Practical Application of Service Level & Supplier Management

Overview

This two-day practical course helps participants apply the Service Level Management (SLM) and Supplier Management practices in their real operational environment. Rather than focusing on theory, it delivers actionable tools, templates, techniques, and guided exercises to support implementation, improvement, and assessment of SLM and supplier practices within organisations.

Prerequisites

An ITIL® 4 Foundation certificate is preferred, though a basic understanding of ITIL is sufficient.

Target audience

This is tailored for professionals working in or around SLM and supplier management functions who prefer hands-on experience rather than pure theoretical study. Participants may come from service delivery, supplier oversight, vendor management, or related roles.

Objectives

By the end of this course, learners will be able to:

• Review and refresh core ITIL concepts relevant to SLM and supplier management
• Apply processes, success factors, and metrics relevant to Service Level Management
• Understand the role of supplier management and how to manage supplier relationships
• Use hands-on tools and templates to plan, monitor, and improve SLM and supplier practices
• Identify improvement opportunities and plan next steps for embedding SLM and supplier management best practice
• Engage with peers to compare challenges and share best practices

Outline

Introduction and ITIL refresher

• Brief review of key ITIL components relevant to SLM and supplier practices

Service Level Management practice

• Processes, metrics, success factors, and critical roles
• Drafting, negotiating, and managing service level agreements
• Monitoring performance and measuring against SLAs
• Escalation and corrective activities

Supplier Management practice

• Supplier categorisation and segmentation
• Contract and performance management
• Supplier relationship principles and governance
• Collaboration models, risk, and alignment

Integration and alignment

• How SLM and supplier management interface with other ITIL practices
• Using SLM and supplier data for continual improvement

Toolkit delivery and templates

• A set of reusable templates for SLM and supplier management
• Guidance and hands-on use of these templates in class scenarios

Exams and assessments

This course does not include formal assessments.

Hands-on learning

Learners will engage in:

• Interactive exercises to design or refine SLAs and supplier agreements
• Application of tools and templates within realistic scenarios
• Peer review and group discussion around supplier strategies and SLM metrics
• Reflection on how to incorporate these techniques back into their organisations
• Collaborative planning for continuous improvement and adoption of SLM and supplier practices