Build the SLA’s based on costs. It will cost the organization $XX amount to meet the “just work” “all the time” goal. When you put it in terms of costs, that’s when people will think realistically. The other side of this though is the challenge with the consumerization of IT. A lot of business people think that since they can manage their home systems “easily” and “on the cheap” that an enterprise can do the same thing. This may be true for some organizations but not for most. You have to communicate what the support levels mean to the organization and what technology, people, and costs it takes to meet those service levels. Maybe start with three levels, Gold, Silver & Bronze and build service level costs, uptime, technology, people requirements for each level. This will show you thought through things and not just ignoring the business.

Let us know how you get on… I’m interested in what you do and how it works for you.

In the IT trenches? So am I – read my IT-Trenches blog.