Service Level Agreements (SLAs) - Preparation Guidelines for Effective SLAs

Why Should You Attend:

Experience indicates that organizations that do not take the time to develop and agree upon a sound set of SLAs to facilitate Service Level Management (SLM) are likely to fail and/or have great difficulty in measuring delivery performance by internal or external service providers. For organizations that outsource critical services, such as IT, the new laws and regulations implicitly demand that outside and outsourced services meet compliance requirements just as much as any internally company run services. Regulatory compliance has added impetus to the need to have sound SLAs to ensure outsourced services are properly governed.

This webinar will explain how the same principles and practices that have been used for well established infrastructure services (power, utilities, IT) also apply to any other business support services (finance, HR, Customer support, etc.). The presenter will provide you with sound principles and a set of guidelines for developing and preparing ‘effective’ Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for an internal service function or an outside service provider.

• The Importance of Service Level Agreements (SLA) - Definition of key terms.
• Service Level Agreements as a Key Element of the Service Level Management (SLM) Process.
• In what situations Can SLAs Be Applied and Useful?
• Modern view of SLAs for internal and external service provisioning, Including all Types of Services.
• Foundation for Developing SLAs – Direct relation to Governance and Risk Management.
• A General Methodology for Developing SLAs.
• Determining Performance Service Level Objectives (SLOs).
• Importance of Developing “User-facing SLAs” that Are Truly Responsive to Users' Needs.
• Differences Between User-oriented SLAs and Technically-oriented SLAs and how they Help Achieve Alignment with Business Objectives.
• Illustration of User-facing SLAs as opposed to Technology or Operations-facing SLAs
• Success Factors to Develop Effective SLAs.
• A Framework and a List of Elements to Consider in SLA Development for IT and Software Services requirements.
• Action Plan for Developing Effective SLAs.

• Line senior executives responsible for company operations performance
• IT and quality assurance professionals
• Legal counsel officers that help develop agreements and service contracts
• Purchasing and Procurement Executives
• Legal Counsel Functions (Internal or External)
• Corporate and Internal Audit Executives, Internal and Information System Auditors
• Executives Dependent on Key Support Infrastructure Services, Such as IT and other business services
• Contingency Planning and Emergency Preparedness Professionals that must specify SLAs
• CIOs, CFOs, and any C-level Executive that Vitally Dependent on or that oversees Business Services
• External Auditors and Consultants in Risk Management and Contingency Planning
• Chief Risk Managers and Chief Security Officers (CSOs) and Professionals
• Individual Responsible for Negotiating Outsourced Services
• Compliance and Regulatory Mandate Officers/Professionals
• Managers of Outsourcing Service Companies that Must Specify or Negotiate Levels of Service With Clients
• Any manager of service professional that needs to measure service performance and needs to develop their service SLAs

Javier Kuong
President and Principal Consultant, Management Advisory Services & Publications (MASP)

Javier F. Kuong, is the President and Principal Consultant of Management Advisory Services & Publications (MASP), an organization that for over 30 years has been devoted solely to consulting, training, publications, research and development in Enterprise and IT Governance, Compliance, Auditing, Risk Management, Security, and Business Continuity Planning on a global basis. His previous experience includes positions as CIO/IT Director, Senior Manager for an major four CPA firm, Consulting and Management training in the areas of his expertise. He is the author of 40 books and treatises, including 3 books on Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, GRC, IT Governance, and Internal Controls for SMBs (Small and Medium size businesses). He is also the editor of COM-SAC, Computer Security, Auditing & Control and CPR-J Contingency Planning & Recovery Journal. He has lectured in all regions of the world in Conferences, seminars and for many independent Professional Training Institutes and Professional Associations. He is the recipient of the New England ISACA Chapter.

Topic Background:

Information Technology and other Business Support Services are under great pressure to be identified with business value and performance measurement concepts. Any service provided, either internal or outsourced, requires a set of criteria for reaching agreement on and measuring the performance of the services rendered. This need has been further enhanced with the advent of outsourcing of services and business processes. The use of SLAs is not only for just IT outsourced services anymore but also for internal service provisioning of any business service that is vital to supporting the critical business processes required to run a successful enterprise.

In today's performance-oriented business environment service level agreements are not only for physical, utility services, networks and IT infrastructure but any support service that enables the key business processes of an organization.

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