Just a thought…do you actually use your SLA or is it just there because somebody at some point thought it was a good idea? Many organisations have traditionally drafted Service Level Agreements as a formality. If you have SLAs but do not actually measure or look at them then you run some serious risks. Have a look – if you dare….
Increased Financial Losses and Overpayment caused by Service Provider Failures - not knowing when service has deteriorated means your business does not have a clear picture on the value you are getting.
Regulatory Penalties – you amy incur significant financial penalties if you cannot demonstrate to regulators that your SLAs are more than just ‘window dressing’ – what’s the actual level of service?, who is monitoring it?, where are the reports?, who is checking the reports?
Poor User Satisfaction - if your SLAs are hidden in a cupboard then the chances are no one knows what the expected level or service actually is….this usually leads to dissatsifaction as people assume service levels are not being met when there is any problem – no matter how small..
Taking a proactive and rigorous approach performance management in SLAs and contracts doesn’t require lots of effort – just a willingness to see what tool you can implement to drive ongoing and effective SLA reporting.
