What is a service level agreement (SLA)? Do I need one?

An SLA is an excellent way to start building long-term customer relationships based on trust and loyalty. It is a negotiated and agreed to contract between the help desk and its customers. It quantifies acceptable service levels and outlines when, what and how products and/or services will be delivered. It can be used to describe all in-house services (where legal contracts do not exist). It may also be used to supplement a formal contractual agreement, which defines the business relationship with an external provider.

You will definitely need one or more SLA's. A service level agreement is the basic underlying process structure of the help desk. Some of the benefits of having service level agreements in place include:

• Helps to set customer expectations appropriately
• Allows the help desk to manage its workload more effectively
• Creates a baseline for current and future budgeting
• It is the keystone for rolling out new services