Service Level Agreements (SLA) | Modern Management Training Center

Service Level Agreements have long been deployed by IT departments as a means of defining and measuring the performance of third party suppliers or vendors. Recent moves towards the outsourcing of a wide range of services in both public and private industry has provided renewed focus on the need to measure the service provision of both internal service related groups and external service providers. This is also increasingly the case for many groups outside of the traditional IT arena – and for these groups SLAs are fast becoming a vital tool for survival.

For internal service providers SLA’s provide a means of comparing internal levels of service provision with those available from external providers and to deal pragmatically with the threat of outsourcing.

For those groups receiving services SLA's provide a means of bench marking internal service provision so as to compare with that available from external parties, and so provide a framework for making considered outsourcing decisions. Where services have already been outsourced, SLAs provide these groups with a reliable mechanism for defining and measuring the services provided.

Not only do SLA's provide the basis for measuring service provision but also they are a powerful management and communications tool for both the service provider and the customer – resulting in the mutual benefit of both.

Program Objectives

understand the nature of service provision and the intrinsic difficulties associated with providing good service
understand how to create a service framework within an organisation using Service Level Agreements
understand the benefits of Service Level Agreements to both the customer and the service provider
understand how Service Level Agreements can be used to measure both internal and external service provision
understand the structure of a Service Level Agreement
understand the process to be followed to create a Service Level Agreement, and for the maintenance and upkeep of the Service Level Agreement over time
understand document and change control principles as they apply to Service Level Agreements
appreciate some of the methods used to measure IT service provision and which methods may be most relevant to their own organisations

Beneficiaries

Managers or supervisors responsible for service delivery within an organisation
Managers or supervisors responsible for outsourcing decisions
Managers or supervisors responsible for managing external service providers
Service provider organisations responding to outsourcing tenders
Service provider organisations with existing service contracts in place

Contents

Background to SLA's
Defining ‘Service’ and the inherent problems associated with it
What is a Service Level Agreement
Benefits of creating Service Level Agreements
Relevance of Service Level Agreements for IT and non IT related services
Service Level Measurement-when will an SLA be appropriate, what other service measurement options are there?
Some guidelines for measuring IT based services
The structure of a Service Level Agreement-including a blank SLA pro forma
The process for creating a Service Level Agreement
Creating the Service Catalogue
Selecting services appropriate for SLA's
Change Management of SLA's Documentation standards for SLA's