The Contract Manager will need to ensure the Contract Management Team has suitable IT systems for managing the Contract. IT will play an important role in relation to the Authority's knowledge management and it is important that there is a clear and considered strategy in place in relation to IT which should be documented in the Contract Management Manual. The strategy should recognise that IT systems are developing rapidly and the specific technology used at the beginning of the Contract will probably need to be replaced several times over the life of the Contract. The strategy should therefore include processes for managing the impact of systems or technology upgrades, changes in software and new hardware requirements.