Why SLAs Fail and How to Make Yours SucceedHow to Make Yours Succeed Naomi Karten Author: * Managing Expectations * * How to Establish Service Level Agreements * * Communication Gaps

Why SLAs Fail and How to Make Yours SucceedNaomi Karten, www.nkarten.com

© Naomi Karten * 781-986-8148 * [email protected] * www.nkarten.com

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Why SLAs Fail andHow to Make Yours Succeed

Naomi Karten

Author:* Managing Expectations *

* How to Establish Service Level Agreements *

* Communication Gaps and How to Close Them *

* Presentation Skills for Technical Professionals*

* How to Survive, Excel and Advance as an Introvert *

* Changing How You Manage and Communicate Change *

www.nkarten.com

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A Possibly Provocative Statement

SLAs help you do the things you really ought to be doing anyway.

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SLAs Provide a Context For

• Maintaining regular contact between parties

• Communicating service offerings

• Formulating service standards

• Systematically assessing service effectiveness

• Resolving service problems quickly and amicably

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Some SLAs Fail

or are flawed

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“Failed” and “Flawed” An SLA has failed if

It was never completed, or

It was put into operation, but in some serious way, didn’t function as the parties to it had hoped.

An SLA is flawed if

It contains weaknesses, ambiguities, or gaps that could lead to serious problems or disputes.

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How to Make an SLA Fail

1. Establish it for the wrong reasons.

2. Arbitrarily rush the effort.

3. Omit critical elements.

4. Incorporate ambiguity.

5. Make the document unreadable.

6. Ignore the implemented agreement.

7. Don’t set the stage for success.

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A Service Level Agreement

x A “get” strategy

x A way to force a change in behavior

x A complaint-stifling mechanism

x A unilateral decision-making process

x A quick fix to a troubled relationship

is NOT

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A Service Level Agreement is

A communication tool

An expectations-managing mechanism

A conflict-reduction tool

A living document

An objective process for gauging service effectiveness

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Create SLAs for the Right Reasons

Create SLAs to foster a collaborative rather than a “clobber-ative” relationship.



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Do NOT confuse the SLA document

with theSLA process!

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Common Misconceptions

1. Creating SLAs is a simple matter of plugging names and numbers into a template.

May 13

SLA due date2. You can rush SLA development

without negative consequences.

The reality: Creating an effective SLA takes time.

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Typical Time Frames

For a first SLA that’s relatively simple

For a first SLA that’s complex

For subsequent SLAs

For a contractual SLA

2 - 6 months

6 - 12 months

Less time than the first SLA (usually)

A month to a year (or more)



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Tasks Involved1. Educating pertinent parties

2. Gathering customer feedback

3. Assessing service history

4. Creating service descriptions

5. Developing a service glossary

6. Setting service targets

7. Establishing tracking and reporting mechanisms

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Tasks Involved

And…such occasionally challenging tasks as:

Getting people together for meetings!

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Also Affecting the Duration

1. The proximity of the parties

2. The service environment

3. Service effectiveness to date

4. Prior SLA experience

5. Personnel availability



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Suggestion to Vendors

“We have a pressing need to establish a quick SLA for a new customer.”

Create a prototype SLA before you need one.

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Two Types of SLA Elements

Service Elements (the What)• Description of Services• Service Standards

1

Management Elements (the How)• Service Tracking• Service Reporting• Periodic Review• Change Process

2

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The Service ElementsThis information describes:1. The services covered by the SLA (and perhaps

also the services not covered by the SLA)

2. Service standards: the timeframes and conditions under which services will (or will not) be provided.



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Service StandardsService standards typically focus on such things as:

1. Availability

2. Responsiveness

3. Timeliness

4. Rate/Frequency

5. Quality

When?

How long?

How soon?

How many?

How good?

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Two Types of SLA Elements

Service Elements (the What)• Description of Services• Service Standards

1

Management Elements (the How)• Service Tracking• Service Reporting• Periodic Review• Change Process

2

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Service TrackingTrue or False?

Measuring

anything

is better than

measuring

nothing.

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Service Tracking

Track

as few things

as possible!



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Service Tracking

Objective, quantitative measures reflect actual service delivery.

Subjective, quantitative measures reflect customer perceptions of service delivery.

Subjemeaspercedelive

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Service Reporting

Done monthly and provided to both provider and customer personnel

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Service ReportingFocus on patterns of service delivery

How has response time varied in the last year?

Is this month’s spike in downtime an aberration or part of a pattern?

Does on-time delivery show seasonal variations?

What kinds of problems have taken the greatest amount of time to resolve in the last 3 months?

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Periodic Review

Monthly

Quarterly

Annually

Any other time as warranted



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Change Process

1. Conditions warranting change

2. Change frequency

3. Change procedures

4. Change log

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Potentially Ambiguous Terminology

ComplaintRespondDayAcknowledgeResolve

UrgentPriorityImmediatelyDeliverRespond

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Example #1

ISO will resolve at least 95% of Level 2 problems within 4 days.

(as measured over what period of time?)



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Example #2

(In defining urgency levels)

Emergency: Response within 2 hours upon receipt of call

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Example #3

99.8% availability of the core IT infrastructure components

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Example #4

At least 95% YES answers on the Closed Ticket Survey

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Examples #5 and #6

75% of projects will not deviate by more than 25% from budget per quarter

95% of projects will not deviate by more than 10% from projected benefits by quarter



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Avoid “But I Thought” Situations

Clarify wording that may be subject to misinterpretations and conflicting interpretations.

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How Long Should an SLA Be?

SLAPage 1of21,476

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Keep It Simple

or the agreement will

create problems

rather than solving them!



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Sample SLAIf you can read this, your eyes are better than mine. I can’t possibly read this without an industrial strength magnifying glass. If you can read this, your eyes are a whole lot better than mine. I can’t possibly read this without an industrial strength magnifying glass. If you can read this, your eyes are way better than mine. I can’t possibly read this without an industrial strength magnifying glass. If you can read this, your eyes are so much better than mine. I can’t possibly read this without an industrial strength magnifying glass. If you can read this, your eyes are better than mine. I can’t possibly read this without an industrial strength magnifying glass. If you can read this, your eyes are better than mine. I can’t possibly read this without an industrial strength magnifying glass. If you can read this, your eyes are way better than mine. I can’t possibly read this without industrial strength glass. If you can easily read this, your eyes are better than mine. I can’t possibly read this without a pair of industrial strength glasses. If you can read this, your eyes are better than mine. I can’t possibly read this without an industrial strength magnifying glass. If you can read this, your eyes are better than mine. I can’t possibly read this without an industrial strength magnifying glass. If you truly can read this, your eyes are better than mine. I can’t possibly read this without an industrial strength magnifying glass. If you can read this, your eyes are better than mine. I can’t possibly read this without an industrial strength magnifying glass. If you can read this, your eyes are better than mine. I can’t read this without an industrial strength magnifying glass. If you can read this, your eyes are better than mine. I can’t possibly read this without a really strong magnifying glass. If you can read this, your eyes are better than mine. I can’t possibly read this without an industrial strength magnifying glass. If you can read this, your eyes are better than mine. I can’t possibly read this without an industrial strength magnifying glass. If you can read this, your eyes are better than mine. I can’t possibly read this without an industrial strength magnifying glass. If you can read this, your eyes are better than mine. I can’t possibly read this without an industrial strength magnifying glass. If you can read this, your eyes are better than mine. I can’t possibly read this without an industrial strength magnifying glass. If you can read this, your eyes are better than mine. I can’t read this without an industrial strength magnifying glass. If you can read this, your eyes are better than mine. I can’t possibly read this without an industrial strength magnifying glass. If you can read this, your eyes area lot better than mine. I can’t possibly read this without an industrial strength magnifying glass. If you can read this, your eyes are better than mine. I can’t possibly read this without an industrial strength magnifying glass. If you can read this, your eyes are better than mine. I can’t possibly read this without an industrial strength magnifying glass. If you can read this, your eyes are better than mine. I can’t possibly read this without an industrial strength magnifying glass. If you can read this, your eyes are better than mine. I can’t possibly read this without an industrial strength magnifying glass. If you can read this, your eyes are better than mine. I can’t possibly read this without an industrial strength

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• Short sentences and paragraphs

• Wide margins – lots of white space

• Sections with section headers

• Readable type size

• Visual elements (charts, tables)

• Bullet points rather than narrative

• Use of links

Make It Readable!

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That which is measured

is managed.

True or False?



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That which is measuredand also

reviewed, interpreted,

documented, distributed

AND acted on is more likely

to be managed.

True or False?

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What Often Happens

Createthe SLA.

Implementit.

Ignoreit.

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An SLA that is not managed dies upon

implementation.

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Manage Your SLAs

.Service Report

..



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Manage Your SLAs1. Oversee service tracking and reporting.

2. Conduct regular service reviews.

3. Negotiate adjustments as appropriate.

4. Maintain an ongoing dialogue.

5. Assist in resolving service-related problems.

6. Educate personnel about SLAs.

7. Publicize successes.

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Manage Your SLAs

Don’t forget the power of the naked eye!!

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Provide SLA “Education”• Who needs to be “educated”?

• How can they best be “educated”?

• What kinds of information will be useful to them?



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Seek Buy-In for the SLA Effort

• Seek input from customers, SLA team members, and other stakeholders.

• Listen to them, and take their concerns seriously.

• Request feedback on draft versions of the SLA.

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Assess Service History• In what ways has service delivery been

on target -- or fallen short?

• What service improvements are needed?

• What data are available for creating a baseline?

• Based on this history, what service levels would be neither too low nor too high?

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Use a template and other resources to ensure

• Consistency within SLAs

• Consistency between SLAs

• Inclusion of all pertinent details

• Effective SLA management

Facilitate Consistency

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Sell the BenefitsSLAs help to:

1. Improve communications

2. Manage expectations

3. Improve service delivery

4. Strengthen relationships

5. Create a business orientation

Five categories of benefits




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SLAs Help toManage Expectations

1. Clarify the scope of services (a double benefit)

2. Help you set realistic and reasonable expectations

3. Create a shared language

4. Establish priorities and service levels

5. Clarify a division of responsibilities

SLAs:

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SLAs Help toImprove Service Delivery

1. Provide an objective basis for assessing service effectiveness

2. Facilitate the setting of performance thresholds

3. Provide a context for service changes

4. Provide a basis for continuous improvement

SLAs:



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SLAs Help toCreate a Business Orientation

1. Provide a link between services and business objectives

2. Facilitate the integration of new service offerings

3. Create awareness of cost/benefit tradeoffs

4. Help to justify acquisitions, staffing changes and service adjustments

SLAs:

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Be Realistic

Don’t expect to achieve all these benefits immediately.

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Understand the Costs of Creating These Benefits

• A possible need for more staff

• A change from previous roles

• Greater visibility when things go wrong

• Increased demand for services

• Shifting expectations

CHANGE

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How to Make Your SLAs Succeed

1. Establish them for the right reasons.

2. Take the time the effort requires.

3. Include all critical elements.

4. Create unambiguous terms and conditions.

5. Make the documents readable.

6. Manage the implemented SLAs.

7. Set the stage for success.


Documents

Why SLAs Fail and How to Make Yours SucceedHow to Make Yours Succeed Naomi Karten Author: * Managing Expectations * * How to Establish Service Level Agreements * * Communication Gaps