Service level agreements overview
Service level agreements document the commitments between
service providers and customers. You can define commitment types,
associate assets and locations, rank service level agreements, set
calendars, create associated key performance indicators, and define
escalations.
Types of service level agreements
When you create a service level agreement, you must assign a type. The type enables you to sort or search for service level agreements by type.
Key performance indicators associated with service level agreements
In the Service Level Agreements application, you manage key performance indicators that are associated with a service level agreement. A key performance indicator is a metric that tracks critical performance variables over time. In this case, you track the performance of a service desk organization and its compliance with service level agreements.
Ranking system for service level agreements
In the Service Level Agreements application, there is a ranking system that uses a ranking value to select one or more service level agreements to apply to a record. Depending on your configuration, you can either apply one or multiple service level agreements to a record. You set these options at the site level.
Automatic matching of service level agreements to records
Matching logic is used to automatically match service level agreements to records. The matching logic compares the completed fields in the service level agreements to the same fields in the record to which you are applying the service level agreement.
Calendars for service level agreements
When you create service level agreements, you can use two different types of calendars: an applies to calendar or a calculation calendar. The applies to calendar specifies the business hours for a particular shift for an organization. The calculation calendar sets the target contact, start date, and finish date on a record.
Associated service level agreements
In the Service Level Agreements application, you associate service level agreements that are related to one another. You can create either an associated service level agreement that is a parent or a child. Parent service level agreements are supported by a specific service level agreement. Child service level agreements support a specific service level agreement.
Escalations and service level agreements
Escalations monitor processes to ensure that service providers meet the commitments in service level agreements. When you create an escalation for a service level agreement, the escalation is applied to the business object (such as service request or incident) that is used in the service level agreement.
Status of service level agreements
To control how service level agreements are used, you can change the status of a service level agreement to draft, active, or inactive.
Changes to service level agreements
As your business needs change, you use the Service Level Agreements application to change service level agreements.
Deletion of service level agreements
In the Service Level Agreements application, you delete service level agreements that you no longer. When you delete a service level agreement, the associated escalation is deleted also.