High Availability: Design, Techniques, and Processes

Chapter 5. Implementing Service-Level Management

Service-Level Management

Service-level management deals with how user service requirements are understood and managed. The objective is to balance what users want, and what the business can afford to provide. Begin by examining the business environment and the ways in which information technology supports business objectives. Next, IT negotiates service levels or performance targets with its users. The result of the negotiations is a service level agreement — a living document that is revised as the business environment, IT environment, and user requirements change.

Process Requirements

This section describes the process steps involved in service-level management.

Step 1: Define service-level standards ...