A service level management process ensures that all IT services offered to customers are in accordance with agreed-upon levels of quality. It involves ensuring that Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are in place, are adhered to and service levels are tracked and reported on.

It is vital to have the correct tools in place for all of this. A lot of the processes and systems that determine service levels are outsourced to third party companies. It is crucial to understand how to manage them within your own SLM process.

The first step to setting up an SLM process is to identify which services are essential for the http://www.slm-info.org/2020/05/07/what-is-slm/ business, and then establish appropriate metrics for success. This includes aspects like effectiveness, user base and design aspects. It is important to choose the right technology expertise – a company specializing in specific platforms may be able to provide more efficient levels than a generalised service provider.

Once the SLA targets have been set teams must implement a strategy to uphold them. This usually involves putting in systems that monitor progress and alert the team automatically when there are issues in meeting the goals.

Furthermore, a strong SLM process will have built-in continuous improvement procedures. These processes will enable teams to learn and improve through the metrics they track. If, for example, an NOC service is consistently failing to meet its SLA of responding to phone calls in 30 seconds, it’s possible to identify the reason and fix it.