Frequently Asked Questions

Can you provide an example of an SLA with different escalation points?

Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are crucial tools for managing service delivery and ensuring that service providers meet their commitments. An SLA can contain multiple commitments, each with its own escalation point. For instance, consider an SLA with a customer that includes two commitments. The first commitment could be to respond to incidents related to the email server within two hours. The escalation point for this commitment would be to notify a supervising manager if no response has been issued within one hour. The second commitment might involve resolving incidents related to the server issue within five hours. The escalation point for this commitment would be to check the status of the server at the two-hour mark. If incidents remain open, they can be reassigned to the supervisor to escalate their completion and meet the SLA commitments. SLA applications are beneficial for aligning IT initiatives with business objectives and delivering on commitments. They allow businesses to accumulate performance data that can aid in marketing and sales efforts. Key elements of a successful SLA application include service objectives, formal thresholds, a score or measurement of system performance in relation to objectives, service goals, conditions in which the SLA is no longer in effect, such as system maintenance, and consequences for failing to meet commitments or falling behind goals.