There are more than hackers to be aware of.
The worst cases of unscrupulous behavior involve consulting agencies and abuse of trust. They are supposed to be the Domain Expert, so it is very easy for a Client to say “yes, we talked about the dynamic menus… that is a valid line item on the SOW.” In reality, I have seen far too many cases of agencies taking advantage of that trust and coming back with an Out of Scope (OOS) ruling.
Ambiguity is not your friend.
But, over-documentation is not your friend or the agency’s friend. It is the Business Analyst’s friend because it means job security. Long live Big Requirements Up Front (BRUF) documentation, some will say. These are generally waterfall shops. Not always.
You can charge money for BRUF analysis and still leave enough ambiguity that OOS increases cost twofold. Yes, I have seen a project double in cost this way and no it was not a small project. It started as a 1.2 million dollar project and wound up being over 3 million.
Demand to meet your team. Take a look at the office. Stop by “because you were in the area” at 10AM on a Thursday. See who is there. Ask what other projects they have worked on while at X Agency.
And demand iterative, Agile development.
An informed Client is a happy Client, and I would rather develop a relationship that yields trust, referrals, and friends than send some slick sales person in to make a few hundred grand and get rights to use the logo while the lawyers have documentation in place to protect the vendor and hose the Client. Most likely, that slick salesperson will not be called a salesperson and you will never see them again. They will be “on the road” perpetually after you sign and if you do get them on the phone, they are skilled in the art of yessing you to submission and being so so so very sorry will fix it right away, promise.
Be informed. If you do not know what to ask, email me. I do not charge for these conversations. I really give a damn and now have two agencies who I hope to hamstring by offering my insight. They are dirty and I cannot name them, but do me a favor and let me help you before you sign anything. I have that motivation, and I have more private motivations.
Best,
Josh