Service Level Agreements (SLAs)

A Service Level Agreement (SLA) is an agreement between an entity (Customer, Service, or Configuration Item) and a Service Provider that defines Response and Resolve target times for a Service. SLAs can be a formal agreement between an organization and its Customers, or a guide for technicians. CSM provides two types of SLA models, including time-based (default) and hierarchy-based. Use one of these models to define how the system operates when multiple SLAs apply to a particular Incident/Service Request. Since response and resolution deadlines can only be calculated based on one SLA, the system must select which SLA these deadlines use during calculation.

CSM provides the ability to set different SLA Respond/Resolve target times using the target times wizard. SLA target times define the behavior of an SLA and are based on:

• Priority: A P1 should have faster target times than a P5.
• Record Type: A disruption (Incident) should have faster target times than a Request.
• SLA Type: SLAs can be bound to a Customer, a Service, and a CI. A critical CI (server) should have faster target times than a non-critical system.

Use this comprehensive processing to ensure that Incidents and Requests involving Customers, Services, and CIs are appropriately serviced according to the needs of your organization. For example, set a Resolve Target Time of 90 hours for a P3 Corporate Request, such as a software upgrade. Consider a faster resolve time (ex: 8 hours) for executives. Reserve your most aggressive Respond target times (ex: 5 minutes) for a critical P1 Config Item Incident, such as your Primary Server going down.

CSM also provides the ability to Stop The Clock (pauses the SLA Clock), define Business Hours (apply/calculate SLA target times using working days/times), link Operational Level Agreements (OLAs) and Underpinning Contracts, and set timeframes for potential breach warnings.

In CSM, an SLA is a Major Business Object. The SLA Form defines and manages the SLA.