SLA based model of the cooperation is usually used in the projects like support and maintenance or activities under the BPO agreements.
The SLA implies usage of the model when Softengi provides services with clearly and strictly agreed constraints and requirements.
When we talk about SLA for IT services it usually includes the following activities:
Incident management
This process supports the restoration of normal operational service as quickly as possible and minimise the negative impact on business operations. The following activities are performed during this process:
- Incident detection and recording
- Classification
- Investigation
- Resolution
- Closure
- Monitoring and tracking
- Incident handling
Problem management
This process comprehensively records incidents in order to identify the cause of the incidents and trends. The following activities are performed during this process:
- Identify, document, classify and analyse the problem
- Evaluate the error, plan and initiate troubleshooting
- Support handling of involved incidents
- Proactive measures (trend analysis, quality reports etc.)
Change management
This process controls changes to the services. The following activities are performed during this process:
- Prioritizing changes
- Assessing impact
- Scheduling
- Management reporting
Release management
This process ensures that only authorized versions of software are made available for operation. The following activities are performed during this process:
- Release planning, designing, building and configuring
- Release acceptance
- Rollout planning
- Communication, preparation and training
- Distribution and installation
- Documentation
Service Level Management
This process ensure the quality of the IT services provided. It includes the following key activities:
- Identifying IT services and service requirements
- Defining, building and managing the IT Service Catalogue
- Negotiating Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and Operational Level Agreements (OLAs)
- Monitoring and managing SLAs, OLAs
- Initiating service improvement actions
The following picture illustrates the processes described above (with the exclusion of Configuration Management):
The cooperation under the SLA based model requires the clear understanding of the responsibilities of the service provider and the customer. Usually, the responsibilities are represented as Service Levels, like the following:
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Level 1 – Comprises of help desk activities which will include: call intake, logging, first user help regarding system configuration, network or system access and related to specific functions of specific business application.
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Level 2 – Comprises of: usability help related to the applications covered by maintenance services, 'how to' and 'how do' questions. In addition log files analysis and remote parameter setting is performed along with database configuration, correction of erroneous or corrupt data.
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Level 3 – Comprises of: source code analysis of existing application and bug fixing if the application software is not working according to the specification.
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Level 4 – Comprises of: source code analysis of existing application and the development of changes or additional functionality on user request or when required by new environment configuration.
In most cases, when the part of service levels are outsourced, the service provider responsibilities includes levels starting from 2. Service level 1 requires direct contact with end users of the systems and appropriate communication environment. Softengi has an experience in performing services under the SLA agreement which include all the levels as well as only several of them. To understand the specifics of the implementation of the service level activities, below is the short description.
Level 1
To efficiently perform support at this level it is needed to establish good communications channels which the end user can use to solve his problem. Softengi provides the customers with the following communication channels:
- Phone help desk with dedicated international phone numbers.
- Email communications.
- IM communications using different kind of Instant Managers.
- User-oriented Web based hotline systems.
The critical points for the first level of the support are lingual and communication skills of the operator. Softengi is able to build the team to support multinational companies which expect several languages of the support.
Level 2
When supporting at the second level, Softengi takes the responsibility of the solution functioning according to agreed schedule. The highest requirement is that the solution works 24x7. Softengi’s experienced specialists get knowledge about system configuration and build the efficient process for monitoring and analysis of the system’s functioning.
Level 3
Softengi has the proven practices of transferring the knowledge of the system architecture and implementation to the support team. It also includes the cases when the system doesn’t have any technical documentation and software specifications. Our engineers can perform the analysis of the solution basing on the existing source code and create all the needed documentation to simplify the support process and to reduce the risk of the solution damage due to improvements.
Level 4
When the improvement task arises, Softengi’s engineers perform the analysis of the possible ways how to perform it. We always try to find the compromise of the cost of the improvement and the quality and supportability of its implementation. The customer always sees the alternative solutions and the comprehensive analysis of cost, quality and technical specifics of each approach.
