# 11. How much does GRC implementation cost, and why should we avoid a subscription multiplier?

Estimate implementation from the work required, rather than assuming it will cost a fixed percentage of the software subscription. ServiceNow’s own IRM data-model service description separately identifies architecture, integration design, dependencies, entity definitions and user stories—useful evidence that design itself has specific deliverables. [Service description](https://www.servicenow.com/content/dam/servicenow-assets/public/en-us/doc-type/legal/irm-data-model-design-tier-2-service-description.pdf). ([servicenow.com](https://www.servicenow.com/content/dam/servicenow-assets/public/en-us/doc-type/legal/irm-data-model-design-tier-2-service-description.pdf))

Our recommended implementation budget has six work packages:

- Process and operating-model design.
- Configuration and reporting.
- Data cleansing, transformation and migration.
- Integration engineering and testing.
- User acceptance, training and change support.
- Cutover, stabilisation and handover.

For each, record quantity, rate or fixed fee, assumptions, buyer contribution and change-control mechanism. Add internal effort separately; a supplier’s fixed fee does not mean the buyer has no work.

**Illustrative internal-cost calculation:** 30 hours of process-owner work, 20 hours of data-owner work and 50 hours of technical work per month, across six months at an assumed USD 100 loaded hourly rate, equals **USD 60,000**. This is arithmetic using hypothetical inputs, not a staffing benchmark.

Before accepting a fixed-price offer, ask what happens if the trial load exposes duplicate identifiers, evidence links fail, or the buyer changes its approval model. A bounded scope with explicit exceptions is more useful than an apparently comprehensive fee whose assumptions remain undocumented.