GB917 SLA Management Handbook, Volume 2: Concepts and Principles Release 2.5

The objective of the SLA Management Handbook series is to assist two parties in developing a Service Level Agreement (SLA) by providing a practical view of the fundamental issues.

This release of the SLA Management Handbook is a standalone document, which replaces all previous versions, including the full Release 2.5.

It provides benefits of relevance to today’s telecommunications services, as well as simplification, clarification and consistency with other TM Forum documents.

Release 2.5 of this Handbook was a four-volume set, covering the following:

1. Executive Overview of the remaining volumes
2. Concepts and Principles of the core SLA Guide itself
3. Service and Technology Examples providing application examples
4. Enterprise and Applications the Enterprise Customer perspective

This new release is intended to meet the following objectives:

• Provide support for modern telecommunications services such as Content Delivery and Clouds, and the increased likelihood of services being provided by a network of co-operating service providers.
• Provide a simpler guide where possible.
• Update and support the evolving core TM Forum Frameworx where necessary.
• Develop process breakdown to support SLA management (eTOM level 3, 4, and 5)
• Acknowledge the interdependent and complex nature of SLA relationships for modern services.
• Resolve terminology issues between bodies of work in this field.

This release provides benefits for Customers, Users, User Communities and other Consumer Groupings, as well as for Service Providers and Solution Vendors. In particular, the standardization of measurements and methodology provides for more meaningful comparisons between Service Providers, and also for the easier exchange of SLA reports between Service Providers and Customers/Users.