Service Level Agreement Development - Case Studies

ScottMadden assisted a government agency in developing service level agreements (SLAs) across numerous functions with multiple customers.

A recent consolidation of services led to opportunities for superior service providers to attract new customers. Immediately prior to the absorption of a relatively large customer, the multifunction service provider elected to develop and utilize SLAs to identify services and performance metrics to improve communication efforts
Existing customers were vaguely aware of the services provided as well as how to access them
A new customer group was uncertain of new services offered, processes, points of contact, etc, prior to transition to the new service provider
Few performance metrics were being measured, and none were being communicated to customers
Service providers were anxious to meet with customers and to commit to a level of service because a performance baseline did not exist

Identified and defined current services offered
Conducted customer focus groups to determine service level expectations
Identified performance metrics, developed a baseline for performance, and used benchmarks to establish targets
Identified roles and responsibilities for both the service providers and the customers
Facilitated initial customer SLA discussions

Developed SLA templates for each functional service provider, including defined services, roles and responsibilities, points of contact, and performance metrics with targets
Established communication between service providers and customer groups regarding availability and quality of services
Developed an initial template for a performance management tool to capture and report performance metrics

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