Service Level ManA

Service Level Management Best Practice Handbook:
Building, Running and Managing Effective Service Level Management SLAs - Ready to use supporting documents bringing ITIL Theory into Practice
Notice of Rights: Copyright The Art of Service. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Notice of Liability: The information in this book is distributed on an As Is basis without warranty. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of the book, neither the author nor the publisher shall have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the instructions contained in this book or by the products described in it. Trademarks: Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and the publisher was aware of a trademark claim, the designations appear as requested by the owner of the trademark. All other product names and services identified throughout this book are used in editorial fashion only and for the benefit of such companies with no intention of infringement of the trademark. No such use, or the use of any trade name, is intended to convey endorsement or other affiliation with this book. ITIL is a Registered Community Trade Mark of OGC (Office of Government Commerce, London, UK), and is Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
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Service Level Management
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ROADMAP........................................................................................ 5 SERVICE LEVEL MANGEMENT PRESENTATION........................................................... 9 SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS....................................................................................... 69 OBJECTIVES AND GOALS...................................................................................... 71 BUSINESS JUSTIFICATION DOCUMENTS ................................................................ 75 SLM SCOPE ............................................................................................................. 81 POLICIES OBJECTIVE AND SCOPE ....................................................................... 89 SERVICE LEVEL REQUIREMENTS............................................................................. 93 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS .............................................................................. 101 FUNCTIONAL SPECIFICATIONS ........................................................................... 110 MULTI LEVEL BASED SLA....................................................................................... 119 SERVICE BASED SLA ............................................................................................. 127 CUSTOMER BASED SLA ........................................................................................ 135 UNDERPINNING CONTRACTS ............................................................................. 141 SERVICE OPTIONS ................................................................................................ 145 PRICE LIST .............................................................................................................. 151 SERVICE CATALOG.............................................................................................. 155 COMMUNICATION PLAN .................................................................................... 168 BUSINESS AND IT SERVICE MAPPING.................................................................. 176 REPORTS KPIs AND METRICS .............................................................................. 192 BUSINESS AND IT FLYERS ...................................................................................... 198 EMAIL TEXT ............................................................................................................ 202 SLM PROCESS MANAGER ................................................................................... 208 IMPLEMENTATION PLAN AND PROJECT PLAN...................................................... 212 FURTHER INFORMATION .......................................................................................... 220
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Page 4
INTRODUCTION ROADMAP
Many organizations are looking to implement Service Level Management as a way to improve the structure and quality of the business.
This document describes the contents of the Service Level Management Guide. The information found within the book is based on the ITIL Version 2 framework, specifically the Service Level Management process within the Service Delivery phase.
The guide is designed to answer a lot of the questions about Service Level Management and provide you with useful guides, templates and essential, but simple assessments.
The supporting documents and assessments will help you identify the areas within your organization that require the most activity in terms of change and improvement.
Presentations can be used to educate or be used as the basis for management presentations or when making business cases for Service Level Management implementation.
The additional information will enable you to improve your organizations methodology knowledge base.
The guide serves to act as a starting point. It will give you a clear path to travel. It is designed to be a valuable source of information and activities. The Service Level Management Guide:
Flows logically, Is scalable, Provides presentations, templates and documents, Saves you time.
Page 5
Step 1
Start by reviewing the PowerPoint presentation.
Service Level Management ITIL V2 This presentation provides a detailed and comprehensive overview of Service Level Management in the specialist areas of ITIL Version 2 and in particular, within the Service Level Management process as part of the Service Delivery phase.
These presentations will give you a good knowledge and understanding of all the terms, activities and concepts required within Service Level Management. They can also be used as the basis for management presentations or when making a formal business case for Service Level Management implementation. Make sure you pay close attention to the notes, as well as the slides, as references to further documents and resources are highlighted here.
Page 6
Step 2
If you did not look at the supporting documents and resources when prompted during the PowerPoint presentations, do this now.
Below is an itemized list of the supporting documents and resources for easy reference. You can use these documents and resources within your own organization or as a template to help you in prepare your own bespoke documentation.
Service Level Management ITIL V2: Objectives and Goals Business Justification Document SLM Scope Policies Objective and Scope Service Level Requirements Technical Specifications Functional Specifications Multi Level Based SLA Service Based SLA Customer Based SLA Underpinning Contracts Service Options Price List Service Catalog Communication Plan Business and IT Service Mapping Reports KPIs and Metrics Business and IT Flyers Email Text SLM Process Manager
Page 7
Step 3
Alternatively, continue by working through the Implementation Plan with the focus on your organization. This will help you ascertain the Service Level Management maturity for your organization. You will able to identify gaps and areas of attention and/or improvement.
The supporting documents and resources found within the book will help you fill these gaps by giving you a focused, practical and user-friendly approach to Service Level Management.
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SERVICE LEVEL MANGEMENT PRESENTATION
Please refer to Objectives and Goals on page 71 within this workbook for more information.
Page 9
Please refer to Business Justification Document on page 75 within this workbook for more information.
Page 10
These bullet points help to illustrate why it is that we need to introduce the disciplines of effective and efficient Process management into our IT environments.
Briefly discuss each, you can of course add or delete points according to your own situation.
Page 11
ITSM is not something on its own, but closely linked to the business. Explain difference between effective (doing the right thing) and efficient (doing the right thing the right way).
The objective tree is a useful way to help explain the importance of IT being a supporting department to the business.
To meet organizational objectives, the organization has business processes in place.
Examples of business processes are sales, admin and financial (who have a sales process) or logistics, customer service and freight (who have a customer returns process).
Each of the units involved in these business processes needs IT Services (e.g. CRM application, e-mail, word processing, financial tools).
Page 12
Continued
Each of these services runs on IT infrastructure that has to be properly managed (Service Management). IT Infrastructure includes hardware, software, procedures, policies, documentation, etc.
ITIL provides a framework for the management of IT Infrastructure.
Page 13
Traditionally we look at the IT department as a collection of specialists with specialist skills. This is a functional way to look at IT and it puts people into departmental SILOs.
Page 14
Best practice processes will transverse functional departments and help to break down the silos/walls/barriers to communication between them.
Explain the benefits of processes in general. Other points to explain: A process is a set of activities with a common goal. A process can measure the input, output and activities. A process will link these measurements to targets.
Page 15
An IT organization needs to focus on all these aspects to deliver the right IT services (effective) in the right way (efficient).
Generally, the technology perspective gets a lot of attention (time, budget, people etc). More and more people see the importance of processes (which is why ITIL is getting so popular).
There is also an organization perspective: the alignment of vision, strategy and goals with the day to day activities in IT. This is useless, if it is not communicated (which is virtually always the case and finally, there is the people perspective, which looks at the soft side: is your staff happy, do they have the right skills, are you managing them effectively etc.
Page 16
Service Level Management is one of 10 ITIL processes. Here we get to see the others and the one function (Service Desk). Security Management can be included as well, due to its critical importance.
Service Level Management is not an isolated process, but:
Is a process that is based around communication and monitoring Is a process that requires high client/customer liaison Provides information to all other processes (e.g. customer expectations, financial information,etc.) Requires information from other processes (e.g. reports on performance, trending information, customer satisfaction ratings) etc.
Page 17
Please refer to SLM Scope on page 81 within this workbook for more information.
Page 18
Please refer to Policies Objectives and Goals on page 89 within this workbook for more information.
Page 19
Explain the relationship between the customer IT and Suppliers.
Also the higher level processes with the lower level etc.
In reality organizations have typically revamped the SLAs every 12-18 months. The problem has been that the information used to update the SLA is often incomplete or disparate.
Having the other processes in place provides a common focus for the SLA to draw accurate information from which allows SLM to act as the interface between the possibilities (IT) and needs (customer).
Page 20
Talk about how SLM fits in with the rest of IT. What generic benefits does IT get from having the process in place? What does the business get?
The acronyms in this slide are covered later: UC = Underpinning contract (the agreement in place between Service Level Management and external providers) OLA = Operation Level Agreement (the agreement in place between Service Level Management and internal providers) SLA = Service Level Agreements (agreements that document customer expectations regarding IT Service Delivery)
Page 21
Explain that each of these are either inputs to the process, outputs to the process and in some cases both.
An understanding of these are necessary as we move into the six real activities in the coming slides.
Note: you can gain more understanding on these terms from later slides or supplemental information from www.theartofservice.com
Page 22
Please refer to Level Requirement on page 93, Technical Specifications on page 101 and Functional Specifications on page 109 within this workbook for more information.
Page 23
Please refer to Multi Level Based SLA on page 117 and Service Level Based SLA on page 125 and Customer Based SLA on page 133 within this workbook for more information.
Page 24
Please refer to Underpinning Contracts on page 139 within this workbook for more information.
Page 25
This is a summary slide regarding the core activities of Service Level Management.
Following pages expand on this one.
Page 26
This diagram has been split up over the following slides to allow for more detailed explanation on each component.
Page 27
Once the first SLA structure has been agreed, a first SLA must be drafted. It is advisable to involve Customers from the outset, but rather than going along with a blank sheet to commence with, it may be better to produce a first outline draft as a starting point for more detailed and in-depth discussion. Be careful though no to go too far and appear to be presenting the Customer with a fait accompli.
Please refer to Service Level Requirements on page 93 within this workbook for more information.
Page 28
Please refer to Multi Level Based SLA on page 117, Service Level Based SLA on page 125 and Customer Based SLA on page 133 within this workbook for more information.
Page 29
Over the years, organizations IT Infrastructures have grown and developed, and there may not be a clear picture of all the services currently being provided and the Customers of each. In order to establish an accurate picture, it is recommended that an IT Service Catalog is produced.
Such a catalog should list all of the services being provided, a summary or their characteristics and details of the Customers and maintainer or each.
A dress of detective work may be needed to compile this list an agree it with the Customers (sifting through old documentation, searching program libraries, talking with IT staff and Customers, looking at procurement records and talking with suppliers and contractor etc). If a CMDB or any sort of asset database exists, these may be a valuable source of information.
Page 30
Nothing should be included in an SLA unless it can be effectively monitored and measured at a commonly agreed point. The importance of this cannot be overstressed, as inclusions of items that cannot be effectively monitored almost always result in disputes and eventual loss of faith in the SLM process. A lot of organizations have discovered this the hard way and as a consequence, have absorbed heavy costs both in financial sense as well as in terms of negative impacts on their culture.
Existing monitoring of capabilities should be received and upgraded as necessary. Ideally this should be done ahead of, or in parallel with, the drafting of SLAs, so that monitoring can be in place to assist with the validation of proposed targets.
Page 31
It is essential that monitoring matches the Customers true perception of service. Unfortunately this is often very difficult to achieve. For example, monitoring or individual components, such as the network or server, does not guarantee that the service will be available so far as the Customer is concerned a desktop or application failure may mean that the service cannot be used by the Customer. Without monitoring all components in the end-to-end service (which may be very difficult and costly to achieve) a true picture cannot be gained. Similarly, Users must be aware that they should report Incidents immediately to aid diagnostics, especially if performance related.
Where multiple services are delivered to a single workstation, it is probably more effective to record only down time against the service the User was trying to access at the time (though this needs to be agreed with the Customer). Customer perception is often that although a failure might affect more than one service all they are bothered about the service they cannot access at the time of the reported Incident though this is not always true, so caution is needed.
Page 32
When completed, the catalog may initially consist of a matrix, table or spreadsheet. Some organizations integrate and maintain their Service Catalog as part of the Configuration Management Data Base(CMBD).
Page 33
Here are all six activities and the relevant outputs. This slide can also be an invaluable check list for completion of SLM plans, reports, contracts, etc.
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Page 35
This is a very busy slide and when you think about it like this that all these things are constantly taking place, can be very confusing. How can we make this as streamlined as possible?
It does portray the complexity and myriad of information flows however.
Create some examples for the group using your own experience. If you can start the discussion with one example, others will quickly recount their own experiences.
Page 36
Immediately the SLA is agreed, monitoring must be instigated, and service achievement reports must be produced. Operational reports must be produced frequently (daily perhaps even more frequently), and where possible, exception reports should be produced whenever an SLA has been broken (or threatened if appropriate thresholds have been set to give an early warning).
Page 37
The specific content and the initial targets to be included in SLAs must be agreed. It is difficult to be prescriptive, as each situation is unique, and content varies depending up the type of SLA, but there are a number of common features that often occur within the SLAs.
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Notes:
Page 39
So what should be in this thing called an SLA?
What else could be or should be included in the SLA?
Please refer to Technical Specifications on page101, Functional Specifications on page 109, Service Option on page 143 and Price Lists on page 149 within this workbook for more information.
Page 40
Please refer to Service Catalog on page 153 within this workbook for more information.
Page 41
More information on Configuration Management at www.theartofservice.com
Please refer to Service Catalog on page 153 within this workbook for more information.
Page 42
While many organizations have to give initial priority to introducing SLAs for existing services, it is also important to establish procedures for agreeing Service Level Requirements (SLRs) for new services being developed or procured.
The SLRs should be integral part of the service design criteria, of which the functional specifications is a part. They should, from the very outset, form part of the testing/trialing criteria as the service progresses through the stages of design and development or procurement. A draft SLA should be developed alongside the service itself, and should be signed and formalized before the service is introduced in to live use.
Page 43
An IT Service Management self-assessment scan can be downloaded from www.itil.co.uk.
This is a self assessment scan and is therefore more prone to inaccurate results as there is a lack of objectivity and an exposure to organizational politics.
For information regarding an independent scan send an e-mail to service@theartofservice.com
Page 44
Strategic alignment workshops should be conducted as part of an IT Service Management SCAN to gain insight into what the IT Managers see as high priority issues.
Please refer to Communication Plan on page 165 and Business IT Service Mapping on page 173 within this workbook for more information.
Page 45
Please refer to Communication Plan on page 165 and Business IT Service Mapping on page 173 within this workbook for more information.
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Page 47
Some organizations have chosen to adopt a multi-level SLA structure. For example, a three layer structure as follows:
Corporate Level Customer Level Service Level
Such structure allows SLAs to be kept to a manageable size, avoids unnecessary duplication, and reduces the need for frequent update.
Page 48
Using a draft agreement as a basis, negotiations must be held with the Customer(s), or Customer representatives to finalize the content of the SLA and the initial service level targets, and with the service providers to ensure that these are achievable. Guide on general negotiation techniques is included in the ITIL Business and Management Skills book.
Page 49
Management responsibilities include providing a point of contact for problems related to the agreement, maintaining ongoing contact with the other party, conducting service reviews, coordinating and implementing modifications to the SLA, and assessing and reporting on how the parties can further enhance their working relationship.
Page 50
The subjects and language in the service catalogue and SLAs should be clear to the customers.
The guidelines to be developed should be applicable for all sorts of services; IT services and other facilitating services.
SLA structure should make it possible to offer integrated services in one SLA. E.g. unite services from various business units into one SLA.
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How are KPIs and Metrics used?
How can we improve this?
KPIs % of services covered by SLAs? % of service targets being met? Are customer satisfaction ratings increasing? Are IT costs decreasing for services with stable service level agreements? Is there documentary evidence that issues raised at reviews are being followed up and resolved (e.g. via an SIP)?
Please refer to Reports KPIs and Metrics on page 187 within this workbook for more information.
Page 53
Service Improvement program is usually instigated where an underlying difficulty has been identified which is adversely impacting upon service quality.
A Service Level Scan and the SLAs and Service Catalogue are important inputs into the SIP. They provide a clear definition of the services being offered and at what level they are being offered to allow comparison with the current service levels being achieved. Do they still align with each other?
These two inputs will help provide an understanding of the gap that will exist between services being delivered and services that need to be delivered (Service Level Scan) and current description of services and service level agreements.
The result of a gap analysis is a list of issues that exist, actions to be taken, consequences, benefits and opportunities to be realized.
Page 54
Typically, IT departments measure the availability of individual components rather than an end to end service.
This does not align IT to the business
Page 55
Notes:
Page 56
Typically, IT departments measure the availability of individual components rather than an end to end service.
This does not align IT to the business.
Please refer to Reports KPIs and Metrics on page 187 within this workbook for more information.
Page 57
These are documents that are handy to have as templates.
See www.theartofservice.com for a range of documents and templates that are available.
Page 58
These templates on screen give a very high level view.
The point needs to be made here that there is not one solution of a template that fits all organizations because of the diversity of them.
What we can do is take ideas from all templates then do what is right for the organization.
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Page 60
Please refer to Service Catalogue on page 153 within this workbook for more information.
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SLA
is
a formal contractual arrangement specifying the required
service levels and the expected quality of service to be delivered.

It
must state the mutual responsibilities of the customer and
provider ensuring that both parties are responsible for monitoring, revising and evaluating existing SLAs. SLM
Puts
in place Service Level Agreements with providers in order
to monitor and manage service levels, improving services to ensure that end users are satisfied with the service they receive.
Agreements
with internal and external service suppliers
should be reviewed when significant changes to SLAs take place and at least annually to ensure that they continue to underpin SLAs.
Page 62
Continued
THE LEVEL OF SERVICE

Should
be captured and base-lined, at least annually. This
provides a basis for measuring service improvement and achievements using defined metrics for each service provided.
The
service improvement program should be monitored
regularly and appropriate action taken to correct any underachievements. All service level targets and results together with their history should be maintained in an annual report.
The
foundations for service management must be put in place
very early during the acquisition process. This enables relevant and realistic contract management and management of the relationship with the provider following service implementation.
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The costs associated with Implementing and executing SLM included: Staff Costs (salaries, training, recruitment costs, consultancy if needed), both initial and ongoing.
Accommodation Costs
Support Tools (monitoring and reporting, plus some element of integrated Service Management tools)
Hardware on which run these tools
Marketing costs e.g. Production of Service Catalog
Page 64
Please refer to Business and IT Flyers on page 193 and Email Text on page 197 within this workbook for more information.
Page 65
Please refer to Communication Plan on page 165 within this workbook for more information.
Page 66
Please refer to SLM Process Manager on page 203 within this workbook for more information.
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SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS
Through the documents, look for text surrounded by << and >> these are indicators for you to create some specific text.
Watch also for highlighted text which provides further guidance and instructions.
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OBJECTIVES AND GOALS
IT Services
Detailed Objectives/Goals Process: Service Level Management
Status:
In draft Under Review Sent for Approval Approved Rejected <<your version>>
Version: Release Date:
Note: SEARCH AND REPLACE <<organization name>>
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Detailed Objectives/Goals for Service Level Management
The document is not to be considered an extensive statement as its topics have to be generic enough to suit any reader for any organization. However, the reader will certainly be reminded of the key topics that have to be considered.
The detailed objectives for Service Level Management should include the following salient points:
Objective After they have been agreed upon a specific objective for the process is to continue reporting metrics. This is an activity that is often forgotten over time or simply not done from the out-set. Appoint/Recruit the SLM team and provide ongoing awareness, education and training for staff involved with the process and communication to non-involved, but affected personnel. Setting schedules for reviews of Service Level Agreements and associated supporting documentation. Arranging the logistics of bringing the involved parties together (at intervals that are not considered to be a nuisance but will allow the process objective to be upheld. Monitor customer and end-user satisfaction levels. Monitor the marketplace for appropriate process tools and make recommendations. Design, manage and implement an awareness/communication plan appropriate for this process. Notes Met/Exceeded/Shortfall Dates/names/role titles
Use these objectives to generate discussion about others that may be more appropriate to list than those provided.
Failure to meet objectives (or when service breaches are detected) should trigger a process for improvement. Under the Service Level Management process, we refer to this as a Service Improvement Plan (SIP).
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Service Improvement Plan (SIP)
Where an underlying difficulty has been identified that has lead to a degradation in service quality it is necessary for the Service Level Management process to start a Service Improvement Plan (SIP). The SIP must be drawn together with input from other processes (in particular Problem Management) so that the action steps in the SIP do in fact contribute to improvements and eradication of poor performance.
Areas to address
Comments/Examples
Time Frame/Notes/ Who
SIP Reference number
Unique identifying number for the SLA (for inclusion in the Configuration Management Data Base CMDB) (see www.theartofservice.com for more details on the Configuration Management process) Functional role description of who is responsible for this SIP (who would participate in a review of this document). Representatives from customer and IT. Preferably use a name that is common language in the organization (not a technical name). Briefly describe the primary function of the service. Use language that is business user friendly. (e.g. instead of NT Server, with 2Gb RAM and 500Gb of disk storage we would say large central server designed for all customers to use and share information from) The SIP will generally be based on broken SLAs. Use this section to briefly detail in generic terms why this SIP is required. The SIP will be driven as a result of the need to improve degraded performance. It is likely that there have been continuing Problems that have led to the service degradation. From Problem Management we can gain a better understanding of the background to the SIP.
Owner
Service Name
Service Description (Business) (refer to Technical Considerations later in this table)
Service Breach(s) details (refer to Problem & Availability Management issues). Problem Management details
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Availability Management details
After the SIP is instigated the end users and customers should expect a higher level of service availability than they have in the past. The SIP must directly address the issue of availability by reviewing the past, current and future availability metrics for this service. Briefly list any considerations regarding security considerations for this SIP. Is there a life-span for this SIP; is the life of the SIP time based or driven by activities only? This part of the SIP will outline actual steps to be taken to improve availability and eradicate poor performance. This section of the SIP can be run as a Project if large enough, or as a simple list of action items, responsible person and timeframe. Action items will centre on discussions, negotiations, communications, documentation (new and updates to existing), testing, reviews, training/education and reworking current procedures and work practices. (Note: dont forget to track changes and ensure the Configuration Management database is updated). SIP Creation Date SIP Last Modify Date In this section you can describe any technical considerations that are essential to document. It is more likely however, that you will include here a link to the Service Catalog or Technical Specification.
Service Security Considerations SIP Validity period
SPECIFIC SIP ACTIONS
Version Control Information Technical considerations
Notes & Comments
Page 74
BUSINESS JUSTIFICATION DOCUMENTS
IT Services
Business Justification Process: Service Level Management
Status: In draft Under Review Sent for Approval Approved Rejected <<your version>>
Note: SEARCH AND REPLACE <<Organization name>> Search for any << or >> as your input will be required Also review any yellow highlighted text
Page 75
Business Justification Document for Service Level Management The document is not to be considered an extensive statement as its topics have to be generic enough to suit any reader for any organization. However, the reader will certainly be reminded of the key topics that have to be considered.
This document serves as a reference for HOW TO APPROACH THE TASK OF SEEKING FUNDS for the implementation of the Service Level Management process.
This document provides a basis for completion within your own organization.
This document was; Prepared by: On: And accepted by: On:
<<date>>
<<date>>
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Service Level Management Business Justification A strong enough business case will ensure progress and funds are made available for any IT initiative.
This may sound like a bold statement but it is true. As IT professionals we have (for too long) assumed that we miss out on funds while other functional areas (e.g. Human resources and other shared services) seem to get all that they want. However, the problem is not with them, its with US. We are typically poor salespeople when it comes to putting our case forward.
We try to impress with technical descriptions, rather than talking in a language that a business person understands. For example:
We say We have to increase IT security controls, with the implementation of a new firewall. The network bandwidth is our biggest bottleneck and we have to go to a switched local environment. We should say Two weeks ago our biggest competitor lost information that is now rumored to be available on the internet. The e-mail you send to the other national managers will take 4 to 6 hours to be delivered. It used to be 2 to 3 minutes, but we are now using our computers for many more tasks. We are making the changes on Sunday afternoon. There will be less people working then.
Changes to the environment are scheduled for a period of time when we expect there to be minimal business impact.
Doesnt that sound familiar?
To help reinforce this point even further, consider the situation of buying a new fridge. What if the technically savvy sales person wants to explain the intricacies of the tubing structure used to super cool the high pressure gases, which flow in an anti-clockwise direction in the Southern hemisphere.
Wouldnt you say too much information, who cares does it make things cold? Page 77
Well IT managers need to stop trying to tell business managers about the tubing structure and just tell them what they are interested in.
So lets know look at some benefits of Service Level Management. Remember that the comments here are generic, as they have to apply to any organization. If you need assistance in writing business benefits for your organization please e-mail service@theartofservice.com for a quotation.
Notes/Comments/ Relevance The most important aspect of Service Level Management is the monitoring and delivery of services that lead to increasing satisfaction levels of customers. (Note in ITIL terms the Customer is the person who pays for the IT Service) With Service Level Management we focus on meeting the Service Level Requirements specified to us by customers. The SLR gives us a blueprint to check our own Service Delivery against. IT Services delivered that have no corresponding SLR may in fact be surplus to business requirements. Service Level Management forces us into the creation of targets and metrics against which we can measure performance. If it cant be measured it cant be managed. Through the process of Service Level Management we can develop a common language of understanding between IT and Customers. The process of establishing and monitoring performance levels means that when IT and business people discuss IT related issues they are in fact talking about the same thing (and not as often happens talking at odds with each other. For example if a meeting is held to discuss the Service Level Agreement for the provision of E-mail services then there is common ground for discussion. Service Level Management also ensures that we have clearly defined roles and responsibilities. This is a clear benefit in that we can easily identify those involved with negotiations, escalations, monitoring and reporting. Even if one person performs many different roles within the process we can clearly articulate what these are.
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(importantly, the process also allows us to document customer responsibilities as well as IT) The monitoring aspect of SLM is the perfect way to discover weak or potentially weak areas of Service Delivery. Ideally, identified in advance so that remedial action can be taken (e.g. Service Improvement Plan SIP) SLM underpins supplier management (and vice versa) - in cases where services are outsourced the SLAs are a key part of managing the relationship with the third-party - in other cases service monitoring allows the performance of suppliers (internal and external) to be evaluated and managed When we create Service Level Agreements the most widely known single activity of Service Level Management - we generally include a section on Pricing. The SLA then becomes the basis of charging for IT Services (for more information on Financial Management for IT Services refer to www.theartofservice.com) (Note that IT Service Managers must be able to clearly articulate the difference between cost and value cost is discussed in absolute monetary terms; value is a discussion regarding potential business impact). An important, but often overlooked part of this process is the identification of weaknesses in the use of IT Services from the organization end-user population. Monitoring the nature of calls for support and general communication can help us to identify such weaknesses and therefore suggest education programs that will address the lack of knowledge and skill.
Having a continuous improvement philosophy regarding IT Service delivery ensures that the IT Department is (a) looking to reduce service disruptions and (b) decrease the overall cost of service delivery (without compromising the quality).
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SLM SCOPE
IT Services
Scope Document Process: Service Level Management
Status:
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Document Control
Author Prepared by <<name and / or department>>
Document Source This document is located on the LAN under the path: I:/IT Services/Service Delivery/Service Level Management/Scope
Document Approval This document has been approved for use by the following: <<first name, last name>>, IT Services Manager <<first name, last name>>, IT Service Delivery Manager <<first name, last name>>, National IT Help Desk Manager
Amendment History
Issue Date Amendments Completed By
Distribution List When this procedure is updated the following copyholders must be advised through email that an updated copy is available on the intranet site:
<<Organization Name>> Business Unit IT Stakeholders
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Introduction
Purpose The purpose of this document is to provide the IT Organization with the specifications of the IT Services that will be included within the scope of the Service Level Management Process.
Scope This document describes the following: Scope of Service Level Management <<any additional items that you want>>
Audience This document is relevant to all staff in <<Organization name>>
Ownership IT Services has ownership of this document.
Related Documentation Include in this section any related Service Level Management reference numbers and other associated documentation:
SLM1200 SLM Implementation Plan / Project Plan SLM1300 SLM Policies, Guidelines and Scope Document SLM1700 SLM Process Template SLM2200 Service Catalogue
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Executive Overview Describe the purpose, scope and organization of the document.
Service Level Management Overview The documents intent is to provide a scope for the Service Level Management Process.
The definition of an SLA is:
<< Insert your organizations definition here >>
The definition of an OLA is:
The definition of a UC is:
Process Scope The process scope details the scope of the activities that need to occur within the Service Level Management Process.
Definition This activity helps define the services that you already deliver and can deliver. The output from this activity is the Service Catalogue.
In this section determine the scope of the Service Catalogue.
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Specify This activity is about gathering the Service Level Requirements. This will be done by a series of interviews with department managers and senior executives.
In this section determine the scope of the Requirements gathering.
Department
Services
Business Owner
IT Owner
<<
Department: Services:
The department to be interviewed The services being provided to that department
Business Owner: The department manager or other IT Owner: The IT personnel who will be responsible for providing the service
>>
Negotiate and Agree
In this activity we create the necessary SLAs, OLAs and UCs necessary to support the agreed services.
In conjunction with the above table, we can now set the scope for the SLA. In this manner we need to determine what will be included in the SLA.
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For example:
Customer
IT Service
Service Level Agreements Availability Capacity Disaster Recovery
Marketing Sales and Support
Email Logistics
Monitor
In this section we need to set the scope for which aspects of the services we are going to monitor, and what tools we are going to use to monitor the services with.
This will be done in conjunction with the above table.
Reports
Reports are an integral way of spreading information about IT Services back to the business as well as to IT Departments for process improvement.
As such the reports should be written in Business English as well as Technical English.
In this section, provide a list of reports necessary for each customer based on each service. The below table provides an example.
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Reports Customer Service Business Reports Productivity Marketing Marketing Sales Sales Transport Email Internet Logistics Accounts Logistics IT Reports
No. of % of CPU Transaction Bandwidth Incidents Availability Seconds Rates
Appendices Include any applicable appendixes that are needed.
Terminology Make sure that all terminology is captured and documented correctly.
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POLICIES OBJECTIVE AND SCOPE
IT Services
Policies, Objectives and Scope Process: Service Level Management
Status:
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Policies, Objectives and Scope for Service Level Management The document is not to be considered an extensive statement as its topics have to be generic enough to suit any reader for any organization. However, the reader will certainly be reminded of the key topics that have to be considered.
Policy Statement A course of action, guiding principle, or procedure considered expedient, prudent, or advantageous
Use this text box to answer the SENSE OF URGENCY question regarding this process. Why is effort being put into this process? Not simply because someone thinks its a good idea. That wont do. The reason has to be based in business benefits. You must be able to concisely document the reason behind starting or improving this process. Is it because of legal requirements or competitive advantage? Perhaps the business has suffered major problems or user satisfaction ratings are at the point where outsourcing is being considered. A policy statement any bigger than this text box, may be too lengthy to read, lose the intended audience with detail, not be clearly focused on answering the WHY question for this process.
The above Policy Statement was; Prepared by: On: And accepted by: On:
<<date>>
<<date>>
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Objectives Statement
Something worked toward or striven for; a goal.

Use this text box to answer the WHERE ARE WE GOING question regarding this process. What will be the end result of this process and how will we know when we have reached the end result? Will we know because we will establish a few key metrics or measurements or will it be a more subjective decision, based on instinct? A generic sample statement on the objective for Service Level Management is: The Service Level Management process aims to improve, while maintaining, IT Service delivery quality. Actions to achieve this include the requirement to conduct repetitive actions that include reporting, agreeing and monitoring. The process must review Service Achievements against customer expectations and take steps to improve or modify Service Delivery accordingly. Note the keywords in the statement. For the statement on Service Level Management they are report, agree and monitor. These are definite areas that we can set metrics for and therefore measure progress. An objective statement any bigger than this text box, may be too lengthy to read, lose the intended audience with detail, not be clearly focused on answering the WHERE question for this process.
The above Objective Statement was; Prepared by: On: And accepted by: On: <<date>>
<<date>>
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Scope Statement
The area covered by a given activity or subject

Use this text box to answer the WHAT question regarding this process. What are the boundaries for this process? What does the information flow look like into this process and from this process to other processes and functional areas? A generic sample statement on the scope for Service Level Management is: Through the use of agreements written in the form of documents the SLM process will manage relationships between providers of IT services that are both external to the organization and internal to the organization. These external agreements shall be referred to as Underpinning contracts and the internal agreements will be called Operational Level Agreements. An scope statement any bigger than this text box, may be too lengthy to read, lose the intended audience with detail, not be clearly focused on answering the WHAT question for this process.
The above Scope Statement was; Prepared by: On: And accepted by: On: <<date>>
<<date>>
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SERVICE LEVEL REQUIREMENTS
IT Services
Service Level Requirements Process: Service Level Management
Status:
In draft Under Review Sent for Approval Approved Rejected
Version:
<<your version>>
Release Date:
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Service Level Requirements (SLR) The document is not to be considered an extensive statement as its topics have to be generic enough to suit any reader for any organization. However, the reader will certainly be reminded of the key topics that have to be considered.
This document serves as a GUIDE FOR ESTABLISHING THE NEEDS OF CUSTOMERS WITH REGARD TO IT SERVICES. This document provides a basis for completion within your own organization. The document is made up of 3 sections.
The first section allows you to briefly describe the service. The second section is where you capture user specific requirements (duplicate this section the number of times required). The third section allows you to cross reference the requirements uncovered in this study with other agreements/documents that may already exist.
This document was; Prepared by: On: And accepted by: On: <<date>> <<date>>
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(The following form can be used as an SLR interview or data gathering document. The SLR document does not have to be in a lengthy written format and in fact it is more likely to be adopted if it is kept concise, with only salient details) With regard to understanding SERVICE LEVEL REQUIREMENTS (SLRs) the following points should be addressed:
Service Information
Areas to address Unique SLR Reference #
Comments/Examples Useful to cross reference to related Service Level Agreements, OLAs or Underpinning Contracts For cross referencing to the created Service Level Agreement (filled in after the SLA is created). Preferably use a name that is common language in the organization (not a technical name). Briefly describe the primary function of the service. Use language that is business user friendly. (e.g. instead of NT Server, with 2Gb RAM and 500Gb of disk storage we would say large central server designed for all customers to use and share information)
Time Frame/Notes/Who
Related SLA Reference #
Service Name
Service Description (Business) (refer to end of table for technical considerations)
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Customer Information (Duplicate the following table for as many services to be covered in this SLR). Areas to address Customer Definition and date of discussion Comments/Examples Whether the customer is an; Individual Individual representing a group of users A group meeting to discuss service requirements. It should be documented here. The date is an important consideration as requirements will definitely change over time. You can use this form or the SLA that will be derived from it as a starting point for the next review. This is a unique concept to this SLA design template. Far too often we write descriptions of IT Services in a clinical fashion. These clinical descriptions set an expectation for the customer/end-user about the IT Service. Quite often the description is interpreted by the reader in a way not intended by the writer. Use this section to set the expectations of the reader. If you feel that there could be some interruptions to service delivery, because the service is relatively new, then document that here. However, remember that using the reason new service has only a limited life-span. Briefly list any considerations regarding security considerations that the representative has for this service. Should there be differences in the level of accessibility for different people/roles for this Time Frame/Notes/Who
Customer Expectations
Service Security Considerations
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service? (try to use role descriptions instead of names). Be careful of using generic terms like confidential. Confidential can be interpreted different ways (e.g. Confidential to the individual or for the functional group or for a peer group). Service Target Response priorities What sort of priority levels of support need to be in place for this service? Are there categories of end user for the service that require differing levels of support? (Eg. Group A requires phone support only, Group B needs face-to-face support) Against the levels/priorities defined are there corresponding response times for the different priorities? (Eg. Group A needs immediate response, Group B needs a 2 hour response) What are the REALISTIC support hours required for this service? Impress upon the representatives understand that IT staff also have day jobs and do not automatically start work, after they have gone home!! Get numbers: What is the maximum number of accepted outages, in a given time period? What would be an acceptable number of errors or reruns? Is after hours support required? To what degree is the support needed (full support, partial, best effort)?
Service Target Response time
Service Support Hours (Availability)
Service Out of Hours support procedure
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Service Charging policy
Does the representative have any expectation regarding charges for Service Delivery? Be careful with this question as it may create some defensive reaction from the representative (what do you mean I have to pay for the service? I never have in the past!!) The question of charging is generally a more strategic decision made by business managers. How is charging to be implemented? (e.g. Per user, per transaction) What is the customer budget with regard to this service? Can the representative help you to define metrics for this service? Does the representative have a way that they classify the service? (that we may have missed as our focus tends to be more on technical issues) Does the representative have any thoughts regarding penalties that should be imposed if the service cannot be delivered according to agreed expectations? (Realistic!) Does the representative have any expectations regarding how the service should be recovered in the event of an extended outage? Do they require immediate recovery, or can they work in a paper based mode for a period of time? Can the customer accept any loss of data? If yes, what is the roll back point (e.g. 2 hours, 1 day, 1 week)?
Service Metrics for performance
Service Breach Clause
Continuity Considerations
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Non-representative Information (Duplicate the following table for the number of services that data is being gathered on).
Areas to address SLA Cross Reference
Comments/Examples Make a reference to any existing SLAs that may be able to be adapted or modified to meet this requirement. In this section you can describe any technical considerations that are essential to document. It is more likely however, that you will include here a link to the Service Catalog or Technical Specification. You can use this section as a check that the service is in fact documented in the Service Catalog.
Technical considerations
Notes & Comments
NOTE: THERE CAN BE NO SINGLE CORRECT DEFINITION OF A DATA GATHERING EXERCISE FOR IT SERVICE DELIVERY REQUIREMENTS THAT WILL COVER ALL SITUATIONS FOR ALL ORGANIZATIONS.
THIS TEMPLATE HOWEVER, DOES PROMPT THE READER TO CONSIDER THE MOST CRITICAL AREAS OF DATA GATHERING and IT PROVOKES THOUGHT ABOUT OTHER AREAS THAT COULD BE INCLUDED BASED ON INDIVIDUAL NEEDS.
(Duplicate the above table for the number of Services that requirements are to be gathered for)
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TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
IT Services
Technical Specification Process: Service Level Management Service: <service name>
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Document Control
Author Prepared by <name and / or department>
Document Source This document is located on the LAN under the path: I:/IT Services/Service Delivery/Technical Specifications/
Document Approval This document has been approved for use by the following: <first name, last name>, IT Services Manager <first name, last name>, IT Service Delivery Manager <first name, last name>, National IT Help Desk Manager
Amendment History
<<Organization name>> Business Unit IT Stakeholders
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Introduction
Purpose
The purpose of this document is to provide relevant IT Units with the technical specifications for the range of services provided by IT Services to the <<Organization name>> community.
Scope
This document describes the following: details of each service provided by IT Services including: description of service functional capabilities of the service user characteristics user operations and practices software and hardware interfaces service contacts details of procedures for the service
Note: It is assumed for each service described in this document that the supporting functional awareness of the service is already known.
Audience
This document is relevant to IT staff in <<Organization name>>

Ownership
IT Services has ownership of this document.

Related Documentation
Include in this section any related Service Level Agreement reference numbers and other associated documentation:
Relevant SLA and procedural documents Relevant IT Services Catalogue Relevant Technical Specification documentation Relevant User Guides and Procedures Page 103
Executive Overview Describe the purpose, scope and organization of the Technical Specification document.
Service Overview
Service Description Describes briefly the reason for the service, and lists the most important features and capabilities. Also include the services relationship to the business processes.
Service technical capabilities This section presents a list of the technical aspects that the service will be required to perform. Where the service comprises of technical aspects, a table may be developed to illustrate these relationships.
User characteristics This section describes the intended users of the service in terms of job function, specialized knowledge, or skill levels required. This section should consider various user classes or profiles such as managers, engineers, equipment operators, IT support staff, and network or database administrators.
User operations and practices Describes how persons will normally use the service, and the tasks they will most frequently perform. Also covers how users might use the service on an occasional basis. Consider using a formal Use Case to specify the end-users' expected use of the service. This may also be derived from the Service Level Requirements.
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Assumptions This section lists any assumptions that were made in specifying the technical requirements of this service.
Other services How does the service technically interact with other services?
Specific Technical Descriptions This section is repeated for each technical aspect of the service. Some examples of technical aspects are: Processing, Backup, Archive, Restores.
Description The description describes the Technical aspect and its role in the service.
Inputs Describe the inputs to the aspect. Data feeds from other systems, human input or automated timed activities are examples of inputs.
Processing Describes what is done. For example with regard to backups we would describe the database close, backup and database restart activities.
Outputs This section describes the outputs. For example, if we are describing the archive activity we would expect to end up with a media storage device that would be stored in a secure location. Reports generated are also defined.
Other technical considerations The interfaces in this section are specified by documenting: the name and description of each item, source or input, destination or output, ranges, accuracy and tolerances, units of measure, timing, display formats and
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organization, availability and capacity requirements and any relevant agreements that may impact on the service. Hardware details Describes the technical components needed to provide the service, and also other output or input devices such as printers or handheld devices.
Software details Describes the technical aspects of the software used to provide the service (e.g. client server details), operating system levels, backup software used, virus protection details, other supporting services and applications that contribute to the service availability.
Communication details Describes how the service will communicate with itself (for multi-platform applications) or other software applications or hardware, including items such as networking, email, intranet, and Internet communications, PABX, IP telephony etc.
Performance Discusses items such as response times, throughput requirements, data volume requirements, maximum data file size or problem complexity, maximum number of concurrent uses, and peak load requirements (for webbased applications). Includes expected response times for entering information, querying data files and databases, performing calculations of various complexities, and importing/exporting data.
Technical Design Constraints Examples of technical constraints that affect service design choices are items such as memory constraints involving minimum and maximum RAM and hard disk space, and limitations arising from hardware, software or communications standards.
Additional Requirements Page 106
Describes other characteristics the service must have, that were not covered in the prior sections.
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Administration Includes any periodic updating or data management needed for the service.
User documentation: Describes the user documentation to be delivered in conjunction with the service, including both hard copy and online requirements.
Other requirements: Describes any other requirements not already covered above that need to be considered during the design of the service.
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FUNCTIONAL SPECIFICATIONS
IT Services
Functional Specification Process: Service Level Management Service: <service name>
Status: In draft Under Review Sent for Approval Approved Rejected
Version:
<<your version>>
Release Date:
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Document Control
Author Prepared by <<name and / or department>>
Document Source This document is located on the LAN under the path: I:/IT Services/Service Delivery/Functional Specifications/
Document Approval This document has been approved for use by the following: <<first name, last name>>, IT Services Manager <<first name, last name>>, IT Service Delivery Manager <<first name, last name>>, National IT Help Desk Manager
Amendment History
<<Organization name>> Business Unit IT Stakeholders
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Introduction
Purpose The purpose of this document is to provide relevant Business Units with the functional specifications of the range of services provided by IT Services to the <<Organization name>> community.
Scope This document describes the following: details of each service provided by IT Services including: description of service functional capabilities of the service user characteristics user operations and practices software and hardware interfaces service contacts details of procedures for the service
Note: It is assumed for each service described in this document that the supporting back-end technology is already in place and operational.
Audience This document is relevant to all staff in <<Organization name>>
Related Documentation Include in this section any related Service Level Agreement reference numbers and other associated documentation: Relevant SLA and procedural documents Relevant IT Services Catalogue Relevant Technical Specification documentation Relevant User Guides and Procedures Page 112
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Executive Overview Describe the purpose, scope and organization of the Functional Specification document.
Service Overview
Service Description Describes briefly the reason for the service, and lists the most important features and capabilities. Also include the services relationship to the business processes.
Service functional capabilities This section presents a list of the functions that the service will be required to perform. Where the service comprises of several functional capabilities, a table may be developed to illustrate these relationships. The list of functional capabilities may be an updated version of the capabilities listed in the original Service Level Requirements for this service.
User characteristics This section describes the intended users of the service in terms of job function, specialized knowledge, or skill levels required. This section should consider various user classes or profiles such as managers, engineers, equipment operators, IT support staff, and network or database administrators.
User operations and practices Describes how persons will normally use the service, and the tasks they will most frequently perform. Also covers how users might use the service on an occasional basis. Consider using a formal Use Case to specify the end-users' expected use of the service. This may also be derived from the Service Level Requirements.
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General constraints This section will list the limitations, user interface limitations, and data limitations of the service. Includes items such as minimum availability, capacity, security needed by the service to function. It should also include maintenance requirements; more specifically the amount of time and frequency the service will be unavailable due to maintenance and service. Also, states if training is required for use of the system.
Assumptions This section lists any assumptions that were made in specifying the functional requirements of this service.
Other services How does the service interact with other services?
Specific Function Descriptions This section is repeated for each function of the service. Some examples of functions are: email sending or receiving, sorting or archiving email, virus checking and scanning of email, and recovery of email services.
Description The description describes the function and its role in the service.
Inputs Describe the inputs to the function. Input validation strategy, allowed email types and values are specified for each input.
Processing Describes what is done by the function. Cited here would be database definitions where relevant, transaction algorithms or functions, flow of information etc.
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Outputs This section describes the outputs of the function. Where a user interface description is relevant, it is included. Reports generated are also defined.
External Interfaces The interfaces in this section are specified by documenting: the name and description of each item, source or input, destination or output, ranges, accuracy and tolerances, units of measure, timing, display formats and organization, availability and capacity requirements and any relevant agreements that may impact on the service.
User Interfaces Where necessary. This section describes all major forms, screens, or web pages, including any complex dialog boxes. This is usually best done via simulated, nonfunctioning screen shots (such as PowerPoint slides), and may take the form of a separate document.
The navigation flow of the windows, menus, and options is described, along with the expected content of each window. Examples of items that could be included are screen resolutions, color scheme, primary font type and size. Discussion also includes how input validation will be done, and how the service will be protected from security issues. This section can be generic enough to describe simply the User Interfaces to the functions of the service. Examples of items here would be client interface available, web interface available, email interface available etc. Hardware Interfaces Describes the components needed to provide the service, and also other output or input devices such as printers or handheld devices.
Software Interfaces
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This section describes any software that will be required in order for the service to operate fully. Includes any developed software or commercial applications that customers will be utilizing together with the planned service. Also describes any software that the service will interact with such as operating system platforms supported, file import and export, networking, automation, or scripting. This section will also specify whether the users must provide the interface software and any special licensing requirements.
Communication Interfaces Describes how the service will communicate with itself (for multi-platform applications) or other software applications or hardware, including items such as networking, email, intranet, and Internet communications, PABX, IP telephony etc.
Functional Design Constraints Any examples of constraints that will prevent or influence the ability of the system to deliver the expected functionality will be listed here.
Attributes
Security Describes where necessary the technical security requirements for the service. For example, any password-protected access levels such as operator, engineer/modeler, manager, database administrator and which functionality will be accessible to each access level, firewall requirements and virus software. This section should also describe all physical, organizational and procedural security requirements for the service.
Reliability, Availability, Maintainability
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This section describes requirement items such as days or weeks of continuous operation, strategy for data recovery, structuring of service for ease of future modification.
Installation and Distribution This section describes the planned method for installation and distribution of releases for the service: done by the user independently, done by customer company internal IT services, done by an external contractor. The section should specify the handling of such items as data transfer from prior releases, the physical storage of hardware and software in conjunction with releases and the presence of software or hardware elements from prior releases.
Usability It is important to describe items that will ensure the user-friendliness of the service. Examples include error messages that direct the user to a solution, user documentation, online help etc.
Additional Requirements Describes other characteristics the service must have, that were not covered in the prior sections.
Administration Includes any periodic updating or data management needed for the service.
User documentation: Describes the user documentation to be delivered in conjunction with the service, including both hard copy and online requirements.
Other requirements: Describes any other requirements not already covered above that need to be considered during the design of the service.
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MULTI LEVEL BASED SLA
IT Services
Multi-Level Based SLA Process: Service Level Management
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Multi-Level Based Service Level Agreement (SLA) The document is not to be considered an extensive statement as its topics have to be generic enough to suit any reader for any organization. However, the reader will certainly be reminded of the key topics that have to be considered. This document serves as a GUIDE FOR THE CREATION OF AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE SERVICE LEVEL MANAGEMENT PROCESS OWNER AND THE CUSTOMER OF IT SERVICES, FOR MULTIPLE SERVICES. This document provides a basis for completion within your own organization.
The multi-level based SLA is usually preferred by IT as it allows a single document to cover a single service for all end-users of that service. It means less administration time spent in negotiating different documents with different customers and less time spent on worrying about accommodating different requirements amongst users.
This structure allows SLAs to be kept to a manageable size, avoids unnecessary duplication, and reduces the need for frequent updates. It requires more time to negotiate and obtain agreement than other structures.
Multi-Level based SLA
Advantage
Disadvantage
SERVICE D Customer Customer
Service A Service B Service C
<<date>>
<<date>>
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(The following form can be used as the Multi-Level Based SLA document. The SLA does not have to be in a lengthy written format and in fact it is more likely to be adopted if it is kept concise, with only salient details)
SLA Information
Areas to address Description of the agreement Comments/Examples Brief description of the contents of this SLA Note: the SLA will cover only ONE IT Service, but end users from many areas. Use this section simply as an Executive summary. Unique identifying number for the SLA (for inclusion in the Configuration Management Data Base CMDB) (see www.theartofservice.com for more details on the Configuration Management process) Functional role description of who is responsible for this SLA (who would participate in a review of this document?). Representatives from customer and IT. (Special tip: Avoid using names as it dates the document quickly) Time Frame/Notes/Who
Reference number
Owner
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Specific Service Information
(Duplicate the following table for as many services to be covered).

Areas to address Service Identification Code (this code can be crossreferenced in the Customer information table). Service Name Comments/Examples A unique reference number for this service. Time Frame/Notes/Who
Service Expectation Level
Preferably use a name that is common language in the organization (not a technical name). Briefly describe the primary function of the service. Use language that is business user friendly. (e.g. instead of NT Server, with 2Gb RAM and 500Gb of disk storage we would say large central server designed for all customers to use and share information) This is a unique concept to this SLA design template. Far too often we write descriptions of IT Services in a clinical fashion. These clinical descriptions set an expectation for the customer/enduser about the IT Service. Quite often the description is interpreted by the reader in a way not intended by the writer. Use this section to set the expectations of the reader. If you feel that there could be some interruptions to service delivery, because the service is relatively new, then document that here. However, remember that using the reason new service has only a limited life-span.
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Service Target Response priorities
Service Target Response time Service Support Hours (Availability)
Briefly list any considerations regarding security considerations for this service. Are there any differences in the level of accessibility for different people/roles for this service? (try to use role descriptions instead of names)? If the SLA accommodates different priorities they must be listed here, with a description on the type of service that each priority level should receive. Here we document the agreed response time for the different priority levels set. Consider marginally longer support hours (if less than 24) Maximum number of accepted outages. Minimum percentage availability. Maximum number of errors or reruns. Are the in hours support staff the same as out of hours? Phone numbers and what information will be required when support is called. What does the user do if the nominated person is not available? Do we require external staff to only act if they have a validated cost code for work? Are there any special aspects of the work that has to be recorded for later charging? What will be the performance numbers for the work performed under this UC? Will the expected performance be higher than negotiated in the SLA to allow a safety margin? Perhaps your organizational culture is built upon imposing penalties for poor performance. If this is the case, then the penalties for failing to meet the
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Continuity Considerations (should be linked to the IT Service Continuity Plan)
SLA Validity period
SLA Review Procedure
Version Control Information UC Cross references OLA Cross references
stated metrics must be listed here. If the SLA is not to have a penalty focus, then simply remove this line. If the agreed support hours cannot be met, then it is necessary to invoke a continuity option for this service. The definition of when this invocation should occur will be listed here. Cross-referencing to the IT Service Continuity Plan is also required. Duration that this SLA is expected to remain in place before it is reviewed. The process for reviewing the SLA and who is involved. Special Tip: Avoid using peoples names and use role descriptions to avoid dating the document. SLA Creation Date SLA Last Modify Date Reference number to related and closely coupled UCs Reference number to any closely coupled agreements with internal IT department In this section you can describe any technical considerations that are essential to document. It is more likely however, that you will include here a link to the Service Catalog or Technical Specification.
Notes & Comments
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Customer Information (Duplicate the following table for as many customers to be covered).
Areas to address Customer definition Comments/Examples List and/or describe the customers that are included in this SLA. It is most likely that the customers will be all endusers of IT services in the organization. However, the SLA for this service may be only for particular function holders that are spread throughout the organization). Description of Service and/or Service identification code/s Time Frame/Notes/Who
Applicable Services
NOTE: THERE CAN BE NO SINGLE CORRECT DEFINITION OF AN SLA THAT WILL COVER ALL SITUATIONS FOR ALL ORGANIZATIONS. THIS TEMPLATE HOWEVER, DOES PROMPT THE READER TO CONSIDER THE MOST CRITICAL AREAS OF AN SLA and IT PROVOKES THOUGHT ABOUT OTHER AREAS THAT COULD BE INCLUDED BASED ON INDIVIDUAL NEEDS.
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SERVICE BASED SLA
IT Services
Service Based SLA Process: Service Level Management
Status:
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Service Based Service Level Agreement (SLA) The document is not to be considered an extensive statement as its topics have to be generic enough to suit any reader for any organization. However, the reader will certainly be reminded of the key topics that have to be considered.
This document serves as a GUIDE FOR THE CREATION OF AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE SERVICE LEVEL MANAGEMENT PROCESS OWNER AND THE CUSTOMER OF IT SERVICES, FOR A SINGLE SERVICE. This document provides a basis for completion within your own organization.
The service based SLA is usually preferred by IT as it allows a single document to cover a single service for all end-users of that service. It means less administration time spent in negotiating different documents with different customers and less time spent on worrying about accommodating different requirements amongst users.
Just one SLA document could be agreed for all Customers/end users of a single service. Inability to satisfy the customers that have differing requirements of the service being addressed.
Customer A
Advantage Service based SLA Disadvantage
Service
Customer B
Customer C
<<date>>
<<date>>
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The following form can be used as the Service Based SLA document. The SLA does not have to be in a lengthy written format and in fact it is more likely to be adopted if it is kept concise, with only salient details.
With regard to Service Based SLA the following points should be addressed:
Specific Service Information (Duplicate the following table for as many services to be covered in this SLA).
Areas to address Description of the agreement
Comments/Examples Brief description of the contents of this SLA Note: the SLA will cover only ONE IT Service, but end users from many areas. Use this section simply as an Executive summary. Unique identifying number for the SLA (for inclusion in the Configuration Management Data Base CMDB) (see www.theartofservice.com for more details on the Configuration Management process) Functional role description of who is responsible for this SLA (who would participate in a review of this document?). Representatives from customer and IT. (Special tip: Avoid using names as it dates the document quickly) Preferably use a name that is common language in the organization (not a technical name).
Reference number
Owner
Service Name
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Briefly describe the primary function of the service. Use language that is business user friendly. (e.g. instead of NT Server, with 2Gb RAM and 500Gb of disk storage we would say large central server designed for all customers to use and share information) This is a unique concept to this SLA design template. Far too often we write descriptions of IT Services in a clinical fashion. These clinical descriptions set an expectation for the customer/end-user about the IT Service. Quite often the description is interpreted by the reader in a way not intended by the writer. Use this section to set the expectations of the reader. If you feel that there could be some interruptions to service delivery, because the service is relatively new, then document that here. However, remember that using the reason new service has only a limited life-span. Briefly list any considerations regarding security considerations for this service. Are there any differences in the level of accessibility for different people/roles for this service? (try to use role descriptions instead of names)? If the SLA accommodates different priorities they must be listed here, with a description on the type of service that each priority level should receive.
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Here we document the agreed response time for the different priority levels set. Consider marginally longer support hours (if less than 24) Maximum number of accepted outages. Minimum percentage availability. Maximum number of errors or reruns. Are the in hours support staff the same as out of hours? Phone numbers and what information will be required when support is called. What does the user do if the nominated person is not available? Do we require external staff to only act if they have a validated cost code for work? Are there any special aspects of the work that has to be recorded for later charging? What will be the performance numbers for the work performed under this UC? Will the expected performance be higher than negotiated in the SLA to allow a safety margin? Perhaps your organizational culture is built upon imposing penalties for poor performance. If this is the case, then the penalties for failing to meet the stated metrics must be listed here. If the SLA is not to have a penalty focus, then simply remove this line.
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If the agreed support hours cannot be met, then it is necessary to invoke a continuity option for this service. The definition of when this invocation should occur will be listed here. Cross-referencing to the IT Service Continuity Plan is also required. Duration that this SLA is expected to remain in place before it is reviewed. The process for reviewing the SLA and who is involved. Special Tip: Avoid using peoples names and use role descriptions to avoid dating the document. SLA Creation Date SLA Last Modify Date Reference number to related and closely coupled UCs Reference number to any closely coupled agreements with internal IT department In this section you can describe any technical considerations that are essential to document. It is more likely however, that you will include here a link to the Service Catalog or Technical Specification.
SLA Validity period
Version Control Information
UC Cross references
OLA Cross references
Notes & Comments
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Customer Information
Areas to address Customer definition Comments/Examples List and/or describe the customers that are included in this SLA. It is most likely that the customers will be all endusers of IT services in the organization. However, the SLA for this service may be only for particular function holders that are spread throughout the organization). Time Frame/Notes/Who
NOTE: THERE CAN BE NO SINGLE CORRECT DEFINITION OF AN SLA THAT WILL COVER ALL SITUATIONS FOR ALL ORGANIZATIONS. THIS TEMPLATE HOWEVER, DOES PROMPT THE READER TO CONSIDER THE MOST CRITICAL AREAS OF AN SLA and IT PROVOKES THOUGHT ABOUT OTHER AREAS THAT COULD BE INCLUDED BASED ON INDIVIDUAL NEEDS.
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CUSTOMER BASED SLA
IT Services
Customer Based SLA Process: Service Level Management
Status:
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Customer Based Service Level Agreement (SLA) The document is not to be considered an extensive statement as its topics have to be generic enough to suit any reader for any organization. However, the reader will certainly be reminded of the key topics that have to be considered. This document serves as a GUIDE FOR THE CREATION OF AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE SERVICE LEVEL MANAGEMENT PROCESS OWNER AND THE CUSTOMER OF IT SERVICES (Covering all the IT Services they use). This document provides a basis for completion within your own organization. The customer based SLA is usually preferred by customers as it allows a single document to cover all the IT Services that they use. It means less administration time spent in negotiating different documents and generally only requires a single representative to participate on behalf of the business. An agreement with an individual Customer group, covering all the services they use. For example, agreements may be reached with an organizations Finance Department covering, say, the Finance System, the Accounting System, the Payroll System, the Billing System, the Procurement System and any other IT systems that they use.
An agreement with an individual Customer groups could cover all of the services they use. An inability to deal with differing requirements amongst users in the same customer group. Service A Customer Service B Service C This document was; Prepared by: On: And accepted by: On:
Advantage Customer based SLA Disadvantage
<<date>>
<<date>>
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The following form can be used as the Customer Based SLA document. The SLA does not have to be in a lengthy written format and in fact it is more likely to be adopted if it is kept concise, with only salient details.
With regard to Customer Based SLA the following points should be addressed:
Overall SLA Information

Areas to address Description of the agreement Comments/Examples Brief description of the contents of this SLA Note: the SLA may cover several IT Services. Use this section simply as an Executive summary. Do not try to describe each service here. Unique identifying number for the SLA (for inclusion in the Configuration Management Data Base CMDB) (see www.theartofservice.com for more details on the Configuration Management process) Functional role description of who is responsible for this SLA (who would participate in a review of this document?) Representatives from customer and IT. (Special tip: Avoid using names as it dates the document quickly) List and/or describe the customers that are considered for in this SLA. Time Frame/Notes/Who
Reference number
Owner
Customer definition
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SLA Validity period
Duration that this SLA is expected to remain in place before it is reviewed. The process for reviewing the SLA and who is involved. Special Tip: Avoid using peoples names and use role descriptions to avoid dating the document. SLA Creation Date SLA Last Modify Date
Version Control Information
Specific Service Information (Duplicate the following table for each service to be covered in this SLA).
Areas to address Service Name
Comments/Examples Preferably use a name that is common language in the organization (not a technical name). Briefly describe the primary function of the service. Use language that is business user friendly. (e.g. instead of NT Server, with 2Gb RAM and 500Gb of disk storage we would say large central server designed for all customers to use and share information) This is a unique concept to this SLA design template. Far too often we write descriptions of IT Services in a clinical fashion. These clinical descriptions set an expectation for the customer/end-user about the IT Service. Quite often the description is interpreted by the reader in a way not intended by the writer.
Service Description (Business) (refer to end of table for technical considerations)
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Use this section to set the expectations of the reader. If you feel that there could be some interruptions to service delivery, because the service is relatively new, then document that here. However, remember that using the reason new service has only a limited lifespan. Service Security Considerations Briefly list any considerations regarding security considerations for this service. Are there any differences in the level of accessibility for different people/roles for this service? (try to use role descriptions instead of names)? If the SLA accommodates different priorities they must be listed here, with a description on the type of service that each priority level should receive. Here we document the agreed response time for the different priority levels. Consider marginally longer support hours (if less than 24) Maximum number of accepted outages. Minimum percentage availability. Maximum number of errors or reruns. Are the in hours support staff the same as out of hours? Phone numbers and what information will be required when support is called. What does the user do if the nominated person is not available? Do we require external staff to only act if they have a validated cost code for work? Are there any special aspects of the work that has to be recorded for later charging?
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What will be the performance numbers for the work performed under this UC? Will the expected performance be higher than negotiated in the SLA to allow a safety margin? Perhaps your organizational culture is built upon imposing penalties for poor performance. If this is the case, then the penalties for failing to meet the stated metrics must be listed here. If the SLA is not to have a penalty focus, then simply remove this line. If the agreed support hours cannot be met, then it is necessary to invoke a continuity option for this service. The definition of when this invocation should occur will be listed here. Cross-referencing to the IT Service Continuity Plan is also required. Reference number to related and closely coupled UCs Reference number to any closely coupled agreements with internal IT department In this section you can describe any technical considerations that are essential to document. It is more likely however, that you will include here a link to the Service Catalog or Technical Specification.
UC Cross references
Notes & Comments
NOTE: THERE CAN BE NO SINGLE CORRECT DEFINITION OF AN SLA THAT WILL COVER ALL SITUATIONS FOR ALL ORGANIZATIONS. THIS TEMPLATE HOWEVER, DOES PROMPT THE READER TO CONSIDER THE MOST CRITICAL AREAS OF AN SLA and IT PROVOKES THOUGHT ABOUT OTHER AREAS THAT COULD BE INCLUDED BASED ON INDIVIDUAL NEEDS. Page 140
UNDERPINNING CONTRACTS
IT Services
Underpinning Contracts Process: Service Level Management
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Underpinning Contract (UC) The document is not to be considered an extensive statement as its topics have to be generic enough to suit any reader for any organization. However, the reader will certainly be reminded of the key topics that have to be considered.
This document serves as a GUIDE FOR THE CREATION OF AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE SERVICE LEVEL MANAGEMENT PROCESS OWNER AND AN EXTERNAL PROVIDER (THIRD PARTY) OF IT SERVICES. This document provides a basis for completion within your own organization.
There is a common misconception that the Service Level Management Process owner must be a member of the IT Department. This is not the case and quite often the best person for the role is someone with no bias towards IT. For example, a Human Resource Manager would do well in a role that has such a high degree of communication required.
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(The following form can be used as the UC document. The UC does not have to be in a lengthy written format and in fact it is more likely to be adopted if it is kept concise, with only salient details)
With regard to UNDERPINNING CONTRACTS (UCs) the following points should be addressed:
Areas to address Link to parent Service Level Agreement Description of Service UC Reference number Comments/Examples Cross reference to the parent SLA. Brief description (should be taken from SLA) Unique identifying number for the UC (for inclusion in the Configuration Management Data Base CMDB) (see www.theartofservice.com for more details on the Configuration Management process) Functional role description of who is responsible for this UC (who would participate in a review of this document?) (Special tip: Avoid using names as it dates the document quickly) Within the external provider there may be different functional parties involved. List them here with a brief description of their involvement. If the UC accommodates different priorities they must be listed here, with a description of the type of service that each priority level should receive. Consider quicker response time to allow for delays Time Frame/Notes/Who
UC Owner
UC Parties involved
UC Target Response priorities (reflected in parent SLA)
UC Target Response time (reflected in parent SLA)
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UC Support Hours (reflected in parent SLA) UC Out of Hours support procedure (reflected in parent SLA)
UC Charging policy (reflected in parent SLA)
UC Metrics for performance (reflected in parent SLA)
UC Cross references
UC Validity period
UC Review Procedure
Version Control Information Notes & Comments
Consider marginally longer support hours (if less than 24) Are the in hours support staff the same as out of hours? Phone numbers and what information will be required when support is called. What does the user do if the nominated person is not available? Do we require external staff to only act if they have a validated cost code for work? Are there any special aspects of the work that has to be recorded for later charging? What will be the performance numbers for the work performed under this UC? Will the expected performance be higher than negotiated in the SLA to allow a safety margin? Reference number to other closely coupled UCs Reference number to any closely coupled agreements with internal IT department Duration that this UC is expected to remain in place before it is reviewed. The process for reviewing the UC and who is involved. Special Tip: Avoid using peoples names and use role descriptions to avoid dating the document. UC Creation Date UC Last Modify Date
(Duplicate the above table for the number of UCs to be created) Page 144
SERVICE OPTIONS
IT Services
Process: Service Level Management Service Options
Note: SEARCH AND REPLACE <<Organization name>>
Search for any << or >> as your input will be required
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Document Control
Document Source This document is located on the LAN under the path: I:/IT Services/Service Delivery/Service Level Management/Service Options
Amendment History
<Company Name> Business Unit IT Stakeholders
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Introduction
Purpose The purpose of this document is to provide the IT Organization with a breakdown of options for the Services listed in the Service Catalog
Scope This document describes the following: Service Options <<any additional items that you want>>
Audience This document is relevant to all staff in <company name>
Related Documentation Include in this section any related Service Level Management reference numbers and other associated documentation:
SLM1200 SLM Implementation Plan / Project Plan SLM1300 SLM Policies, Guidelines and Scope Document SLM1700 SLM Process Template SLM2200 Service Catalogue
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Executive Overview Note: The intent of this document is to provide a simple break down of options available for IT Services. This document is to be used in conjunction with SLM2200 Service Catalogue.
Service Level Management Overview Summarize the organization definition for crucial Service Level Management components here.
The definition of an SLA is:
<< insert your companys definition here >>
The definition of an OLA is:
The definition of a UC is:
The definition of a service is:
<< insert your companys definition here >> Service Options
The following table breaks down each service and the available options. This is a template and is used to illustrate for the user of this document the available options and structure to use when creating service options.
The below table should be created for each individual service offered in the SLM220 Service Catalogue Page 148
IT Service:
Business Process: Business Owner: Business Process Criticality:
IT Owner:
Service Criticality:
Service Components Platinum Availability Capacity Response SLA Recovery SLA Service Hours Recovery Options Security Pricing Gold
Service Options Silver Bronze Default
Appendices Include any applicable appendixes that are needed.
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PRICE LIST
IT Services
Price List Process: Service Level Management
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Price List Considerations for Service Level Management
This document serves as a GUIDE FOR DETERMINING THE PRICE OF IT SERVICE DELIVERY TO CUSTOMERS. This document provides a basis for completion within your own organization. This document can be read in conjunction with:
Service Catalog (which is where summary pricing information is presented).

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There are three considerations to review when looking to establish the prices for IT Services that are delivered. It is the combination of these areas that will help the Service Level Manager (along with the process owner for Financial Management for IT Services) set and negotiate pricing for IT Service delivery. These considerations are: 1) The degree of IT costs that are expected to be recovered. Such a decision will generally come from a business policy regarding cost recovery for other shared services. For example if Human Resources aim to recover all costs from the departments or user groups it supports, it is likely that this will also apply to IT. 2) The degree that IT wants to change consumption patterns of Customers and Users There is no surer thing. Once services start to cost, then behaviours will change and demand will decrease. Of course, the major challenge of looking to use pricing to influence (drive down) consumption is the major resistance that can be expected. 3) Budget influence Careful and well articulated pricing for IT Services allows better predictions regarding the expected budget required for a future time period. This positive influence helps to reduce the number of unexpected surprises that can often happen, when budget funds cannot support requirements. Use the following table with examples to help determine which IT Services will be charged for in your organization and the basis upon which you will levy that charge.
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Chargeable Item (examples) Sales transaction
Ancillary Services Network connection Personal Computer File server processing
Cost basis Simple cost per transaction, or; Cost per speed of processing, or; Cost per size of transaction Per unit, or; Stored limit, or; Mail items in the in-box
E-mail sent
Network connection to mail server Personal Computer Internet connection
An important point to consider regarding the pricing of services is the case when a customer claims that they can buy the service cheaper from an external provider. While this may be the case, the overall impact on the organization may be negative so it may be necessary to impose restrictions regarding purchase of external services when suitable internal services are available. Once the pricing differential is identified a controlled process of (a) reducing costs or (b) outsourcing to an external provider can be carried out.
The final point to consider regarding the price of IT Services is whether actual funds transfer will take place or if charges are just imaginary (or nominal). Nominal charging allows customers to see the costs of the IT Services they consume, but they are not expected to transfer funds from their cost centers to the IT department. This method can have a low impact; in that without transferring funds, the affect on behavior may be negligible.
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SERVICE CATALOG
IT Service Management Service Catalogue
<<YOUR LOGO HERE>>
Prepared by:
<<PREPARATION NAME>>
Prepared for:
<<RECEIPIENT NAME, GROUP, COMPANY>>
Date:
<<DATE OF VALIDITY>>
Special notes: e.g. Does the Service Catalog have a limited life span, if so, indicate that here.
Search for any instance of << or >> as your input will be required.
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Version number
Owner
Location
Date
<<Any industry associated logos or ISO stamp or other Quality system related indicators (e.g. ISO Accreditation>>
Executive Overview
In the past organizations IT Services have generally grown and developed into large complex environments. Unfortunately this growth has not always been as structured and pre-planned as it needs to be.
This has resulted in the IT department not having a very clear picture of all the services they currently provide with no accurate profile of the actual customers for each of these services.
Therefore it has become imperative for the IT department to establish an accurate picture of the services it provides. This can be done through a comprehensive IT Service Catalogue.
The Service Catalog must be developed in conjunction with customers, who are better able to describe what they see as services than an IT person. If there is an asset register or configuration management database (a concept from the ITIL Configuration Management process) these are good sources of information.
<<The specific reason for you to develop this document should be written in this section. Was it a result of a customer enquiry?, is it because Service Level Agreements are to be developed based on the service catalog?, is it seen as a competitive advantage?>>
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The Executive Overview should establish the reason for this documents existence and its benefit back to the business. The above words are generic and can be tailored to suit your organization. Scope
It is imperative to determine the scope of the document. What will be included in the document and why, and what will not be included in the document and why.
It is also advisable to establish a common understanding of some of the terminology used throughout the document. For example, the scope section should determine the definition of a Service.
The Service Catalogue will list all of the IT services currently being provided to our organization.
The Service Catalogue will provide a summary of the service characteristics, and details of the users and those responsible for ongoing maintenance of each service.
<<Restrictions & Assumption you may only be documenting services for a specific business unit, or group of users, perhaps you have been advised to write a service catalog on all services except those in a mainframe environment. Any restrictions and assumptions you make in developing the document should be listed here. Dont think that everyone will be able to clearly understand what you see as the scope of the document. List these sort of things in bullet points for easier readability>>
Restriction 1 Text description
Restriction 2 Text description Page 157
Restriction x Text description
Assumption 1 Text description
Assumption 2 Text description
Assumption x Text description
For the purpose of this document, a service will be defined as the following:
One or more IT Systems which enable a business process
<<To learn more about Business Processes SLM1400 - Business and IT Service Mapping>>
<<Important note: This is a crucial document and information regarding this document should be held in the company Configuration Management database. Configuration Management is an ITIL process refer to the Product set CONMGT @ www.theartofservice.com>>
Service Summary Sheet
In this section list all Service and the customers that they apply to.
This section of the Service Catalog indicates the names of the services that will be expanded in later sections and the end users of these services. This page/s is a useful check list to take to negotiations regarding service delivery, Page 158
to determine if there are new services or others that should be renamed to more accurately reflect their purpose.
<<Description of Customers - The customers are generally described as functional groups, but you may have alternative names for the user groups. Dont expand on the description of the services here, as that comes in the following sections>>
Remember for each service listed here you need to duplicate the following section (section 5) that number of times.
Customers Service SERVICE A Eg. Accounts System Eg. Email Eg. Intranet Eg. Internet Service x Service x Service x Accounts Sales Marketing Legal Production Retail
Service A
Description
In this section provide a detailed description of the Service being provided. This description should be easy to read and written in a non-technical manner.
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Customers
In this section provide a list of customers that currently use this service. Options
Option Type Gold Silver Bronze Availability Response Capacity Recovery Options Service Times
Price List
In this section you should list all charging and cost information that makes up this service.
<<Important note. Pricing is an area that most organizations try to avoid when it comes to provision of IT Services. However, pricing can have some very powerful behavioral change benefits. Have a look at the Financial Management for IT Services (FINMGT) at www.theartofservice.com.>>
Dependencies & Contributors
List all other services that may depend on this particular service. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE FOLLOWING TABLE CAN BE MODIFIED BY YOU OR PUT ONTO A SEPARATE PAGE/SECTION AND PUT INTO A LANDSCAPE VIEW FOR EASIER READABILITY.
<<List the dependencies for this service. A dependency can be either another Service that is reliant on this service OR it can be the fact that THIS service is Page 160
reliant on another service. In whole or in part the different dependencies should be listed in this section>>
<<For example, if you are describing the accounts payable system/service, then it may be likely that the Customer relationship database is used to provide billing details for invoices. In this case the Accounts payable service is dependent on the customer relationship database it is dependent on it for billing address details).>>
<<In the table below you can describe the dependencies (note that there should always be a corresponding dependency relationship described in another service description (e.g. in our example the Customer relationship database would describe how it is a contributor to the Accounts Payable system). It is a contributor.
The final three columns of this table allow you to cross reference to any other agreements that support the dependency or contributor relationship. Using our Customer relationship database to Accounts Payable system, it may be that the Customer relationship database is supported by a specialized group of IT staff. In such a case we may create an Operational level Agreement (OLA) with them so that they can understand the importance of the relationship).
(Note the SLA, OLA and Underpinning contracts are all elements of the Service Level Management ITIL process refer to products SLM1901/2/3, SLM2000, and SLM2100 at www.theartofservice.com>>
Dependant Description Service Impact on Service A
Dependant or contributor
Service Operational Underpinning Level Level Contracts Agreement Agreement # #
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Functional Specification
Include in this section any references to additional Functional Specifications for this service. This should be simple to read and understandable by non-IT literate people
<<For relatively simple processes you can describe how different services connect and work together, for more complicated relationships you would use the Functional Specification template (ref: SLM2201 @ www.itilsurvival.com)>>
<<For instance you may have a system that holds information about employees. It may have names, addresses, payroll numbers, tax codes and other information. It may also be used as a source of names for the local blood bank to contact for support. With this example, it is easy to see what the primary and secondary functions of the service are.>>
Technical Specification
Include in this section any technical information that is pertinent to the Service. This section may point to additional documentation.
<<Be cautious about the level of detail you include on the technical details of the service. Think of describing the technical specification of the service to a person who does not have a very good understanding of IT. For example:
Instead of WAN distances Server
You might use Computers connected together over long
Central computer that holds information that can be accessed by many people
RAM
The ability of the computer to perform many different functions at the same time Page 163
MHZ
The speed at which the computer should be expected to perform different tasks.
etc.
Support Activities
Included in this section any supporting activities that need to occur to maintain the service. This would include scheduled maintenance times etc.
Perhaps the service will be unavailable at certain times of the time or days of the week. If there are major scheduled outages for this service, then they should also be referenced in the Forward Schedule of Changes (FSC). The FSC is a concept described under the ITIL Change Management process (see product CHG7700 Forward Schedule of Changes Template).
<<You can simply list known times of outage or insert a table>>
<<You also need to list how the end-user receives support for this service. Can they e-mail and phone? Is there a set Service Desk or Call Centre phone number? Be cautious about putting an actual phone number in this document. This is because if the number changes this document is out of date. You are best of simply describing the number to call (e.g. Call the IT Service Desk) and then rely on wall posters, other marketing, etc. to promote what that actual number is).
Customizations or Variants
Within any organization there MAY BE scenarios where a particular service will be delivered at different levels for different customers. For instance, in some cases there may be an extension of functionality that other customers do not require or use.
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In these instances it is best to capture all variants for all customers under the original service. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE FOLLOWING TABLE CAN BE MODIFIED BY YOU OR PUT ONTO A SEPARATE PAGE/SECTION AND PUT INTO A LANDSCAPE VIEW FOR EASIER READABILITY. REMEMBER HOWEVER THAT THIS SECTION CAN BE OPTIONAL. This service has some variants from what could be considered as the baseline.
Service Version Customer Description Availability Response Capacity Recovery Options Service Times
Existing SLAs
Cross reference to any existing Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and contracts associated with this particular service.
Contract SLA # SLA Type Corporate Based Customer Based Service Based Customer
<<The type of SLA can be generally categorized in to one of these three types. Descriptions are provided below. Whether you leave these descriptions in the document is optional>>
Corporate Based: covering all the generic Service Level Management (SLM) issues appropriate to every customer throughout the organization.
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Customer Based: covering all SLM issues relevant to the particular Customer group, regardless of the service being used.
Service Based: cover all SLM issues relevant to the specific service, in relation to this specific Customer group (one for each service covered by the SLA).
Restrictions
If this service is restricted to a certain group or for use at certain periods of time, week, month, etc. then you would detail those restrictions here. Remember to keep the description brief. Appendices Include any applicable appendixes that are needed.
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COMMUNICATION PLAN
IT Services
Communication Plan Process: Service Level Management
Status:
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Communication Plan for Service Level Management
This document serves as a GUIDE FOR COMMUNICATIONS REQUIRED for the Service Level Management process. This document provides a basis for completion within your own organization.
This document contains suggestions regarding information to share with others. The document is deliberately concise and broken into communication modules. This will allow the reader to pick and choose information for e-mails, flyers, etc. from one or more modules if and when appropriate.
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Initial Communication
Sell the Benefits.

First steps in communication require the need to answer the question that most people (quite rightly) ask when the IT department suggests a new system, a new way of working. WHY? It is here that we need to promote and sell the benefits. However, be cautious of using generic words. Cite specific examples from your own organization that the reader will be able to relate to (to help develop specific examples contact service@theartofservice.com for competitive quotation). Generic Benefit statements Specific Organizational example
CM provides accurate information on our IT components. Allows us to more carefully control the valuable IT infrastructure. Helps us to more effectively manage our expenditure on IT. Assists with protecting against illegal or unauthorized software.
This is important because
In recent times our control on IT has
Apart from the obvious benefits, the IT department in recent times has A recent example of saw the individual and the company face severe penalties.
The above Communication module (or elements of) was/were distributed; To: On: By: On:
<<date>>
<<date>>
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Service Level Management Goals
The Goals of Service Level Management.

The Goals of Service Level Management can be promoted in the following manner. Official Goal Statement: Through a process of continual negotiation, discussion, monitoring and reporting the Service Level Management process aims to ensure the delivery of IT Services that meet the requirements and expectations of our customers and end-users. Seek agreement on expected delivery of IT service by gaining an understanding of the Service Level Requirements from nominated personnel
(Special Tip: Beware of using only Managers to gain information from, as the resistance factor will be high) Oversee the monitoring of service delivery to ensure that the negotiations regarding the service requirements are not ignored and treated as a once off exercise. Provide relevant reports to nominated personnel.
(Special Tip: Beware of reporting only to Managers. If you speak to a lot of people regarding Service Delivery then you need to establish ways to report to these people the outcomes and progress of the discussions). Always bear in mind the so what factor when discussing areas like goals and objectives. If you cannot honestly and sensibly answer the question so what then you are not selling the message in a way that is personal to the listener and gets their buy-in. The above Service Level Management Goals module was distributed; To: On: By: On:
<<date>>
<<date>>
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Service Level Management Activities
Intrusive & Hidden Activities
The list of actions in this module may have a direct impact on end users. They will be curious as to why staff have a sudden interest in trying to develop an understanding regarding what they need from IT. There could be an element of suspicion, so consider different strategies to overcome this initial skepticism. Identification Analyzing current services and Service Level Requirements Recording the current service provision in a Service Catalogue. Definition Matching & customizing (with the customer) of the right service provision against the right costs: Service Catalogue Demands of the customer (Service Level Requirements). Agreement (Defining and signing SLA/s) Service Level Agreements, supported by: Operational Level Agreements (OLAs) and Underpinning Contracts Monitoring Measuring the actual service levels against the agreed service levels Reporting Reporting on the service provision (to the customer and the IT organization) Evaluation (review) Evaluate the service provision with the customer Match & customize: adjust service provision if required? (SIP, SQP) Match & customize: adjust SLA if required?
Information regarding activities was distributed; To: On: By: On:
<<date>>
<<date>>
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Service Level Management Deliverables Outputs of the Process

There are a variety of output documents that should be visible to the customer and end-user. Outlining these will allow the use of common terms which enhances the overall communication process. SLR = Service Level Requirements Detailed recording of the customers needs Blueprint for defining, adapting and revising of services Service Spec Sheets = Service Specifications Connection between functionality (externally / customer focused) and technicalities (internally / IT organization focused) Service Catalogue Detailed survey of available services Detailed survey of available service levels Derived from the Service Spec Sheets, but written in customer terminology SLA = Service Level Agreement The written agreement between the provider and the customer (business representative) Service Level Achievements = the Service Levels that are realized
SIP = Service Improvement Programme / Plan Actions, phases and delivery dates for improvement of a service OLA = Operational Level Agreement (or SPA, Service Provisioning Agreement) A written agreement with another internal IT department to support the SLA UC = Underpinning Contract (=a written agreement with an external IT supplier)
News about the Service Level Management deliverables was distributed; To: On: By: On:
<<date>>
<<date>>
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Service Level Management Planning
Costs
Information relating to costs may be a topic that would be held back from general communication. Failure to convince people of the benefits will mean total rejection of associated costs. If required, costs fall under several categories: Personnel audit verification staff, database management team (Set-up and ongoing) Accommodation Physical location (Set-up and ongoing) Software Tools (Set-up and ongoing) Hardware Infrastructure (Set-up) Education Training (Set-up and ongoing) Procedures external consultants etc. (Set-up) The costs of implementing Service Level Management will be outweighed by the benefits. For example, many organizations have a negative perception of the function of the IT Department. A well run Service Level Management process will make major inroads into altering that perception. Failure to deliver acceptable services will only add to any poor perceptions and start business people questioning the value of IT.
Details regarding the cost of Service Level management were distributed; To: On: By: On:
<<date>>
<<date>>
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BUSINESS AND IT SERVICE MAPPING
IT Services
Business and IT Service Mapping Process: Service Level Management
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Document Control
Document Source This document is located on the LAN under the path: I:/IT Services/Service Delivery/Business and IT Service Mapping/
Amendment History
Issue
Date
Amendments
Completed By
<<organization name>> Business Unit IT Stakeholders
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Introduction
Purpose The purpose of this document is to provide IT departments with an understanding of how the IT Services provided map to the organizations business processes.
Scope This document describes the following: details of each Business Process and the corresponding IT Service provided by the IT departments within the organization: description of business process description of service business contacts service contacts
Note: It is assumed for each Business Process and IT Service described in this document that the supporting back-end technology is already in place and operational.
Audience This document is relevant to all staff in <<organization name>>
Ownership IT Services has ownership of this document in conjunction with nominated Business Representatives.
Related Documentation The following documents may help you to complete or understand the purpose of this document:
Relevant SLA and procedural documents Relevant IT Services Catalogue Relevant Technical Specification documentation Page 178
Relevant Functional Specification documentation Relevant User Guides and Procedures
Executive Overview In the past organizations IT Services functions have generally grown and developed into large complex environments. Unfortunately this growth has not always been as structured and pre-planned as it should have been.
The result has been an IT department not having a very clear picture of all the services they currently provide, and with no accurate profile of the actual customers for each of these services.
With increasing demands being placed on IT services and increasing reliance on IT systems, it has become imperative for the IT department to establish an accurate picture of the services it provides and to whom it provides them.
This document describes an approach for mapping IT Services to the Business Process. That is, mapping what services are provided by IT to the business areas that use them.
Mapping Business Process and IT Service: An approach Most organizations now understand the benefits of having Information Technology (IT) throughout their structure. Few realize the potential of truly aligning the IT departments objectives with the business objectives. However, more and more organizations are beginning to recognize IT as being a crucial delivery mechanism of services to their customers.
When the IT services are so critical, steps must be in place to ensure that the IT group adds value and delivers consistently.
In line with this concept, the first step in mapping IT Services to the needs of the business is to understand the organization.
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An organization starts with a Mission Statement. The Mission Statement for an organization defines its reason for being. Once we capture the Mission Statement, the next thing to look at is the Vision Statement.
The Vision Statement defines where it is that the organization wants to go. By understanding where the organization wishes to position itself within its market space, then we can start looking at how its short term and long term objectives align with this.
At this point we need to see the objectives and strategy of the organization. By having this information, IT departments are more likely to be aware of the pressing business issues and needs that may impact on the services that they provide. For example, the organization may have an objective of expanding its business into new markets within the next 12 months, requiring additional offices and staff. The direct impact on IT departments would be the successful planning of capacity of new IT Services, the successful planning of how to change our current services to meet the demands of the business, and being flexible enough to meet these demands.
However, an objective is not sufficient enough to determine how IT departments should be delivering its services. The organization will meet these objectives by changing, enhancing or creating new business processes. For example, Administration staff may need additional resources, a new ordering package may be required, or perhaps a new billing process needs to be implemented to meet these objectives.
Therefore, after capturing the organizational objectives, we need to understand how these map to current business process, if the current business processes are changing or if they are becoming obsolete and if there will be any new business processes.
This is where the IT departments need to capture the Business Processes being used by the organization. Page 180
Once the IT departments have a clear view of each of the business units involved in the business process, we need to capture the fact that the business processes need one or more IT services (e.g. CRM application, email, word processing, financial tools) to function.
Each of these IT services runs on IT infrastructure. This is where IT departments now map the IT Services to those Business Processes listed above.
With this information IT Departments will now be able to clearly see how their IT Infrastructure / IT Services supports the business. This allows IT to better deliver IT aligned Services to the organization.
A simple model for this approach is illustrated below.
What are the Objectives of the organization? What is its Mission and Vision? What Business Processes are in place or will be in place to meet these needs? What IT Services are needed or in place to service the Business Processes?
Mission Statement A mission statement describes the reason for the organizations being. Without an understanding of the mission statement of an organization, it becomes hard to define what it is that the organization is trying to achieve.
In this section of the document capture the mission statement of the organization. It is important to show that the IT department is aware of the business.
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Vision Statement In this section, document the Vision statement for the organization. Below is a text example of what may be included in this section.
Listed below is the Vision Statement for <<organization name>>:

Quality Care Convenient Service Good Experiences Care at Competitive Prices Service You'll Recommend to Friends and Family
These are the major goals of the staff at <<organization name>>. With over xxx services and xxx staff, we constantly strive to provide the highest-quality service throughout the xxxxxxxx. >>
Business Process Summary The below table is an example of a Business Process Summary Table. Columns and Rows can be added as needed. A more detailed breakdown of each process name is provided in the following pages.
<<
Business Process Name: The name of the process if available Process Owner: The name of the Department head or Business Representative for the process Description: Department(s): A brief description of the process The Department(s) that is involved or uses this process Parent Process: Any process that may be considered a lead into this process or is seen has having a higher business criticality Triggers: What causes the process to start? This is important as IT can then determine if and how their
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Services interact with other business process or external organizations. >>BUSINESS

Process Name Process Owner Description Department(s) Parent Process Triggers
Business Process A
This section of the document should be repeated for each Business Process.
Department Name of the department
Process Name of the process, and official abbreviation, if any
Process Owner Name of the Department head or person responsible for ensuring the effectiveness and efficiency of the process.
Description Briefly explain the purpose of the business process.
Parent Business Activity/Process Name of the parent business activity or process, if any
Primary Product(s) List the primary product(s), and explain if necessary. Identify the customer for each primary product. Page 183
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Trigger(s) List the event(s) that trigger the process. (Triggers can be a calendar date, as well as an actual event.)
Sub-processes If the process is subdivided, list the sub-processes here.
Standard Path Events/Activities List the important activities and/or events that occur as part of the standard path for this process. If an activity or event occurs in a specific sub-process, identify the sub-process that includes the activity/event. Note any locations where an alternative path breaks off from the standard path.
Alternative Path Events/Activities List the important activities and/or events that occur as part of the alternative path for this process, beginning with a note on where the alternative path breaks off from the standard path, and ending with a note on where the alternative path rejoins the standard path, if it does. If an activity or event occurs in a specific sub-process, identify the sub-process that includes the activity/event.
Inputs List the inputs to the process, and explain if necessary. Identify the source of the input. If the input is specific to a sub-process, identify the sub-process.
Secondary Products List the by-products, or minor outputs that result from the process. Identify the customer for each output. If the secondary product is specific to a subprocess, identify the sub-process.
Participants
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List the participants (actors) in the process, and explain their function briefly. If the participant is active only in a specific sub-process, identify the subprocess. IT Services The following section provides a table for capturing those IT Services that help support the business process described in this section. << Fields:
IT Service:
In this field capture the name of the IT Service. A likely source of for this information would be the IT Service Catalogue.
Description: IT Service Owner:
Write a brief description about the service. List any responsibilities for this IT Service. This would include the owner of the IT Service and any additional support personnel that are involved in the delivery of the IT Service.
Hours of Availability:
List the hours of support for the particular IT Service. Eg. 24 hours x 7 Days per week, Monday Friday: 8.00am 6.00pm, etc.
Contract:
Is the IT Service provided under the agreement of a contract? If so, it is important to capture any contracts that may be in place for the IT Service. Contracts will have a direct impact on how the IT Service is delivered.
Service Level Agreements:List any applicable SLAs for the IT Service. Impact: If the particular IT Service was unavailable, how would this impact on the Business Process.
>> Page 186
This table should be used on a landscape page layout.
IT Service
Description
IT Service Owner
Hours of Availability
Contract
Service Level Agreements
Impact
Business Process B
Department Process Process Owner Description Parent Business Activity/Process Primary Product(s) Trigger(s) Sub-processes Standard Path Events/Activities Alternative Path Events/Activities Inputs Secondary Products Participants IT Services
IT Service
Description
IT Service Owner
Hours of Availability
Contract
Service Level Agreements
Impact
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Business Process and IT Service Summary
This section provides a summary matrix table of the business processes and their corresponding IT Services.
This is a comprehensive summary table designed to be tailored for your needs. If necessary add or remove rows and columns as needed. A simpler matrix may be just as effective for your needs. The table breaks down the IT Services and offers you the ability to capture the owner of the IT Service, the impact of the service on the business process and the agreed service hours.
The impact is an arbitrary value that IT and the business need to agree upon. These values may be defined within the Service Catalogue or the Service Level Agreements.
The table also breaks down the Business Processes and offers you the ability to capture the department(s) that are involved in that particular business process, the business owner of the process, and the business rating.
The Business Owner may be hard to define in an organization, in this instance there maybe a number of owners of the process which would generally be made up of the Department heads.
The Business Rating is also an arbitrary value that the business needs to agree upon. In most instances each department will rate their business processes Critical or Very High. The easy way to determine the Business Rating of the process would be to ascertain if the business could still deliver its services if that business process was unavailable for a period of time.
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IT Services
Business Process A Business Process B Department Owner Business Department Owner Business Rating Rating Admin <<Business Medium Accounting <<Business Very High Process Process Owner>> Owner>>
Owner Service A
Service B
Service C
Service D
<<IT Service Owner>> Impact Very High Service 24 x 7 Hours Owner <<IT Service Owner>> Impact High Service Mon-Fri: Hours 8am 6pm Owner <<IT Service Owner>> Impact Medium Service Mon-Sat: Hours 6am 6pm Owner <<IT Service Owner>> Impact Low Service Mon-Fri: Hours 6am 10pm
Appendices List any appendices needed in conjunction with this document. Terminology IT Infrastructure: includes hardware, software, procedures, policies, documentation, etc.
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REPORTS KPIs AND METRICS
IT Services
Reports and KPI Targets Process: Service Level Management
Status:
Note: SEARCH AND REPLACE <<Organization name>>
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Reports and KPI Targets for Service Level Management The document is not to be considered an extensive statement as its topics have to be generic enough to suit any reader for any organization. However, the reader will certainly be reminded of the key topics that have to be considered.
This document serves as a GUIDE ON SUITABLE KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (KPIs) and REPORTS FOR MANAGEMENT for the Service Level Management process. This document provides a basis for completion within your own organization.
This document contains suggestions regarding the measures that would be meaningful for this process. The metrics demonstrated are intended to show the reader the range of metrics that can be used. The message must also be clear that technology metrics must be heavily supplemented with non-technical and business focused metrics/KPIs/measures.
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Key performance indicators (KPIs) Continuous improvement requires that each process needs to have a plan about how and when to measure its own performance. While there can be no set guidelines presented for the timing/when of these reviews; the how question can be answered with metrics and measurements.
With regard to timing of reviews then factors such as resource availability, cost and nuisance factor need to be accounted for. Many initiatives begin with good intentions to do regular reviews, but these fall away very rapidly. This is why the process owner must have the conviction to follow through on assessments and meetings and reviews, etc. If the process manager feels that reviews are too seldom or too often then the schedule should be changed to reflect that. Establishing SMART targets is a key part of good process management. SMART is an acronym for:
Simple
Measurable Achievable Realistic Time Driven
Metrics help to ensure that the process in question is running effectively.
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With regard to SERVICE LEVEL MANAGEMENT the following metrics and associated targets should be considered:
Key Performance Indicator Target Value (some examples) The percentage of Underpinning contracts and OLAs in place that are supporting Service Level Agreements. Expressed as a percentage, it indicates that SLAs are more than just a document, but have been extended into related agreements with internal and external providers. A reducing number here may be a good indication or at least the number should be stable. Time Frame/Notes/Who
Meetings held (on time) to review performance
Costs of Service Delivery decreasing. The percentage of targets relating to Service delivery being met. The number of Service breaches recorded Improvements in salient points from Customer feedback forms Others
Special Tip: Beware of using percentages in too many cases. It may even be better to use absolute values when the potential number of maximum failures is less than 100.
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Reports for Management
Management reports help identify future trends and allow review of the health of the process. Setting a security level on certain reports may be appropriate as well as categorizing the report as Strategic, Operational or Tactical. The acid test for a relevant report is to have a sound answer to the question; What decisions is this report helping management to make? Management reports for Service Level Management should include:
Report Expected growth in demand for the service (will generally be high at start-up, but then plateau) Serious Service breaches and remedy steps taken Backlog details of process activities outstanding (along with potential negative impact regarding failure to complete the work in a timely manner) but also provide solutions on how the backlog can be cleared. Simple breakdown of new SLA/OLA/UCs created, simple notes on reviews of same completed. Analysis and results of meetings completed The situation regarding the process staffing levels and any suggestions regarding redistribution, recruitment and training required. Human resource reporting including hours worked against project/activity (including weekend/after hours work). Relevant Financial information to be provided in conjunction with Financial Management for IT Services Time Frame/Notes/Who
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BUSINESS AND IT FLYERS
IT Services
Process: Problem Management Business and IT Flyers
Stat us: In draft Under Review Sent for Approval Approved Rejected <<your version>>
Ver sion : Rel eas e Dat e:
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Introduction
The following pages provide 2 examples of flyers that can printed and distributed throughout your organization.
They are designed to be displayed in staff rooms.
Note, they are examples, and your input is required to complete the flyers.
Remember, the important thing is to ensure that the message delivered in the flyer is appropriate to the audience that will be reading it.
So think about how and where you will be distributing the flyers.
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ProblemManagement
ITServicesDepartment
Key Points:
Wanted: Long Term Stability

The IT Department is embarking on a Problem Management implementation Program. Problem Management is a set of activities designed to remove errors from the IT infrastructure. <<First, determine the audience of this flyer. This could be anyone who might benefit from the information it contains, for example, IT employees or business staff. The most exciting element of the program is the Proactive activities, designed to prevent errors even before they occur. Traditionally our focus has been on fixing errors as they occur. As of <<mm-dd-yyyy>> that will change. New processes will be in place to head off potentially damaging, costly and time consuming errors in advance. Provide contact lists for the IT Department as well as the business managers that they can contact.>>
Proactive Approach Removal of Known Errors. Few er incidents

Increased confidence
<<other points>>

THE BENEFITS List the benefits to the intended audience. Keep it Simple
Use Bullet Points
THE PROCESS Problem Control To understand the issue. Error Control To identify the cause Proactive activities To prevent potential issues
CONTACTS
List the contacts Input any graphics in here
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Problem Management
IT SERVICE IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM
<<Corporate Logo or image of choice>>
HELP US HELP YOU

Contact your immediate Manager to let them know what you need to do your job better
INCREASED SERVICE AVAILABILITY THROUGH FEWER PROBLEMS IS OUR GOAL
KNOW YOUR SERVICE RIGHTS
Sponsored by IT SERVICES Constantly improving and aligning to your needs
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EMAIL TEXT
IT Services
Process: Service Level Management Email Text
Version:
<<your version>>
Release Date:
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Introduction
In the next section of this document is an example email text that can be distributed across your organization.
Note, that this is just one piece of text for one email.
However, it is advisable to create a few different versions of the below text, which you can store in this document, for future use.
This is very important, as each time you send an email regarding your Service Level Management process it should be different and targeted to the correct audience.
This document provides a method for also keeping track of your communication that you have made to the rest of the organization, and to keep in focus the promises that have been made regarding this process.
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Dear << insert audience here, for example, Customer, IT Staff, Marketing Dept etc. >>
Service Level Management and Agreements
The IT Department <<give a specific name here if appropriate>> is embarking on a Service Improvement Programme.
What does this mean to you?
The IT Department continually strives to improve the service it delivers to its customers. The IT Services department provides internal support for <<e.g. Business applications and equipment: Enter any appropriate details here>>.
In order to improve the IT Services and ensure that they are aligned with the needs of the organization, we have decided to embark on a service improvement programme. This programme will result in the implementation of a process called Service Level Management.
What is Service Level Management?
This process is responsible for defining, recording, agreeing and improving IT Services. It is a process that is there to ensure that service quality is kept to a maximum.
We have defined the Goal for Service Level Management as follows:
<< INSERT YOUR GOAL FOR SERVICE LEVEL MANAGEMENT HERE >>
What is your involvement?
The IT Department will be creating a list of IT Services that it delivers. This will be captured in a Service Catalogue (SC). The list of services will then be Page 204
presented to the different departments within <<organization name>>. From this list, each department will be able to pick the service(s) that they use, and through our requirements gathering, make appropriate changes to meet the specific needs of the department.
From this, we will be able to then formulate agreements on the services being provided. These will be called Service Level Agreements.
This will help ensure that the IT Department is aligning its Services with the business needs, provide a way to measure the services, set expectations of the services being delivered, and more importantly provide an avenue for discovery in service improvement.
We have appointed a Service Level Manager to help drive this process. The Service Level Manager will be the interface between the IT Department and the Department heads within the organization.
The Service Level Manager will work closely with the business in defining the necessary services and agreeing their level of availability.
However, the process will still require users of the IT Service to call/contact the Service Desk for support issues. This is vitally important, as statistics regarding unavailability of IT Services will still be gathered from the Service Desk. The more people that use the Service Desk, the better the information, and therefore a better ability to discover service improvements.
The following can be considered a list of benefits to be derived from the process:
<<
List benefits applicable to your audience. For example: Benefits to the Business: Page 205
o Improved relationship with customers o IT and Customers have a clear and consistent expectation of service For example: Benefits to the IT Department o Better understanding of the level of service to be provided o Reacting appropriately due to Service Level Agreements o Operation Level Agreements reinforce communications
>>
The commencement date of the new process is scheduled for: << insert date >>
OR
Completion of the process will be: << insert date >>
This is a detailed process and there may be some operational difficulties to overcome, but with your support, I am sure we can provide an extremely beneficial process to both the Business / <<organization name>> and IT.
If you have any questions regarding this, please do not hesitate to contact me at << phone number >>
<< Your Name and Titles >>
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SLM PROCESS MANAGER
IT Services
Roles, Responsibilities Process: Service Level Management
Version:
<<your version>>
Release Date:
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Detailed responsibilities of the Service Level Management process owner The Service Level Manager.. Description Will design, maintain and review a structure for the process that covers the interactions of the people involved and the expected content of Service Level Management related documents (involving IT and Customers) AND Coordinates any required Service Improvement Plans/Programmes to eradicate falling Service Delivery performance Will coordinate process reviews utilizing independent parties to provide an objective view on the simplicity of the process and areas for improvement. Will be responsible for implementing any design improvements identified. Will establish, maintain and review: Service Level Agreements with the business Customer (including a decision on SLA Structure). Operational Level Agreements with the IT provider Underpinning Contracts with third party providers. Is responsible for the creation, maintenance, marketing and distribution of the Service Catalog (which documents the IT Services offered by the organization) Will control and review: Any outstanding process related actions Current targets for service performance Performance against SLAs, OLAs and UCs Make available relevant, concise reports that are both timely and readable for Customers and IT providers. Notes/Comments Use the notes/Comment s column in different ways. If you are looking to apply for a process role, then you can check yourself against the list (with ticks or look to update your resume). If you are looking to appoint a process manager or promote someone from within the organization you can make notes about their abilities in the particular area.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
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Detailed skills of the Service Level Management process owner The Service Level Manager.. Description The Service Level Manager will display a communication style based around listening and demonstrable genuine interest. Ability to use and apply valuable information gained from customers. High degree of people/relationship management focus and an ability to deal with an administrative workload. Will also tend to be balanced in negotiations almost to the point of neutrality during discussions between the customer and the IT Service Provider. The Service Level Manager will take an active interest in learning about services offered by external and internal providers. The manager will be interested in understanding how services are provided, rather than just accepting a marketing statement. The Service Level Manager must have good oral and presentation skills. They are a champion for this process and must display an air of confidence, without arrogance. The Service Level Manager must be able to communicate with people at all levels of the organization; this is one contributing factor that also will require a high degree of understanding of human emotion and resistance. The process manager must be able to demonstrate ways to do things differently that will improve the process. They must not be risk adverse, but must be very risk conscious. Although not a highly numeric role, the selected person must be able to understand the basics of supply and demand, with a commonsense attitude to service charging and a grip on basic statistical analysis. The process manager will need to be able to engage in technical discussions with technical people (to ensure credibility) and to engage in business discussions with business people, about those technical issues (of course in non-technical terms). Notes/Comments Use the notes/Comment s column in different ways. If you are looking to apply for a process role, then you can check yourself against the list (with ticks or look to update your resume). If you are looking to appoint a process manager or promote someone from within the organization you can make notes about their abilities in the particular area.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
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IMPLEMENTATION PLAN AND PROJECT PLAN
IT Services
Implementation Plan/Project Plan Skeleton Outline Process: Service Level Management
Status:
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Planning and implementation for Service Level Management
This document as described provides guidance for the planning and implementation of the Service Level Management ITIL process. The document is not to be considered an extensive plan as its topics have to be generic enough to suit any reader for any organization.
However, the reader will certainly be reminded of the key topics that have to be considered for planning and implementation of this process.
Initial planning When beginning the process planning the following items must be completed:
CHECK or or date Get agreement on the objective (use the ITIL definition), purpose, scope, and implementation approach (e.g. Internal, outsourced, hybrid) for the process. Assign a person to the key role of process manager/owner. This person is responsible for the process and all associated systems. Conduct a review of activities that would currently be considered as an activity associated with this process. Make notes and discuss the re-usability of that activity. Create and gain agreement on a high-level process plan and a design for any associated process systems. NOTE: the plan need not be detailed. Too many initiatives get caught up in too much detail in the planning phase. KEEP THE MOMENTUM GOING. Review the finances required for the process as a whole and any associated systems (expenditure including people, software, hardware, accommodation). Dont forget that the initial expenditure may be higher than the ongoing costs. Dont forget annual allowances for systems maintenance or customizations to systems by development staff. Agree to the policy regarding this process DESCRIPTION
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Create Strategic statements.
Policy Statement The policy establishes the SENSE OF URGENCY for the process.
It helps us to think clearly about and agree on the reasons WHY effort is put into this process.
An inability to answer this seemingly simple, but actually complex question is a major stepping stone towards successful implementation
The most common mistake made is that reasons regarding IT are given as the WHY we should do this. Reasons like to make our IT department more efficient are far too generic and dont focus on the real issue behind why this process is needed.
The statement must leave the reader in no doubt that the benefits of this process will be far reaching and contribute to the business in a clearly recognizable way.
Objective Statement When you are describing the end or ultimate goal for a unit of activity that is about to be undertaken you are outlining the OBJECTIVE for that unit of activity.
Of course the activity may be some actions for just you or a team of people. In either case, writing down the answer to WHERE will this activity lead me/us/the organization is a powerful exercise.
There are many studies that indicate the simple act of putting a statement about the end result expected onto a piece of paper, then continually referring to it, makes achieving that end result realistic.
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As a tip regarding the development of an objective statement; dont get caught up in spending hours on this. Do it quickly and go with your instincts or first thoughts BUT THEN, wait a few days and review what you did for another short period of time and THEN commit to the outcome of the second review as your statement.
Scope Statement In defining the scope of this process we are answering what activities and what information interfaces does this process have.
Dont get caught up in trying to be too detailed about the information flow into and out of this process. What is important is that others realize that information does in fact flow.
For example, with regard to the SERVICE LEVEL MANAGEMENT process we can create a simple table such as:
Service Level Management Information flows
Process SLMMgt FinancialMgt to to
Process FinancialMgt SLMMgt
Information Customer budget details Expected ROI calculations for new service
SLMMgt
to
ReleaseMgt
Details regarding mandatory times for service availability Expected impact (+ve or ve) of release
ReleaseMgt
to
SLMMgt
SLMMgt
to
ServiceDesk
Client expectations regarding call pick up times (e.g. 2 rings) Details of irate callers
ServiceDesk
to
SLMMgt
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Service Level Management Based on ITIL Version 2 Steps for Implementation. There can be a variety of ways to implement this process. For a lot of organizations a staged implementation may be suitable. For others a big bang implementation due to absolute equality may be appropriate.
In reality however, we usually look at implementation according to pre-defined priorities. Consider the following options and then apply a suitable model to your own organization or case study.
STEPS NOTES/ /RELEVANCE/DATES/ WHO
Produce the Service Catalog Plan the SLA Structure Establish the Service Level Requirements Draft SLA and seek initial approval Establish monitoring levels Review agreements with internal and external suppliers Define reporting standards Publicize and market
The priority selection has to be made with other factors in mind, such as competitive analysis, any legal requirements, and desires of politically powerful influencers.
Costs The cost of process implementation is something that must be considered before, during and after the implementation initiative. The following points and table helps to frame these considerations: (A variety of symbols have been provided to help you indicate required expenditure, rising or falling expenditure, level of satisfaction regarding costs in a particular area, etc.)
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Service Level Management Based on ITIL Version 2
Initial Personnel Costs of people for initial design of process, implementation and ongoing support Accommodation Costs of housing new staff and any associated new equipment and space for documents or process related concepts. Software New tools required to support the process and/or the costs of migration from an existing tool or system to the new one. Maintenance costs Hardware New hardware required to support the process activities. IT hardware and even new desks for staff. Education Re-education of existing staff to learn new techniques and/or learn to operate new systems. Procedures Development costs associated with filling in the detail of a process activity. The step-by-step recipe guides for all involved and even indirectly involved personnel.
During
Ongoing
In most cases, costs for process implementation have to be budgeted for (or allocated) well in advance of expenditure. Part of this step involves deciding on a charging mechanism (if any) for the new services to be offered.
Build the team Each process requires a process owner and in most situations a team of people to assist. The Service Level Management process is perhaps the process in the Service Delivery set that has the largest amount of initial and on-going activity.
The team size may or may not reflect this. Of course a lot will be dependent on the timing of the implementation and whether it is to be staged or implemented as one exercise.
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Service Level Management Based on ITIL Version 2 Analyze current situation and FLAG Naturally there are many organizations that have many existing procedures/processes and people in place that feel that the activities of SLM are already being done. It is critical to identify these systems and consider their future role as part of the new process definition. Examples of areas to review are:
Area Power teams Current formal procedures Current informal procedures Current role descriptions Existing organizational structure Spreadsheets, databases and other repositories Other Notes
Implementation Planning After base decisions regarding the scope of the process and the overall planning activities are complete we need to address the actual implementation of the process.
It is unlikely that there will not be some current activity or work being performed that would fit under the banner of this process. However, we can provide a comprehensive checklist of points that must be reviewed and done. Implementation activities for Service Level Management
Activity Notes/Commen ts/Time Frame/Who
Review current and existing Service Level Management practices in greater detail. Make sure you also review current process connections from these practices to other areas of IT Service Delivery. Review the ability of existing functions and staff. Can we reuse some of the skills to minimize training, education and time required for implementation? Establish the accuracy and relevance of current processes, procedures and meetings. As part of this step if any information is credible document the transition from the current format to any new format that is selected. Decide how best to select any vendor that will provide assistance in this process area (including tools, external consultancy or assistance to help with initial high workload during process implementation).
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Establish a selection guideline for the evaluation and selection of tools required to support this process area (i.e. SLA Management tools). Purchase and install tools required to support this process (i.e. SLA Management tool). Ensure adequate skills transfer and on-going support is considered if external systems are selected. Create any required business processes interfaces for this process that can be provided by the automated tools (e.g. reporting frequency, content). Document and get agreement on roles, responsibilities and training plans. Communicate with and provide necessary education and training for staff that covers the actual importance of the process and the intricacies of the process itself.
An important point to remember is that if this process is to be implemented at the same time as other processes that it is crucial that both implementation plans and importantly timing of work is complementary.
Cutover to new processes The question of when a new process actually starts is one that is not easy to answer. Most process activity evolves without rigid starting dates and this is what we mean when we answer a question with thats just the way its done around here.
Ultimately we do want the new process to become the way things are done around here, so it may even be best not to set specific launch dates, as this will set the expectation that from the given date all issues relating to the process will disappear (not a realistic expectation).
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FURTHER INFORMATION
For more information on other products available from The Art of Service, you can visit our website: http://www.theartofservice.com
If you found this guide helpful, you can find more publications from The Art of Service at: http://www.amazon.com
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Service Level Management

Service Level Management

Service Level Management

Service Level Management

Start by reviewing the PowerPoint presentation.

Service Level Management

Service Level Management

Service Level Management

SERVICE LEVEL MANGEMENT PRESENTATION

Service Level Management

Service Level Management

Service Level Management

To meet organizational objectives, the organization has business processes in place.

Service Level Management

ITIL provides a framework for the management of IT Infrastructure.

Service Level Management

Service Level Management

Service Level Management

Service Level Management

Service Level Management is not an isolated process, but:

Service Level Management

Service Level Management

Service Level Management

Explain the relationship between the customer IT and Suppliers.

Service Level Management

Service Level Management

Service Level Management

Service Level Management

Service Level Management

Service Level Management

Following pages expand on this one.

Service Level Management

Service Level Management

Service Level Management

Service Level Management

Service Level Management

Service Level Management

Service Level Management

Service Level Management

Service Level Management

Service Level Management

It does portray the complexity and myriad of information flows however.

Service Level Management

Service Level Management

Service Level Management

Service Level Management

So what should be in this thing called an SLA?

What else could be or should be included in the SLA?

Service Level Management

Service Level Management

More information on Configuration Management at www.theartofservice.com

Service Level Management

Service Level Management

An IT Service Management self-assessment scan can be downloaded from www.itil.co.uk.

For information regarding an independent scan send an e-mail to service@theartofservice.com

Service Level Management

Service Level Management