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Definitions - SLA, OLA, and UC

Service Level Agreement  (SLA): An SLA is the agreement between an IT Service Provider and a Customer. The SLA describes the IT Services, documents Service Level Targets, and specifies the responsibilities of the IT Service Provider and the Customer. A single SLA may cover multiple IT Services or multiple Customers. 

Operational Level Agreement (OLA): An Operational Level Agreement (OLA) is a contract defined between the various departments within an organization to ensure on-time delivery of Services to the Customer. OLAs are designed to address and solve the problem of IT silos by setting forth a specific set of criteria and defining the specific set of IT Services that each department is responsible for.

Applicability and uses:

• Applicable between Incident and Work Order, and Workgroups within an Incident.
• Applicable for Auto created Work Orders (only for the Work Orders created while Incidents are logged and not applicable for sequential Work Orders).
• If the OLA is within an Incident, it corresponds to the Transfer Time. 

Example: OLA between Workgroup 1 and Workgroup 2 is 30 min. An Incident is logged at 10 AM and in the que of Workgroup 1. If it is transferred to Workgroup 2 before 10:30 AM, the OLA is considered as met. If transferred after 10:30 AM, the OLA is considered as not met.

• If the OLA  is made between the Incident and Work Order, it corresponds to Resolution Time. 

Example: OLA between Workgroup 1 and Workgroup 2 is 30 min. Incident logged at 10 AM and in the que of Workgroup 1. There is a Work Order created for this incident and is in the que of Workgroup 2. If the Work order is resolved by 10:30 AM, the OLA is considered as met. If resolved after 10:30 AM, OLA is considered as not met. 

Underpinning Contract (UC): The Underpinning Contract (UC) is the agreement between an IT Service Provider and a Third Party (Vendor). The Third Party provides Goods or Services that support delivery of an IT Service to a Customer. The Underpinning Contract defines targets and responsibilities that are required to meet agreed Service Level Targets defined in an SLA.

Advantages

• Documented SLA, OLA, and UC ensures no miscommunication between the Customer, Vendor, and Departments.
• Better understanding of the Services provided by the Vendor.
• A document to refer back to in case of any misunderstanding.
• All these 3 documents should be in sync with each other to ensure all the service levels are met.