Creating Service Level Agreements Using the SLA Console

Starting from the v.21.2 release, you have the choice of continuing to use the pre-v.21.2 interface for defining SLAs, or to use the new interface available from release v.21.2 on. The new interface uses a console that provides one screen from which you can perform all tasks, and that simplifies choices for SLA creation. For example, it enables you to:

Select workflow steps using a diagram of the workflow to simplify step selection
Create new SLAs by prefilling the form using the workflow or service level for an existing SLA that you have designated as a template.
Create and maintain multiple SLAs at once if they have the same workflow and service levels.

For a description of the two ways of working with SLAs, see Comparison of the v.21.2 and the Pre-v.21.2 Interface for Managing Work and Creating SLAs.

Using the SLA console, defining SLAs is presented in three steps:

Requests. You define the location, the person requesting the work, and issue for the work governed by this SLA.
Workflow. In this step, you define what actions should happen when the work has each status. For example, you define what should happen when the work is Requested, Approved, Assigned to a Work Order, Issued, Completed, and Closed. A dispatch step is always required, but optional steps define whether the work requires approval, verification, or the completion of a satisfaction survey, when and to whom notifications should be sent, and whether estimation or scheduling are required.
Service Level. In this step, you define the requirements for the response by entering the service window start and end times, and the service desk manager. Optionally, you can enter the time to respond and time to complete the work.
As you work, a diagram that summarizes your selections appears at the bottom of the form.

There are two ways of creating SLAs working from the SLA console:

Option 1 - Creating SLAs using the SLA wizard (Edit Details)

The SLA wizard is the complete form for defining an SLA.

Working from this wizard, you can:

Select from all supported request parameters. This includes locations, requestor, division, department, or equipment assets.
Create SLAs that use different priority levels.
Create a workflow or service level that is not based on an existing template.
Prefill the workflow or service levels for the new SLA by selecting any workflow or service level that you have saved as a template.

See:

Option 2 - Creating SLAs using the quick action pop-up form

When you click Add New SLA from the Manage Service Level Agreements view, you access the Add New SLA form. Using this simple quick action pop-up form, you can

Create an SLA as long as the SLA you are defining uses only Problem Type and Locations for the Request parameters, and does not have multiple priorities.
Select the workflow and service level for the SLA from templates - these are SLAs that you have created, and then saved their workflow or service levels as templates. This means you can use this pop-up form only if you have already saved at least one workflow and service level as a template. The steps to do this are described in the procedure associated with Option 1 above.

See:

Getting Started

A good way to get started is to create a few basic SLAs using the SLA wizard, and save their workflows and service levels as templates.

Then, you can use either the quick action form or the SLA wizard to create SLAs that use a similar workflow and service level as these SLAs.

If the new SLA uses a different dispatch option than the workflow template you select, you can change the dispatch option right from the template selection form. This is handy as often the workflows for different SLAs vary only in their dispatch option.

Creating Multiple SLA at Once - Grouping

Do you have certain requests that you handle the same with the only variation being the problem type or location? For example, suppose in your workflow all requests for painting go to work team A, and require both approval and estimation, but these requests come in for different locations, and therefore require different SLAs. For these requests, you can create and manage the SLAs together. This is referred to as grouping. Grouping can be a good way to get started when you have a number of similar SLAs.

See Grouping SLAs.