A service-level contract (SLA) can be http://royston-consulting.com/outsourcing-consulting-services-by-board-room an important part of consulting for businesses. It is often used to establish a relationship between the internal operations of a company and its clients. It defines what each party needs to reach its goals and provides a mechanism for reporting on those goals and any issues that arise.
SLAs provide protection for both the service user and provider by setting standards, targets, and consequences when these expectations are not met. SLAs also allow businesses to create key performance metrics that can be used to identify areas that do not meet their strategic goals.
The SLA should define all the services that are included in a contract, with details on turnaround times and any exclusions. The contract should also include a list of metrics to be used in measuring the service provider’s performance.
Metrics selected should reflect only factors within the service provider’s reasonable control, and be easy for them to collect. They should also be set to a reasonable baseline, so that they can be refined over time.
A key performance indicator, or KPI, is a metric that measures how well a business is performing in terms of its primary goals. It can be used to determine if the business is off-course, which is a common problem for small businesses.