Most organisations understand the importance of having a Service Level Agreement (SLA) with their service providers, particularly when it comes to IT service delivery. Such agreements are essential for defining IT service parameters and the resulting consequences of not meeting them.

But how does an IT service provider formally manage and measure its internal processes to ensure that the parameters of its customers' SLAs are always met? The answer lies in having a formal Operation Level Agreements (OLA) drafted in alignment with the SLA.

OLAs are internal agreements held between the various stakeholders – usually departments or divisions within the organisation – who are collectively responsible for the delivery of a service to a customer.

An OLA would define each stakeholder's role and responsibility for their part of the service delivery, as well as their position in the service delivery timeline, in order to ensure the parameters outlined in an SLA are effectively and efficiently met. It essentially manages expectations.

Delivery of an IT service, once it has been sold to a customer, is the product of many hands. An OLA manages what those 'hands' are responsible for and ensures that the delivery of a service flows smoothly from one 'hand' to the next.

While a customer is (and should be) only concerned with receiving a satisfactory service from their IT service provider, in line with their SLA, ensuring that their SLA is met is the concern of a whole chain of people within the service provider's organisation. If one of those people do not complete their function in this chain, it breaks and the delivery of the service suffers as a result.

Often, the various departments of an organisation may not understand how their function impacts the business as a whole. They know what they are responsible for, but they may not know why, or what happens if they do not fulfil this role. An OLA provides transparency between departments and role players on who does what, for what reason, and what happens to the service delivery process if they do not fulfil their designated tasks.

One cannot manage something if one cannot measure it. A comprehensive OLA also acts as a tool to measure the efficiency and effectiveness of the service delivery process. It enables the organisation to identify and fix weak spots in its process flow. Analysing the root cause of a fault or failure can help an organisation to not only correct it, but also put measures in places to avoid similar issues going forward. In this way, the organisation can continue to improve its service delivery and keep its customers happy.

It is not only important to have OLAs in place, but to also ensure they are ISO20000 compliant.

Compliance with this standard helps to manage and audit the functionality of the OLA by converting it from a recommendation to an instruction. It allows for IT governance by creating accountability amongst the stakeholders of the OLA.

Companies who do not make use of OLAs within their organisation run the risk of being inefficient and wasting their resources. They could end up with problems such as over or under-staffing, not having the right people in the right positions and overlooking areas that are not functioning as effectively and efficiently as they should.

As these issues can disrupt service delivery, they can negatively impact SLAs, and therefore, lead to loss of business.

Value is in the perception of a business's customers. If they do not perceive they are receiving value, such as when an SLA is constantly being breached, they will go elsewhere for a service. Proper implementation of OLAs can ensure SLAs are always met so that an IT business's reputation remains intact, and their service delivery track record stays impeccable. OLAs are, then, essential to managing an SLA and delivering the best value.

* By Edward Carbutt, Executive Director at Marval Africa.