Every Service Engagement has its own requirements in terms of the used assets to accomplish its objectives. Determining and acquiring these assets in a timely manner are crucial to the overall success of the entire service.

During the initial stages of the Service Engagement, the Engagement Manager is responsible for identifying and defining the facilities, equipment, and component requirements needed for managing and delivering the service. This will include the establishment of the Service Engagement Management Environment including items such as the office facilities, hardware, and software tools. Any essential security aspects as described in the Information Security Management stream must be considered. In addition, the client may have specific requirements that the Service Engagement will need to accommodate.

Infrastructure items with extensive lead times need to be identified early to ascertain how they will be addressed. Even when the required assets are not unique, compiling a list of all of the facilities, equipment, and parts (e.g. number of computers for the personnel working on the Service Engagement, software tools, and office space) provides insight into aspects of the scope and associated effort that are often overlooked.

Examples of infrastructure requirements could be:

• network requirements (bandwidth, security, availability, etc.).
• additional bandwidth for data and voice communication.
• access to client’s network.
• isolated facility at offshore site.
• special software or hardware that is not a part of a standard infrastructure.
• server configurations.
• desktop configurations.
• software such as operating systems, middleware, databases, language compilers, integrated development environment.
• remote connectivity software and enablers.
• service management and collaborative development related tools.
• communication tools (as identified in the Communication Management Stream).
• on-going infrastructure support needs (ensuring support is available during working hours on all shores).
• special requirements with respect to office space and office equipment.