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.