CFO-TA Procurement and Contracting Overview

Enterprise Review Guide for Procurement, Legal, Security, Risk, and Technology

This page provides Procurement, Legal, Security, Risk, Privacy, Information Governance, Technology, and vendor-management stakeholders with the information required to evaluate The CFO-TA for enterprise adoption and contracting.

It addresses the contractual structure, client-controlled deployment architecture, user and third-party access, technical responsibilities, information ownership, intellectual-property boundaries, commercial activation, subscription expansion, renewal, termination, continuing-use rights, and the respective responsibilities of Alentra and the client.

Current public pricing, Trial pricing, Founding Customer provisions, and detailed commercial explanations are maintained on the Pricing and Pricing FAQs pages.

What The CFO-TA Is

The CFO-TA is the Executive Sponsor Platform. It is a Business-Side platform purpose-built for Executive Sponsors responsible for major transformation investments.

The platform helps Executive Sponsors govern their three Sponsor-owned responsibilities: Business Intent, Scope Intent, and Transformation Approach Intent. Together, these form Sponsor Intent, the Executive Sponsor-owned expression of purpose and foundation of the Transformation Definition.

The CFO-TA provides guidance, methodology, authoring, analysis, deliverable production, validation, review, coordination, decision support, continuity, and Sponsor Intent Lifecycle Management across the Enterprise Transformation Program lifecycle.

The Sponsor Intent Lifecycle Management Studio, the SILMS, is a major platform capability used to establish, preserve, validate, monitor, improve, and prove Sponsor Intent. The SILMS is deployed within the client's Microsoft environment so persistent Sponsor Intent Assets, decisions, evidence, validation history, Transformation Component and Release relationships, and other organization-specific intelligence remain on the client's infrastructure.

Intent Governance is a core discipline operationalized through The CFO-TA. Intent Governance governs purpose. Execution Governance governs behavior.

Detailed Production Subscription capabilities and lifecycle coverage are maintained on The CFO-TA Production Subscription page.

Who This Page Is For

This information is intended for:

• Executive Sponsors

• Transformation leaders

• Procurement and vendor-management teams

• Vendor onboarding and approval stakeholders

• Legal and contracting reviewers

• Security and risk reviewers

• Privacy reviewers

• Information Governance and records-management teams

• Technology and architecture teams

• Microsoft 365, SharePoint, and Copilot administrators

Production Subscription Model

The CFO-TA Production Subscription establishes a persistent Executive Sponsor Platform for one subscribed Enterprise Transformation Program.

Production is provided through an annual prepaid subscription. The subscription provides access to generally available The CFO-TA capabilities across Plan, Source, Implement, Value Realization, and Operations without requiring separate Alentra lifecycle subscriptions as the Enterprise Transformation Program advances.

The Production Subscription establishes contractual boundaries concerning:

• The subscribed Enterprise Transformation Program

• The applicable annual commitment

• The committed subscription term

• User entitlements

• Authorized third-party participation

• Active Platform Participation

• Production Activation

• Client technical responsibilities

• Alentra responsibilities

• Microsoft prerequisites

• Information ownership

• Intellectual-property protections

• Support boundaries

• Subscription expansion

• Renewal

• Termination

• Continuing-use rights

The annual subscription structure remains consistent throughout the subscribed Enterprise Transformation Program. Smaller Programs can require fewer annual terms because their initial lifecycle progresses more quickly, while larger, phased, or longer-running Programs can require additional annual terms.

The applicable agreement establishes the customer's annual price, committed term, payment requirements, approved price protection, and other commercial terms.

User Entitlements and Active Platform Participation

The CFO-TA distinguishes users according to the authority and platform capabilities they exercise. The standard Production Subscription uses Sponsor User, Core User, and View User entitlements to establish clear authority, operating, support, security, technical, and commercial boundaries.

Authorized Users can include client personnel, authorized personnel of covered client affiliates, and approved third-party participants supporting the subscribed Enterprise Transformation Program. Each participant is assigned to the applicable entitlement class and remains subject to the client's authority model, Microsoft licensing, permissions, security, Information Governance, technical capacity, and contracted-use requirements.

Detailed entitlement quantities and user capabilities are maintained on The CFO-TA Production Subscription and Pricing pages.

Sponsor Users

Sponsor Users include the accountable Executive Sponsor and authorized Sponsor deputies who require Sponsor-level decision, approval, authorization, guidance, and applicable AI-assisted capabilities.

The accountable Executive Sponsor determines which Sponsor authorities are delegated to each authorized deputy. The applicable authority model preserves the accountable Executive Sponsor, authorized deputies, delegated authorities, Decision Boundaries, effective dates, and approval or revocation requirements.

Sponsor Users are ordinarily limited to the accountable Executive Sponsor, authorized Sponsor deputies, and other authorized client or covered-affiliate personnel.

Core Users

Core Users actively operate The CFO-TA with the Executive Sponsor and authorized Sponsor deputies.

Core Users can include Sponsor Intent Coordinators, Sponsor Intent Analysts, Validation Business Analysts, selected Business-Side leaders, approved implementation-partner personnel, consultants, External Domain Experts, and other designated participants performing substantive platform activities.

Core Users create, analyze, author, coordinate, maintain, review, validate, and support the governance of Sponsor Intent Assets and related Enterprise Transformation Program information using applicable The CFO-TA capabilities.

View Users

View Users consume authorized information made available through the SILMS according to their responsibilities and permissions. View Users do not receive Sponsor authority or the substantive authoring, validation, and operating capabilities assigned to Sponsor Users or Core Users.

View Users can include Business-Side managers, Steering Committee participants, functional leaders, implementation-partner and software-provider personnel, consultants, auditors, legal or regulatory advisors, Internal Audit, Risk, Compliance, technology personnel, and other authorized participants requiring governed information.

View access remains subject to applicable security, technical capacity, Microsoft licensing, permissions, Information Governance, and contracted-use requirements.

Third-Party Contracted-Use Restrictions

Approved third-party participants can receive Core User or View User access when their responsibilities within the subscribed Enterprise Transformation Program require it. Third-party participants count against the applicable subscribed entitlement.

Third-party participation must preserve Segregation of Duties between Sponsor authority and execution responsibility. Implementation partners and other parties compensated to deliver the Enterprise Transformation Program can contribute expertise, analysis, recommendations, evidence, and execution information without becoming the authority that approves the Sponsor Intent against which their work is governed and evaluated.

Third-party access is limited to responsibilities performed for the subscribing client within the subscribed Enterprise Transformation Program. Access through the client's Production Subscription does not provide an implementation partner, consultant, software provider, advisor, or other third party with an independent right to use The CFO-TA, the SILMS, Alentra intelligence, methodology, templates, prompts, agents, platform capabilities, or other Alentra intellectual property for another customer, engagement, product, training activity, service, or commercial purpose.

Third-party users receive no sublicensing, redistribution, resale, hosting, service-bureau, commercialization, or cross-client reuse rights. Access ends when the authorized role ends, the client revokes access, or the applicable subscription or contractual authorization concludes.

Active Platform Participation

Active Platform Participation reflects the Sponsor Users, Core Users, active operating domains, governing bodies, specialists, and selected providers exercising substantive The CFO-TA capabilities.

Normal personnel changes and reassignment within the subscribed entitlements do not create transactional per-user charges.

Material and sustained expansion of Sponsor Users, Core Users, active operating domains, governing bodies, substantive participant networks, or other contracted-use boundaries can create a subscription expansion event. Alentra and the client confirm the applicable operating, technical, support, security, licensing, capacity, Information Governance, and commercial requirements before expanded participation is activated.

Client-Controlled Deployment Architecture

The CFO-TA uses a client-controlled deployment architecture. The SILMS is deployed within the client's Microsoft environment and operates through the client's applicable identity, permissions, security, privacy, retention, classification, audit, and Information Governance controls.

The client retains control of:

• Microsoft tenant administration

• SharePoint administration

• Identity and access management

• User permissions

• User provisioning, assignment, reassignment, and removal

• Approved third-party access administration

• Security controls

• Privacy requirements

• Data classification

• Records management

• Retention requirements

• Information Governance

• Audit logging

• SILMS deployment within the client environment

• Environment troubleshooting and ongoing technical support

• Storage and capacity administration

• Applicable Microsoft licensing and consumption

This architecture allows the organization to operate The CFO-TA within its established Microsoft and enterprise-control environment rather than creating a separate repository for Sponsor-owned organizational intelligence.

Microsoft Responsibilities

The CFO-TA operates through client-managed Microsoft technologies and Alentra-provided platform capabilities.

The client's designated technical resources deploy, administer, maintain, troubleshoot, and support the Microsoft environment required to operate The CFO-TA. Client responsibilities include:

• Microsoft 365 licensing and administration

• SharePoint environment and administration

• Applicable Microsoft Copilot licensing

• Microsoft licensing required for authorized users

• Identity and access administration

• User provisioning, reassignment, and removal

• Approved third-party access administration

• Permissions

• Security administration

• Privacy requirements

• Records-management requirements

• Retention requirements

• Information Governance

• Audit requirements

• Storage and capacity

• Applicable Microsoft consumption

• Client-environment troubleshooting

• Ongoing Microsoft-environment technical support

Alentra provides:

• The deployable The CFO-TA and SILMS architecture

• Deployment instructions

• Standard Production Activation guidance

• Entitlement definitions

• Standard permission architecture

• Product updates

• Methodology

• Contracted product support

Customer-specific Microsoft engineering, integration, migration, remediation, custom connectors, customer-specific Power Platform engineering, automation, or other technical services beyond standard Production Activation guidance require separate scope and commercial authorization.

Information, Data, Security, and Privacy

The CFO-TA is designed around client-controlled information management.

Sponsor Intent Assets, Sponsor-owned decisions, Conditions of Success, Decision Boundaries, Accountability Requirements, Exception Rules, Evidence Requirements, Sponsor Intent Validation Plans, Sponsor Intent Test Cases, validation findings, evidence, governance records, decision history, lifecycle history, Transformation Component and Release relationships, and other organization-specific intelligence remain stored on and accessible through the client's infrastructure.

The client controls who can access that information and how it is managed under the organization's applicable security, privacy, classification, records-management, retention, audit, and Information Governance requirements.

Persistent evidence remains stored on the client's infrastructure. Microsoft Copilot must not be described or understood as learning on customer data as part of The CFO-TA operating model.

The applicable agreement defines the contractual information-handling, security, access, and responsibility provisions governing the subscribed relationship.

Intellectual Property and Ownership

Alentra retains ownership of The CFO-TA, the SILMS, Business Intent Design methods, Intent Governance methodology, Sponsor Intent Lifecycle Management processes, validation methods, Leadership Signals (Micro-Videos), Alentra-authored prompts and agents, templates, frameworks, structures, software, platform capabilities, and other Alentra intellectual property.

The client retains ownership of its information and organization-specific intellectual assets, including:

• Sponsor Intent Assets

• Sponsor-owned decisions

• Business content

• Organization-specific decisions

• Client-created information

• Client-created documents

• Client-created prompts and agents

• Client-specific configurations

• Client-generated outputs

• Client evidence

• Client validation records

• Client decision and lifecycle history

The client's continuing internal-use rights to the final deployed SILMS version do not transfer ownership of Alentra intellectual property or authorize sublicensing, resale, commercialization, redistribution, third-party hosting, service-bureau use, or cross-client reuse.

The CFO-TA Trial

The CFO-TA Trial provides an optional bounded evaluation path before a Production Subscription. The Trial does not automatically convert into Production.

The applicable Trial agreement establishes:

• The selected predefined operating domain

• The Trial term

• The SILMS Trial Edition deployment

• Authorized participants

• Technical prerequisites

• Client and Alentra responsibilities

• Payment terms

• Evaluation and completion requirements

• Client-retention provisions

• Production-conversion eligibility requirements

• Other applicable Trial terms

Current Trial pricing, Trial-credit provisions, and qualification requirements are maintained on the Pricing and Pricing FAQs pages.

Contract Structure

The commercial relationship is established through the applicable The CFO-TA Trial agreement, Production Subscription agreement, Transformation Accelerator agreement, Executive Advisory Block agreement, or other specifically authorized agreement.

The executed agreement controls the customer's specific scope, price, term, payment obligations, responsibilities, remedies, and other contractual provisions.

Production Subscription Agreement

The Production Subscription agreement establishes:

• The subscribed Enterprise Transformation Program

• The applicable annual Production Subscription price

• The committed subscription term

• The payment schedule

• Approved multi-year price protection

• Founding Customer provisions when applicable

• Trial conversion credit when applicable

• Sponsor User entitlements

• Core User entitlements

• View User access boundaries

• Active Platform Participation boundaries

• Authorized User definitions

• Third-party eligibility by entitlement class

• Third-party contracted-use restrictions

• Sponsor deputy authorization requirements

• Client user-administration responsibilities

• Applicable operating scope

• Platform rights

• Production Activation responsibilities

• Deployment responsibilities

• Microsoft prerequisites

• Support provisions

• Information-handling provisions

• Intellectual-property protections

• Expansion provisions

• Renewal provisions

• Termination rights

• Continuing-use rights

• Other applicable commercial and operating terms

Trial Agreement

The Trial agreement establishes:

• The selected predefined operating domain

• The Trial term

• The SILMS Trial Edition deployment

• Authorized participants

• Participation requirements

• Technical prerequisites

• Client and Alentra responsibilities

• Payment terms

• Evaluation and completion requirements

• Client-retention provisions

• Production-conversion eligibility requirements

• Other applicable Trial terms

Supplemental Human Expertise Agreements

Transformation Accelerators and Executive Advisory Blocks are separately authorized fixed-fee engagements. The applicable agreement establishes the defined intervention or advisory need, responsibilities, participants, duration or availability period, readiness conditions, expected outputs or advisory capacity, exclusions, payment terms, and conditions requiring additional authorization.

Detailed human-expertise commercial structures are maintained on the Specialized Human Expertise Pricing page.

Commercial Activation

The CFO-TA uses prepaid commercial terms. Receipt of payment is the commercial activation milestone authorizing Alentra to begin the applicable Trial, Production Activation, Transformation Accelerator, Executive Advisory Block, or other contracted activities.

For Production, Alentra and the client confirm:

• The subscribed Enterprise Transformation Program

• The accountable Executive Sponsor

• Authorized Sponsor deputies

• Authorized client contacts

• User entitlements

• Initial Active Platform Participation

• Initial operating domains

• Initial Transformation Components and Releases

• Deployment responsibilities

• Microsoft prerequisites

• Required permissions

• Client technical owners

• User and third-party access-administration ownership

• Storage, capacity, and Microsoft licensing ownership

• Sponsor Team onboarding requirements

For the Trial, Alentra and the client confirm:

• The selected predefined operating domain

• The participating Executive Sponsor and Sponsor Team

• Authorized Trial participants

• Client technical contacts

• SILMS Trial Edition deployment requirements

• Applicable Microsoft prerequisites

• The Trial start date

• Evaluation and completion requirements

The client's designated technical resources perform the client-environment deployment, Microsoft configuration, user provisioning, access enablement, and ongoing technical-administration activities required for operation.

Receipt of payment is the commercial activation milestone authorizing Alentra to begin mobilization.

For Production, Alentra and the client confirm the subscribed Enterprise Transformation Program, authorized contacts, Sponsor User and Core User entitlements, View User access boundaries, initial Active Platform Participation, applicable operating domains, deployment responsibilities, Microsoft prerequisites, required permissions, and onboarding requirements before activation.

For the Trial, Alentra and the client confirm the selected predefined operating domain, participating Sponsor Team, SILMS Trial Edition deployment requirements, applicable Microsoft prerequisites, and Trial start date.

Subscription Expansion

The annual Production Subscription establishes defined commercial and operating boundaries.

Normal personnel changes and reassignment within the subscribed user entitlements do not create transactional per-user charges. Normal development of Sponsor Intent, Transformation Components, Releases, decisions, evidence, and lifecycle activity within the subscribed Enterprise Transformation Program also remains within the subscribed operating architecture.

A subscription adjustment can be required when there is material and sustained expansion of:

• Sponsor Users

• Core Users

• Active operating domains

• Governing bodies

• Substantive participant networks

• Technical, security, support, or capacity requirements

• Contracted-use boundaries

• The subscribed Enterprise Transformation Program boundary

• Other contracted scope

Alentra and the client confirm the required operating, technical, support, security, Microsoft licensing, capacity, Information Governance, and commercial changes before expanded use is activated or through the applicable renewal process.

Subscription Renewal and Pricing

The Production Subscription renews according to the renewal provisions established in the applicable agreement.

Before renewal, Alentra and the client can review material changes affecting:

• The subscribed Enterprise Transformation Program

• User entitlements

• Active Platform Participation

• Operating domains

• Sponsor Intent Lifecycle Management requirements

• Support requirements

• Technical or capacity requirements

• Other contracted scope

Normal participant changes within the subscribed entitlement do not require repricing merely because individual participants change.

Renewal pricing can reflect market conditions, material expansion of The CFO-TA capabilities or included value, changes in subscribed entitlements or other contracted scope, and other factors defined in the applicable agreement. Alentra communicates the applicable renewal price before the new annual commitment begins.

An executed multi-year fixed-price commitment governs during its contracted term.

Current public pricing and Founding Customer provisions are maintained on the Pricing and Pricing FAQs pages.

Cancellation, Termination, and Refunds

The Production Subscription is non-cancellable during the committed term except as expressly provided in the applicable agreement.

Production Subscription fees are prepaid and non-refundable for convenience, non-use, customer-side adoption conditions, organizational changes, changes to the Enterprise Transformation Program, or dissatisfaction with realized value.

If Alentra materially breaches an expressly contracted obligation and does not cure the breach within the applicable contractual cure period, the executed agreement governs the customer's termination-for-cause rights and any applicable prorated unused-fee remedy.

Trial, Transformation Accelerator, and Executive Advisory Block cancellation, termination, expiration, and refund provisions are governed by their applicable agreements.

This structure holds Alentra accountable for its contracted obligations without converting an annual subscription or fixed-fee engagement into a satisfaction-based, usage-based, or month-to-month commercial arrangement.

What Happens When a Production Subscription Ends

If a Production Subscription expires and is not renewed, access to The CFO-TA and continuing Alentra intelligence concludes. Future SILMS releases, methodology updates, platform enhancements, generally available new capabilities, customer support, premium guidance, applicable Alentra-hosted services, and rights to newly developed Alentra intellectual property provided through the active subscription also conclude.

Client information and organization-specific intellectual assets remain with the client. These include:

• Sponsor Intent Assets

• Sponsor-owned decisions

• Conditions of Success

• Decision Boundaries

• Accountability Requirements

• Exception Rules

• Evidence Requirements

• Sponsor Intent Validation Plans

• Sponsor Intent Test Cases

• Validation findings and authorized conclusions

• Evidence

• Transformation Definition and Transformation Roadmap relationships

• Transformation Component and Release relationships

• Decision history

• Lifecycle history

• Client-created documents

• Client-created reports

• Client-created prompts and agents

• Client-specific configurations

• Client-resident SharePoint structures

• Other organization-specific intelligence

Subject to the applicable agreement, the client retains a perpetual, limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable right to continue using the final SILMS version deployed in its environment for its own internal business purposes.

This continuing right does not include future SILMS releases, continuing Alentra intelligence, methodology evolution, platform enhancements, customer support, premium guidance, new capabilities, sublicensing, resale, commercialization, redistribution, third-party hosting, service-bureau use, or cross-client reuse.

Responsibility and Risk Allocation

The commercial and operating model aligns responsibility with control.

The client controls its Microsoft environment, identity and access administration, user permissions, approved third-party access, security, privacy, records management, Information Governance, Microsoft licensing, storage, capacity, consumption, and organization-specific information.

The Executive Sponsor and authorized Business-Side leaders retain responsibility for Sponsor Intent, consequential decisions, authorization, acceptance, implementation oversight, compliance obligations, operational decisions, and intended business outcomes.

Alentra provides The CFO-TA, the SILMS, methodology, guidance, analysis, authoring, validation support, decision support, continuity, Sponsor Intent Lifecycle Management, platform evolution, and other capabilities defined within the applicable agreement.

Key principles include:

• Clients control their Microsoft environment

• Clients control user access and permissions

• Clients retain their information and organization-specific intelligence

• Executive Sponsors retain authority over Sponsor Intent

• Clients make final business decisions

• Clients remain responsible for implementation and intended business outcomes

• Implementation partners and providers remain responsible for their contracted work

• Alentra does not operate client business systems

• Alentra does not execute the Enterprise Transformation Program

• Alentra does not assume the implementation partner's responsibilities

• Clients deploy and administer The CFO-TA within their Microsoft environment

• Clients provide ongoing technical support for their Microsoft environment

• Clients troubleshoot client-specific Microsoft-environment issues

• Clients administer storage, capacity, Microsoft licensing, and consumption

• Alentra supports the Alentra-provided product assets and contracted product capabilities

• Customer-specific technical engineering beyond the standard boundary requires separate authorization

• Contractual commitments do not guarantee particular financial, business, adoption, or Enterprise Transformation Program outcomes

The applicable agreement reflects these respective areas of control, authority, responsibility, and risk.

Summary for Enterprise Review

The CFO-TA is the Executive Sponsor Platform. Production is provided through an annual prepaid subscription for one Enterprise Transformation Program and operates through a client-controlled deployment architecture.

The SILMS is deployed within the client's Microsoft environment and remains subject to the client's Microsoft administration, identity and access, security, privacy, records-management, retention, Information Governance, storage, capacity, licensing, consumption, and technical-support controls.

The client's designated technical resources perform deployment and ongoing environment administration. Alentra provides the deployable product architecture, deployment guidance, entitlement architecture, methodology, continuing platform updates, and contracted product support.

Client information, Sponsor Intent Assets, decisions, evidence, validation history, Transformation Component and Release relationships, and other organization-specific intelligence remain on the client's infrastructure.

The Production Subscription establishes defined user entitlements, third-party participation boundaries, Active Platform Participation boundaries, support boundaries, expansion provisions, renewal provisions, and continuing-use rights. Generic per-seat counting does not drive the core subscription price.

The CFO-TA Trial provides an optional bounded evaluation path before Production adoption. Production Subscriptions are prepaid, non-cancellable during the committed term except as expressly provided in the applicable agreement, and non-refundable for convenience.

Alentra retains ownership of The CFO-TA, the SILMS, methodologies, frameworks, software, platform capabilities, and other Alentra intellectual property. The client retains ownership of its information and organization-specific intellectual assets. Subject to the applicable agreement, the client also retains continuing internal-use rights to the final Production SILMS version deployed in its environment if the Production Subscription ends.

The executed agreement governs the customer's specific price, term, payment schedule, responsibilities, rights, remedies, and other contractual provisions.