What different service indicators can be used in an SLA?

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Service Levels are based on (quantitative) indicators: e.g. availability of IT components/applications, response time of applications, restore time for problems, reachability of an UHD.

What other indicators can be used in an SLA except these stated ones. Or in other words: What other indicators do __you__ use in xour SLAs?

-- Thomas Berger (thomas.berger@itelligence.de), December 04, 2000

Answers

Thomas, I would strongly recommend you look at the following book:

Complete Guide to IT Service Level Agreements: Matching Service Quality to Business Needs - A. Hiles.

This is the most comprehensive piece I have seen on writing service level agreements.

Tim

-- Tim Young (tim.young@proxima-tech.com), January 10, 2001.


Thanks a lot for yout hint, Tim.

I have read the book recommended by you, but I don't think that there are really good examples of indicators for evaluating the quality of it-services in a client/server-infrastructure in it. (The book is quite old.) That's the reason why I was looking for indicators (really) used in today's SLAs....

-- Thomas Berger (thomas.berger@itelligence.de), January 15, 2001.


Think beyond the IT bounds. Think of the service itself and all relavant descriptors. I see security, confidentiality, data integrity, accountabilty, liabilities.. can be very important in an e-business (B2B, B2C) service level agreement with ISP/ASP firm.

If you add these parmeters to availability figures, opening hours, service times, response time, throughput, speed of initial load, successful completion of end-to-end e-business transactions, ... etc then we could reach a view of what a service level may look like.

Last word, Service Level Objectives (SLOs) is a pure business requirements issue that need to be balanced versus cost and complexity in the final SLA.

-- Mohammed Thiab (thiab@hotmail.com), September 25, 2001.


It seems to me that the impact on the end-user should be high on the list of SLA indicators that we should be concerned about. For example, if the app slows down by 10% while the user is running his application, it is reasonable to expect that the user will be 10% less productive during that time. If you buy this argument, you will have a natural business metric to determine the impact of poor performance. The next issue is to determine where the delay comes from and what can be done to take care of the problem(s). These issues have been solved by the tools available from NetPredict.

-- Bjorn Frogner (bjorn.frogner@netpredict.com), October 08, 2001.

Hi: I need some article or introduction about SLM/SLA,Would you tell me where I can find it?Thanks. introduction

-- renyuping (renyp@163.net), January 10, 2002.


Thomas If you are thinking about different indicators for an SLA:

Volume Indicators: All the people start with this: availability, response time...

Effectiveness: KPIs used as measure of the effectiveness of the teams. Incidents assigned to correct second level, incidents solve without customer perception (this KPI is very good)...

Control KPIs: All IT Processes are feedback process, so use the feedback KPIs (%incidents assigned to correct 2nd level).

Quality and other perspective KPIs: Incidents and correllations with RFC...

Just do not re-invent the wheel. For each process we have indicators to be used in SLAs, OLAS, relationships...

Be free to contact me.

-- Mariano A. Hernandez (Mariano@Sun.com), April 15, 2004.


hello Mariano

I read with interest your commments on SLM's. we are a software solution that looks at appplictation performance from an end users pespective. our product is a diagnostic tool and gives the break down of each transction in real time by Client ,network and server times. we have provisons for setting up SLA on each componet of the transaction ( C>N>S) and if the SLA is not met then an alert is sent to products like BMC/Openview/CA etc

my question is what are your thoughts on what % KPI'S are based on this type of a SLA being set up right from the start being the end user?

my question is based on internal users, call centers etc, not people hitting a web site.

-- Brian Peck (bpeck@end-endsoftware.com), April 17, 2004.


Brian So sorry for the delay in answer your question; right now i am in a couple of projects that let me without time. Regarding your question, and thinking about internal users and call centers, i could say that think in performance and efficency KPIs could be a good starting point for answer your question. But you have got a software company; let's think about what could you be able to do to be better that your competency.

For example, if you are making measures about transactions you could make a group of this kpi in a great level kpi that cover end-user perspectice (like transaction time per transaction). But always using "velocity" KPIs, that is "transaction time per transaction" (for example) not only "transaction time". Why "velocity" KPIs, because this KPIs are these type of KPIs that could cover user perception. And yes, i know what are you thinking about: "transaction time per transaction" is the same KPI line transaction time but transaction time is in the integral function domain of transaction time per transaction. That's the key, Brian, all end-user perception KPIs are the same KPIs like performance KPI but in integral function domain.

So if your software is able to make a measurement in real time per transaction you are able to define KPI and "perception" KPIs, congratulations because all IS management software (Patrol, HP Openview, Sun Management XX...) are very bad in this point; here you have got a competitive advantage that all CEOs and IT Chief could and should understand.

and if i will be a end user or a customer i will try to put these KPIs in my SLAs. In all my projects end users and customers have more interest in resolution times per incident that in number on incidents solved and KPIs like that. People can not explain why these interest in these KPIs, i know why, deeper of you these KPIs cover your service perception, here you have got hte secret of make good SLAs....juts think about this.

Thanks for make me part of your ideas and doubts, i like thinking and talking about IT Management issues.

Take Care

Mariano

-- Mariano A. Hernandez (Mariano@Sun.COM), April 20, 2004.


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