SLA conditions
Summarize
Summary of SLA conditions
SLA conditions in ServiceNow define when a task's SLA record is attached, paused, resumed, reset, canceled, or completed. Each SLA definition can specify up to six conditions—start, cancel, pause, resume, stop, and reset—that are evaluated every time a task record is created or updated. These conditions control the lifecycle of an SLA on a task, ensuring that SLAs are applied and managed according to your organization's policies and task changes.
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Key Features
- Start Condition: Determines when an SLA attaches to a task. You can configure whether the SLA cancels if start conditions are no longer met, cancels only on cancel conditions, or never cancels. The Retroactive start option allows the SLA start time to be set based on a date/time field from the task (e.g., Created date).
- Cancel Condition: Specifies when an SLA should be canceled after attachment.
- Pause Condition: Defines when the SLA's elapsed time stops increasing (pauses). This is linked to resume conditions controlling when the SLA's timer restarts.
- Resume Condition: Specifies when the paused SLA should resume counting elapsed time.
- Stop Condition: Determines when the SLA completes regardless of breach status.
- Reset Condition: Allows an active SLA to be completed and a new SLA attached when specific field values on the task change (e.g., location changes). Reset requires the start condition to match for reattachment.
How SLA Conditions Are Evaluated
Each task undergoes evaluation in this order:
- Check if a new SLA should be attached based on the start condition.
- Evaluate existing SLAs attached to the task against cancel, pause, resume, stop, and reset conditions.
The system attaches an SLA if the start condition matches and neither stop nor cancel conditions match. SLAs complete when stop conditions are met, pause when pause conditions are met, resume when pause conditions no longer match or resume conditions are met, reattach when reset and start conditions both match, and cancel when start conditions no longer match or cancel conditions are met.
Important Considerations
- Condition overlaps affect SLA behavior. For example, if the start condition is a subset of the stop condition, the SLA will never attach because the stop condition cancels it immediately.
- If pause conditions are a subset of start conditions, the SLA may attach but stay permanently paused or get canceled when pause conditions no longer match.
- Mutually exclusive start and pause conditions can cause SLAs to be canceled rather than paused. For instance, if the start condition is “State is New or Active” and pause condition is “State is On Hold,” changing the task to “On Hold” cancels the SLA because the start condition no longer matches.
Design SLA conditions carefully to ensure the expected SLA lifecycle and avoid unintended cancellations or permanent pauses.
SLA conditions determine when a task SLA record is attached, paused, resumed, reset, canceled, and completed.
On the SLA definition, you specify up to six conditions that are evaluated each time a task record is created or updated. For example, for an SLA to attach to a task, the start conditions must match and stop conditions must not match.
SLA conditions work in the following ways:
- SLA conditions
- SLA condition evaluation
SLA conditions
- Start condition
- Enables you to define the conditions under which the SLA will be attached. You can choose the conditions from the When to cancel list under which the SLA will be canceled.
- Start conditions are not met option: If one or more of the specified start conditions change, then the SLA will be canceled. The Start conditions are not met option is selected by default.
- Cancel conditions are met option: The start condition has to be met only once, thereafter the SLA will only cancel when the cancel condition is met.
- Never option: The SLA will never be canceled.
Select Retroactive start to choose a date and time field from the task that will provide the start time of the task SLA. If you select the Retroactive start check box, the Set start to field appears offering the date and time fields available on the task type that this SLA definition applies to. For example if you select Retroactive start on a Priority 1 SLA definition and then choose Created in the Set start to field, then the SLA is attached with the start time being the date and time from the Created field on the Incident.
- Cancel condition
- Enables you to define the conditions under which the SLA will cancel. You can specify the cancel conditions at the same time when you specify the start conditions.
- Pause condition
- Enables you to define the conditions under which the SLA will suspend increasing
elapsed time. You can choose the conditions from the When to resume list under which the SLA will resume increasing elapsed time.
- Pause conditions are not met option: If one or more of the specified pause conditions no longer match, then the elapsed time will continue to increase.
- Resume conditions are met option: If one or more of the specified resume conditions match, then the elapsed time will continue to increase. The Resume conditions are met option is selected by default.
- Resume condition
- Enables you to define the conditions under which under which the SLA will resume increasing elapsed time. You can specify the resume conditions at the same time when you specify the pause conditions.
- Stop condition
- Enables you to define the conditions under which the SLA completes. If all of the specified stop conditions match, then the task SLA will complete regardless of whether it is breached.
- Reset condition
- Enables you to define the conditions under which the running SLA will be completed
and a new SLA will be attached. For a new SLA to be attached, the start condition must
match.
Reset condition also helps to configure SLAs when the value of any specific field on the task record changes, changes to or changes from a specific value in the record. For example, the value of the Location field in the task record is 101 Broadway East, Seattle,WA. If you set the SLA reset condition as Location changes from 101 Broadway East, Seattle,WA, any change in the value of the Location field resets the SLA of the task record.
SLA condition evaluation
- Process new SLAs-- Determine if a new SLA record must be attached to a task
- Process existing SLA records attached to a task.
- Attach if start condition matches and both the stop and cancel conditions don't match.
- Complete if the stop condition matches.
- Pause if the pause condition matches.
- Resume if the pause condition doesn't match or resume condition matches.
- Reattach if both the reset and the start conditions match.
- Cancel if the start condition doesn't match or cancel conditions matches.
Consider this evaluation order when you create conditions. For example, if your Start condition is a subset of your Stop condition, the Stop condition will always match when the Start condition matches and the SLA will never attach. This includes processing any new SLAs that were just created.
Similarly, if your Pause condition is a subset of your Start condition, the SLA will attach but will permanently be in Paused state. As soon as the Pause condition does not match, the equivalent Start condition will also not match and that task SLA record will be canceled.
In addition, if you create a SLA definition with a Start condition and a Pause condition that are mutually exclusive, your SLA will never pause but will always be canceled first. For example, for an SLA definition where the Start condition is State is one of "New, Active" and the Pause condition is State is "On Hold", when the Task is updated to state On Hold, the start condition will no longer match and the task SLA will be canceled.