In The Tech World, The Service Level Agreement Is A Must
The service level agreement is of great importance and is fundamental to both providers
and recipients of services and is used to define the terms of engagement, which are the rules that oversee the relationship. The importance of having a service level agreement is such that the parties to the agreement should have at least adequate knowledge about what makes a fair and good agreement. The service level agreement should cover the introduction and purpose of the agreement, define the services to be provided, cover performance, tracking and reporting, take care of problem management, spell out the fees and expenses, and finally, define customer duties and responsibilities.
As can be inferred from the name, the service level agreement is a formal agreement put down in writing and is made between the service provider and the service recipient and forms the core of all IT service management services. This document can often become quite complicated and defines the basic comprehension amongst the two parties regarding the delivery of the services. The service level agreement is most often used for provision in the IT sector and more specifically, for Internet Services. A service level agreement should also ensure that quality of service is provided and that there should also be a guarantee of the services provided.
There are quite a few different types of service level agreements, chief among them being ABA (Abandon Rate), ASA (Average Speed to Answer), TSF (Time Service Factor) and FCR (First Call Resolution). The ABA concerns itself with the percentage of calls abandoned while the call was waiting to get an answer. The ASA concerns itself with the average time measured in seconds that is taken mostly, by a service desk to answer the call. The TSF is the percentage of calls that get an answer within a specified time frame such as 80% answered in 20 seconds. FCR concerns itself with the percentage of calls that are able to be resolved without recourse to making use of a callback, or not having the customer call again to resolve the query.
There are also companies that develop software to help the management take care of the service level agreement and these include Digital Fuel, Gomez Inc., NetQoS, IBM Tivoli, Managed Objects, Microbit, Oblicore, ProactiveNet, Proxima Technology, Remedy Corporation and ExclamationSoft.
The service level agreement is a very important document and should be properly drafted to take care of identifying and defining the needs of customers, give an adequate framework for comprehending the terms, make the complex issues as simple as possible, eliminate areas of potential conflict, propagate recourse to conducting discussions in the event of disputes arising, and also remove unrealistic expectations.
In addition, the service level agreement should address issues such as services to be delivered, performance, tracking and reporting, problem management, legal compliance and resolution of disputes, customer duties and responsibilities and security as well as IPR and confidential information, and also termination.
The complexities that may arise when drafting out a service level agreement can be so complex as to warrant specialized attention. One good alternative to such a costly exercise is to buy the agreement from a vendor who has already done the necessary research and prepared a service level agreement that addresses all the important issues and holds all the relevant clauses, as well. This is indeed an appropriate instance when there should not be any need to reinvent the wheel. The buyer can save time, money and effort from availing of such an alternative solution.
by: Wade Anderson
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