Why Service-Level Management Is Mission Critical For All IT Service Providers

By Len DiCostanzo, senior VP, dean of Autotask Academy, Autotask Corporation

At the heart of almost every business relationship are expectations . . . expectations that have to be set, managed and met or exceeded. When it comes to IT services, your clients‘ expectations are going to revolve around the specific services you are delivering and the promises or claims that you make related to them.

Service Level Management is the process of setting benchmarks for service level performance, measuring that performance and ensuring compliance with your service goals and your customers‘ expectations. An effective Service Level Management system will not only ensure that your key targets for service success - response times, resolution plans and resolutions - are being met, it will also offer a process for expediting issues and tickets when your metrics are at risk of not being met.

With an effective Service Level Management program, IT Service Providers can:

• Improve service delivery and client satisfaction
• Meet internal service delivery goals
• Manage, analyze and report on performance metrics
• Differentiate themselves from the competition and capture more business