A process for managing service levels ensures that all IT services delivered to customers meet agreed-upon levels of quality. It involves ensuring that Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are in place, are being adhered to and service levels are tracked and reported.
It is crucial to have the correct tools in place to accomplish all of this. Often the systems and processes used to determine service levels are outsourced to third parties. It is crucial to understand how to manage them within your own SLM process.
The first step to set up an SLM process is identifying what services are crucial to the business, and establishing reasonable metrics for success. This will include factors like effectiveness, user base and design factors. It is crucial to choose the technology expertise – a company specializing in a specific platform may be able to commit to higher performance levels than a generalised service provider.
Once the SLA targets are set and the team has to develop a plan to maintain them. This usually involves putting in systems that monitor the progress of the team and notify them automatically when there are issues with meeting targets.
A strong SLM process also includes continuous improvement processes. These processes will allow teams to learn and improve by studying the metrics they track. For instance, if an NOC service repeatedly fails to meet its SLA of answering phone calls within 30 seconds, then it is possible to pinpoint the root of the problem and fix it.
www.slm-info.org/2022/08/15/the-complete-package-for-business-software-a-review-of-data-rooms/
