Who owns the specific costs and risks associated with providing a service?

The Service Provider is defined in ITIL as the entity that takes on ownership of all costs and risks involved in delivering a service to customers. This responsibility is central to the provider-customer relationship - the provider absorbs operational risk in exchange for payment, while the customer simply consumes the agreed outcomes.

The Service Level Manager is accountable for negotiating and monitoring service level agreements, not for owning the financial and operational risks of service provision.

The Customer defines service requirements and pays for services but explicitly transfers the ownership of delivery costs and risks to the Service Provider.

The Finance department manages organizational budgets and accounting but does not hold ownership of service-specific risks and delivery costs.