Queensland Government Bulletin: Part 1 - Key issues in contracting under QITC

With the Queensland Information Technology Contracting (QITC) framework now well established, it is timely to look at the some of the key issues that can arise for government in using the framework.

Service level agreements (SLA) can be tricky for customers – it is common for them to be included in a contract, but then not measured, and for any service credits not to be claimed. However, a good SLA can be the main tool to ensure good supplier performance in the contract's operational phase, which is especially critical given contracts are often being extended for longer periods.

The key to a good SLA is to keep it simple – identify one to three key KPIs specific to the project to measure and apply credits to, have a credits regime that escalates as the performance gets poorer, and include termination rights as a final remedy. As part of this, the customer needs to ensure a significant amount of the relevant fees are at risk.