Turkish Journal of Computer and Mathematics Education Vol.12 No.3 (2021), 2191-2198 Research Article 2191 Towards Integrating Six Sigma Approach: Service Level Agreement Measurement and Monitoring (A Malaysian It Outsourcing Case Study) Whee Yen Wong 1 , Chan Wai Lee 2 , Kim Yeow Tshai 3 , ToongHai Sam 4 1 Lee Kong Chian Faculty of Engineering and Science, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman 2,3 Faculty of Engineering, The University of Nottingham (Malaysia Campus) 4 Faculty of Information Technology, INTI International University wongwy@utar.edu.my 1 ,winnie-wwy@hotmail.com 1 , Chan-Wai.Lee@nottingham.edu.my 2 , Kim-Yeow.Tshai@nottingham.edu.my 3 ,toonghai.sam@newinti.edu.my 4 Article History: Received: 10 November 2020; Revised: 12 January 2021; Accepted: 27 January 2021; Published online: 05 April 2021 Abstract: Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are critical for outsourcing and technological related vendors companies. SLAsare the key requirements for outsourcing implementation and deployment as well as are the key differentiator in the service provider‟s offerings industry. Over time, SLAs drive behaviors delivering a minimum level of service to the provider resultant in limited room in innovation and improvement in SLA arrangement and SLA contract renewal. As such, outsourcing companies may deem become a commodity, lacking strategic, innovative and value-added partner to the business. In long run, outsourcing companies face challenges with rapidly changing business requirements that drives business agility to stay competitive. The paper attempts to investigate a vendor IT Service Company accountable for continuous measurement and reporting of SLA activities where agreed-on service levels face challenges. This paper aims to evaluate the practical applicability of Six Sigma approach (i.e. DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control)) as a result of root-cause-analysis; where everyone working on the problem(s) stays focus, drive towards a root cause analysis and eventually address the problem directly. The result of this case study revealed how Six Sigma approach has successfully improve the SLA achievements by identifying the significant factors contributing remedies or penalties towards SLA measurements. Keywords:Six Sigma DMAIC, Malaysia Outsourcing Break/Fix, Service Level Agreement, Metrics 1. Introduction A Service Level Agreement (SLA) is an integral part of an IT vendor contract that defines the level of contracted service(s) laying out respective agreed-upon metrics expected by customers. SLAs pull together information such as metrics; responsibilities and expectations to ensure both parties have the same understanding of requirements (Singh and Ajmer, 2018). In the event of problems or issues with the services; neither party can plead ignorance, nor deliberately or inadvertently misinterpret the remedies or penalties. The SLA is to protect the parties‟ interest of the vendor-supplier-customer relationship (Russo, 2018). In view from the business perspective, SLAs should be aligned to engage business objectives; any non- compliance of agreed-on service levels would bring negative impact on quality service deliverables, customer experiences, and customer engagement; as well as fostering customer loyalty. Although majority of SLAs are annually contractual basis, it is advisable to review and benchmark metrics measurement ensuring the best practices and performance standards are complies and adhere. In addition, SLA includes the management and services elements. Service elements include the conditions of service available, type of service provided, responsibilities of each stakeholders, escalation procedures etc. Management elements comprises of definitions of measurement standards, methods, processes, contents and frequency, dispute resolution process, indemnification clauses etc. resulting from service level breaches. As such, a systematic quality control (QC) approach towards metrics measurement is critical in SLAs monitoring, tracking, improving and controlling. In this paper, an in-depth analysis of existing SLA activities within the business process flow was carried out to root-cause the main problems and issues of the case company in meeting its SLA by adopting and implementing the Six Sigma DMAIC approach. 2. Research Methodology and Six Sigma Quality Improvement Methodology (QIM) This section describes the case study, the adopted research approaches, data collection and the development and implementation of Six Sigma approach for the case company. 2.1 Research Methodology