OLA Implementation

[WGIT]

Hi all

I am just looking for some general advice around implementing OLAs. I have an OLA template developed by a predecessor, and I am already having workgroup 'performance' meetings with team managers looking at SLA acheivement, outstanding calls etc. So I am looking to introduce OLAs off the back of those meetings. The IT organisation I work for delivers a wide range of services from standard Desktop, Email, Print type services through to very specific supply chain, logistics, pos, e-commerce and e-trading services. So some workgroups and teams only have involvment with 1 service while others, a server team for example may be involved in supporting dozens.

So one question I have is should the responsibilities OLA be broken down by Service, or should they be more general. Or should the OLA simply contain a list of Services (and their SLAs) that the OLA helps support?

Another question I have surround 'enforcement'. What mechanisms has any one put in place to ensure teams stick to the OLA?

Many Thanks

Ian.

[UKVIKING]

Ian

An OLA is an agreement between two teams in a company

That is all

If you are using OLAs, the SD would have one each for the Wintel, AIX, Linux, Network, DBA, monitoring, etc etc

It merely states what responsibility each party has to the other

and how is done

For example

the SD will assign tickets with sufficient info to the AIX group
The AIX group duty tech will acknowledge the ticket
the tecj will review for insufficient info
if found, return the ticket
_________________
John Hardesty
ITSM Manager's Certificate (Red Badge)

Change Management is POWER & CONTROL. /....evil laughter

[WGIT]

Thanks John.

I think what we are aiming for is not an OLA in the strictest sense then.

The OLA template I have is for an agreement between the workgroup and the IT organisation as whole, so only 1 per team. Effectively it defines the areas of responsibility for the workgroup, any standard (scheduled) tasks, reporting and Management Info outputs. It also defines any targets ie. to pick up and handle a call with in 2 hours of assignment (irrespective of what group it was assigned from).

The problem I see for us with having OLAs between each workgroup is that the handling of the service call shouldn't depend on where it has come from, it should depend on what it is ie. Priority, how close it is to Deadline, Service/System affected...

We have support process diagrams for each Service that show the relationships between workgroups, Ie. Service Desk assign call to Wintel, Wintel investigate, if they cannot resolve escalate to Third Party etc. These are always approved by all parties prior to the Service going live.

So what I'm looking to do is to define and agree the area of responsibility for each workgroup, their key tasks and outputs, and their targets. If this isn't an OLA what is it? Is there anything within ITIL that this matches?

Many Thanks for you thoughts.

[Diarmid]

Ian,

Assuming that these workgroups are part of the IT service organization, what you are describing is not an OLA to me. It is the fundamental definition of the role of a section. It emanates from the description of your organization structure and composition, and from the purpose and objectives of the IT service organization. And it does not naturally take the form of an agreement except in the sense that the section manager has agreed the contract of employment for the post.

So, it is nothing to do with ITIL, rather it is all to do with your quality management system. "Enforcement", if that is the right word, is achieved by normal management methods, particularly some form of performance management.
_________________
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