Service level management practice

Service level management practice (hereinafter, the Practice) is the practice to set clear business-based targets for service performance so that the delivery of a service can be properly assessed, monitored, and managed against these targets. The Practice relates to service level and service management. This Practice is a part of the ITIL practices.

Definitions

According to the ITIL Foundation 4e by Axelos,

Service level management practice. The practice of setting clear business-based targets for service performance so that the delivery of a service can be properly assessed, monitored, and managed against these targets.

Purpose

The purpose of the service level management practice is to set clear business-based targets for service performance, so that the delivery of a service can be properly assessed, monitored and managed against these targets.

o Provides the end to end visibility of the organization's services:
▪ Establishes a shared view of the services and target service levels with customers
▪ Collects, analyzes, stores and reports relevant metrics to ensure service levels are met
▪ Performs service reviews to ensure the current services continue to meet the organization and its customers' needs
▪ Captures and reports on service issues including performance against defined service levels
o A service level agreement (SLA) is a documented agreement between a service provider and a customer that identifies services required and the expected level of service.
▪ SLA is a tool to measure the performance of services from the customer's point of view.
▪ Key requirements for successful SLAs:
● Related to a defined service
● Should relate to defined outcomes, not just operational metrics
● Should reflect an agreement between the service provider and the service consumer
● Must be simply written and easy to understand for all parties
o Interacts with:
▪ Relationship management
▪ Business liaison
▪ Supplier management 

▪ Business analysis
▪ Skills and competencies
o Information Sources:
▪ Customer engagement
● Initial listening
● Discovery and information capture
● Measurement and ongoing process discussions
● Asking simple open-ended questions
▪ Customer feedback
● Surveys
● Key business-related measures
▪ Operational metrics
▪ Business metrics