ITIL4F ITIL Management Practices Practice Question
Which TWO of the following are key activities of Service Level Management?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse Service Level Management with operational support activities (like handling incidents or managing supplier contracts) because they all involve 'service' and 'management,' but ITIL 4 explicitly separates these practices by their specific focus on performance agreements versus execution or procurement.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Negotiating and agreeing service level agreements (SLAs)
Service Level Management (SLM) is the ITIL practice responsible for setting clear, measurable targets for service quality and then verifying that those targets are met. Option A is correct because negotiating and agreeing SLAs (together with OLAs and underpinning contracts) is the foundational SLM activity that defines what the customer will receive and the targets against which performance will be judged. Option B is correct because SLM must continuously monitor actual service performance, compare it to the agreed SLA targets, and report the results to customers and stakeholders, often through service reviews and SLA breach reporting. Option C does not belong because authorizing changes to IT services is the role of Change Enablement (Change Management), not SLM. Option D does not belong because managing contracts with external suppliers is primarily the Supplier Management practice, although SLM may provide input on service targets. Option E does not belong because handling user requests and incidents is the responsibility of Incident Management and Service Request Management, not SLM.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Negotiating and agreeing service level agreements (SLAs)
Why this is correct
Negotiating and agreeing SLAs is a core Service Level Management activity, directly satisfying the stem's requirement for key activities. SLM engages customers to define targets, then documents them in SLAs, ensuring services align with business needs and expectations before performance is measured.
- ✓
Monitoring and reporting service performance against SLAs
Why this is correct
Monitoring and reporting performance against agreed SLAs is a core Service Level Management activity, satisfying the stem's requirement. SLM continuously tracks actual service metrics, compares them with SLA targets, and reports results to customers, enabling corrective action when performance deviates from agreed commitments.
- ✗
Authorizing changes to IT services
Why it's wrong here
Authorising changes belongs to Change Enablement, which assesses and approves change requests. It tempts because service levels can be affected by changes, but Service Level Management negotiates, monitors, and reports on agreements and their associated service level objectives.
- ✗
Managing contracts with external suppliers
Why it's wrong here
Supplier contract management sits with Supplier Management, which negotiates and oversees external agreements. It tempts because service targets often depend on suppliers, but Service Level Management handles agreements with customers, monitoring and reporting against agreed service level objectives.
- ✗
Handling user requests and incidents
Why it's wrong here
Handling user requests and incidents belongs to the Service Desk and Incident Management practices, not Service Level Management, which negotiates, monitors and reports on service level targets. It tempts because Service Level Management does rely on incident data to measure performance against agreed targets.
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