Key Steps for Evaluating and Managing Software-as-a-Service Solutions

B.

The CEO's FIRST course of action in this scenario should be to ensure the roles and responsibilities to manage service providers are defined (option D).

The reason for this is that outsourcing governance and vendor management are critical components of IT governance. Without them in place, there is a significant risk of mismanagement and failure to achieve expected benefits from the SaaS solution. Therefore, it is essential to establish a framework to govern the management of the service provider.

Defining the roles and responsibilities to manage service providers is an essential step in outsourcing governance. This involves identifying the individuals responsible for overseeing the service provider and defining their roles and responsibilities. This will ensure that there is clear accountability for managing the SaaS solution and that there is a framework in place to monitor and manage the service provider's performance.

Once the roles and responsibilities are defined, the next step would be to ensure that the service level agreements (SLAs) for service providers are defined (option C). SLAs are critical to ensuring that the SaaS solution provider delivers the expected service levels and meets the enterprise's business requirements. They specify the performance metrics and service levels that the provider must meet and define the consequences if they fail to do so.

Establishing a contract with the SaaS solution provider (option A) is also important, but it should not be the CEO's first course of action. The contract should be based on the roles and responsibilities and SLAs that have been defined. Therefore, it is essential to establish these first before entering into a contractual agreement with the service provider.

Instructing management to use the standard procurement process (option B) is not the first course of action in this scenario. The procurement process should be informed by the outsourcing governance and vendor management framework, which includes the roles and responsibilities, SLAs, and contract terms. Therefore, it is crucial to establish these components first before engaging in procurement activities.