The Complete Guide to Preparing and Implementing Service Level Agreements

Citation

Calvert, P. (2002), "The Complete Guide to Preparing and Implementing Service Level Agreements", The Electronic Library, Vol. 20 No. 3, pp. 244-244. https://doi.org/10.1108/el.2002.20.3.244.1

Library organisational structures have changed considerably in just a few years. Long vertical hierarchies are disappearing and in their place are many structures that recognise the new technological realities. Castells has described the “network organisation” as one that takes advantage of the Internet to improve the allocation of resources both in speed and effectiveness (The Internet Galaxy, Oxford University Press, 2001). A key new element of the network organisation is that it buys in expertise rather than trying to provide it in‐house. The application of this to a service provider such as a library is that even customer services can be outsourced if an outside agent can perform them in a more cost‐effective way than the library itself. An obvious example of this is the licensing of access to online databases. The problem for library management then becomes one of ensuring that the outside agent remains accountable for its performance of the chosen service. This can be difficult because in some cases it is the outside agency that provides the customer interface, and as a result the library does not have access to data on activity or on customer satisfaction. This makes it necessary for library managers to become expert at writing and implementing a service level agreement (SLA) with each outside agency. In practice it is all too easy to set misleading performance measures for the outsourced activity. Another weakness is the failure to manage the agreement adequately and correct any tendencies to depart from the spirit and letter of the original. That is why some guidance is necessary on the writing of an SLA.

There are two other works on the preparation for outsourcing of a library service: Benaud and Bordeianu (1998), and Hirshon and Winters (1996). Only Pantry and Griffiths concentrate on the SLA, so for managers interested in developing outsourcing, this is a vital resource. It includes chapters on difficult yet crucial topics such as charging for services and on managing the various players in outsourcing such as customers, suppliers, and the organisation’s own staff (sometimes disturbed by outsourcing). Of particular interest for librarians focusing on electronic developments will be the chapter on managing your e‐suppliers. As an example, contracts and licences now loom large in any arrangements made to access electronic journals and matters such as the number of workstations allowed to access a title, and the length of the subscription period, are likely to be part of the legal agreement. Other matters, such as who is the contact in each organisation for dealing with disputes, who deals with password control, what level of “failures” such as dead links, may be in the contract but equally may be left to an SLA.

This is a necessary purchase for the library’s own collection. There is a brief index, plenty of further reading, and some useful appendices.