Service Level Agreements (SP) ApplicationService Level Agreements (SP) ApplicationYou use the Service Level Agreements (SP) application to create and manage service level agreements (SLAs). A service level agreement is a written agreement between a service provider and a customer that documents the agreed-upon levels of service. A service is a set of tasks provided by the service provider that fulfills one or more needs of the customer, and a service level (known as a commitment) describes a measurable or quantifiable aspect of that service. Users can then apply valid SLAs to records from other applications. In a Service Desk environment, a user with the proper permissions can apply an SLA from any of the Ticket or Work Order applications.
You can use the Service Level Agreements (SP) application and escalation functionality to manage and meet the commitments in an SLA. A commitment is a specific responsibility that the service provider must meet to fulfill the service level agreement with the customer. An escalation is a function that automatically monitors critical processes. An SLA can have one or more commitments, each having their own escalation points.
For example, you have an agreement with a customer with two commitments and an escalation point for each. The first commitment is to respond to all Incidents related to the e-mail server within two hours. The escalation point for the response commitment is to notify a supervisor if no response has been given after one hour. The second commitment is to resolve all Incidents related to the e-mail server within four hours. The escalation point for the resolution commitment checks the status of the incident at the two hour point. If the incident is still open, ownership is reassigned to the supervisor. The supervisor can take the appropriate actions in order to meet the SLA commitments.
When you create an SLA, you perform many of the following tasks:
assign a ranking value that determines the precedence in which this SLA is selected to apply to records (required)
set effective start, end, and review dates for an SLA, which you can use with a workflow process
associate contracts with an SLA
associate customers with an SLA
associate related SLAs with the current SLA
define specific conditions under which an SLA applies
associate assets and locations with an SLA
create key performance indicators (KPIs), or metrics, for an SLA
create escalations to support the commitments in an SLA
Note: You create and manage services in the Service Groups application. See the online help for Service Groups for more information about services.
The Service Level Agreements (SP) application contains the following tabs:
List: to search for SLA records.
Service Level Agreement: to add, view, modify, or delete service level agreements.
Related SLAs: to associate or view related service level agreements.
Conditions: to build conditions (SQL expressions) that specify which records the SLA matches.
Assets: to associate or view assets to which the service level agreement applies.
Locations: to associate or view locations to which the service level agreement applies.
KPIs: to add, view, modify, or delete key performance indicators for a service level agreement.
Escalation: to add, view, or modify the escalation for a service level agreement.
Communication Log: view a history of outbound communications for a specific record.
About Service Level Agreement Types