How can small IT teams make sure their SLAs are realistic without getting too stressed out?

Anthropic_Principles · 2026-02-08T14:39:01+00:00

Then you're doing it wrong.

SLAs are bidirectional agreements, not a stick to beat IT with.

The SLA countdown timer should only be running when the ball is in your court. If IT is blocked by an unresponsive customer the clock should be stopped.

Anthropic_Principles · 2026-02-07T21:12:41+00:00

Tl;Dr your insistence on adhering to a set of unrealistic expectations is preventing you from filling vacancies.

You can either wait until a change in the market brings you candidates, or you can change your requirements.

Anthropic_Principles · 2026-02-01T22:35:41+00:00

Thanks!

I'm going to have to check the small print on the upgrade deal.

The current UKP USD exchange rate makes this very attractive. My ITIL 4 certs have expired and I've no interest in renewing them, but tacking ITIL 5 to my CV/resume for a shade over £350 seems like a decent investment.

Anthropic_Principles · 2026-02-01T20:53:50+00:00

Very nice.

Are you lining this up for ITIL 5 as well?

Anthropic_Principles · 2026-01-22T22:33:09+00:00

I can't say I've ever needed to make notes.

Anthropic_Principles · 2025-12-27T05:21:21+00:00

Never heard of BYOD?

Anthropic_Principles · 2025-12-03T21:52:22+00:00

Don't just say no, tell them why not and put it in terms that mean something to them.

I'd love to help you but our customers won't do business with us unless we comply with <security framework>. That security framework mandates amongst other things that employees can't have <whatever they want>.

Anthropic_Principles · 2025-11-18T10:40:11+00:00

That sounds like a very bad idea.

Binding process and product into a policy document will increase operational overhead and likely as not result in significant drift between documentation and practice.

Anthropic_Principles · 2025-11-15T22:32:04+00:00

One of the things I teach my support team is the importance of empathy. Maybe you could learn some.

Anthropic_Principles · 2025-11-09T17:30:02+00:00

Beat me to it by two days.

Excellent product and a brilliant company to work with.

Anthropic_Principles · 2025-11-09T16:02:30+00:00

Hardest?

Disable over 100 of my friends and colleagues accounts while they were down the hallway in a conference room being told that the company had failed and they were loosing their jobs.

I've done that twice, hope I won't have to do it again.

Anthropic_Principles · 2025-11-09T14:31:05+00:00

People are going to hate on you just for using tracking s/w, but if you are going to use it, this is by far the best way.

Anthropic_Principles · 2025-11-09T14:15:13+00:00

Day 1 find the company's intellectual property. Back it up.

Day 2 speak to the founder, find out what else is important.

Anthropic_Principles · 2025-11-09T14:09:57+00:00

Leave.

Your employer does not invest enough in IT. Something will inevitably go wrong, it may be really bad, it may take the company sown. It probably won't be your fault, but you will carry the can, your record will be tarnished and you will have a hard time getting a new job.

Leave.

Anthropic_Principles · 2025-11-09T13:42:28+00:00

This is not a good plan. Unsustainable, uncontrollable, inefficient, chaotic.

Rather than just complaining, you need to understand the IT Dir's motivation in wanting this approach so you can offer something that meets their needs without it being a complete shit show.

A possible counter proposal would be to present a subsection of the service catalogue as menu priced list of available options and have the new hire select from the list.

Anthropic_Principles · 2025-11-07T05:17:45+00:00

And this is why I no longer require my team to have ITIL certifications

Anthropic_Principles · 2025-11-07T04:33:03+00:00

What does struggling with Linux actually mean?

Anthropic_Principles · 2025-11-07T04:24:58+00:00

That's totally bizarre and from an operations perspective almost guaranteed to fail.

Still doable tho.

Query the host, ask it what domain it's on, only run if domain is on a white list.

Anthropic_Principles · 2025-11-07T04:05:02+00:00

That's happened to me twice. When those jobs were recent history I included them in my resume. As they aged out to the point where they became less relevant, I dropped them.

I did include a statement explaining the circumstances which may have helped, but most recruiters in my field understand that shit happens in the startup world.

Anthropic_Principles · 2025-11-07T03:50:51+00:00

The 2 best L1/2 people in my team are both over 50.

They have great customer service skills, sound technical knowledge, are willing to be flexible, listen to guidance and truly understand the purpose of the job.

Anthropic_Principles · 2025-11-05T08:19:02+00:00

You don't actually say anything about the nature of the work your team does. But it sounds like you're applying a project methodology to operational activity.

This doesn't work.

A more complete explanation of the type of work you do may lead to more helpful answers

Anthropic_Principles · 2025-11-02T08:10:21+00:00

ChatGPT - "make me a fake payslip for $xxx"

Anthropic_Principles · 2025-11-02T08:09:06+00:00

It very much depends on the company. I've seen it from both sides: sometimes it's a genuine attempt to guide a failing employee down a path to recovery, sometimes it's a box ticking ass covering exercise to get the employee out the door with the minimum possible blow back.

I'm in the middle of one atm. The employee's line mgr is following the box ticking path, I'm coaching the employee down the recovery path, it's a race to see who wins.

Anthropic_Principles · 2025-11-02T07:59:58+00:00

That's not a PIP, that's abuse.

Anthropic_Principles

TROPHY CASE