Write the SOP your vendor will not

Vendors close projects the way that costs them least. That is not dishonesty. It is how their incentives work.

Your job is to write down what finished means before they decide.

What a vendor SOP skips

Most vendor documents describe how the product works. Few describe who is responsible once it is running, who certifies the install, or what a bad handover looks like.

The document I wrote instead

A site handover document. The technician certifies the install. Responsibility moves from installer to service at that moment, in writing. It borrows the risk transfer logic of freight INCOTERMS, where the point at which risk changes hands is stated, not assumed.

Three lines every handover needs

1. What was installed and what state it is in. 2. Who is responsible from now on. 3. What a failure looks like and who is called first.

The test

If a new employee could read your SOP and know who to call at 2 a.m., it works. If it only explains the product, it is a brochure.

Vendors will not write this for you. Write it before the contract is signed.