Managing Department responsibilities

In legal terms, for an in-house service, the service provider is not a legal entity in its own right but rather is a department within the institution. Institutions vary considerably and which department provides a particular service or has responsibility for its day-to-day management will not always be the same. For convenience here, the term “Managing Department” is used for purposes of clarity.

The Managing Department is responsible for:

  • Approving the strategy for delivery of the service, for example, the Procurement Office devises a strategy for the provision of a reprographics services to the institution or a School/Faculty identifies a Section to operate a consumables store for the School/Faculty.
     
  • Appointing the appropriate internal service provider (Supplier Department).
     
  • Authorising an appropriate staffing structure and financial resources.
     
  • Approving a SLA that specifies the service and the responsibilities of the internal service provider.  See A Guide to SLAs and template SLA for more information.
     
  • Ensuring the contents of the SLA are communicated to the End Users and, preferably, obtaining their written agreement to the SLA.
     
  • Management of the arrangement by ensuring that service levels are maintained at a satisfactory level, seeking comments from both the users and the department providing the service.
     
  • Adjudicating on issues that may arise from end users concerning problems with the service and/or the internal service provider. 
     
  • Review, from time to time, the strategy for the provision of services.