Track 10 · Discovery & handoverLesson 09 of 12
Delivering through an SI
Most work reaches you through a partner; work well inside their model.
- Lesson library · reference
- 30 min read
- 60 min hands-on
- Pro
What you'll be able to do
01- You can explain how a systems integrator structures delivery (account leadership, delivery lead, workstreams, the onshore/offshore pyramid) and where a vendor engineer sits in it.
- You can read an SOW and its change-control clause and say what is your scope, the SI's scope, and nobody's scope yet.
- You can predict how time-and-materials, fixed-price and outcome-based contracts shape what the SI asks of you.
- You can design a three-party RACI and a RAID log a steering committee can act on, and implement a validator for both.
- You can defend a partner-friendly position: share credit, enable the SI team, escalate in the right lane, and decline unfunded work without damaging the relationship.
Before you start
- Scoping a shippable slice: the in/out list and the content of a change-request impact note.
- Picking the wedge use case: SIs often run the portfolio assessment you qualify against.
- Acceptance criteria and sign-off: acceptance is where contracts and evals meet.
- Background: you have seen a project plan and a status report.
The short version
On most large enterprise accounts, a systems integrator holds the client relationship, the master contract and the delivery plan. You arrive as the vendor's engineer: the person who knows the product best, working inside someone else's programme. You are the technical authority on your component, while the SI owns the plan, the SOW and the client channel. You work through their governance (RAID log, change control, steering), make it explicit who is Accountable for what, transfer knowledge so their team can run and extend the system, and refuse to become unfunded labour without refusing to help.
- The SI is the main contractor; you are the specialist. Know which contract you are on and who may instruct you.
- Contract models create incentives: fixed price pushes work onto others, T&M rewards effort, outcome-based makes the baseline a commercial artefact.
- Exactly one Accountable per deliverable: a named person, in the party that can actually decide.
- Escalate in your lane, tell your SI counterpart first, and never go around them to the customer.
Pro lesson
The rest of this lesson is in Pro.
The mental model, worked example, field note, failure table, exercise and self-check, with the voice tutor.
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