Service Level Management is the process of ensuring that ICT services are
supported to an acceptable level. It involves understanding the ICT requirements of
the end-users and working within the constraints of the resources available to agree
a level of service that end-users can expect consistently. This agreement is
between those responsible for ICT and the end-users, who are usually represented
by one or more people from each unique area or department.
When the services themselves and the level of service to be provided have been
agreed, the Service Level Management process facilitates the creation of
underpinning agreements with other departments or third parties involved in the
service provision.
It is important to understand the difference between services and levels of service:
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Services
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Services are the ICT facilities themselves, such as
printing, bookkeeping, word processing, data
storage, internet access, email and so on.
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Levels of service
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Levels of service are the availability and
maintenance of those services and the speed of
response to incidents and requests. You could
offer, for example, email availability from 0800 to
1800 Monday to Friday with a four- hour response
time to resolve an incident and a two-day
response time for a new account set up.
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