Service Level Agreements

[imellett]

I run a small helpdesk with 5 staff, and want to try to raise the level of service that we provide. I want to try and introduce some SLA's, but I don't know where to start, or what sort of time-scale to use. Any ideas? Thanks.

[rsukheja]

i can help regarding the sla's

[imellett]

In what way? Could you give me a bit more detail? Thanks.

[John Barrios]

Remember that the basic industry standard is at 36 per and if you are running a 16 hour coverage 5 days a week or 7 days a week, you have consider the training and staffing involved. Also level 1 support will be less than level 2 support. So if we take a ball park figure and say that the total call package will be 180, that would be 60 to 80 for level 1 and 100 to 120 for level 2. Depending on the budget you are given, that could include the 36 for the call itself or you could charge that as an extra. You can also charge over anf above the 120 a flat fee per month as well. It is is not cheap to train and staff, depending on the contract you can also charge anywahere from 1k to 4k a month. You may think this is excessive, but remember that you are doing people a favor by having that experise available.If they had to pay the wages, benefits etc, it would be a much higher cost to to the client. That is my view.
John Barrios