A Service Level Agreement, or SLA, is an agreement between a service provider and a customer that determines the initial response and completion due time and date for the resolution of issues.
SAP Service Cloud allows the key dates in tickets it receives to be determined by an SLA - The key dates indicate the time and date of both the initial response to the ticket and also its resolution. You can have varying SLAs with varying key dates.
What happens then, is that SLAs can be created in the system, which the system can then assign to tickets as they are received. For example, Platinum, Gold, and Silver. A ticket with a given SLA when it is received will then automatically start counting down against the set key dates. As a result, tickets receive an initial response by a certain time or date and should be solved by another time and date.
Creating Service Level Agreements
To create SLAs in the system, first you must enable SLAs in scoping. Then you can create the SLA and finally you must set the performance metrics: availability/uptime, response time, and resolution time. To access SLAs, navigate to Administrator → Service and Social → SLA Setup as shown in the screenshot above.
Creating Service Level Agreements in SAP Service Cloud
Watch the following short video on how to create a new Service Level Agreement for a company in SAP Service Cloud.
Summary Steps to Create an SLA
1. Enable SLA in scoping
2. Create SLA
3. Configure performance metrics
Service Level Agreement Key Components
A Service Level Agreement (SLA) is a formal contract or agreement that outlines the level of service that a customer can expect from a service provider. SLAs are common in various industries where services are provided, including IT, telecommunications, customer support, and more. The primary purpose of an SLA is to establish clear expectations, define responsibilities, and set measurable performance metrics.
Here are the key components of a Service Level Agreement:
Service Scope:
The Service Scope clearly defines the services that are covered by the SLA. This section outlines what the service provider is responsible for delivering.
Service Level Objectives (SLOs):
Service Level Objectives specifies the measurable objectives that the service provider commits to meeting. These can include performance metrics such as response times, resolution times, and system availability.
- Response Time: The time it takes for the service provider to acknowledge a service request.
- Resolution Time: The time it takes to resolve or complete a service request.
- Availability/Uptime: The percentage of time that a service or system is expected to be operational.
Timeline
The Timeline refers to the chronological sequence of events related to a service request, including each step from initial creation to resolution. In relation to Service Level Agreements (SLAs), the timeline helps track the time taken for each request, ensuring that the service pledges stated in the SLAs are being met and providing a record of responsiveness for compliance purposes.
Service Level Agreements Rules
You can define rules to determine which SLA should be applied to each ticket. This means that for example, a ticket coming from Germany can be treated with an SLA based on the German holiday calendar, while tickets coming from the United States, will be treated with an SLA based on the United States holiday calendar. Finally, the ticket can be routed to the appropriate team based on work distribution rules.
Roles and Responsibilities:
Roles and responsibilities clearly outlines the roles and responsibilities of both the service provider and the customer. This section defines who is responsible for what aspects of service delivery.