Andrew Hiles 
The Complete Guide to IT Service Level Agreements [PDF ebook] 
Aligning IT Services to Business Needs

Most suppliers lose around 16% of their customers each year. The reason? Poor service — whether perceived or real.

Any technology-based support service, whether in-house, contracted or outsourced, stands to be accused of being insensitive to the requirements of its customers (or users). Equally, customers of a support service may have unrealistic expectations of what can be reasonably provided.

Service Level Agreements (SLAs) can overcome these gulfs. A Service Level Agreement can create harmony between parties and can prevent disputes between customers and suppliers. It can justify investment and identify the ‘right’ quality of service. It can mean the difference between business success and failure.

SLAs are potentially a strategic tool to align all support services (particularly IT) directly to business mission achievement. In the past, few organizations used them in this way. Armed with this book and the companion SLA FRAMEWORK, more and more businesses are now succeeding.

Where are SLAs going? Increasingly business-focused. Increasingly measured in real-time. Simple documents that cover complex service infrastructures. Providing a competitive edge. Embracing penalties.

The brave, who commit to tight SLAs and perform against them will win the commercial spoils. This book provides the knowledge and tools based on fifteen years of intensive development to ensure your enterprise is among the winners.

表中的内容

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

FOREWORD

PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION

1 AN OVERVIEW OF SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS: WHAT THEY
CAN
AND CANNOT DO
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Service Level Agreements: Definition
1.3 Serving the Business
1.4 Availability
1.5 Performance: Speed, Response and Accuracy
1.6 Security
1.7 Quality
1.8 Service Culture
1.9 But Why SLAs?
CHECKLIST #1.1: Service Orientation

2 THE MEASUREMENT OF SERVICE AVAILABILITY AND QUALITY:
KEY
METRICS AND TECHNIQUES
2.1 Availability: Optimizing Uptime
2.2 Change Management
2.3 Problem Management
2.4 Critical Component Failure Analysis
Table 2.1: Critical Component Analysis – Cumulative Availability
Table 2.2: Contacts for Monte Carlo Analysis Tools
2.5 Relationship with Security and Contingency Planning
2.6 Scope of Service
2.7 Service Products
2.8 Service Hours
2.9 Real Time Interactive Services
2.10 Batch Services
2.11 Output Arrangements
2.12 Telecommunication and Network Services
2.13 Outsourcing
2.14 Applications Development Services
2.15 Distributed Processing
2.16 Help Desk and Technical Support
2.17 Internet and Intranet Based Services
2.18 Security Services
2.19 Special Requirements
2.20 Personal Computing
2.21 Customer Self Computing
2.22 Training


3 HOW SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS APPLY IN AN APPLICATIONS
DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT
3.1 Applications Development
3.2 Development Environment
3.3 Feasibility Study
3.4 System Analysis/Specification
3.5 System Design
3.6 Invitation to Tender/Contract
3.7 Implementation
3.8 Post-Implementation Review
3.9 Service Orientation


4 KEYS TO MEASURING AND MONITORING SERVICE; DESIGNING AND
IMPLEMENTING AN SLA

4.1 Introduction to Service Measurement
4.2 Measuring Performance and Availability
4.3 Monitoring Tools and Their Use
4.4 Application Monitoring
4.5 Network Monitoring
4.6 Case Study
4.7 Systems Monitoring
4.8 Satisfaction Monitoring
4.9 The Service Management Toolkit
4.10 Monitoring & Litigation
4.11 Balancing Detail with Practicality
4.12 The Balanced Scorecard
4.13 What to include in a SLA
4.14 Shell, Template, Model and Standard SLAs
4.15 The Service Handbook
4.16 Service Level Survey
4.17 Charging for Services
4.18 Infinite Capacity and 100% Availability?
4.19 Realistic Limits to Service
4.20 Penalty Clauses
4.21 Planning For Change
4.22 Organizational Issues
4.23 Preparing the Ground
4.24 Pilot Implementation
4.25 Negotiating with the Customer
4.26 Reporting Actual Performance Against SLA
4.27 Service Review Meetings
4.28 The Customer Review Meeting
4.29 Service Motivation
4.30 Extending SLAs
Annex One: Example Customer Satisfaction Survey
Annex Two: Example Service Level Survey
Annex Three: Terms of Reference for Marketing & Sales Manager and Accounts
Manager
Annex Four: Monitoring Tools – Web Addresses


5 THE DOWNSIDE RISK; ALTERNATIVES TO SERVICE LEVEL
AGREEMENTS; THE SLA PAYOFF
5.1 SLAs: Reasons for Failure
5.2 Alternatives to SLAs
5.3 Performance Indicators
5.4 Availability and Response Targets
5.5 Benchmark Checks
5.6 Business Satisfaction Analysis
5.7 The SLA Payoff: A Success Story
5.8 Where Next?
5.9 Conclusion


APPENDICES

APPENDIX A: SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENT CHECKLIST

APPENDIX B: Example Desktop Support Metrics

APPENDIX C: TRADITIONAL, IT-ORIENTED SLA

APPENDIX D: Example Simple Development SLA

APPENDIX E: Checklist for Outsourcing & Facilities Management

APPENDIX F: EXAMPLE DESKTOP SUPPORT SLA

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

OTHER SLA TOOLS AND RESOURCES BY ANDREW HILES

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LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE 1.2: SERVING THE BUSINESS
FIGURE 2.2: DEFINITIONS FOR TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICE LEVELS
FIGURE 3.1: DEVELOPMENT USING FPA
FIGURE 3.2: DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT
FIGURE 4.1: SERVICE MANAGEMENT TOOLKIT
FIGURE 4.2: EXAMPLE OF BALANCED SCORECARD
FIGURE 4.3: THE ONE PAGE SLA FORMAT
FIGURE 4.4: THE ONE PAGE SLA FORMAT
FIGURE 4.5: COMPONENTS OF SERVICE LEVEL MANAGEMENT
FIGURE 4.6: CHARGING FOR COMPUTING SERVICES – SCHEMATIC
FIGURE 4.7: BACK-TO-BACK SLAS
FIGURE 4.8: COST OF REAL-TIME SERVICE OUTAGES
FIGURE 4.9: HIERARCHY FOR SLA IMPLEMENTATION
FIGURE 4.10: CUSTOMER ACCOUNT MANAGER: LIAISON POINTS
FIGURE 4.11A: MONTHLY REPORT
FIGURE 4.11B: THE SAME DATA, WEEKLY REPORT
FIGURE 4.11 : THE SAME DATA, DAILY REPORT
FIGURE 4.12: SLA REPORTING SCHEMATIC
FIGURE 4.13: GLOBAL SERVICE REPORT – SCHEMATIC
FIGURE 4.14A: SAMPLE SLA REPORT
FIGURE 4.14B: BATCH SERVICE LEVEL REPORT
FIGURE 4.15: COMPUTING CENTER – MAINFRAME AVAILABILITY 0800 TO
2000 HOURS
FIGURE 4.13: COMPONENTS OF SERVICE LEVEL MANAGEMENT
FIGURE 5.1: EXPLICIT SERVICE TARGETS
FIGURE 5.2A: A CAD BENCHMARK
FIGURE 5.2B: CAD RESPONSE – BENCHMARK DRAWING TIME
FIGURE 5.2C: CAD RESPONSE – BENCHMARK DRAWING TIME
FIGURE 5.2D: CAD RESPONSE – BENCHMARK DRAWING TIME

关于作者

Andrew Hiles, FBCI, EIo SCM, is known internationally as a business continuity (BC) practitioner, trainer, author, and consultant to corporations and governments. As a trainer of new generations of BC leaders, he was among the first to provide truly international training in enterprise risk management, BC, and IT availability management in some 60 countries, as well as successfully pioneer BC training in Africa, the Middle East, China, Pakistan, and India. Hiles has authored, edited, or contributed to 15 books and has written over 250 published articles on BC topics for leading international magazines. He is founding director, first fellow, and Honorary Fellow of the Business Continuity Institute (BCI). In 2004, he was inducted into the Business Continuity Hall of Fame by CPM Magazine.