A service level agreement describes what the two parties to an agreement desire to accomplish and contains a description of each side's duties. It outlines the customer support and maintenance services that are available. An SLA is essential because it allows for clarity regarding service level targets and what happens if the needed goals are not met. The research investigates the fundamental components required for developing a master Service Level Agreement as well as the differences in service levels for managing Software Configuration Items (Cis) and Hardware Configuration Items (HCI).
The fundamental elements required to establish a master Service Level Agreement The necessary components needed to create an SLA include the agreement overview such details of effective or expiry date, individuals involved and a general statement of what will be covered by the SLA. It should also state the goals and objectives. The service agreement is the component that spells out the service scope, customer requirements, service provider requirements, service assumptions, performance measures and the expected outcome (White & James, 2017). The agreement should also have a duration period that is specified. Such details include those regarding procedures for monitoring performance of service and procedures for solving problems. It should also include segregation of responsibilities and duties as well as risk mitigation plan and terms of terminating the contract.
Differences between how service levels for maintaining Software Configuration Items(Cis) and Hardware Configuration Items
Service levels for maintaining software configuration items differ from those of hardware configurations in some ways. Service levels help to measure the performance of the system by giving the percentage to which the set goals should be achieved. Service levels for maintaining software configuration items include not only program code segments but also the various documents according to development such as drivers for tests, all types of code files, user or developer manuals, system configuration, and analysis or design documents (Sage & Rouse, 2011). On the other hand service levels for maintaining hardware configuration items include bus speed frequencies and CPUs
References
White, R., & James, B. (2017). The outsourcing manual. New York, LA: Taylor & Francis.
Sage, A. P., & Rouse, W. B. (2011). Handbook of Systems Engineering and Management.
