IT CONTRACT FOUNDATIONS
This formally binding agreement defines expectations between an organization and an IT vendor.
What is an IT contract?
This contract section defines the work that will be performed.
What is the Scope of Work (SOW)?
This contract component defines how well services must perform.
What is a Service Level Agreement (SLA)?
This risk results from system downtime affecting operations.
What is operational risk?
Choosing a vendor with clear SLAs helps reduce this.
What is risk?
The primary reason organizations use IT contracts.
What is to define roles, responsibilities, and expectations?
This is commonly included in an SOW to define outputs.
What are deliverables?
This SLA metric measures system availability.
What is uptime?
This type of risk arises when contract language is unclear.
What is contractual risk?
Ending a contract after repeated SLA failures is an example of this right.
What is termination for cause?
This ensures that both parties agree to the contract terms.
What is mutual consent?
This problem occurs when work expands beyond what was originally agreed upon.
What is scope creep?
This SLA metric measures how quickly the vendor acknowledges a problem.
What is response time?
This clause limits how much financial responsibility each party assumes.
What is a limitation of liability clause?
Ensuring data is returned or deleted at contract end addresses this concern.
What is data ownership and exit planning?
This element gives a contract legal value and enforceability.
What is consideration?
Timelines and milestones are typically documented in this contract component.
What is the SOW?
This measures how long it takes to fully fix an issue.
What is resolution time?
This risk occurs when switching vendors is difficult or expensive.
What is vendor lock‑in?
Reviewing SLA reports regularly demonstrates this practice.
What is contract governance?
This role is typically responsible for managing IT contracts within an organization.
What is the IT Manager?
A vague or poorly written SOW most often leads to this issue.
What are disputes between the customer and vendor?
These compensate customers when SLA targets are not met.
What are service credits?
Failing to monitor contract performance often leads to this.
What is poor contract management?
Balancing cost savings with performance expectations reflects this IT management skill.
What is strategic decision‑making?