What are KPIs and SLAs?
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are the metrics chosen by businesses to identify how well an individual, team, department or sector perform against agreed standards. The KPI subjects are determined internally or in collaboration with a role, team, business, or client.
Service level agreements (SLAs) outline a set of service standard baselines that a provider must meet by using a method of measurement against an agreement, these can be set by a client or internally to help meet targets.
Usually, KPI’s are run in line to meet an SLA so a person, department, service line or business can work toward attaining or indeed, exceeding goals.
Why are they important in a security contract?
Consistently meeting SLAs and delivering results largely influences a business’s reputation and their ability to retain clients. Our outsourced security is a popular model, and SLA’s assure clients that the security provided will be to the correct standards. SLAs ensure everyone is on the same page, covering aspects such as:
– Forecasted costs
– Time to detect and resolve incidents
– Team availability
– Response time
We can monitor the success of SLAs by tracking KPIs, proactively improving the service given to our clients. Every business will use SLAs and KPIs in different ways and will need them for various reasons, one of which could be to honour business agreements or help meet audit criteria to ensure you tick all the right boxes.
How do we set and monitor them?
We use KPIs and SLAs to drive efficiencies and continuous improvement of our security services. The KPIs and SLAs used will depend on the size and nature of the contract. For example, a major contract may have significantly more staffing and operational KPIs than others. These can also be extremely detailed or very basic depending on the work carried out.
Our technology and innovation help us to ensure we are always up to Expeditious standards. For example, we use our workforce management software, Eximitas, to gather data on assignment instructions, patrols, and real-time incident reporting.
Things to consider when managing KPIs and SLAs.
Client experience
Clients should be able to easily understand any KPIs and what they are measuring, ensuring your compliance is clear and cannot be mistaken. Using a small number of goals ensures clients understand what they’re looking for and can see what has been met.
Control over metrics
Metrics used within KPIs should be in the service providers control, encouraging the right behaviour to meet the targets. Using metrics that you cannot control will harm performance and could lead to penalties.
Penalties
Penalties can be set by clients to capture any SLA criteria not met; therefore, you must be able to stick to any agreements you make. These penalties can often be financial and are in place to maintain the terms of a contract
You may also enjoy reading about Our tips on choosing a new security services provider.
