Managing the IT service level in large organizations: reference framework and a survey of actual practices

We illustrate ESLAM (Extended Service Level Analysis Model), a framework for Service Level Management (SLM), i.e. the management of service level for IT services. ESLAM is conceived as a specific extension of ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library), a reputed framework for IT management. The extension concerns (a) service level variables, where the service level of business processes is linked to the underlying IT services, (b) the reference architecture of service level technology, and (c) organizational aspects. Point (a) is innovative, and it reflects the concept that the SLM should focus on business outcomes and not on the bare IT infrastructure, vanishing in the cloud era. In order to validate ESLAM, an in-depth survey has been undertaken on a sample of large corporations. The survey not only has provided evidence on the actual approach to SLM but identified also key drivers of SLM maturity. Therefore ESLAM has a twofold value, as a framework to develop a business oriented SLM, and, also, as a maturity model to assess the adoption of SLM solutions.