Service Level Management is Important

It can be argued that Service Level Management is the key for any service provider that wants to ensure customer satisfaction. Even so, IT managers can be wary of taking the leap into undertaking Service Level Management.

While it is true that implementing SLM is a massive venture, as with most risky but fruitful propositions, proper research and preparation take away much of the variables and set the stage for quality IT improvement. The value of Service Level Management is the way that it provides a framework that structures IT related activities and the interactions of business customers and users with various IT technical personnel.

The easiest way to describe a successful Service Level Management is that it provides guidance through the development of Service level Objectives and Service level agreements, carries through the support and escalation stages, and finally measures and reports service levels achieved, closing the loop between processes and technology. Simply put, Service Level Management provides in-depth access and insight into service processes and achievements. While there are general similarities between Service Level Management and the Information Technology Infrastructure Library, at its essence SLM is more of a subsection combining Service Support and Service Delivery.

Recent Information and Products

Results also show that implementing Service Level Management helps to align Information Technology with business goals. Service Level Management solutions tend to fall into one of two categories – those that take an operational approach to SLM and those that focus on it from a help desk perspective. While each approach has its strengths and weaknesses, it is rare to find the approach that cleanly integrates the perspectives in a manner that is comprehensive of service degradation and/or service failure. As the leading analyst firm for this market, based on both user and IT initiatives, EMA is using this growing market to broaden its insight and project estimates for market penetration in the next five years.

The EMA Difference

As expensive and challenging as it may be, Service Level Management has become an industry standard for management of IT infrastructure. The process is a step forward from an individual technology ‘silo’ to a broad business orientation with much more extensive benefits. Studies and research conducted by Enterprise Management has shown an increase in customer satisfaction, as well as a better executive management understanding of the value of IT.