SLA

An SLA stands for Service Level Agreement. ITIL4 defines SLA as "A documented agreement between a service provider and a customer that defines both the services required and the expected level of service." SLA is a detailed document that defines the standards of services the customer expects from the service provider. SLAs differ across services, vendors, and industries. It is an integral part of a vendor contract because it lists the services agreed upon between the parties and the quality, availability, remedies, and penalties.

In Infraon, the "SLA" module is an SLA-capturing tool. It is not yet implemented as a full-fledged SLA Management tool. It allows the definition of SLA metrics and service details.

Benefits of SLA:

• Sets clear guidelines and expectations - An SLA sets clear guidelines regarding expectations and commitments.

• Improved customer service - Because of the existence of an SLA between two parties, the service provider monitors and measures whether the terms of the service are being met. Thus, the team works efficiently to achieve the deadlines. There will be a decrease in ticket response time, which will improve customer service.

• Peace of Mind - An SLA gives customers peace of mind because they have a contract they can refer to in case their demands are unmet.

• Strengthens Customer Relationships - The above-mentioned benefits enable a strong relationship between the service provider and the customer.

Two Essential Components of an SLA

The two essential components of an SLA are Metrics and Penalties.

Metrics - Metrics are the criteria for measuring services. It is an agreed-upon measurable target between the customer and the service provider. Metrics make it easier to spot SLA breaches.

*Penalty - Penalty is a disciplinary measure to be followed if the SLA is breached. A penalty could be imposed for monetary refunds, service credits, etc. These terms are captured in an SLA.

Metric

The metric tab creates specific conditions so SLA calculations start, pause, resume, and stop at the right times. To add a Metric, go to the SLA module -> Metric -> Add Metric -> Ticket.

Add the following details:

Label	Action	Description/Example
Name	Name of the Metric.	Give a name for the Metric.
Criticality	Select the criticality of the Metric.	Suppose there are many parameters, the system will know which metric to follow with the help of 'Criticality'.
Description	Description of the Metric.
Start Condition	Start Condition enables a user to specify the condition under which the SLA will be attached to the ticket and begin metering. Start conditions can be configured to capture the SLA starting from when the ticket was first created or when the ticket was assigned from one team to another.	Suppose a ticket was assigned to team A, and the team realizes it is not in their domain and assigns it to team B. In such cases, *OLA guidelines help manage the SLA timelines.
Close Condition	Close Condition enables a user to specify the condition under which the SLA completes.
Pause Condition	Pause Condition enables a user to specify the conditions under which the SLA metering will be paused.
Resume Condition	Resume Condition enables a user to specify the conditions under which the SLA will resume the metering. The Resume Condition option will be enabled only if the Pause Condition is specified.
Cancel Condition	Cancel Condition enables a user to specify the conditions under which the SLA will be canceled.

*OLA - An OLA stands for Operational Layer Agreement. It is an internal agreement in which a service provider defines the guidelines for internal teams to meet SLAs.

Once the SLA conditions are specified, click the 'Submit' button to create the Metric.