service level management and the manager

Following on from Designing and Transforming IT Organizations (2012, ISBN 9780117080744) this is the second title in a series on that topic. It deals with two of the most important organization structures in an IT service organization: the service level management process and the service manager role. Customer satisfaction is the ultimate goal of common service organizations, but no organization can satisfy its customers if it has no idea of the services it is supposed to be delivering. Whether agreed in writing (as half a sheet of A4 or a 500-page document) or only loosely in terms of expectations, it all starts with an understanding of what you should deliver. Once you understand what you should deliver, someone has to be made responsible, to make sure it is delivered. That's where the service manager comes in: only one role can be responsible for the overall service, whereas many others will be responsible for the processes, for the teams, or for the infrastructures that underpin the service. The service level management process and the service manager role are core to managing customer satisfaction. In practice, they often get confused or they are not managed at all. This book explains how to deal with both of them in a consistent and practical way.