Service Level Agreements (SLA)

Service Level Agreements (SLA)

OBJECTIVES:

On completion of the course participants will:

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

Course Outline:

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

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

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