Under-Representation in SLAs for Global IT-Centric Services

Service level agreements (SLAs) constitute some of the most important instruments for representing and managing IT-centric services performance and value. However, achieving realistic and effective SLAs can be elusive. The problem is relatively under-researched and normative descriptions of what should be represented, monitored and measured in SLAs tend not to correspond with key events that unfold during the course of the production of services over time. We argue that designing SLAs, or related instruments, that accurately and usefully reflect services as they are enacted can be served by a deeper understanding of the practice of IT-centric services. Based on an ethnographic study of interactions between a large global IT-centric services provider and a global financial services company, this paper presents an approach to researching the problem and some preliminary results which document and analyse dimensions of the service engagement that are under-represented in formal representations but are value-enabling. The study is framed using the relational theory of contract (Macneil 1980).