Agile Contract Models

Abstract

This chapter gives an overview of more flexible contract models that have been proposed in various domains, and examines their applicability to agile software development. The chapter discusses fixed price per iteration and fixed price per point models, the “money for nothing, change for free” model and the “shared pain/shared gain” model, as well as multi-stage contract models. In discussing these models, the chapter specifically takes into account the constraints and motivations that customers may be bound by, and the mechanisms that the different contract models provide to assign risk to the contract parties.