Introduction:
SLA management is at the heart of effective service delivery, yet many organisations struggle to connect their contractual obligations with the actual services they provide. In ServiceNow, this challenge can be addressed by linking the sold product to the service offering and ultimately to the service commitment. This alignment not only ensures that customers receive the right level of service but also enables organisations to track, monitor, and enforce SLAs with accuracy and transparency. In this article, we’ll explore how this product-to-service-to-commitment chain can be structured in ServiceNow, and how it helps simplify SLA governance while improving customer satisfaction.
The Core Concepts: Building Blocks
First, let's define the key players in this process.
Sold Product: This is a specific instance of a product or service that a specific customer has purchased.
Service: The highest-level, non-technical definition of a value proposition. It's what the business provides to its customers.
Service Offering: A specific, "sellable" version of the Service. This is the "menu item" the customer actually buys, with defined levels of support, availability, and pricing.
Service Commitment: This is the specific, measurable promise made as part of a Service Offering. It's the fine print. This is the "fine print" or the contractual obligation.
Commitment 1: Priority 1 Resolution Time = 4 Business Hours
Commitment 2: Priority 2 Resolution Time = 8 Business Hours
Commitment 3: Initial Response Time = 15 Minutes
SLA Definition: This is the technical rule inside ServiceNow that runs the clock. It has start, pause, and stop conditions. The SLA Definition is configured to fulfil a specific Service Commitment. It's the operational mechanism that enforces the promise.
The logical flow is:
Case -> Sold Product -> Service Offering -> Service Commitment -> SLA Definition
Why Linking Matters: An Example of Retail
The store manager at Amsterdam-Kalverstraat location gets an automated alert. The temperature in the main walk-in freezer is rising rapidly. This is a critical failure.
The store manager immediately calls the store support hotline.
The store agent creates a new Case.
Store: Kalverstraat Store #1138
Affected Asset / Sold Product: The agent searches by location and serial number and selects "CK-WIF-45678".
Priority: The agent assesses the situation (potential for massive food spoilage and business interruption) and sets the Priority to 1 - Critical.
SLA Trigger
The moment the agent saves the case, ServiceNow's automation kicks in:
Lookup: The system looks at the Case's "Sold Product" field and finds the specific freezer, "CK-WIF-45678."
Trace Entitlement: It follows the link from that freezer record to its Associated Service Offering, which is "Platinum 24/7 Facility Support."
Match Commitment: The system knows this is a Platinum-level case. It sees the Priority = 1 and finds the corresponding commitment on the Platinum offering: "4-Hour On-Site Technician Arrival."
Attach Correct SLA: ServiceNow finds the SLA Definition named "SLA - Platinum - 4hr Arrival" because its trigger conditions are a perfect match.
Result: A 4-hour SLA is attached to the case and the clock starts immediately. The system dispatches the on-call, weekend technician. The "Next Business Day" SLA is completely ignored because it doesn't apply to the platinum contract this specific freezer is covered by.
Differentiating SLAs for Incidents vs. Service Requests
The core problem is that a single Service Offering (the "contract" for the freezer) needs to contain different promises for different types of work:
- A promise for fixing things when they break (Incident). This is typically very time-sensitive.
- A promise for delivering new things or services (Request). This is usually less time-sensitive and follows a planned fulfilment process
We'll expand on our previous ” Store Lifecycle & Facility Support” example. The key is to make the commitments more specific.
Service Offering: Let’s use the example of “Platinum Facility Support Plan”
Service Commitment: Within the single Platinum Offering, we define multiple, typed commitments.
Commitment for Incidents (Break-Fix):
- Commitment Name: Critical Equipment Repair (P1)
- Commitment Type: Resolution
- Promised Time: 4 Hours
Commitment for Service Requests (Fulfilment):
- Commitment Name: High Speed Internet Install
- Commitment Type: Fulfilment
- Promised Time: 5 Business Days
