Vendor Policy
PURPOSE
The purpose of this Vendor Policy is to clearly define the procedures and requirements to ensure and maintain a successful and professional relationship between Edcast and Suppliers. Suppliers are responsible for meeting the requirements of this policy. Failure to meet these requirements may result in the loss of existing and/or future Edcast’s business.
SCOPE
This policy applies to all vendor engagements, for supply of product and/or services including but not restricted to, Branded and Assembled Computers, IT hardware, IT Support and Consulting Services, Business Consulting Services, Marketing and Sales Services, Engineering Support Services, Cloud infrastructure services, known as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), new application executions or existing application upgrades, Financial Services, Talent Research and Management Services, Legal and Audit Services, Rental and Lease, etc.
GUIDELINE
Contractual Process
No product and/or service contract shall be entered into by an Edcast employee without prior review by the Procurement Department with approval from designated management personnel.
Business Approach And Standards
We aim to maintain high standards of ethical and business conduct within our operations, and extend these best practices to our business partners (Vendors). We expect that our partners will follow our expectations regarding socially responsible business practices and positively impact our stakeholders, customers, and the communities, in which we all operate. We expect our vendors to deliver operational excellence, and continuously improve their operations to fulfill our expectations, especially in regards to the high quality of products and/ or services delivery at the best & lowest possible cost.
Confidentiality
We respect and strictly protect confidential information provided by our Vendors and customers, we expect the same commitment regarding protecting confidential information we provide to vendors. And for the time being a vendor is associated with Edcast, the Vendor must confirm and agree to the requirements in the Edcast GDPR Compliances, Edcast Data Retention Policy, Edcast Data Security Policy, Edcast Information Security Policy, and Edcast Privacy Policy. Moreover, on a quarterly basis, vendors should share self-regulatory data utility and security reports with Edcast.
Security and Data Risk Assessment
If a vendor requires access to EdCast networks to deliver its services this requires a review by the EdCast security team. The type of access, connectivity, ports, and longevity of the access as well as what data, if any, may be accessed, needs to be documented and reviewed by the security team prior to granting access. If a vendor requires access to the EdCast network to deliver its services and it requires access to EdCast and/or customer data, then the vendor must comply with EdCast security policies and procedures and follow industry best practices, like SOC2 Type2 audits, to secure data. Additionally, if any vendor stores or processes EdCast or its customer data should submit proof of its security controls in place to protect the data. The proof can be a SOC2 Type II audit report from intended auditors or a signed security agreement ensuring the security and privacy of EdCast and its customers’ data in compliance with EdCast security policies. Any access by a vendor to confidential client data, passwords, and personally identifying information (PII) should adhere to EdCast’s Data Security policy. If a vendor stores any EdCast’s customer data, then it must be in compliance with customers’ data geolocation regulations such as GDPR and CCPA as already stated in the confidentiality clause of this policy.
Commercial Requirement
All the Vendors should comply with the MSA (Master Service Agreement), Purchase order, and the terms and conditions associated with delivery of products and/or services.
Order Acceptance
All Vendors must confirm the Purchase Order (PO) or a Contract within 48 hours. If there is no confirmation from the Vendor, nor feedback from the Vendor, and contact with the Vendor is limited or there is no response upon reminder from Edcast, Edcast retains the full right to cancel the PO or a contract.
Order / Contract Inception
Once the Purchase Order (PO) or a Contract is accepted, the Vendor should initiate service delivery within 72 hours. If there is no action from the Vendor, nor communication with reasoning from the Vendor for the delay in initiation of the services, the vendor will be sent a reminder notice and upon reminder from Edcast, and within 48 hr if the vendor fails to act or respond to the notice then Edcast retains the full right to cancel the PO or a contract.
Agreements Terms
All Vendors Agreement (Contract) should be for a period of one (1) year, unless the purchase is of one time in nature, and needs to be reviewed annually to ensure that it is current and includes any changes in product and/ or service offerings, the service level of agreements or any other changes affecting the EdCast services to its customers. And all the vendor’s agreements should clearly exclude the Auto-Renewal Clause. If in case the Auto-Renewal clause is unavoidable then, in that case, the Vendor should notify to Edcast Vendor Relationship well in advance in 3 sets of reminders i.e., within 90 days, followed by within 30 days, and finally within 7 days before the due date of Agreement Renewal.
The agreement must contain a documented data Security Plan which describes all existing and planned security controls of Edcast’s Data. Contracts must clearly identify security reporting requirements that stipulate that the vendor is responsible for maintaining the security of sensitive data, regardless of ownership. Contracts must include formal sanctions or penalties for failure to meet the security requirements in the contract or purchase document.
Indemnification
Each Party, in this case, Edcast and the Vendor, shall indemnify, defend and hold harmless the other party, and their representatives, agents, sureties, and employees from and against any and all demands, claims, suits, causes of action, losses, including claims by third parties for death or personal injury of employees of, or damage to real or personal property of the other Party, whether groundless or not, penalties, liabilities, judgments, settlements, damages, costs, attorneys’ fees, and expenses of any nature.
Communication
All the communication regarding the Products and/or Service Contract, either a new agreement or for the review and renewal of the agreement, should be sent to the email id: vendors@edcast.com. And for all the Invoices submissions and payment queries, the vendor should contact the accounts payable department of the respective EdCast office by email: for Vendors in the US, please reach out to accounting@edcast.com, and for Vendors in Europe/ AMEA, please reach out to finance@edcast.com. Any other email address is forbidden for such communication.
Product Packaging Requirements(only applicable for Material Supplier)
It is ultimately the Material Supplier‘s responsibility to ensure that their material arrives at Edcast’s designated facilities free of damage, and must adequately plan to prevent product loss and eliminate shipping damage. In the case, when the products delivered by the Supplier do not comply with Edcast’s requirements, Edcast may cancel the order, and return the item. The Edcast expects that the Supplier will reimburse Edcast for all reasonable costs associated with the remedy of a nonconforming material occurrence.
Reporting Requirements
A vendor at any given time of being in association with Edcast should immediately report any breach of the security of the sensitive data, the vendor is responsible for immediately notifying and working with the EdCast security team regarding recovery and remediation. The reports should include but not limited to all suspected loss or compromise of sensitive data exchanged pursuant, Unauthorized Systems Access, Compromised Data, Loss of Data Integrity, Inability to Transmit or Process Data, Exception Reporting, etc. Any exceptions from the normal activity are to be noted in the reports.
Payment Terms
All vendor payments will be made after the submission of Invoices for each service delivered and post the invoice review and verification those invoices will be paid as per the agreed contract with the Vendor. The payment terms will be agreed upon between Edcast and the vendor at the time of contracting. EdCast’s standard payment terms are 90 days from the date of the invoice received by the EdCast account payable department.
Dispute Resolutions
Any dispute relating to any agreement which cannot be resolved by negotiation between Edcast and Vendor within 15 days of either party giving notice to the other party that a dispute has arisen shall be submitted to mediation pursuant to the Mediation Rules and failing settlement of that dispute by mediation within 15 days thereafter, the dispute shall be submitted by any party for final resolution by arbitration by 1 arbitrator(s) conducted in a location of Edcast entity on the contract in the English language and in accordance with the Rules of Arbitration of the Local Arbitration Body.
Vendor Code of Conduct
Vendors should adhere to the EdCast Vendor Code of Conduct.
Supplier diversity
At Edcast Inc., we recognize the value diversity brings to our employees, clients, and communities we serve. The goal of our Supplier Diversity Program is to promote the inclusion of small and diverse businesses in our purchasing process and to continuously strive to increase our spend with qualifying enterprises. Qualifying suppliers must meet business size criteria established by the Small Business Administration, and include enterprises across the following categories:
- Women-owned businesses
- Veteran-owned businesses
- Small Business – SBE
- Small Disadvantaged business – SDM
- Service-disabled veteran-owned businesses
- LGBT-owned businesses
- Disadvantaged businesses
- Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) businesses
- Minority-owned and other small businesses
Suppliers are evaluated on several criteria including price, quality, customer service, delivery, and other business requirements. We aim to reach our program goals by:
- Identifying, actively seeking, and continuously expanding our network of small diverse business vendors
- Training and encouraging our purchasers to include small diverse business vendors in the purchasing process where there is alignment with our business needs
- Monitoring and measuring the effectiveness of our supplier diversity efforts
Edcast Inc. is committed to the development of a diverse supplier base. We encourage all employees to be inclusive in their daily business decisions when selecting the best supplier to meet our business needs.
