This Government Insights report focuses on the development of service level agreements (SLAs) and their use in managing the delivery of IT services.

As IT continues to be embedded further into business processes, the need for a productive partnership between IT and business becomes evident. The state of this partnership is either an enabler or an inhibitor when the negotiation of a written SLA is on the table. Organizations may develop SLAs with internal IT staff and also with external IT providers, and in both instances they guide and inform the delivery of IT services to the business.

Jan Duffy, research director, Government Insights, said, "SLAs should be beneficial to the IT/business partnership, contributing to transparency and to developing objectives that are achievable. Given the large number of relationships and alliances involved in modern IT, governments can benefit substantially from developing expertise in preparing and maintaining SLAs."