Computer Science Assignment (Also be a good writer)

Managing the  Level of IT Service

By Susan Miertschin

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Service‐Level Management • Encompasses multiple

processes • Assures that the IT

function delivers value • Assures that the

business value delivered by IT is visible

• Helps users understand what to expect

• Helps IT understand what to deliver

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Service Design

Service Level  Management

Goals of Service‐Level  Management

• Purpose: Ensure service delivery is within defined and agreed targets

• Keep service within boundaries of a service-level agreement

• Identify and monitor Key Performance Indicators and target values for the KPIs

• Provide data and information to service design team to fuel cycles of continuous service improvement

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Ensure Service  Delivery is within  Agreed Limits

• This might not make all users happy

• Not all users are customers with respect to service level management

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Key Performance Indicators

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• Help define and measure progress toward goals

• Quantifiable • Reflect critical success

factors

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Service Level  Management

Service Design

Capture Service  Level 

Requirements  (SLRs)

Successful Service Utility Warranty

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• Customers need to use it

• Capacity • Security • Availability • Service continuity

Warranty  Factors are 

Addressed by  SLRs

Elements of SLM • Define the services • Document them in a service level agreement • Assure that discussion and negotiation takes place

regarding requirements • Ensure that targets are measured and met • Take action to improve performance as needed

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Service Level Agreement • A written agreement between an IT service provider

and the IT customers that defines the key service targets and responsibilities of both parties

• It is an agreement, a partnership, a contract • One purpose of the agreement is to create a

blame-free environment that can focus on improvement

• It describes the service and the quality measures by which the service delivery will be judged

• It should be written in plain non-technical language

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Elements of an SLA ‐ 1 1. Objective of the SLA

o What is the purpose and scope of the SLA document? o Will a reader understand the intent of the document?

2. Time Period of the SLA o For what period is the SLA in effect?

3. Services Covered by the SLA o Description o Hours available o Description of support for a service o Hours support is available

4. Level of Availability and Reliability Agreed To 5. Level of Throughput Agreed To 6. Service Continuity after a Disaster or Major Disruption 7. Security Aspects Agreed To

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Elements of an SLA ‐ 2 8. Method for Setting Priorities for Incident Handling 9. Target Times for Incident Resolution 10. Agreed Maintenance Windows 11. Metrics/Methods by Which the Service Delivery will

Be Judged 12. SLA Reporting Periods

o When will the provider report metrics to the customer?

13. Validation triggers o What starts and stops the monitoring clock?

14. Monitoring frequency o When are measurements taken?

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Monitor  Performance 

Against SLA Stated  Requirements

• Can be a dynamic process or static

• Requires basic statistics, graphs, and charts

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Three Pillars of  Service Quality  Measurement

• 7 Responsiveness How quickly are the needs of the customer addressed?

• 2 Availability Is the service available when the customer needs it?

• 1 Quality of Service Customer satisfaction with various aspects of the service Non-subjective measures of technical factors (e.g., % of time a user does not take time to read a pop-up warning)

• 7:2:1 is a typical relative usage weighting for the three categories

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The Problem of  Over‐Achieving

• If you spend time over- achieving by going beyond the contractual service level, the time spent doing this is not spent in other areas that may be underperforming

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Perception of  Service Quality – the Danger of the  Sample of One

• One very disgruntled user can be very vocal and disparage all of IT – which can be very damaging

• Find out who it is • Go talk to them • Be empathetic • Make it right • Educate them • Include them in plans for

improvement • Convert them to your side

– hopefully!

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Sometimes Top‐ Level Managers  Want a Single 

Indicator of How  Things are Going

• Aggregate all the results of everything you are measuring to see what the current status is

• Difficult

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Service‐Level Management  in Place ‐ Warning

• People cheat • Fear of retribution • The service-level

performance monitoring system should be used to monitor and improve the system

• The service-level performance monitoring system should not be used to single out people and punish them

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Some Typical Problems with  Service‐Level Management

• Over alerting • Complex SLA

definitions/descriptions that are difficult to understand

• Over performance • SLA metrics are not for

evaluating individuals • Cheating against the

metrics • Priorities change • Too much overhead

associated with data collection

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• Sometimes service-level agreement definitions drive inefficient or unproductive behavior

• Unrealistic SLAs sometimes executed without consulting people responsible to deliver the service

• No aggregated view of overall performance

• Complicated definitions may not be understood

Managing the  Level of IT Service

By Susan Miertschin

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