Service Governance
Several sites, several suppliers and a different report from each of them. Service governance puts one set of figures, one review cycle and one point of accountability on top of that, so you can see what you are paying for.
Everyone reports, nobody compares
Organisations with more than one site usually end up with more than one supplier, and each of them measures in its own way. One counts tickets, another counts hours, a third only reports on what it agreed itself. All the reports are correct on their own terms, and together they say nothing about whether your users are actually being helped.
Service governance is the layer above that. We define what gets measured, in the same way for every site and every supplier, and we hold the review cycle in which those figures lead to decisions. Not an extra report on the pile, but the one that replaces the pile.
This becomes worthwhile from the moment you run several locations or several suppliers, or when you have to account for IT to a board, an owner or a client. One office and one supplier? Then the SLA in your Managed IT agreement already covers it, and you do not need this on top.
What we take on
- One definition of the figures. The same measurement across every site and supplier, so the numbers can actually be compared.
- SLA management. We track the agreements, flag what is not being met and take that up with the supplier instead of leaving it to you.
- Supplier coordination. One point of contact for the chain, including for parties that are not us.
- A fixed review cycle. A monthly report and a quarterly review with a fixed agenda and decisions that get an owner.
- Change and risk oversight. Which changes are planned, what they touch and what the fallback is, recorded before they run.
- Independent of who delivers. We also report on our own performance. If we miss the mark, that is in the same report.
From scattered reports to one review cycle
Setting this up takes about a quarter. After that it runs on a fixed rhythm.
Inventory
We map out which agreements exist, with whom, and what is measured now. That usually surfaces the first gaps on its own.
One measurement framework
We agree what is measured, how and how often, so figures from different suppliers become comparable.
Reporting set up
The monthly report is built once and produced automatically after that, so time goes into the conversation rather than the spreadsheet.
The review runs
Every quarter around the table: what went well, what did not, what changes, and who picks it up before the next round.
One report you can take to your board
Governance only works when the figures survive a critical question. These are the components you get.
- One monthly reportAll sites and suppliers in one document, in figures that mean the same thing everywhere.
- SLA performance per agreementAchieved or not, with the reason and the action, instead of a green tick without a story.
- Trends over timeNot just this month, but the direction. That is what turns a report into a basis for decisions.
- Escalations trackedWhat was escalated, to whom, how long it took and how it ended.
- Change calendarWhich changes are planned across sites, so two suppliers do not touch the same chain in the same week.
- Risk registerKnown risks with owner, impact and the agreed handling, reviewed every quarter.
- Cost visibilityWhat is spent per service and per site, so a discussion about budget is about facts.
- Decisions with an ownerEvery review closes with actions, an owner and a date, checked at the next round.
Governance is not extra process, it is fewer surprises
The point is not to add a management layer. The point is that a problem shows up in a report before it shows up in a phone call from a site manager.
- Signals before incidentsRising handling times or a recurring category say something before they become an outage. Those trends are in the report.
- One agenda, every quarterThe same structure every time, so the review is not a discussion about what should be on the agenda.
- The awkward figures tooA report that only shows green is not a report. What was missed is in it, with what is being done about it.
- Accountable in one placeIf something goes wrong in the chain, you have one party to address, including when the cause sits with another supplier.
What this sits on top of
Governance is the layer above delivery. These services are what it reports on.
See what you are actually getting
In a half-hour conversation we go through your current agreements and reports. After that you know which figures are missing to steer on.