Third, measurable service metrics must be defined to evaluate the quality of the service delivered. All too often, SLAs are measured without the service being defined. Having an SLA for router availability does not define the service and it is not a direct impact on the business unit. SLAs should only be established after the business unit understands the service and is able to describe how this service impacts its business. Because of this, SLAs require a great deal of work upfront.
Planning is required before any service can be delivered.
The processes need to be put in place, the staffing must be developed, the delivery and reporting mechanisms have to be established, the metrics must be developed and the costs to deliver the service have to be understood. The IS organization also needs much information from the business units, and this is the second area for a potential breakdown in the SLA process. Requirements From the Business Units are as critical as the definition of the services and measurements from the IS organization. The business unit must understand the transaction rates expected, while the IS organization must understand its resource consumption of these transaction rates. The business unit needs to plan with the IS organization any new applications, business growth projections and new target market segments.