1.15 Operational Level Agreements (OLAs)

An OLA is an internally negotiated agreement that identifies the service level expectations between the Service Desk and the Technical Support Teams. OLAs are applied to Workflow States and allow the Service Desk to successfully meet service level expectations. This is achieved by associating an SLA to a Workflow and then assigning, where relevant, OLAs or Underpinning Contracts to separate stages of that Workflow. It should be noted that SLA targets for Response, Restoration and Resolution time must be greater than or equal to the combined OLA and UPC times for each of these targets, to ensure that service level breaches do not occur.

1.15.1 Details Tab

Creating an OLA

To create a new OLA:

  1. Select Service >OLAs

  2. Click New

  3. Enter a Name for the OLA

  4. OLA Editor

     

    Details

     

    Name*

    The name to identify the OLA.

    Review Date

    Details are completed based on the Admin default settings but can be edited by the User. An Alert is sent based on the default days set in the Review SLA Alert field in Admin>Setup>Privileges>Requests.

    Pause on SLA Holiday

    **This option is only displayed if the 'Public Holidays' option has been enabled within the Administrator>Setup>Privileges>Technician tab.

    Enable this option, if the OLA is to be adjusted on designated Public Holidays, when an associated SLA has the Pause on Holiday option enabled. The Public Holidays are defined within the Administrator>Setup>Public Holidays screen and associated with requests via the assigned Technician and their associated Country.

    Customer Timezone

    When enabled, OLA times displayed within the Technician request view uses the Customer timezone.

    Timezone

    This is visible when Customer Timezone is not set and all SLA dates are calculated based on the Timezone set within this field. This is especially applicable for User Work Hours, Blackouts, which also impacts the SLA Reports.

    SLM (Service Level Manager)

     

    Name

    Email

    Use the Find Service Level Manager search option, to enter the contact details of the Manager who will monitor the performance of the OLA.

  5. Adjust the Review Date, if necessary

    (A reminder Alert will be sent to the SLM, based on the default days set in Admin>Setup>Privileges>Request.)

  6. Tick the Customer Timezone option, if relevant

    Apply this option if the User is to view OLA due dates using the Customer Timezone or complete the Timezone option.

  7. Search and select a Service Level Manager.

    A Service Level Manager (SLM) is a User that has been assigned with the Service Level Management Process.

  8. Move to the Targets tab

  9. Complete the following information:

  10. SLA Editor

     

    Targets

     

    Targets

    Common: Select Common if the OLA is to apply across Incidents, Requests, Problems and Change Management.

    Per Process: If the OLA is specific to a Process, select Per Process and choose a Process displayed in the drop-down list.

    Interval

    Define if the time is to be calculated in Hours or Minutes.

    Service Time

     

    Priority

    Urgent, High, Medium and Low

    Milestones

     

    Initial Response

    The maximum time the Customer would wait from the point of request creation before receiving a Note update for a Technician. The Response trigger is stopped when a Note has been added to the request by the assigned Technician and an email is sent to the Customer. If the Response Time is reached, without a Note being added, the request will be escalated.

    Restoration Time

    The maximum time the Customer would wait from the time the request was created until a workaround or temporary fix has been implemented. The Restoration trigger stops by assigning the request a Workflow State that has to the OLA Restoration option set to Yes. By default, this Workflow State is Open - Restored.

    Resolution Time

    The taken time from the point of request creation until it the request is moved to a Workflow State with the OLA Resolution option set to Yes. Any of the default Workflow Exit States stop the Resolution Timer.

    Notify Override

    If the system is to override the default notification method set for a request when the Priority being edited is assigned to a request, check this option.

    Notification Type

    Set Email or SMS as the type of notification when the override action is applied to a Priority.

    Alerts

     

    Reminder

    Sends a reminder email to the Technician when the defined percentage of time elapses for a Response, Restoration or Resolution target that has not been met on a request. Can be set up to 200% of the OLA. Note, Alert intervals are not cumulative.

    Warning

    Sends a warning email to the Technician when the defined percentage of time elapses for a Response, Restoration or Resolution target that has not been met on a request. Can be set up to 200% of the OLA.

    Escalation

    Escalates the request to a higher escalation layer when the defined percentage of time elapses for a Response, Restoration or Resolution target that has not been met on a request. Can be set up to 200% of the OLA. It should be noted that the Service Level Manager is also notified when an OLA is breached.

    Support

     

    24 x 7

    Do not amend if the OLA is to apply 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

    Normal Support

    Select if service hours are to be defined for the OLA. When checked, define the service hours by either selecting a template (Templates are configured by the Administrator in the Setup>Localization>Hours tab) or manually define the days and time by making selections within the drop-down lists.

  11. Add one or multiple Warning Alerts, if required

NOTE:Trigger intervals are not cumulative

In the default OLA for Warranty, the Urgent default times of 6, 12 and 24, mean 6 hours for the Response stage, 12 hours for Restoration from initial creation, and 24 hours to reach the Resolution from initial creation.

  1. Define the support hours

    Within 24 X 7, if the OLA's urgent Initial Response field is set to six hours, and an urgent request that uses the OLA is created at midnight in the assigned Technician's time zone, those six hours will expire by 6:00 AM. This is the option to use if your support is staffed 24 hours a day.

    Normal support ensure request timers do not run when Technicians are not available. For instance, if the support hours are 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM and the SLAs are as such, the urgent requests' timer would not start ticking until 9:00 AM the following business day and would expire at 3:00 PM.

  2. Click Save

  3. Click Done.

    Now associate the OLA with a Team within the Service tab of the Team Information screen.

    The OLA will also be available within the OLA options displayed when OLA is selected as a Contract Type option within the Workflow Status editor screen.

1.15.2 States Tab

The OLA States tab lists the Workflow stages that are assigned to the OLA.

1.15.3 Teams Tab

The Teams tab displays the Team Names and Processes that are assigned to the OLA.

Assigning an OLA to a Team

OLAs are assigned to Teams within the Service Tab of the Team Information screen, when Teams are created or edited. For more information about assigning OLAs to Teams, see Teams. To view OLAs associated with Teams, sort the User>Team List View using the OLA column header. The Lead Technician and ITIL Process supported by the Team are also displayed.

OLAs and Blackout Periods

If a request is assigned an OLA State and the request's SLA is in a Blackout Period, the OLA will adopt the SLA Blackout Period. This means that the OLA timers will stop until the Blackout Period has elapsed.