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Chapter 5 ■ Service Design
with the procurement team to create a purchase order. This coordination between
various parties requires a good amount of effort. Instead, I automate the process; I don’t
skip any steps, but I remove the coordination efforts using the power of automation. I
would design the tool to seek the manager’s approval when the request is raised. After the
manager’s approval, I route the ticket directly to the procurement team. In this example,
I have taken out the middleman. This translates to more efficient and cost-effective
service.)
5.7.1.8 SLM vs. BRM
The SLM works with ears to the ground and is tasked with dealing with all issues
pertaining to service quality. The BRM, on the other hand, works closely with the
business and is aligned to the customer’s current and future requirements. BRM also acts
as a conduit for the customer to share their feedback.
The BRM and the SLM processes are similar in principle, but they differ in the
outcomes they are trying to achieve. The BRM works at a strategic level (as discussed in
Chapter 4). It works with customers to understand the pains, requirements, and desires
to formulate and tailor IT services to their needs. On the other hand, the SLM process
works with the customer during and after the IT service delivery stage. It works with the
customer in ensuring that the service levels are met and making sure pain points and
other runway-level issues are handled.
The BRM process works at the strategic level and at times at the tactical level. The
SLM process works at the operational level and at times at the tactical level. Although
at a tactical level, both BRM and SLM are involved, there is no overlap between their
responsibilities as laid out in the process.
The BRM is required to act as the big brother as strategy feeds into tactics and operations.
The SLM must work within the ambit of the services and can take support from the BRM to
align with the strategy. Likewise, BRM needs to interface with the SLM quite stably as the
operations on the ground are the basis for all discussions with existing customers.
5.7.1.9 SLM Interfaces
As the SLM process deals with measuring and reporting service levels, in principle it must
interface with every ITIL process. This is in fact true for all processes. None of them can
work in isolation. They require at least one or multiple process to provide triggers, inputs,
and feedback on output. In the case of SLM, the following sections discuss some of the
critical interfaces.
5.7.1.9.1 Business Relationship Management
As discussed earlier, there are differences in interfacing between the SLM and the BRM.
5.7.1.9.2 Service Catalog Management
The SLM interfaces with the service catalog management for obtaining service
information and associated service levels from the service catalog.
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