What is a Service Level Agreement (SLA)?
In an increasingly complex business environment, many medium and large companies suffer
from a lack of organisational and/or departmental definition, due to constant change and
reorganisation. Such events frequently result in unclear roles and are often the source
of negative business impacting incidents. SLAs provide clarity and definition where
there may previously have been confusion and excessive bureaucracy. The SLA is the key
to setting the users' service expectations.
How can H.D. Management help you define SLAs?
It is essential that the formulation of SLAs has Senior Management 'buy-in' for effective
use and maintenance. H.D. Management consultants recover information from all relevant
parties within an organisation through a mixture of interviews and investigatory work.
The SLA is then defined and documented in a fashion tailored to client requirements,
tempered by the extensive experience our consultants have acquired in documenting SLAs for
some of Britain's largest blue-chip organisations.
How will SLAs benefit you?
SLAs provide both the purchaser and the supplier (internal and external) with:
- Concise definitions of roles and responsibilities
- Clarification of organisational structure
- Identification of weak performance areas
- Clear definitions of service function as well as service process
- Independent definition of purchaser and supplier requirements
- A defined standard against which to measure supplier (and purchaser) performance
What is a Supplier Audit?
A Supplier, or 2nd Party Audit, is the audit of a supplier's service to its customer against
a defined benchmark or standard (e.g. the SLA or ISO 9001). It may also include an audit of
the supplier's internal management system, which would normally include an on-site audit of
the supplier's premises.
What is H.D. Management's approach to Supplier Auditing?
H.D. Management can conduct a Supplier Audit on behalf of the customer, producing a
comprehensive audit report against defined customer requirements. On occasion, it may
be that both customer and supplier alike may require an independent audit of the service
provided from supplier to customer, where H.D. Management are the 3rd Party auditors.
H.D. Management consultants include a number of registered Lead Auditors who have
many years experience of conducting this form of audit.
How will a Supplier Audit benefit you?
A Supplier Audit provides you with:
- An independent (3rd Party) verification of the supplier/customer relationship
- A precise measurement of supplier performance against an agreed standard (e.g. SLA/ISO 9001)
- A clear indication of the level of service you receive from a supplier
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