Checklist Underpinning Contract (UC)

ITIL Process: Service Delivery - Service Level Management

Checklist Category: Checklists for Service Level Management

The Underpinning Contract contains the relevant data for the regulation of the relationship between Service Level Management (Service recipient) and an external Service Provider, who performs tasks within the framework of the Service provision. The UC corresponds to the structure of an SLA:

Name of the IT Service
Clearance information (with location and date)
- Service Level Manager
- External Service Provider (approved signatory)
Contact persons
- Name of the Service provider
- Name of the Service recipient
- Contact partners/ persons in charge (Service Level Manager and Service provider) for
  - Contractual changes
  - Complaints and suggestions
  - Escalations in the case of contractual infringements
  - Service reviews
  - Emergencies
Contract duration
- Contract start
- Contract end
- Rules for changes to the UC
  - How are requests for change submitted (deletions, additions or changes to components of the UC)?
  - How are the requests for change and their implementation controlled?
  - Who is responsible for the clearance of the changes?
- Rules for termination of the UC
Service description
- Short description of Service
- Users of the IT Service on the client-side
- Breakdown of the offered Service into Service groups, e.g. along infrastructure components or IT applications
- For each Service group:
  - Which Services are offered, e.g.
    - Handling of Service interruptions (by telephone, by remote access, on site?)
    - User Services (user administration, installation, …)
  - What quality is required of the offered Services, e.g.
    - Service times
    - Availability requirements
      - Number of interruptions allowed
      - Availability thresholds (xx,xx %)
      - Downtimes for maintenance (number of allowed downtimes, pre-notification periods)
      - Procedure for announcing interruptions to the Service (planned/ unplanned)
    - Performance requirements
      - Required capacity (lower/upper limit) for the Service
      - Allowed workload/ usage of the Service
      - Response times from applications
      - Reaction and resolution times (according to priorities, definition of priorities e.g. for the classification of Incidents)
    - Requirements for the maintenance of the Service in the event of a disaster
Relations to other IT Services
Procedures for requesting the IT Service
- Requests possible by telephone/fax/mail, ... (addresses, telephone numbers, etc.)
Responsibilities
- Of the Service recipient (also within the field of IT Security)
- Responsibilities and liability of the external Service provider
Quality assurance and Service Level Reporting
- Measurement procedures
  - Which indicators
  - With which measurement procedures
  - At which intervals
  - Collated into which reports
- UC reviews
  - Intervals at which UC reviews are to be held
Service accounting
- Costs for the provision of the Service
- Accounting method for the Service
- Intervals for invoicing
Glossary