In essence, the Service Role Cluster ensures that all of the IT services being provided to customers are aligned to the customers' need for them. This involves maintaining a working relationship with customers, understanding their need for IT services, and managing the introduction of new services, service improvements, and (eventually) service reductions and retirements. To do so, the provisioning of IT services must be regularly and frequently reviewed and realignment activities carried out.

Managing and maintaining a portfolio of appropriate service solutions for customers often leads to the recognition that IT operations provides the same underlying services to many different customers at many different service levels. How to manage the service catalog to best meet the changing needs of customers is the challenge facing service managers and the staff managing service level agreements (SLAs) and the service catalog.

Key responsibilities of the Service Role Cluster include:

• Defining IT services.
  
• Producing and maintaining the service catalog.
  
• Drafting SLAs.
  
• Negotiating SLAs with customers and conducting ongoing monitoring and reviews of SLA requirements and achievement.
  
• Defining key performance indicators and developing and managing end-to-end service metrics.
  
• Leading virtual teams to continuously deliver service.
  
• Reviewing, identifying, and resolving systemic service-related issues.
  
• Being accountable for client satisfaction performance to include measuring, optimizing, and communicating expectations.
  
• Prioritizing service improvement requests and identifying gaps for future functionality.
  
• Knowledge of the customers' businesses and business processes.
  
• Reviewing each customer's service portfolio.
  
• Reviewing service delivery targets and objectives to maintain effective provisioning to the customer.
  

Key skills required of the Service Role Cluster include:

• Ability to take responsibility for service provision on behalf of operations.
  
• Ability to manage customer relationships.
  
• Ability to facilitate review meetings.
  
• Ability to negotiate.
  
• Ability to use clear language to communicate with customers.
  
• Ability to work at a high-level and see the "big picture."
  
• Ability to understand the customer's unique business proposition and strategy through having appropriate industry or specialist skills.