Lesson 2
SLA Properties
In ServiceNow, Service Level Agreement (SLA) properties are configurable settings that define how SLAs are calculated and behave. These properties can be found and managed within the ServiceNow platform, allowing administrators to tailor the SLA functionality to meet specific business needs.
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SLA Definition:
An SLA Definition specifies the rules for measuring response or resolution time on a task. It defines when the SLA starts, pauses, stops, and the time allowed to meet service commitments.
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Task SLA:
A Task SLA is the actual SLA record that gets attached to a task when SLA conditions are met. It tracks the real-time progress, remaining time, and breach status for that specific task.
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Incident SLA:
An Incident SLA defines the response or resolution time commitments for incident records. It ensures incidents are handled within agreed time limits based on priority and business schedules.
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SLA Calculation:
SLA Calculation is the process of measuring the time taken to meet an SLA based on defined start, pause, and stop conditions. It considers business schedules to accurately track remaining time and SLA breaches.
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SLA Properties Configuration:
SLA Properties Configuration involves setting system-wide options that control how SLAs are calculated and managed. It ensures consistent SLA behavior, accurate timing, and proper handling of schedules, pauses, and breaches.
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SLA Engine:
The SLA Engine is the ServiceNow background process that evaluates SLA conditions and manages SLA timing. It automatically starts, pauses, stops, and tracks SLAs on tasks based on defined rules and schedules.
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SLA Condition Rules:
SLA Condition Rules define the criteria that determine when an SLA should start, pause, stop, or reset. They ensure SLAs are applied only to the correct records based on specific conditions and field values.
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Retroactive Start:
If an incident is upgraded from P3/P4 to P1/P2, you might want the SLA to retroactively start from the time of the priority upgrade, not the time of the reassignment.
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Pause Conditions:
An SLA might be paused when a ticket is in a “Pending Customer” or “Pending Vendor” state and then resumes when the ticket returns to an active state.
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Multiple SLAs:
ServiceNow supports multiple SLAs per task, allowing you to define different SLAs for different aspects of the same task, such as one for the team assigned and another for the impacted service.
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Start, Stop, and Pause Conditions:
Carefully define the conditions that trigger the start, stop, and pause of an SLA to ensure accurate measurement.
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Schedules and Time Zones:
Configure schedules and time zones appropriately to align with your business requirements.
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Retroactive Start/Pause:
Leverage retroactive start and pause features to accurately reflect the SLA timing for past events.
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SLA Engine Logic:
Understand how the SLA engine evaluates conditions and transitions between states to troubleshoot and optimize SLA performance.