SLAs: How to Show IT's Value

Written on 10:13 AM by Right Click IT - Technology Services

From: www.cio.com – Bob Anderson, Computerworld December 02, 2008

Over a career in information technology spanning multiple decades, I have observed that many IT organizations have focused process improvement and measurement almost exclusively on software development projects.

This is understandable, given the business-critical nature and costs of large software development projects. But in reality, IT support services consume most of the IT budget, and they also require the most direct and continuous interaction with business customers.

IT organizations must demonstrate the value of IT support services to business customers, and a primary way of doing this is through service-level agreements. SLAs help IT show value by clearly defining the service responsibilities of the IT organization that is delivering the services and the performance expectations of the business customer receiving the service.

One of the most difficult tasks in developing an SLA is deciding what to include. The following sample SLA structure provides a good starting point.

Introduction: This identifies the service, the IT organization delivering that service and the business customer receiving it.

Examples:

• Infrastructure support for a shipping warehouse.
• Software application support for the payroll staff.

Description of services: This characterizes the services to be provided, the types of work to be performed and the parameters of service delivery, including the following:

• The types of work that are part of the service (maintenance, enhancement, repair, mechanical support).
• The time required for different types and levels of service.
• The service contact process and detailed information for reaching the help desk or any single point of contact for support services.

Description of responsibilities: This delineates responsibilities of both the IT service provider and the customer, including shared responsibilities.

Operational parameters: These may affect service performance and therefore must be defined and monitored.

Examples:

• Maximum number of concurrent online users.
• Peak number of transactions per hour.
• Maximum number of concurrent user requests.

If operational parameters expand beyond the control of the service provider, or if users of the service exceed the limits of specified operational parameters, then the SLA may need to be renegotiated.

Service-level goals: These are the performance metrics that the customer expects for specific services being delivered. SLGs are useless unless actual performance data is collected. The service being delivered will dictate the type and method of data collection.

It is important to differentiate between goals that are equipment-related and service-level goals that are people- and work-related.

Examples:

• Equipment SLG: 99% network availability 24/7.
• People and work SLG: critical incidents resolved within two hours.

Service-improvement goals: These establish the required degree and rate of improvement for a specific SLG over time. An SIG requires that a performance trend be calculated over a specified period of time in addition to specific SLG data getting captured. This trend indicates the rate of improvement and whether the improvement goal has been achieved.

Service-performance reporting: This states IT's commitment to delivering reports to the business customer on a scheduled basis. The reports detail actual services delivered and actual levels of performance compared to the commitments stated within the SLA.

Sign-off: Signature lines and dates for authorized representatives of the IT organization delivering the service and the business customer receiving the service.

The hardest part of developing an SLA may be getting started. I hope this framework will help you begin to demonstrate IT's value to your customers.

Anderson is director of process development and quality assurance at Computer Aid Inc. Contact him atbob_anderson@compaid.com .

Posted in IT Budgets, it staffing, IT support services, RClick.com, Right Click, SLA, software development projects | 0 comments

How to Recession-Proof Yourself

Written on 8:08 AM by Right Click IT - Technology Services

By Meridith Levinson

November 17, 2008 — CIO — Layoff fears are sending a shiver through the workforce as the U.S. economy lurches toward a full-blown recession. And no one is safe as corporate cost-cutters sharpen their axes. Though senior executives are less vulnerable to losing their jobs than the employees below them, they, too, can be casualties of restructurings.

How To Motivate Your Employees During Layoffs Whether you're a CIO or a help desk technician, career coaches say you can take measures to prevent the hatchet from falling on your neck. Here's a list of actions they say you can take to help safeguard your job.

1. Know your value and communicate it. "If you're flying under the radar, you're going to be the first to be eliminated," says Kirsten Dixson, author of Career Distinction: Stand Out by Building Your Brand. This goes for CIOs, too.

Dixson recommends compiling a weekly status report that outlines the project or projects you're working on, your progress on those projects and your key performance indicators, and sending that report to your boss each week.

If you're known as a "growth and innovation CIO," now is also the time to prove that you're as adept at cost cutting as you are at generating ideas, says Joanne Dustin, a 25-year IT veteran who's now a career coach and an organizational development consultant.

Dustin says CIOs need to talk up the efficiencies and cost savings that their innovations have achieved as well as the revenue they've generated. Your company may still decide that it needs someone with a different skill set in the CIO role, but at least you've given it your best shot.

2. Be a team player. Getting along with others—in the boardroom or elsewhere—is critical when downsizing is on the table, especially for IT professionals who tend to be independent, says Dustin, who's worked as a programmer, project manager and systems manager. "These times require cooperation, flexibility and a willingness to go the extra mile," she says.

IT professionals who "just sit at their desk or in the server room and do their eight-to-five" are at risk, says Ed Longanacre, senior vice president of IT at Amerisafe, a provider of workers' compensation insurance. The problem with hunkering down, he says, is that it gives the impression that you're not interested in the organization.

3. Keep your ear to the ground. Staying attuned to what's going on inside your company, including gossip, can help you anticipate changes, says Patricia Stepanski Plouffe, president of Career Management Consultants. "If there's a rumor that your department is going to fold or downsize, you can identify other areas of the company where you could transfer your skills," she says. Just remember that you can't trust everything you hear, whether it comes from the water cooler or the CFO.

4. Adapt to change quickly. "If you can develop an attitude that nothing is going to stay the same and that your organization and your job will always be in flux, that will help you cope," says Stepanski Plouffe. "Be ready for whatever change may come up."

5. Get out and lead. "Executives are expected to set the vision and reassure people of the path the company is on," says Dixson. "This is not the time to go in your office and shut the door. Show decisiveness, strength and integrity. Show that you're combating the rumor mill."

Posted in cio, downsizing it staff, it staffing, job hunting, job security, managing IT costs, protect your job, Right Click | 0 comments