This article describes the use case "Defining service level agreements". A service level agreement (SLA) outlines the agreed-upon terms and conditions for the delivery of a service. In practice, it includes the agreed target response and resolution times and business hours for the service. 

Use case: Defining Service Level Agreements

Use case description

This use case describes how to define and create new service level agreements. When a new service level agreement is created, the following information is required:

• Service level name. This should be short, descriptive, and straightforward. A consistent naming convention should be used for all service level names.
• Applicable business hours. This implies the hours during which the service level applies and includes exceptional dates and exceptional days.
  • For example, the business hours could be 08:00-18:00 from Monday to Friday or 24/7/365.
  • Exceptional dates mean dates that occur every year on the same date. 
    • Examples include Christmas Day (25th Dec) and New Year's Day (1st Jan). Each exceptional date is represented by a data card. 
  • Exceptional days mean days that occur only once on the very same date. 
    • The Ascension Day is an example of an exceptional day. Each exceptional day is represented by a data card.
• Response time target. This implies the time in which the team is supposed to react to an incident or request. 
  • The response target time is the same regardless of the priority.
• Resolution time target for each of the five priority levels. This implies the time in which the team is supposed to resolve an incident or fulfill a request. 
  • Resolution target times depend on the priority: a high-priority incident should be resolved faster than a low-priority incident. 

Resolution and response time on the ticket lifecycle 

The timeline below presents the Response time and Resolution time in relation to the ticket lifecycle:

Example scenario

A new service is being launched by the company, and it needs to have SLAs created for it before going live. The SLAs require the following information:

• Name of the SLA
• Applicable business hours, including exceptional dates and days
• Response time target
• Resolution time target

After discussion, it has been agreed that the service should have the following ready-made SLA packages available:

• Platinum
  • 24/7/365 priority support with a dedicated support team
  • Guaranteed response time of 1 hour or less for priority 1 issues
  • Target resolution time of 2 hours for priority 1 issues
• Gold SLA
  • Business days 7-21, exceptional dates and days excluded
  • Guaranteed response time of 2 hours or less for priority 1 issues
  • Target resolution time of 4 hours for priority 1 issues
• Silver SLA
  • Business hours 8-16
  • Guaranteed response time of 4 hours or less for priority 1 issues
  • Target resolution time of 8 hours for priority 1 issues

The target resolution times for five priority levels are set as follows:

• Priority 1: as defined in the SLA.
• Priority 2: +4 hours
• Priority 3: +8 hours
• Priority 4: +12 hours
• Priority 5: +24 hours

Use case diagram

Workflow

1. Define a name for the service level. 
   1. The service level name is going to be visible on the tickets on which the service level is applied. Therefore, it is recommended to use short, descriptive, and straightforward names and use a consistent naming convention. 
2. Describe the service level agreement. 
3. Define the response target time. 
   1. The response time is shared between all the priorities.
4. Define resolution times for each priority. 
   1. There are five priority levels. High-priority incidents typically have faster target times compared to lower priorities.  
5. Select the correct business hours or create new business hours. 
6. Link the service level agreement data card to relevant services if necessary. 

Results

• A service level data card is created. It includes a name, a description, response target times, and resolution target times for each priority level.    
• A business hour data card is linked to the service level data card. 
  • Alternatively, a new business hours data card is created and linked to the service level data card.
  • The business hour datacard is linked to exceptional day and exceptional date datacards. 

Benefits

• Defining service levels ensures that the vendor provides a consistent level of service to all customers, regardless of who is handling the request or incident. This helps build trust with customers and reduces confusion around service expectations.
• By setting specific resolution times for each priority level, the solution helps to ensure that incidents are addressed in a timely manner based on their priority level. This helps the support team respond to them in the right order.