Setting Up a Service Level Management Process

http://www.slm-info.org

A service level management process ensures that all IT services provided to customers meet agreed-upon levels of quality. It involves ensuring that Service level Agreements (SLAs) are in place, are met and that service levels are tracked and reported.

To accomplish all of this, it’s essential to have the proper tools in place. Often the processes and systems that define the service levels are subcontracted out to third-party companies. It is essential to understand how to manage them within your own SLM process.

The first step to setting up an SLM process is to determine which services are essential for the business and establish acceptable measures of the success of the process. This usually involves taking into consideration factors such as efficiency in terms of user base, efficiency, and design aspects. It is also essential to choose technology expertise carefully For instance companies that specialize in a particular platform may be able to commit to higher levels of performance than a generalised service provider.

After the SLA targets have been set teams must implement a strategy to keep them. This usually involves putting in systems that track progress and alert the team automatically when there are problems in meeting the goals.

Furthermore, a strong SLM procedure will include continuous improvement procedures. This will help teams take the information they collect, and identify ways of improving the processes that cause them issues. If, for instance a NOC service fails to meet its SLA of answering telephone calls in 30 seconds, then it is possible to pinpoint the reason and fix it.