Dawn Hertz

10 tips for writing better Service Level Agreements 1. Ensure all key terms are clearly defined eg SLA scope, customer and provider responsibilities, reporting, service expectations, performance indicators, escalation, remedies and penalties. Make sure you understand them. If you do not, or have queries – ask! 2. Include the option to change the SLA in the future. Businesses and technology change rapidly. So if the SLA is to remain relevant, it will need to be updated as required. 3. Include the provision for regular SLA reviews. Six-monthly would be ideal, but failing that - annually, to manage changing circumstances. 4. Make sure you have a ‘get-out’ clause. It is important to be able to terminate the SLA under certain conditions eg exceptionally poor performance, major problems, significant changes to services. 5. Include performance-monitoring criteria within the SLA. Plus, include automatic penalty credits for non-compliance of performance. Better to build t...

TOKYO -- For the second time in about a decade, Mitsubishi Motors Corp . faces a scandal that could affect the company's existence. The Japanese automaker has improperly tested the fuel economy of its cars for the past quarter century, widening the scope of misconduct that executives initially said dated back to 2002. The Mitsubishi board has formed a panel of three ex-prosecutors to investigate for about three months. Until then, customers, investors and minicar partner Nissan Motor Co. may be left waiting for information about the number of affected models and details of compensation. "I'm taking this as a case that could affect our company's existence," President Tetsuro Aikawa told reporters during a press conference Tuesday. "My mission is to solve the issue." On Tuesday, Mitsubishi shares plunged for a fifth day, slashing the company's market value by half during that span to about 427 billion yen ($3.8 billion). T...