SLAs vs Metrics

[JonoK]

Many organizations use SLAs to measure process performance in ServiceNow, there are even out-of-the-box SLAs in the platform that are active by default. However, in most cases metrics are a more appropriate solution. Let me explain.

SLAs are great if you have specific targets that have been imposed on a support team either by management, or a customer contract or something else. They give you a bunch of great features for that purpose.

• Percentage elapsed.
• Notifications at specified milestones.
• You can view your tasks based on which SLA will breach next.
• Reporting on how well you met your targets... or not.

These features are helpful if you are working towards specific targets.

If you don't have specific targets (with penalties) then metrics are most likely going to be a better option.

The most common use case for ITSM in an organization is internal support. This usually means that if targets have been set, they are usually arbitrary with no penalties, financial or otherwise, if an SLA is missed. So really what in internal support team needs is measurement of performance. Metrics can give you a field duration or a scripted calculation. Field duration definitions are super simple to create, and scripted calculation are extremely flexible. Some features of metrics are:

• Field duration or scripted.
• Simple and flexible.
• Metrics timeline.
• Reporting on process performance.

Even if management decide to set SLA targets for internal support teams, it is still probably beneficial to use metrics first to determine current state what might be reasonable targets.

If you are not yet making extensive use of metrics, I encourage you to take a look.