Service Desk Institute

A Guide To OLAs

This guide details the basic concepts and processes

involved in setting up OLAs.

Published September 2013

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Declaration
We believe the information in this
document to be accurate, relevant and
truthful based on our experience and the
information provided to us to date. All
information is provided in good faith, in
confidence and in the best interests of
SDI and our clients. Please contact Daniel
Wood on + 44 (0)1689 889100 to discuss
any questions or further requirements or
email research@sdi-europe.com

Prepared by Daniel Wood

Head of Research, SDI
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2

Introduction
The ultimate objective of an OLA is to
support processes and ensure high quality
and timely delivery of IT services.

SDI defines an OLA as: “An agreement

between an IT service provider and
another part of the same organisation.
An OLA supports the IT service provider’s
delivery of IT services to its customers. The
OLA defines the goods or services to be
provided and the responsibilities of both
parties.”
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What Is An OLA?
Operational Level Agreements (OLAs) are used by service desks to supplement and
support Service Level Agreements (SLAs). OLAs can be thought of as internal SLAs
between teams that ensure the delivery of the SLA to customers and end users. Like
SLAs, OLAs should be formally agreed between the parties and can also be signed to
demonstrate formal agreement.

• An OLA defines the interdependent relationships which support an SLA

• The purpose of an OLA is to help make sure that the activities that underpin the
SLA are performed, this can involve a number of different IT teams
• The SLA and OLA process provides valuable performance information to help the
organisation understand and deliver suitable levels of resources, skills and service

A summary of the main aims of the process:

• To ensure that the proper elements and commitments are in place to provide
consistent service support and delivery by the IT department
• To obtain mutual agreement for service provision between IT Service Providers
• To ensure Service Providers work in tandem and don’t inadvertently ‘shoot each
other in the foot’
• To provide clear reference to service ownership, accountability, roles and
responsibilities
• To agree levels of expectation for all parties as to the levels of service that can be
provided
• To improve understanding and working relationships
• To present a clear, concise and measurable description of the service provided
• To improve service quality, highlighting gaps and problems and developing greater
synergy as a result

Implementation

Any organisation about to implement OLAs must first ensure that the participants
understand the key objectives, benefits and issues associated with the OLA process
including the importance of Service Catalogues (SC) and how these, the Underpinning
Contracts (UC) and the OLA are tied in to the delivery of Service Level Agreements (SLA).

Service Catalogue

A Service Catalogue is a list of services that an organisation provides to its employees or

customers. Each service within the catalogue typically includes:
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4

• A description of the service

• Timeframes or service level agreements (SLAs) for fulfilling the service
• Who is entitled to request/view the service
• Costs (if any)
• How to fulfil and deliver the service

What’s the purpose of a Service Catalogue?

A Service Catalogue lists the services that the service desk provides. Often these are
grouped by type and are searchable (this is very important if the Service Catalogue
contains a significant number of entries). The service will also have a description and
additional details.

A Service Catalogue has two specific purposes both for customers and the business.

Customers: The benefit for customers is that a Service Catalogue lists all of the services
currently available to them, and allows them to submit a request for service. In this way
then the Service Catalogue performs a useful function as customers can use self-service
to request services, which alleviates some of the pressure on the service desk and will
realise significant time savings. For customers, they receive an easily understandable view
of the catalogue and can be proactive in their requests.

Business: For the business, a Service Catalogue defines the services that are available
and delivered to customers. A Service Catalogue allows the business to carefully define
and select the available services and ensure that there are the correct processes and
procedures in place to deliver services to customers.

Service Level Agreements (SLAs)

SLAs aim to manage the expectation of IT services to customers (users) by setting target
levels of service delivery.

The SLA process also then provides valuable performance information to help the IT
organisation to understand and deliver suitable levels of resources, skills and service.

The SLA process is in fact a quality process, using customer input to set target delivery
levels, and then measuring against these targets to identify if new resources or systems
are needed.

SLAs are used across a broad spectrum of industry and commerce. As businesses
have developed, they have utilised SLAs as a way to measure the quality, timeliness and
effectiveness of service delivery. SLAs ensure that all parties are aware of what is expected
of them and provide an effective gauge of performance.

SLAs are a formal means of identifying and documenting key services and the processes
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required to meet business needs - these are monitored and any problem areas
highlighted for action. The process has grown initially within the IT industry, both as a
business requirement to optimise the provision of IT resources, and as a response to the
challenge of external outsourcing of IT services. IT can also focus customer attention on
the cost of providing additional services.

Underpinning Contracts (UCs)

UCs are contracts with external suppliers covering the delivery of services that support
the IT organisation in the delivery of their services. For example, if a website is hosted
externally then the server team will have a UC with the website host, covering off services
such as maintenance and support etc.

In summary:

• OLAs are agreements between separate IT/IS departments

• SLAs are the overall agreement between IT/IS and the business department
• UCs are agreements with external providers and vendors
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Why Do We Need OLAs?

Most IT Departments contain a dozen or more disparate IT teams: the application team,
the network team, the server team, the desktop support team etc.

The purpose of the OLA is to identify the key players and teams who are essential to the
delivery of the SLA, describe each party’s responsibility, outline expectations in terms of
delivery, and establish contingency plans.

OLAs allow service desks to hold other teams to account when they do not fulfil their
end of the bargain. However, because OLAs are based primarily on agreements and
understanding between teams, a large part of their creation is dedicated to meetings as a
way to determine the required outcomes, assess current capabilities, and decide on the
service levels that can be delivered.

The OLA process

This is a suggested process for anyone interested in implementing (or refining) their OLAs.

Step 1: Clarify the objectives of the SLA. If all parties are not aware of the SLA, then an
OLA will not work effectively.

Step 2: Identify who is providing the supporting services. For example, the service desk
might identify application support, desktop support, infrastructure team as supporting
services with whom they should have an OLA with.

Step 3: IT service providers and the service desk meet to discuss the OLA.

Step 4: Agreement of OLA is reached and ensures that it supports the SLA.

Step 5: UCs are created or refined in light of the new OLA.

Step 6: OLA is documented, signed, and distributed to all affected parties.

Step 7: OLA is periodically reviewed following the same step process described above.

Step by step implementation

Step 1. Awareness and Negotiation

Once an SLA is in the process of being developed and each SLA party is happy with the
services agreed, the specified IT service providers should be involved.
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Where more than one team is providing the service, it would be a good idea to have an
initial meeting summarising the key components of the SLA. The Service Level Manager is
used to oversee this process and deliver the documentation.

Step 2. Documentation

The negotiation will lead to the production of the OLA document - an example of which
is shown in the example document.

Step 3. List of Services and Quality Levels

This is the detail of the document, listing each service in a standard format:

• Service and Charges

• Responsible Parties
• Roles and Responsibilities
• Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) - including hours of service, response times,
incident management and escalation
• Reporting

The KPI section of an OLA should clearly define how and when OLA breaches are to be
measured and most importantly they should be realistic - e.g. availability, response times
against realistic time expectations etc.

Step 4. Reports

Much like SLAs, OLAs should only be drawn up where measurement of the performance
against the target levels can be accurately and impartially measured. By putting
mechanisms in place to capture data, each IT team can identify breaches and discuss
solutions. Reports will normally be system generated.

Step 5. Monitoring and Reviewing

Reports should normally be produced regularly (i.e. monthly or quarterly) and passed to
all stakeholders. They should provide the basis for discussion and be used to explain why
a particular KPI was not met. If recurring breaches are identified then the OLA may be
altered, or re-allocation of resource considered.
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About SDI
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 Operational Level
Agreement
Document Author
Document Owner
Created Date
Last Updated Version
Version Number
General Overview

1.1 This Operating Level Agreement (OLA) documents the service levels delivered
between <IT Service Provider 1> and <IT Service Provider 2>. This OLA directly addresses
the internal IT structure required to support a number of applications or customer
requirements. For further details on individual application or customer requirements
see each specific Service Level Agreement. This OLA shall remain valid until revised or
terminated.

1.2 This OLA is valid from <date>. Each IT Service Provider shall agree to meet on a
(monthly/quarterly/yearly) basis in order to facilitate regular reviews of this OLA. The OLA
may be amended as required, subject to approval from the Primary Stakeholders listed in
section 2.2.

1.3 Metrics monitored internally are listed in Section 4 and reporting on these metrics will
take place on a (monthly/quarterly/yearly) basis. The reporting process will be overseen
by the Primary Stakeholders.

Services and Charges

2.1 Scope
<IT Service Provider 1> and <IT Service Provider 2> have agreed to deliver services which
support a number of Applications or Customer requirements.

2.2 Primary Stakeholders

The following IT Service Provider(s) are associated with this OLA and should be the first
point of contact:

Contact
Team Name Main Contact
Information
IT Service Provider 1 Service Desk Service Desk
Manager
IT Service Provider 2 Apps Team Application Manager
Service Level
Manager

2.3 Charges

<Describe charges here, if applicable>

3. Roles and Responsibilities by Service Delivered

This section of the OLA contains the performance indicators which each IT Service
Provider will be monitored against, as well as a summary of the current operational
processes and service exceptions.

Under the terms of this OLA, both IT Service Providers agree to deliver the following:
 Activity 1 (Escalation of Priority 1 Incidents)

Service Desk will pass the request to Application Team within 5 minutes of the log
being completed.
When the Service Desk passes the incident to the Application Team the log will be
accepted within 5 minutes.
The Service Desk will ensure that the incident log contains all the relevant
information required by the Apps team to help in providing a resolution.

Availability:
This activity will be performed <Monday - Friday, 9-5pm> and will meet the stated
requirements to a minimum target 99% of all occurrences per calendar month.

Service Provider Activity Target Period

Service Desk (IT Allocate incident 99% Monthly
Service Provider 1) logs within 5
minutes
Apps Team (IT Accept incident logs
Service Provider 2) within 5 minutes

Service Exception Date Coverage

Bank Holidays XX/XX/XX and XX/XX/XX No coverage
XXX

Activity 2 (XXXXXX)

Include here an example of another service that you are responsible for.

Information regarding the process flows of Major Incident Handling is located in <name
of file location>.
4. Signatories

The authorised signatories of the parties hereto have executed this OLA as dated.

Date Sign
Document Owner
(Service Level
Manager)
IT Service Provider 1
(Service Desk Manager)

IT Service Provider 2
(Apps Manager)