Managing Expectations and SLA

IT Expectation Failure Strategic Failure Not obvious Tactical and Operational Failure Obvious

Managing Expectations Business level expectation of IT IT professional expectations Customer expectation Internal and External

IT is a SERVICE ORGANIZATION 4 Key Elements of Good Customer Service KEY CUSTOMERS Identify KEY CUSTOMERS KEY SERVICES Identify KEY SERVICES of KEY CUSTOMERS KEY PROCESSES Identify KEY PROCESSES that support KEY SERVICES KEY SUPPLIERS Identify KEY SUPPLIERS that support KEY PROCESSES

Top 4 Customer Service Mistakes Presuming your customers are satisfied because they are not complaining. Presuming that you have no customers Measuring only what you want to measure to determine customer satisfaction Presuming that written SLAs will solve problems, prevent disputes, and ensure great customer service.

SLA SLA are the foundation of series of management processes that can collectively be called disciplines. The goal of the disciplined approach is to establish performance measurement against specific criteria. Procedures Tools People Govern IT operations Internally Externally

SLA Need for SLA To reduce conflicts between the suppliers and users of service To help establish reasonable users’ expectation Help IT organizations operate its services business in a more revealing manner Help to compare competitive suppliers with internal IT organizations

SLA Negotiating of SLA IT involves various stakeholders Service providers Customers Business managers To establish agreement on Cost Means of tracking and reporting progress and problem Conflict resolution

SLA Nature of SLA Iterative because business is dynamic IT requirements changes New technological adoptions Other external and internal factors SLA is assumed to be complete, documenting all the services the client expects along with the costs of the service Document should expressed in understandable terms

SLA What Service Level Includes Date the agreement was established Duration Renegotiation date Describe key service measures Reporting structure

SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS (SLAs) Contents: SAMPLE Service Level Agreement Between: _______________ and ______________ For: ______________ through ____________ 1. Name the Parties IT Help Desk Marketing 2. Define the time period Jan 1, 2004 Dec 31, 2004

SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS (SLAs) Contents: SAMPLE Service Level Agreement Services to be provided by the IT Help Desk: Provide first, second and third-level support for standard software applications and hardware. Log and track all customer calls. Conduct quarterly customer satisfaction surveys to rotating client base (100 at a time). Conduct customer callbacks to 50% of customers daily. 3. Services to be provided

SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS (SLAs) Contents: SAMPLE Service Level Agreement Hours of Operation (Central Time): Regular Business Hours: 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Monday through Friday (non-holiday) After-hours support via pager 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. Monday through Friday 24 hours Saturday and Sunday 24 hours holidays 4. Hours that services are provided

SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS (SLAs) Contents: SAMPLE Service Level Agreement Service Access Telephone: 312/555-1500 E-Mail: Ehelp@sample.com Pager: 312-555-0220 5. Service Access

SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS (SLAs) Contents: SAMPLE Service Level Agreement Customer Responsibilities: Use only specified telephone numbers, email, and pager to request support. Each customer must attend two half-day LAN and PC training sessions before receiving a workstation. Each customer must attend the specified training session on each software package used. Each customer must read and accept in writing the Corporate Security Policy and Corporate computer Usage policy. 6. Customer Responsibilities

SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS (SLAs) Contents: SAMPLE Service Level Agreement Call Priorities and Response Times Priority Impact Response Resolution Critical Component down 15 min As required Critical Component degraded 45 min 4 hours Non-critical component 4 hours 8 hours Other request, question 8 hours 12 hours 7. Call Priorities and Response Times

SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS (SLAs) Contents: SAMPLE Service Level Agreement Service Measures By the Help Desk First-Level call resolution: 85% Average Call answer time: 90% in 30 sec or less Percentage of calls reopened within two weeks: 2% or less. By the Customer Percentage of training-type calls: 10% or less 8. Service Measures

SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS (SLAs) Contents: SAMPLE Service Level Agreement Escalation Procedures Level Escalate when Call Phone/Pager Agreed response Help Desk Manager 312/555-1234 time not met 312/555-0050 No response 2 Director, Operations 312/555-1255 hours after Level 312/555-0077 1 escalation No response 3 V.P. Operations 312/555-1233 hours after Level 312/555-0010 3 escalation 9. Escalation Procedures

SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS (SLAs) Contents: SAMPLE Service Level Agreement Reporting Weekly Reporting Distribution: Manager, Marketing V.P. Operations Content: • Number of Calls • Call Breakdown by percentage for training-type calls, hardware, network, service requests, abandoned calls • Percentage of first-level call resolution • Average call answer time • Percentage of calls reopened within two weeks • Percentage of calls meeting agreed-upon response times for each priority • Percentage of calls meeting agreed-up resolution times for each priority • Results of callbacks to customers to check work quality. Show number of call backs as a percentage of total calls. 10. Reporting Procedures

SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS (SLAs) Contents: SAMPLE Service Level Agreement Reporting Quarterly Reporting Distribution: Manager, Marketing V.P. Operations Content: • Results of Customer surveys • Change from previous quarter in number of customers supported • Operating costs Note: All weekly reporting must show the current week compared to three previous weeks. All Quarterly reporting must show current quarter compared to previous quarter. 10. Reporting Procedures

SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS (SLAs) Contents: SAMPLE Service Level Agreement Systems and Components Supported Critical Systems/Components Price flow system Catalog system LAN segment 6 All PCs on segment 6 Non-Critical Systems/Components Marketing Search, Competitor System and all desktop systems. 11. Systems and Components Supported

SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS (SLAs) Contents: SAMPLE Service Level Agreement Support Fees Costs will be allocated at the rate of $75 per user per month. Pay-for Fees Training for standard desktop software is available and will be arranged by the Help Desk for the cost of $350 per half day. Course dates and times are available via the Help Desk Intranet website. 12. Support Fees 13. Pay for Fees

SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS (SLAs) Contents: SAMPLE Service Level Agreement Signatures: _______________________________________ Manager, Help Desk Manager, Operations Manager, Marketing V.P. Marketing 14. Signatures

OPERATIONS/HELP DESK – MANAGING THE “FACTORY” WHAT DO USERS’ WANT? - RELIABILITY - ADAPTABILITY - COST: BENEFIT RATION (LOW COST-HIGH BENEFIT)

Data Center

Severity One (Urgent) A severity one (1) issue is a catastrophic production problem which may severely impact the client's production systems, or in which client's production systems are down or not functioning; loss of production data and no procedural work around exists. Severity Two (High) A severity two (2) issue is a problem where the client's system is functioning but in a severely reduced capacity. The situation is causing significant impact to portions of the client's business operations and productivity. The system is exposed to potential loss or interruption of service. Severity Three (Normal) A severity three (3) issue is a medium-to-low impact problem which involves partial non-critical functionality loss. One which impairs some operations but allows the client to continue to function. This may be a minor issue with limited loss or no loss of functionality or impact to the client's operation and issues in which there is an easy circumvention or avoidance by the end user. This includes documentation errors. Severity Four (Low) A severity four (4) issue is for a general usage question or recommendation for a future product enhancement or modification. There is no impact on the quality, performance or functionality of the product.

Levels of Support and Escalation • Level I – First contact with user/customer – Limited scope (common problems) – Limited time ‣ If not resolved within specified time, documents information and escalates to next level • Level II – Receives problems from Level I – Handles more complex problem requiring greater expertise. • Level III – Handles non-standard issues http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/135/bbsm_techspprt.html

http://www.questinc.com/hss_service_agreement.html