4.3   Planning the Process

4.3.1 Initial planning activities
4.3.2 Plan monitoring capabilities
4.3.3 Establish initial perception of the Services
4.3.4 Underpinning contracts and Operational Level Agreements

4.3.1  Initial planning activities

If SLM is not yet in place, there are a number of activities that must be planned. These include:

• appointment or nomination of Service Level Management and any necessary supporting staff - Annex 4A gives a description of the Role of a Service Level Manager
• production of a mission statement
• definition of the objectives and scope of the function
• an awareness campaign to win support for the function and to advise people how and when they might be affected
• definition of roles, tasks and responsibilities
• quantification of activities, Resources, funding, quality criteria
• identification of risks
• planning of a Service Catalogue and an SLA structure
• drafting of a pilot SLA format
• identification of support tools, particularly for SLA monitoring
• setting and agreeing Incident Priority levels and escalation paths, with Customers, and Internal and External providers (in conjunction with Service Desk and Problem Management).

In most cases it is appropriate for these activities to be incorporated within a formal project and managed via a recognised project management method, such as OGC 's PRINCE2.

4.3.2  Plan monitoring capabilities

The importance of adequate capabilities for monitoring SLAs cannot be overstressed. Current monitoring tools and techniques must be reviewed - and action must be taken to improve these where necessary. See Paragraph 4.4.7 for further details.

4.3.3  Establish initial perception of the Services

Before embarking on the introduction of SLM, it is worthwhile to attempt to evaluate the Customers' current perception of service levels, so that later the effectiveness of the SLA might be judged. This may also assist in determining the pace at which to proceed and the prioritisation of services to be addressed.

Be aware that the senior managers who are paying for the services may not be the ones who use them on a daily basis - so it is necessary to gather perceptions at all levels within the Customer community. At the same time it is also worthwhile seeking the perception of the Service providers - they may not have been asked before and will have a different perspective from the Customers.

If monitoring is not yet in place, production of firm metrics may not yet be possible - but some form of Customer satisfaction survey or questionnaire may allow an overall impression to be gained. It is important to seek views both at management and at User/operational levels to gain the full perception. It is often the case that the operators of a System have a totally different perception from the Management, particularly where each is following a different agenda.

Experience has shown that face-to-face discussions or telephone surveys are more successful than questionnaires alone (both in terms of percentage returns and accuracy of information), though they are more costly and take longer to complete. A combination of the two is usually the most effective approach.

It may also be worthwhile trying to 'network' and get some ideas of reasonable expectation and targets (e.g. attend conferences, join User groups such as the itSMF).

4.3.4  Underpinning contracts and Operational Level Agreements

Plans must be made to review or implement contracts with external suppliers and OLAs with internal suppliers to ensure that underpinning services support the SLA targets. See Paragraph 4.4.8 for further details.