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Service Definition Questions and Checklist

INTRODUCTION

Service definition is foundational to service management and support. Clearly defined services inform customers about service offerings, including what each service does and does not include, eligibility, service limitations, cost, how to request services, and how to get help. A well-defined service also identifies internal processes necessary to provide and support the service.

At a minimum, every customer-facing service should have a service definition to enable support.

THE FIVE QUESTIONS

Fundamentally, five key questions must be answered when defining a service.

Customer facing questions.

Answer these questions from the customer’s perspective:

  1. What does the customer need to know about the service? Include a general description, features, limitations, eligibility, how to request the service, how to get help/support, and cost to the customer.
  2. What is the service, and how do I get it? (Service Description)
  3. How do I get help? How do I use the service? (Help and Self-Service)
  4. What does it cost? (Service Cost and Pricing)

Two key internal/ITS-facing questions.

Answer these questions from the service provider’s perspective. What do those providing the service need to know in order to provide and support it?

  1. How does ITS support this service? (Service Support)
  2. How does ITS provide this service? (Service Delivery)

Additional considerations for service changes:

  • Existing documentation, including web service catalog pages and support information, must be reviewed prior to implementation of service changes and updated if needed. Communication to affected individuals may be required.
  • Service changes must follow the ITS Change Management Process which includes the preparation of a change request with appropriate communication to ITS Support Center and others through SlugHub or sc.update@ucsc.edu

SERVICE DEFINITION/SUPPORT READINESS CHECKLIST

This checklist lists elements to consider when answering each of the above five questions. Many elements are required for support. Space is provided to indicate the owner, completion status, and location of the products for each element, and any notes. Not all elements are required for every service; however, they should all be considered during the service definition process, and any “N/As” explained.

SERVICE DEFINITION/SUPPORT READINESS CHECKLIST DESCRIPTIONS

Question 1: What is the service, and how do I get it?

Question 2: How do I get help? How do I use the service?

Question 3: What Does It Cost?

Question 4: How does ITS support this service?

Question 5: How does ITS provide this service?

Additional Considerations

QUESTION 1: WHAT IS THE SERVICE, AND HOW DO I GET IT? (SERVICE DESCRIPTION)

These components all are included in the Web Service Catalog, SLA, Support Readiness

SERVICE SUMMARY
What is a short description of the service that gives the client a general sense of what the service is?

FEATURES & FUNCTIONS
What services features and functions do clients receive or can use as part of the service? Make clear which features and functions are default, which are optional, and which are not included or not recommended. Identify any recommended features or functions, e.g. for security.

ELIGIBILITY & PREREQUISITES
What clients are eligible to use/request the service? Are there any prerequisites, e.g. approvals, authorizations or technical requirements such as minimum operating system version?

SERVICE REQUESTS
How do clients request the service and what authorizations are required if any? Provide direct link to SlugHub Service Catalog entry, form or to the Get Help page if request is through a general ticket or help@ucsc.edu

AVAILABILITY
Are there any service boundaries regarding service availability and unavailability, e.g. downtime due to maintenance windows?

RELATED POLICY
What are relevant UC or campus policies or guidelines related to this service?

RELATED STANDARDS
What standards are related to this service? This may be either standards that the service adheres to or other standards, e.g. purchasing standards for use with the service

QUESTION 2: HOW DO I GET HELP? HOW DO I USE THE SERVICE? (HELP AND SELF SERVICE)

These components all are included in the Web Service Catalog, SLA, Support Readiness:

GETTING HELP
Who does a client contact for help? ITS service web pages include a link to the Getting Help page for SlugHub. This web page also summarizes other methods for getting help.

SELF-SERVICE SUPPORT
What are the resources for a client to help themselves get started with a service, learn to use the service, or troubleshoot, e.g.:

  • Links to software required and installation instructions
  • Links to web login page
  • Links to relevant Knowledge Articles, or Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for troubleshooting, service features, policies, and other questions
  • Links to step-by-step end user instructions / training manuals Links to external vendor web pages or self-service documentation for third-party services.

QUESTION 3: WHAT DOES IT COST? (SERVICE CHARGES)

CHARGES
What are the charges associated with the service? Are any approvals required, and if so, from whom? If the charges are calculated based on customer requirements, include general formulas, rates and contact information for determining exact costs.

QUESTION 4: HOW DOES ITS SUPPORT THIS SERVICE? (SERVICE SUPPORT)

These components all are required for Support Readiness:

SUPPORT ROLES
Are the following support roles in place?

  • Identify a support subject matter expert (SME) for this service
  • What are the Service, SysApp(CI), & Category and Assignment Group to use in SlugHub? Identify the initial assignment group and escalation assignment groups and membership for SlugHub.
Identify the roles and responsibilities for support using this RACI chart.

TIER 1 SUPPORT DOCUMENTATION & TRAINING
What resources are available for Tier 1 support? Besides materials in answer to Question 1 and 2:

  • Are there any specialized tools/apps and resources for support? What are the items needed for SlugHub (e.g. templates, keyword lookups, service, sys/app, categories)?
  • Are there any status monitors, (e.g. Google Suite Dashboard)?
For each known issue, use the global template “Standard Escalation” to create a SlugHub KB and address the following:
  • What is the known issue, error message and/or troubleshooting methods?
  • Are there any specific details required from client before escalation by support (e.g. computer name, location, IP address, etc.).

When is training planned for Tier 1, e.g. Support Center (date, time, url/location)?

ESCALATION PROCESS (Tier 2, Tier 3)
How does Tier 1 receive more in-depth assistance for this service? Identify the escalation points on the support RACI chart, including who would be contacted for urgent issues. What resources are available for Tier 2 or 3 support? Besides materials for Tier 1:

  • Are there any specialized tools/apps and resources for Tier 2 or 3 support, including websites or monitors?
  • What are the support and troubleshooting procedures used by Tier 2 or 3?

When is training planned for Tier 2 or 3 (date, time, url/location)?

COMMUNICATIONS
What types of communications might be needed? Working with the ITS Communications Manager, what are communications date(s), audience, and type of messages to be sent? Consider full range of audience, including DLs and LITS, Support Center, customers, clients, and/or the general community.

QUESTION 5 HOW DOES ITS DELIVER THE SERVICE? (Service Delivery)

These components are used for integration with SlugHubt:

SERVICE REQUESTS WORKFLOW
How do we fulfill the requests for service from a customer through the ITS Service Catalog in SlugHub? For each service request identified in Question 2, develop a workflow diagram for fulfilling service requests.

OPERATIONAL CHANGE MANAGEMENT
What service-specific change management should be considered beyond the standard ITS Change Management process? This may include:

  • Identified standard changes to submit for pre-approval
  • Maintenance windows that deviate from the default
  • Related service-specific change procedures

OTHER SERVICE DELIVERY DOCUMENTATION
What are other standard processes or service delivery procedures? Consider processes and procedures for both operations and maintenance for the service or its components This would include:

  • Links to vendor information or tools used in service delivery
  • Other procedures for day-to-day operations
  • Technical procedures for maintenance, backups, restores, data recovery, swapping components, debugging, etc.
  • Websites that are necessary (or helpful) to provide the service, including those that provide tools
  • Links to internal FAQs or Knowledge Articles used in service delivery
  • Training documentation for service providers, if applicable.
Consider using checklists, flowcharts, or other standard process diagrams to capture this info.

SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENT (SLA)
Are there service levels, support targets or maintenance windows that differ from the campus SLA? These would be captured in a service-specific SLA. See examples of existing SLAs.

SECURITY
Has there been a security review of the service? If the service goes to the Design Review Board, this documentation is required.

ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS

These components may be required in SLA, Design Review Board or Recharge Rate development:

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS (SERVICE DIAGRAM)
What is the technical description/diagram of the infrastructure configuration items that support the service, e.g. specific hardware, software, architecture, and other components, and the relationships between them, in enough detail to troubleshoot or effect repairs. If the service goes to the Design Review Board, this documentation is required.

OPERATING LEVEL AGREEMENT (OLA)
Do multiple ITS teams deliver the service where there is a need to capture responsibilities in an agreement?

UTILIZATION & CAPACITY MANAGEMENT
What elements of the service should be tracked so the service is responsive to current and future demands? This may include:

  • Data on client usage to track license usage or other demand
  • Data for monitoring of service status, performance and/or trends to ensure service health
  • Procedures to analyze capacity utilization for infrastructure components to forecast resources required

SERVICE COSTING
What expenses are associated with the service, including ongoing expenses for service components? This may include reviewing other aspects of cost, e.g.:

  • How might the cost be affected by other service design choices, e.g. cloud hosting vs. on-premise, or other licensing options?
  • How does our estimate of service deliverables and charges compare with other high education campuses or private sector? This helps to validate fairness and competitiveness in service offerings.
  • If a service has a recharge, Business and Resource Management will also require information about expected staffing and other allocations as part of developing a recharge rate.

SUPPORTING MATERIALS

  • Service Definition Process: This web page outlines the process for defining a service. It includes: identifying a service manager, service manager responsibilities, and, if applicable, an ITS Support Center subject matter expert (SME)

GETTING HELP
For questions or assistance with Service Definition, or feedback on this toolkit, please contact Client Services and Support using the ITS Feedback form.