Do SLA 'Services' = Service Catalogue 'Services' (y/n)?

[RonScot]

I'd like to know if our enterprise wide SLA should comprise ICT Services that have already been defined as part of a Service Catalogue - or should or may SLA Services be different from those in the Service Catalogue?

If the Services should be common to both the SLA and Service Schedule, and a Service Schedule hasn't been produced, as the Service Level Management process owner, I will produce an SLA in the interim. Thoughts pls on the possibility that an SLA is developed with associated performance monitoring established and then a Service Schedule is subsequently developed that doesn't align with the SLA (eg completely different Services)?

[Diarmid]

Your post is a little confusing. You start out talking about SLAs and the service catalogue and then change to SLAs and service schedules. I will assume you mean the same in both cases.

A service catalogue contains services you are able to offer. A SLA is an agreement with a customer about the delivery of one or more services to that customer's requirement.

A customer-facing aspect of the service catalogue could be used to describe the nature of the service, optional parts and services available to be taken up by customers but only the SLA should describe the agreed levels of a service for a particular customer. And service delivery without a SLA is "by definition" very poor practice.
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"Method goes far to prevent trouble in business: for it makes the task easy, hinders confusion, saves abundance of time, and instructs those that have business depending, both what to do and what to hope."
William Penn 1644-1718

[RonScot]

Apologies Diarmid. I did indeed mean Service Catalogue (not Service Schedule).

It seems to me from your advice, that each Service in our SLA should have a corresponding Service of the same name in the Service Catalogue eg if our SLA includes Customer Applications and Corporate Applications as 2 of our Services, our Service Catalogue should also include the Customer Applications and Corporate Applications Services.

You mentioned "customer-facing aspect of the service catalogue". I would have expected all (high level) Services in the Service Catalogue and SLA to be customer-facing. Hanging off each Service, from an ICT perspective would be the ICT components that constitute the Service, much of which will not be directly customer-facing of course.

In a nutshell, if ICT offers a total of 15 Services, the SLA and Service Catalogue will both contain the same 15 Services.

Pls confirm/clarify.

Thx Ron

[Diarmid]

This is a tricky area. Services may be offered or provided or both. A service which is offered but not provided will not have an SLA. A service which is provided but not offered may not need a customer facing entry in the service catalogue if, for example everything important is included in the SLA.

Also, if you have several customers for a service you may have several SLAs. Or you may have a single bundled SLA for all the services for each customer. It may even be possible to effectively include the SLA within the catalogue.
_________________
"Method goes far to prevent trouble in business: for it makes the task easy, hinders confusion, saves abundance of time, and instructs those that have business depending, both what to do and what to hope."
William Penn 1644-1718