contingent-workforce-management-solutions) ![What is the Role of an MSP and VMS in Contingent Workforce Staffing?](https://www.contraxworkforce.com/hubfs/What%20is%20the%20difference%20between%20MSP%20and%20VMS.png) ### [ What is the Role of an MSP and VMS in Contingent Workforce Staffing? ](https://www.contraxworkforce.com/en/blog/what-is-the-role-of-an-msp-and-vms-in-contingent-workforce-staffing) [ Read more ](https://www.contraxworkforce.com/en/blog/what-is-the-role-of-an-msp-and-vms-in-contingent-workforce-staffing) ## Subscribe to the Contrax Blog