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Matrix42 Self-Service Help Center

What is a Service Level Agreement

Overview

Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are used to guarantee, monitor, and fulfill the quality of offered services. Within Matrix42 Service Desk, SLAs specifically define the time periods during which tickets should be accepted and solved to avoid escalation.

As defined by ITIL, service level management includes the following support agreements (any following references to SLA, also apply to OLA and UC): 

  • Service Level Agreement (SLA): Support contract that was signed between the customers and the Service Desk.
  • Operation Level Agreement (OLA): Support contract that was signed between the internal IT departments (for example, network management and IT operations).
  • Underpinning Contract (UC): Support contract that was signed between the Service Desk and external suppliers.

An SLA consists of several service levels (SLs), which define the exact time frames for Reaction Time and Solution Time. In addition, each service level is related to the ticket type and priority to which the SL applies. Service levels also contain information about the service time profile that defines service times, location, and time zone for the service level.

Besides service levels, an SLA also specifies entitlement and scope of the support contract. Only entitled persons, organizational units, or locations are allowed to engage the agreed service. Scope of the SLA's defines exactly which services or assets are covered. Combination of scope and entitlement makes it possible to define very specialized support contracts for almost any "customer - supplier" constellation.

In addition, an SLA contains information about the ensured availability of covered services or assets and the agreed fulfillment regarding ticket processing. This information is collected by several reports and allows quick and easy measurement of support quality.

Upon creation of new tickets, these should be related to the appropriate SLA. Considering the entitlement and scope of the active SLA, it is possible to apply various SLAs to a single ticket. In this case, Matrix42 Service Desk will help the support staff by proposing the SLA with the most critical solution time. This is also done automatically, if a ticket is created by a customer through the Matrix42 Self Service Portal or from an incoming email.

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