SLA Design

"We need an SLA." It arrives from a manager after a meeting, with no second sentence. The administrator who runs the desk goes back to a chair and writes on a sticky note: "Reply to every ticket within four hours. Fix the bad ones the same day." The note goes on the monitor. By Thursday the whole desk is working to it. That note, typed up with a clock and a monthly report attached, is a complete service level agreement. The eleven-page version with a glossary and a twenty-cell matrix of targets is also an SLA, in the way that a cathedral is also a shelter from the rain. Most desks need the sticky note, done properly.

This series is for the administrator who has been asked for an SLA, or who has inherited one that is breached daily and believed by nobody. It covers what a service level agreement is in plain words, and the three parts every one has. It covers response targets versus resolution targets, and the two further targets most desks forget. It covers priority tiers a small team can actually tell apart. Then comes what to promise and what never to promise, including the parts that depend on vendors. It covers what breaches teach when you read the report instead of filing it. And it covers how to write the one-page SLA document people will read. The numbers matter less than you expect. The sentence "we will tell you if we are going to miss it" matters more.

Articles in This Series

• SLAs in Plain Words
  A written, measured promise with three parts: the promise, the clock and the report. Covers what an SLA is not, the two numbers, and who the document is for. Includes a one-page starter SLA to type up this afternoon.
• Response Targets vs Resolution Targets
  Why a human reply matters more to the user than the fix; the update interval and the subsequent-response target. Covers one ticket drawn against all its clocks, business hours and the on-hold question, and a targets table to copy.
• Priority Tiers That Are Realistic
  Priority as order rather than importance; impact and urgency on a three-by-three grid; and why four or five tiers and never seven. Covers the "everything is P1" problem and its three fixes, the quarterly check, and a priority definitions card.
• What to Promise and What Never to Promise
  The promises the desk can keep alone, the ones that depend on vendors and users, how to phrase each honestly, the clock exclusions worth writing down, and a promise checklist.
• SLA Breaches and What They Teach
  A breach as information rather than a verdict; and reading the report by priority, category and hour before by technician. Covers the usual causes and the change for each, and a breach review sheet.
• Writing the SLA Document People Will Read
  The one-page structure, plain second-person language, where the document lives, how to announce it, the annual review, the external-customer version, and a one-page SLA template.

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This series is part of the QuerySolv helpdesk topic library. It covers the foundations, processes, communication, knowledge, tooling, metrics, classic ticket domains, people and strategy behind a support desk that works. The library pairs well with the software we build: QuerySolv. It is a self-hosted help desk that runs as one Windows service on your own network. It is licensed once per installation, not per agent per month.