SLA Policies

A service-level agreement (SLA), is a contract or a commitment between the service providers and their customers, in providing services in terms of quality, timely delivery, and consistency as they have agreed on. An SLA ensures that the service providers provide measurable and predictable services to their customers.

The Tidal Automation system enforces system-wide SLAs using SLA Policy definitions. In the TA system, System-wide SLA Policies can be defined with one or more SLA Rules. SLAs defined at the Job Group level will not be inherited to child jobs.

TA users assigned with the required security policies can access an SLA Policy.

SLA Rules

SLA Rules enforce the violations of SLA Policies on a particular production day. An SLA Rule is identified by a Calendar / Time Window / Risk and Breach Windows. An SLA Rule can be tagged with one or more Business Activity tags to help identify and track the jobruns that have violated the SLAs.

When an SLA Policy is compiled for an effective date (similar to a job definition compilation to create jobruns), it generates the corresponding SLARuns for those effective dates.

Events are triggered, when the system-wide SLAs are breached or violated. Managing SLAs can provide a user with advanced monitoring and alerting events. Users can re-prioritize jobs that have breached or missed SLA windows and can dynamically utilize resources to jobs based on SLA breaches or violations.

Accessing the SLA Policies Interface

Click Definitions > SLA Policies on the Navigation pane to display the SLA Policies pane.

Buttons

Add – Displays the SLA Create dialog used to add a new SLA Policy and SLA Rules.
Edit – Displays the SLA Edit dialog used to edit an existing SLA Policy.
Copy – Creates a copy of the selected SLA Policy with the same information as the selected policy, except for the name.
Delete – Removes the selected SLA Policy.
Refresh – Updates the data in the current pane.
Expand All – Expands all levels of the selected SLA Policy.
Collapse All – Collapses all levels of the selected SLA Policy including the child SLA Policies.
Print – If an SLA Policy is already selected, the Reports pane shows only the selected Policy details. Otherwise, it shows the details of all the SLA objects for printing.
Where Used – Displays the SLA objects where the selected SLA is referenced.
Top – Click to bring SLA Policies folder view to the top level.

Search

Enables you to search SLA Policies in the SLA Policies Grid pane by allowing you to enter the name or owner of the policies.

Note: A policy name match on a parent tag brings in the child hierarchy for that policy. A tag name match on a child policy brings in its parent hierarchy but no other siblings (unless they match the policy).

Columns

Name – A unique name for the SLA Policy across the TA system.
Type – The type of the SLA Policy.

Note: “Jobs” is an SLA Policy type.
Modified – The last time the SLA Policy was modified.
Owner – The owner of the SLA Policy. Similar to other objects in the TA system, the SLA Policy owner can be any user or a work group or an LDAP group.
Public – If an SLA Policy is defined as Public, then all TA users can view/edit the Policy, else only the specific owner group can view/edit the Policy.
Enabled – If “Yes”, the SLA Policy is enabled. If “No”, then the SLA Policy is disabled.

SLA Policies Preferences Dialog

If you select Preferences from the View main menu while viewing the SLA Policies pane, the SLA Policies Preferences dialog appears. From this dialog, you can check the columns and choose the order in which the columns are to be displayed in the SLA Policies pane.

SLA Policies Navigation Context Menu

When you right-click in the Navigation pane while viewing the SLA Policies pane, the SLA Policies Navigation context menu appears.

The SLA Policies Navigation context menu contains these elements:

Add SLA – Displays the SLA Create dialog used to add a new SLA Policy.
Refresh – Updates the data in the current pane.
Print – Displays the Reports pane used to view and print information about SLA objects.
Select All – Selects or highlights all the rows in the SLA Policies pane.
Export – Saves the contents as a comma-separated text file.
Preferences – Displays the Preferences dialog for the SLA Policies pane.
New Root Folder – Allows creating a new root folder for the Navigation pane.

SLA Policies Pane Context Menu

When you right-click the SLA Policies pane, the SLA Policies pane context menu appears.

The SLA Policies pane context menu contains these options:

Add SLA – Displays the SLA Create dialog used to add a new SLA Policy.
Edit SLA – Displays the SLA Edit dialog used to edit an existing SLA Policy.
Delete SLA – Deletes the selected SLA Policy.
Copy SLA – Creates a copy of the selected SLA Policy with the same information as the selected SLA Policy, except for the name.
Refresh – Updates the data in the current pane.
Print – Displays the Reports pane used to view and print information about SLA Policies.
Print Selected – Prints the selected SLA Policy.
Select all – Selects or highlights all the rows in the SLA Policies pane.
Enable – Enabling a parent SLA Policy will display a confirmation message Do you want to enable all children of SLA <xxx> at this time?. The Effective Date dialog is launched when an SLA Policy is enabled.

Note: If the user confirms, then the entire child hierarchy is enabled. If not, only the parent SLA Policy is enabled.
Disable – Disabling a parent SLA Policy will display a confirmation message Do you want to disable all children of SLA <xxx> at this time?. The Effective Date dialog is launched when an SLA Policy is disabled.

If the user confirms, then the entire child hierarchy is disabled. If not, only the parent SLA Policy is disabled.
Where Used – Displays the SLA objects where the selected SLA is referenced.

SLA Policies Procedures

These topics describe the tasks you perform with SLA Policies.

Adding an SLA Policy

To add an SLA Policy:

Click Definitions > SLA Policies on the Navigation pane to display the SLA Policies pane.

Right-click and select Add SLA from the context menu or click Add on the TA toolbar to display the SLA Create dialog.

Click the Name field, and type a name for the SLA Policy you are creating. This is a required field. The SLA name must be unique across the TA system and is case insensitive. A maximum of only 256 characters are allowed.

Click the Parent field. Choose a parent SLA Policy from the drop-down menu. If you specify a SLA Policy, the Policy you are adding becomes the child policy of the selected parent and appears below its parent in the SLA Policy list hierarchy. If an SLA Policy was selected on the SLA Policies pane prior to adding an SLA Policy, then the selected SLA Policy is shown in the Parent field.
Click the Owner field, and choose the new owner from the drop-down menu to change the SLA Policy ownership. This is a required field.
The Rules tab shows the details of the defined SLA Rules. You can insert a new SLA Rule, edit, and delete an existing rule. The time window Rules are associated with one or more business activity tags. The SLA Rules are compiled very similar to how jobs are compiled into jobrun. An SLA Rule can be created without an SLA definition or an SLA Policy so that users can set up adhoc SLA for a given day.

To add a new SLA Rule:

Click Insert on the Rules tab. The SLA Rule (Create Mode) dialog is displayed. Enter these details in the Details tab:
- Enter the name of the SLA Rule in the Name field. The Rule name must be unique across the TA system.
  
  Note: If you try to create an SLA Rule with only its name, a warning message Some SLA Rule fields have no definition. Do you want to continue? is displayed. Click Yes to create the SLA Rule. Otherwise, click No.
- Enter the description for the SLA Policy in the Description field.
Enter the priority of the SLA Policy in the Priority field. The value can be any integer greater than or equal to ‘0’.
Choose a calendar name from the Calendar Name drop-down list. This is the calendar or calendar group indicating which days the SLA should run. A calendar can encompass one or more days. You must select a calendar for the SLA to be scheduled automatically.You do not need to select a calendar if you plan to use this as an unscheduled SLA.
Choose a date using the built-in calendar icon by clicking the drop-down list next to the From field. This is the earliest date that the SLA should run. The SLA will run starting with the first date in the calendar that is on or after this date.
Choose a date using the built-in calendar icon by clicking the drop-down next to the To field. This is the last date the SLA can run based on the calendar.

Note: If not specified, and your calendar includes repetitive dates, the SLA will run indefinitely.
Choose the Offset for the SLA to run a given number of days before or after every day in the calendar. Each day in the calendar is adjusted by the offset you provide.

Example: If the SLA is using the Fiscal Month End calendar with an offset of 2, the SLA gets inserted into the schedule 2 days after Fiscal Month End date. If you use an offset of –2, the SLA gets inserted 2 days before the Fiscal Month End date. For the calendar specified with an offset, the Effective Date dialog shows only the future x days (not the current day).
Click Forecast to display the Calendar Forecast dialog for the selected calendar (adjusted by offset, if provided) showing all the dates for which the SLA will be scheduled.
Choose the Time Window to limit the event monitor to being active only during the defined time windows that are listed here. If this option is not selected, then the event monitor will always be active. This section lists multiple time windows that the event monitor will monitor for the defined conditions. Any number of time windows can be created.
Choose the time from the Job must start between field during which the job must start. When a job did not start within this time window, then the respective events are triggered. For more information on system-wide SLA events, see System-wide SLA Events.
Choose the time from the At Risk between field during which the SLA will be at risk, if the associated job did not complete within the stipulated time. Events are triggered for at-risk SLAs. For more information on system-wide SLA events, see System-wide SLA Events.

Enter the Offset for the SLA to run a given number of days before or after the at-risk window. For example, if you set the offset as 2, the SLA will run 2 days after the at-risk window.
Choose the time from the Breach between field during which the SLA breach will occur, if the associated job did not complete within the stipulated time. Events are triggered for breached or violated SLAs. For more information on system-wide SLA events, see System-wide SLA Events. Enter the Offset for the SLA to run a given number of days before or after the breach window. For example, if you set the offset as 2, the SLA will run 2 days after the breach window.

If you want the SLA Rule to be active, select the Active option.

To edit an existing SLA Rule:

Choose an SLA Rule and click Edit on the Rules tab.
Modify the required fields on the Details tab.
Choose Business Activity Tags to either add more tags or remove the existing tags. Multiple SLA Rules can be tagged using the same Business Activity tag. If the SLA Rule is not active already, select the Active option.

Rules Context Menu:

Choose any existing Rule on the Rules tab and right-click to display the Rules context menu.

Click the Rules context menu and edit the Business Activity Tags referenced in the selected SLA Rule:

Enable the selected Rule

Disable the selected Rule

Choose all the Rules on the Rules tab

To view the history of an existing SLA Rule:

Choose an SLA Rule and click Edit on the Rules tab.
Choose the SLA History tab from the SLA Rule (Edit Mode) dialog.

The SLA History tab displays history for the SLA Rule related to a job instance sorted by Create Time.

This tab contains these elements:

Create Time – The date and time when the SLA History record is created.
Job No. – The unique job ID.
Job – The name of a job.
Job Type – The type of a job. Example: an individual job or a job group.
Date – The date when the related job instance was scheduled to run.
Run Date – The date when the related job instance was run.
SLA Event – The event that was triggered for a job SLA or system-wide SLA.
Ready Time –The date and time when the job was available to run.
Active Time – The date and time when the related job instance was active.
Wait Duration – The duration (in minutes and seconds) the job waited before it ran.
Agent – The agent under which the related job instance was scheduled to run.

To delete an existing SLA Rule, choose an SLA Rule and click Delete on the Rules tab. The selected Rule is deleted.

In the Description tab, type a description for the SLA Policy (optional).

Note: If you want the SLA Policy to be public, select the Public option. This makes the SLA Policy accessible to all TA users, within the limits of their individual security policies. Clear this option, if you want to limit use of the SLA Policy to yourself and your workgroup.
- If you want the SLA Policy to be active, check the Active option. Toggling the checkbox enables or disables the SLA Policy.
- If the SLA Policy you are editing is a parent policy, then toggling the checkbox displays a confirmation message, Do you want to enable/disable all children of SLA <xxx> at this time?

Click OK.

You can modify an SLA Rule to be effective for a future date and get the events triggered accordingly. The Effective Date dialog is displayed, if you have modified the parameters or the calendar used by an SLA Rule contained in one of the compiled schedules.

The Effective Date dialog is displayed only if

The tags of one ore more SLA Rules are modified.

The Calendar Name (with/without Offset), From, and To fields of the Calendar are modified. For the calendar specified with an offset, the Effective Date dialog shows only the future x days (not the current day).

The Timezone and the Job must start between fields are modified.

The At Risk between (with/without Offset), and Breach between (with/without Offset) fields are modified.

An SLA Rule (defined with the Calendar) is re-activated.

Choose one of the listed dates from the Scheduled Dates section to be added to the Effective Date section in the Effective Date dialog. The Effective Date dialog only appears if you are connected to the Master. The new SLA Policy gets added to the SLA Policies pane.

Note: In the TA system, system-wide SLA Policies can be defined with one or more SLA Rules. SLA Rules enforce the violations of an SLA on a particular production day. When an SLA Policy is compiled for an effective date (similar to a job definition compilation to create jobruns), it generates the SLARuns for those effective dates.

Note: SLAs defined at the Job Group level will not be inherited to child jobs.

Editing an SLA Policy

To edit an SLA Policy:

Click Definitions > SLA Policies on the Navigation pane to display the SLA Policies pane.

Double-click the SLA Policy or right-click the SLA Policy and select Edit SLA from the context menu, or select the SLA Policy and click Edit on the TA toolbar. The SLA Edit dialog appears.

Click the Name field, edit the name of the SLA Policy, and click OK. A Confirm dialog appears containing a message asking for confirmation. Click Yes.

Note: Make sure that the Name field (required field) is not empty before saving the changes.

Click the Parent field, and then choose a parent SLA Policy or retain its existing value.
- If you select a parent SLA Policy, the policy you are editing becomes the child policy of current parent and appears below its parent in the SLA Policy list hierarchy.
- If the Parent field is provided, a circular reference check will be performed to ensure that the parent does not point to its child SLA Policy.

To change the SLA Policy ownership, in the Owner field, select the new owner from the drop-down list.

Note: Make sure that the Owner field (required field) is not empty before saving the changes.

Click select an SLA Rule on the Rules tab and click Edit to edit the rule
Modify the required fields on the Rule Edit dialog. If required, click Business Activity Tags and add more tags or remove the existing tags.

Note: Multiple SLA Rules can be tagged using the same Business Activity tag. If you want the SLA Policy to be active, select the Active option.

Edit the description for the SLA Policy (optional) in the Description tab.

To view the history data of an existing rule defined under current SLA Policy, select the SLA History tab and select a rule from the Rule drop-down list.

The SLA History tab displays history for the SLA Policy related to a job instance sorted by Create Time.

This tab contains these elements:
- Create Time – The date and time when the SLA History record is created.
- Job No. – The unique job ID.
- Job – The name of a job.
- Job Type – The type of a job. Example: an individual job or a job group.
- SLA Rule – The SLA Rule defined as part of the SLA Policy that the job was associated with.
- Date – The date when the related job instance was scheduled to run.
- Run Date – The date when the related job instance was run.
- SLA Event – The event that was triggered for a job SLA or system-wide SLA.
- Ready Time –The date and time when the job was available to run.
- Active Time – The date and time when the related job instance was active.
- Wait Duration – The duration (in minutes and seconds) the job waited before it ran.
- Agent – The agent under which the related job instance was scheduled to run.
  
  Note: If you want the SLA Policy to be public, select the Public option. This makes the SLA Policy accessible to all TA users, within the limits of their individual security policies. Clear this option, if you want to limit use of the SLA Policy to yourself and your workgroup.
  
  If you want the SLA Policy to be active, check the Active option. Toggling the checkbox enables or disables the SLA Policy. If the SLA Policy you are editing is a parent Policy, then toggling the checkbox displays a confirmation message Do you want to enable/disable all children of SLA <xxx> at this time?

Click OK after editing the SLA Rule.

You can modify a rule to be effective for a future date and get the events triggered accordingly. The Effective Date dialog is displayed, if you have modified the parameters or the calendar used by an SLA Rule contained in one of the compiled schedules.The Effective Date dialog is displayed, if the Tags of one ore more SLA Rules are modified.
- Calendar Name (with/without Offset), From, and To fields of the Calendar are modified. For the calendar specified with an offset, the Effective Date dialog shows only the future x days (not the current day).
- Timezone and the Job must start between fields are modified.
- At Risk between (with/without Offset), and Breach between (with/without Offset) fields are modified.
- SLA Rule (defined with the Calendar) is re-activated.

Choose one of the listed dates from the Scheduled Dates section to be added to the Effective Date section in the Effective Date dialog. The Effective Date dialog only appears if you are connected to the Master.

Note: In the TA system, system-wide SLA Policies can be defined with one or more SLA Rules. SLA Rules enforce the violations of an SLA on a particular production day. When an SLA Policy is compiled for an effective date (similar to a job definition compilation to create jobruns), it generates the SLARuns for those effective dates.

Note: SLAs defined at the Job Group level will not be inherited to child jobs.

How SLA Policies work

SLA Rules identify violations of SLA Policies on a particular production day. An SLA Rule is identified by a Calendar / Time Window / Risk Window / Breach Window. An SLA Rule can be tagged with one or more Business Activity tags associated with jobs to help identify and track the jobruns that have violated the SLAs. When an SLA Policy is compiled for an effective date (similar to a job definition compilation to create jobruns), it generates the corresponding SLARuns for those effective dates.

Events are triggered when jobs are not completed within system-wide SLAs. Appropriate actions are performed based on the trigger conditions. Jobs not completed during the time window for system-wide SLAs are deemed to have violated that SLA.

The example shows how SLA Policies work in TA:

Create an SLA Policy and an SLA Rule. For more information, see Adding an SLA Policy.

Specify the Job Start Time window, SLA At-Risk time window, and SLA Breach Time window when creating or editing the SLA Rule.

Note: Make sure that the corresponding System-wide SLA event or Job SLA event and associated actions are defined.

Add one or more Business Activity tags to the SLA Rule.

Choose a date from the Effective Date dialog to compile SLA Runs when saving the SLA Policy.

Tag a daily job with the same Business Activity tags assigned to the SLA Rule.

Insert the job into the schedule.

The SLA Run generates, corresponding System-wide/Job SLA events are triggered, and actions associated with these events performed when the job enters the SLA Risk/Breach windows.

You can receive an email notification when a job violates an SLA Policy. The email action must be associated with the event triggered when an SLA violation occurs. For more information about the System-wide SLA events and Job SLA events that are triggered when jobs violate SLA policies, see Appendix A – System-wide SLA Events and Job SLA Events.

To view the SLA Policies, SLA Rules, and the Business Activity tags associated with jobruns, navigate to the SLA Activity (Operations > SLA Activity). The SLA Activity pane condenses the view of job activity by System-wide active SLA Policies, and displays the active SLA Rules (with a parent SLA Policy hierarchy) that are effective for a production day.

The hierarchy is shown in the pane: SLA Policy → SLA Child Policy (if any) → SLA Rules → SLA Rule Business Activity Tags. Select the Business Activity tag that coincides with the SLA Rule calendar / breach / at risk windows to display the associated jobruns in the lower pane of the SLA Activity pane. For more information about the SLA Activity pane, see SLA Activity.

Deleting an SLA Policy

Click Definitions > SLA Policies on the Navigation pane to display the SLA Policies pane.

Right-click the SLA Policies to be deleted and select Delete SLA from the context menu or select the SLA Policies and click Delete on the TA toolbar, or select the SLA Policies and press Delete. A Confirm dialog with the message Delete selected records? appears.

Click Yes to delete the selected SLA Policy.

Note: Deleting a Parent SLA Policy also deletes its child hierarchy. A parent SLA Policy can be deleted or disabled only if its child SLA Policies/SLA Rules are inactive or deleted. An error occurs when you try to delete an SLA Policy with active SLA Policies/SLA Rules.

Copying an SLA Policy

Click Definitions > SLA Policies on the Navigation pane to display the SLA Policies pane.

Right-click the SLA Policies to be copied and select Copy SLA from the context menu or select the SLA Policies and click Copy on the TA toolbar. A Confirm dialog with the message Copy selected records? appears.

Click Yes to receive a copy of the selected SLA Policies.

Note: The new SLA Policies created as a result of this function has the same properties as the original policies. The name of the new policies are prefaced with “Copy of”. Copying a parent SLA Policy copies its child hierarchy.