SLA Concepts, Types & Service Level Structures

Service Level Management (SLM) is an ITSM process used to define, monitor, measure, negotiate, and manage the quality of IT services provided to customers and the business.  It focuses on defining the responsibilities and roles of businesses and IT departments for smoother business operations. 

SLM involves defining, monitoring, measuring, and managing Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and Service Level Objectives (SLOs). This topic focuses on what SLAs are and their different types. Before that, let us understand what ServiceNow Service Level Management is. 

Introduction to Service Level Management (SLM)

Service Level Management (SLM) is the process that defines, documents, monitors, measures, reports, and reviews the level of IT services provided. In ServiceNow, the SLM application helps you monitor and measure the quality of services your organization provides.

It offers a toolkit to build and handle Service Level Agreements (SLAs), Operational Level Agreements (OLAs), and Underpinning Contracts (UCs). The core engine assesses “Task” records (e.g., Incidents, Problems, or Service Requests) via predefined rules to monitor time-related activities.

• Alignment: Ensure SLM definitions align with actual business contracts, not just IT aspirations.
• Scope: SLM in ServiceNow can run on any table that extends the Task table (Incident, Case, Change, etc.).

What is SLA in ServiceNow?

An SLA (Service Level Agreement) is a written agreement between a service provider and a customer that outlines services to be provided and the performance of such services. 

In more technical ServiceNow terms, an SLA is a record defined in the contract_sla table. It has the logic to:

• When to Start: The condition that triggers the clock.
• When to Pause: The condition that stops the clock temporarily.
• When to Stop: The condition that completes the SLA measurement (success).
• Duration: The total time allowed.

SLA for beginners can be understood with a simple example: 

• Imagine an HR onboarding process when an employee requests an office laptop. HR agrees to provide an office laptop within 3 days. Then a Laptop Provisioning SLA will define the 3-day window, and if the laptop is not assigned, the SLA will be marked “Breached”. 

Remember that fast service is not the goal with SLAs. They are basically responses that are measurable and defined. 

Types of SLA’s

ServiceNow SLA types are technically in similar configurations. However, the difference occurs with the parties involved in the agreement. 

1. SLA (Service Level Agreement): Agreement between the Service Provider and the End User/Customer.

Example: IT promises the CFO that email will be up 99.9% of the time.

2. OLA (Operational Level Agreement): Agreement between Internal Support Teams.

Example: The Service Desk agrees to hand off network tickets to the Network Team, and the Network Team agrees to acknowledge them within 30 minutes.

3. UC (Underpinning Contract): Agreement between the Service Provider and an External Vendor.

Example: The IT department pays an ISP (Internet Service Provider) for connectivity; the ISP guarantees a 4-hour restoration time for outages

In ServiceNow, use the “Type” field on the SLA Definition form to categorize these as SLA, OLA, or Underpinning Contract for reporting purposes.

Working with SLA, OLA, and UC

Working with SLA, OLA, and UC focuses on managing the lifecycle of task_sla records. These are attached to the ticket and can run multiple agreements simultaneously. For example, an Incident can have a “Response SLA” (15 mins) and a “Resolution SLA” (4 hours) running at the same time. 

The major differences in using SLA, OLA and UC are: 

What’s Next? 

As we have covered what a Service Level Agreement is, the next topic focuses more on the SLA definition, targets and retroactive start and pause. 

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