Service Level Management Procedure

1. Introduction

Service level management is the process that turns what a customer needs into targets the Organisation can promise, measure and keep. It produces and maintains service level agreements with customers, operational level agreements between internal teams, and underpinning contracts with suppliers, so that every promise made outward is backed by commitments inward. It also reports results honestly and drives change when targets are not met or no longer fit.

2. Purpose

To define, agree, record, monitor, report and review service levels for each service, and to make sure that each service level agreement is supported by realistic internal and supplier arrangements and by planned capacity, availability and continuity.

3. Objectives

• Every service in the catalogue has an agreed service level agreement or, for internal services, an operational level agreement, before it goes live.
• Service levels are measurable, tied to customer outcomes and set only after the Organisation has checked it can deliver them.
• Performance against each target is reported to the customer at the agreed frequency, and breaches are explained with actions.
• Every agreement is reviewed at least [every 12 months] and whenever the service or customer need changes.
• Underpinning internal and supplier targets are never weaker than the customer targets they support.

4. Scope

• In scope: service level agreements with external customers, operational level agreements between internal teams, and underpinning contracts with suppliers for in-scope services.
• In scope: service level requirements, targets, measures, reporting, reviews, changes and improvement.
• Out of scope: commercial terms such as price and liability, which are negotiated under the contract management arrangements, and the detailed running of supplier contracts, which is in the Supplier Management Procedure.
• Applies to: the service level manager, relationship managers, service owners, resolver groups, the supplier manager and the service desk.

5. Terms and definitions

6. Roles and Responsibilities

7. Service level management process

The process runs in a cycle: understand requirements, check capability, agree levels, support them with internal and supplier agreements, measure and report, review, and improve. Each stage below shows inputs, steps, outputs, owner and time targets.

7.1 Defining and developing customer requirements

Inputs: customer record from the Business Relationship Management Procedure, service catalogue entry, business case, existing agreements, incident and satisfaction history. Output: a documented service level requirement signed off by the customer representative.

1. GatherThe relationship manager meets the customer to establish business outcomes, critical periods, volumes, hours, tolerance for downtime and the consequence of failure. Target: within [10 working days] of a request or a review trigger.
2. TranslateThe service level manager restates needs as measurable requirements: for example, available to users from 08:00 to 20:00 on working days, response within a stated time, restoration within a stated time.
3. ConfirmThe requirement is read back to the customer representative and agreed in writing. Target: [5 working days].
4. PrioritiseWhere the customer's requirements conflict or are not all achievable, the service owner and customer agree which are mandatory and which are desirable.

7.2 Service level capability planning

Before a target is offered, the Organisation checks it can meet it consistently. The check covers people, tools, suppliers and architecture, and is recorded in the feasibility note.

If a target cannot be met, the service owner either proposes a lower target with a plan to improve, or the Management Representative approves a stretch target with funded actions and a clear risk note. A target that the Organisation knows it cannot meet is never signed without that approval.

7.3 SLA development

An agreement uses the standard structure in the template below. Wording is plain and measurable, and each target has a definition, a measurement method and a source of data.

1. DraftThe service level manager drafts the SLA from the template, using the requirement, feasibility note, catalogue entry and the standard targets table. Target: [10 working days].
2. CheckService owner, resolver groups, supplier manager and legal counsel check feasibility, supplier alignment and legal content. Target: [5 working days].
3. NegotiateThe relationship manager reviews the draft with the customer and records the changes agreed. The Organisation records any concession that moves a target away from the feasibility note.
4. ApproveApproval follows the authority table below. Target: [5 working days] from final text.
5. Sign and publishBoth parties sign. The agreement is stored in the document management system, logged in the register (Annexure B), and linked to the catalogue entry and the ticketing tool, so that the correct clocks run. Target: tool configuration complete before service start.

7.4 Approval authority

7.5 SLA review with the customer

The draft and any later change are reviewed with the customer representative in a meeting or written exchange, so that both sides read the agreement the same way. The relationship manager walks through scope, exclusions, how each measure is calculated and what the customer must do for the targets to apply. Differences in understanding are written into the text. Customer comments and decisions are logged, and the agreed version carries a version number and effective date.

8. Standard service level template and sample targets

8.1 SLA template

8.2 Sample service level targets

The table shows default targets that service owners can start from. The values are examples for the adopter to replace with targets it can deliver and measure.

Percentage-based targets must say how they are calculated, for example total minutes of service hours minus minutes of unavailability, divided by total minutes of service hours. Exclusions are listed rather than implied.

9. Operational level agreements

An OLA records what an internal team provides to another to support a service level, and is needed wherever a customer target depends on more than one team. The service level manager arranges OLAs with each resolver group lead and checks that every OLA target is tighter than, or equal to, the customer target it supports.

1. Identify dependenciesFrom the feasibility note, list the internal teams on whom the target relies. Target: during drafting.
2. DraftThe service level manager drafts the OLA with the resolver lead and agrees measures. Target: [10 working days].
3. ApproveThe Head of Service Delivery and both team leads sign. Target: before the SLA is signed.
4. MonitorPerformance is reported with the SLA report; shortfalls are raised with the team lead and tracked as actions.

10. Underpinning contracts with external service providers

Where a supplier delivers part of a service, the supplier manager and service level manager check that the contract supports the service levels promised. The Supplier Management Procedure governs selection and monitoring; this section covers the alignment of targets.

• Supplier response, resolution, availability, notification and security duties must be equal to or better than the customer target they support, after allowing for the time the Organisation needs to react.
• The contract names the measurement method and gives the Organisation the data to verify it, with reports at least [monthly].
• The contract provides escalation contacts, service credits where available, and notification of incidents that may affect the Organisation's customers within [1 hour] for severity 1.
• Contracts are reviewed against the SLAs at least [every 12 months] and when either changes; mismatches are listed in the gap register and treated as risks.
• When a supplier misses its targets, the service level manager records the effect on customer targets and the supplier manager raises it in the supplier review.

11. Service level monitoring and reporting

Measurement is automatic wherever the tooling allows, and the measurement rules are documented so that results can be reproduced. Manual measures require evidence and a second check.

11.1 Reporting process

1. CollectThe service level manager extracts data from monitoring and ticketing tools for the period. Target: by working day [2].
2. ValidateData is checked for gaps, clock errors, wrongly applied exclusions and tickets mis-categorised. Corrections are logged. Target: by working day [3].
3. AnalyseResults are compared with the targets, previous periods and OLA and supplier results; breaches are given causes and actions. Target: by working day [4].
4. ReportThe report is approved by the service owner and sent to the customer representative. Target: working day [5].
5. ReviewResults are discussed at the service review and by the governance group; actions are tracked to completion.

11.2 Service level report content

11.3 Managing breaches

The service level manager flags a target at risk when the running result is within [10 percent] of the limit and tells the service owner at once. A breach is recorded within [1 working day] of being known, the customer is told through the relationship manager at the next report or sooner if the agreement says so, and a corrective action is opened. A repeated breach of the same target in [3 consecutive periods] is escalated to the Management Representative and a problem record is opened. Remedies in the agreement are applied in line with the contract and are approved by the Management Representative.

12. Service level change

A change to an agreement may be requested by the customer, the service owner or the service level manager, for example because of a change to scope, volumes, technology, law or supplier terms. Changes are controlled so that the agreement always shows what is in force.

1. RequestThe requester completes the service level change request (Annexure C). Target: raised as soon as the need is known.
2. AssessThe service level manager assesses impact on targets, OLAs, supplier contracts, cost, risk and reports. Target: [5 working days].
3. DecideApproval follows the authority table. If the change affects other services, the governance group decides together.
4. Agree and signThe relationship manager agrees the change with the customer and a signed amendment is issued. Target: [10 working days] from approval.
5. ImplementThe ticketing tool, monitoring, OLAs, supplier contracts and the catalogue entry are updated. Target: on or before the effective date.
6. CloseThe register is updated, the request closed and affected staff told.

13. Annual review and improvement

13.1 Annual service level agreement review

Every agreement is reviewed with the customer at least [once a year], and earlier on a significant change. The service level manager prepares a review pack with performance over the year, breach analysis, changes in volumes or technology, customer feedback, OLA and supplier results and proposals.

• Are the targets still the right ones for the customer's business? Are any too easy or too hard?
• Are the measures accurate and still measurable?
• Are exclusions, responsibilities and contacts still correct?
• Do supporting OLAs and contracts still support the targets?
• Are the customer's requirements, hours or volumes changing?
• Result: renew unchanged, amend, or replace; decision and effective date recorded in the register.

13.2 Service improvement process

Service level results and customer feedback are a main source of improvement. Improvement actions go through the Service Reporting and Continual Improvement Procedure.

1. IdentifyThe service level manager lists opportunities from breaches, near misses, trends, survey comments, audit findings and customer requests.
2. AnalyseCauses are examined with the service owner; the benefit, cost and risk of each option are estimated.
3. PrioritiseThe governance group ranks actions, funds the best, and assigns owners and dates.
4. DeliverActions are run as changes, projects or process updates; targets and agreements are changed if needed.
5. VerifyResults are checked after [3 months] to confirm that the target or measure improved; the customer is told.

13.3 Availability and continuity requirements

Availability and continuity requirements from an agreement are passed to the continuity manager and the capacity manager, who confirm they are covered in the Availability and Service Continuity Management Procedure and the Capacity and Demand Management Procedure. Changes to either plan that affect a promised target are reported to the service level manager before they are made.

14. Interfaces with other processes

15. Key performance indicators

16. Records and evidence

• Signed SLAs, OLAs and contracts, with every amendment and the approval record, kept for the contract term plus [6 years].
• Requirement documents, feasibility notes and negotiation records, kept for [3 years].
• Monthly service level reports and the data behind them, kept for [3 years].
• Breach logs, corrective actions and review packs, kept for [3 years].
• Annual review minutes and the agreement register, kept for [3 years] after the agreement ends.

Annexure A: Service level requirements form

Annexure B: Agreement register

Annexure C: Service level change request

Annexure D: Service level report summary

Annexure E: Document history

17. Exception

Exceptions to this document are allowed only where compliance is not practicable and the risk has been assessed. A request must state what is to be excepted, why, the risk it creates, the compensating controls, and an end date no later than [6 months]. It is approved in writing by the document owner and the risk owner, recorded in the exceptions register, and reviewed at the end date. An exception does not change the document.

18. Enforcement

Compliance is monitored through internal audits, management review and routine checks by the document owner. Non-compliance is reported through the incident or non-conformity process and handled under the organisation's disciplinary procedure, and under the terms of any contract for people who are not employees. Serious or repeated non-compliance may lead to loss of access and, where the law is broken, to referral to the authorities.

19. Review

This document is reviewed at least every [12 months], and when there is a significant change to the organisation, its systems, its risks or the law, or after an incident that shows it was not effective. Each review is recorded in the revision history.

ISO/IEC 20000-1:2018 references

Related documents

• Business Relationship Management Procedure
• Service Catalogue Management Procedure
• Supplier Management Procedure
• Service Operating Model
• Availability and Service Continuity Management Procedure
• Capacity and Demand Management Procedure
• Service Reporting and Continual Improvement Procedure
• Supplier Relationship Management Procedure