1. Relate to Clients on a business level
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Proposing Client Support Solutions

2. Verify support needs Verification is a quality assurance technique
This is done through the Client Needs Analysis
Be thorough with your investigations
Do this before and after you draft the SLA, as you may miss things
An SLA that has missing key elements would be unworkable in today’s IT environment.
Verification is critical
Proposing Client Support Solutions

3. Customer expectations
When providing IT services, customer expectations can be a challenge and difficult to define
Perceptions of performance can differ from customer to service provider
Customer satisfaction levels can fluctuate
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4. Customer expectations
It is important to monitor both satisfaction and performance carefully:
 - Work out what has changed in the way you provide service
 - Revisit customer expectations and look at how well they are met
Changes in your business environment and that of the customers also needs to be looked at
Proposing Client Support Solutions

5. Write an SLA
A service level agreement (SLA) is a contract that binds a service provider to giving a certain level of service
An SLA has the same legal standing as a contract, in that it legally binds two parties
An SLA is usually written; however, two organisations could agree verbally about the level of service to be provided
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6. Why use a written SLA? To clarify expectations:
The SLA describes in detail the terms of service and the responsibilities of the customer and service provider
To incorporate indicators of quality:
This is done by specifying performance indicators and performance targets.
To assist communication and prevent disputes:
Written documents can still be disputed, but less than verbal agreements.
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7. What does an SLA contain?
The broad structure of an SLA contains (but is not limited to)
The name of the service provider, customers, etc
The objectives of the service
The process of requesting service
The service provider’s responsibilities
The customer’s responsibilities
Service measurements and targets
Maintenance and review of the agreement
Signatures of the customer and service provider and date
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8. What does an SLA contain?
In general, an SLA should consist of the following:
A brief general statement summarizing the services to be provided
Definitions of the two parties to the agreement – who is providing the services to whom
The duration of the agreement
The arrangements for monitoring and review
A procedure for settling disputes
What resources, information or other help the user may have to provide
Contact points for both parties
The basis of any charges – what has to be paid and how this is to be paid.
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9. Specifying the Service
Specifications for all types of support services could set out the following:
The precise nature of each function or service provided
The volumes and quality to be achieved for each of these services
Whether optional services are on offer – and, if so, what they are and what they cost
What procedure should be followed if it becomes necessary to vary the agreement or specification
Where applicable, the response times to be achieved by the provider when receiving requests for assistance
Sanctions for non-supply or poor quality.
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10. Examples of SLAs
Look at each of the following sample SLAs to see what they contain:
 Telstra Bigpond ADSL Broadband Plans
s-and-offers/
Anchor web hosting SLA
hosting/dedicated-sla.py
UC Santacruz ITS Service Management
(scroll down to the SLA template)
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