1.1 Support for maintaining service levels
In recent years, many business systems have been created to provide services to users.
For example, suppose that a company outsources a business system to a data center so that users can access the business system while it is running on the data center's servers. In such a case, the business system can be regarded as a service being provided to a customer.
If a company runs and manages an in-house business system and the users of the business system are the company's own employees, the business system provided from the servers can still be regarded as a service for users (who, in this case, are employees).
In both cases, the business system (the service) is running normally from the perspective of the service's users. A service provider must maintain the quality (service level) of the service it provides, and it must be able to provide the users with hassle-free service. To maintain the expected service level, the status of how the service is being provided must be monitored.
In a business context, there might be a contract between a service's outsourcing company and an outsourced contractor to maintain a certain service level. In such a case, it is crucial that the service status be monitored and the service level be maintained as stipulated in the contract.
ITSLM meets these demands by providing the capability to monitor service status and maintain a required service level.
The following figure provides an example of ITSLM deployed at a data center to monitor the service status and maintain the service level.
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![[Figure]](GRAPHICS/ZU010100.GIF)
In this example, Companies A and B (service providers) outsource their business systems to a data center. Company A provides its service to general users (customers), while Company B provides its service to its own employees. The general users who use Company A's service and the employees of Company B are both service users.
By using ITSLM, you can monitor the statuses of the services of Companies A and B from their users' perspective. The monitoring results can be displayed on a monitoring person's computer, or output as reports. Use these monitoring results to maintain the level of service provided by Company A to the general users and the level of service Company B provides to its employees.