The service-level agreement (SLA) is a critical element in the suite of contractual and governing documents that surround any outsourcing engagement. This Executive Report provides an overview of SLAs including their purpose and key elements. It then discusses the necessary preparations as you make the decision to create an SLA, before detailing the seven sections of this document. The report concludes with suggestions for drafting an SLA.

That most outsourcing deals have a contract is a well-known fact, and the purpose of contracts, as many people will tell you, is to protect the parties in the event of litigation. However, if contracts are useful documents designed to help you in court, then there is one type of document helpful in keeping your outsourcing deal out of court to begin with -- the service-level agreement (SLA).

That most outsourcing deals have a contract is a well-known fact, and the purpose of contracts, as many people will tell you, is to protect the parties in the event of litigation. However, if contracts are useful documents designed to help you in court, then there is one type of document helpful in keeping your outsourcing deal out of court to begin with -- the service-level agreement (SLA).

In today's economic climate, sourcing initiatives are mostly established and managed as relationship-driven engagements. Whether all parties involved in sourcing engagements (sourcing providers, clients, and associated third-party vendors) are equally vibrant in growing the partnership or not, sourcing companies make every attempt to satisfy and exceed their clients' expectations.

In today's economic climate, sourcing initiatives are mostly established and managed as relationship-driven engagements. Whether all parties involved in sourcing engagements (sourcing providers, clients, and associated third-party vendors) are equally vibrant in growing the partnership or not, sourcing companies make every attempt to satisfy and exceed their clients' expectations.

In today's economic climate, sourcing initiatives are mostly established and managed as relationship-driven engagements. Whether all parties involved in sourcing engagements (sourcing providers, clients, and associated third-party vendors) are equally vibrant in growing the partnership or not, sourcing companies make every attempt to satisfy and exceed their clients' expectations.

The human race has been defined in many ways: as "a featherless biped" (by Aristotle, who knew nothing of T. Rex or even the great apes), "homo sapiens," and "homo faber." It could equally well be classified as "homo garrulus," the species that loves to gossip, argue, and sound off -- especially on topics where there is unlikely to be a last word. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, and the Web has done a magnificent job of letting the broad masses publish theirs.

The human race has been defined in many ways: as "a featherless biped" (by Aristotle, who knew nothing of T. Rex or even the great apes), "homo sapiens," and "homo faber." It could equally well be classified as "homo garrulus," the species that loves to gossip, argue, and sound off -- especially on topics where there is unlikely to be a last word. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, and the Web has done a magnificent job of letting the broad masses publish theirs.

The management of knowledge is not new. Knowledge has been managed in organizations from time immemorial to ascertain that appropriate capabilities are available for people to perform requisite work competently and successfully. As a result, implicit knowledge management (KM) mechanisms were pursued by introducing practices such as master-apprentice traditions, educational programs, and so on.

The management of knowledge is not new. Knowledge has been managed in organizations from time immemorial to ascertain that appropriate capabilities are available for people to perform requisite work competently and successfully. As a result, implicit knowledge management (KM) mechanisms were pursued by introducing practices such as master-apprentice traditions, educational programs, and so on.

The management of knowledge is not new. Knowledge has been managed in organizations from time immemorial to ascertain that appropriate capabilities are available for people to perform requisite work competently and successfully. As a result, implicit knowledge management (KM) mechanisms were pursued by introducing practices such as master-apprentice traditions, educational programs, and so on.

Former Intel Chairman Andy Grove nicely described the link between strategic and operational risk, and the importance of managing the former by the latter, when he said, "People [employees] formulate strategy with their fingertips. Day in and day out they respond to things by virtue of the products they produce, the price concessions they make, the distribution channels they choose."

Former Intel Chairman Andy Grove nicely described the link between strategic and operational risk, and the importance of managing the former by the latter, when he said, "People [employees] formulate strategy with their fingertips. Day in and day out they respond to things by virtue of the products they produce, the price concessions they make, the distribution channels they choose."

Typical database development involves building the data structures, writing some code to access the database, running the code, then writing some queries to verify that the data got into the database. Even the most rigorous database testers generally verify a database by running several queries and visually inspecting the results for validity. The problem with this approach is that as changes are made to the database, we don't generally rerun all the old test queries to revalidate that everything is still fine.

Vendor readiness for a security and privacy regime which meets the offshoring company's needs is a key vendor selection criteria as well as an operational imperative at the time the relationship with an offshore service provider is forged. As part of a comprehensive due diligence process on the cusp of signing a services contract, many organizations require a vendor to submit a security self-assessment.

Vendor readiness for a security and privacy regime which meets the offshoring company's needs is a key vendor selection criteria as well as an operational imperative at the time the relationship with an offshore service provider is forged. As part of a comprehensive due diligence process on the cusp of signing a services contract, many organizations require a vendor to submit a security self-assessment.

Vendor readiness for a security and privacy regime which meets the offshoring company's needs is a key vendor selection criteria as well as an operational imperative at the time the relationship with an offshore service provider is forged. As part of a comprehensive due diligence process on the cusp of signing a services contract, many organizations require a vendor to submit a security self-assessment.

I was talking recently with a reader who is in the process of selecting a business rules management (BRM) tool for a project at her company. She has checked out various products on the market, and is still unsure as to which one to choose. In particular, she is agonizing over the various user interface paradigms that the different products utilize.

One of our clients regularly provides every business unit management team with a comprehensive portfolio management report and dashboard covering the entire IT spend, every month. This report and dashboard covers several global business units and many subsidiary units. The report and dashboard highlight important areas of concern: IT spend not aligned with strategy, IT spend that performed badly (e.g., service-level and quality), IT spend with significant business and technical risk.

Every so often, you may come across an article that says something to the effect that "CRM isn't a product or technology but rather an attitude or mind set." Well, I've been thinking a lot about this concept lately and have come to the conclusion that done correctly, CRM is indeed both a particular mindset and a technology. Here's an example that I hope demonstrates why it is both.

A good friend of mine, who was quite active in the AI community in the late 1980s and early 1990s, asked me an interesting question the other day: "When did rule-based systems go from being 'expert systems' to 'business rules management systems'?"

Recently, my colleagues on the Cutter Business Technology Council got into a very heated exchange on the state-of-the-art in software development. A couple of members of the Council were particularly disturbed by the level of knowledge in fundamental principles that some of their recent computer science graduates were exhibiting.

Recently, my colleagues on the Cutter Business Technology Council got into a very heated exchange on the state-of-the-art in software development. A couple of members of the Council were particularly disturbed by the level of knowledge in fundamental principles that some of their recent computer science graduates were exhibiting.

"The entrepreneur," said the early 19th century French economist J. B. Say, "shifts economic resources out of an area of lower and into an area of higher productivity and greater yield."

For any company, moving from a successful product line that may be getting old in the teeth to a newer one is always fraught with difficulty. How difficult do you think it is to fundamentally change the nature of your business?