Agreement Matrices
An agreement matrix contains a set of rules for calculating at what point a call or a request will be escalated, or an agreement breached.
An Agreement Matrix in ASM Core is a pivotal tool used in Service Level Management for configuring the escalation and operation according to agreements for calls, requests, and tasks. It allows for detailed customization of escalation and breach times for every result, offering unparalleled flexibility. By incorporating dimensions such as Priority and Config Item Type, it tailors the response based on specific criteria linked to an agreement, thereby managing escalations and agreement breaches effectively.
Escalation and agreement breach times can be set specifically for every result in a matrix and you can create and assign as many matrices as you like, so there is virtually unlimited flexibility in configuring your system for escalation and agreements.
Dimensions
If you create a matrix with the dimensions Priority and Config Item Type, it means that any call connected to an agreement using that matrix will have its escalation and breach times based on the values entered into the matrix for the matching Priority and Config Item of the call.
Matrices can be based on calls, requests or tasks/approvals. They are composed of three dimensions, much like the axes of a graph. Defining a matrix involves setting its dimensions. The matrix can then be linked to an agreement on the IPK and Workflow Threshold window. The result can be a notification (hierarchical escalation) or reassignment (functional escalation).
Escalation and Agreement Times
Escalation and agreement times may be further classified by Service. You can select a matrix to link to an agreement on the IPK and Workflow Threshold windows. If a config item type is set to escalate faster than others (such as, Servers), a high priority call involving that config item type will be escalated faster than a high priority call involving other config item types.
Matrices can have up to three dimensions.
Typically, matrices derive escalation times based on a combination of priority and either configuration item type or call (or request) type. They may also use service as a third dimension.
Each agreement has a particular matrix that is applied when the agreement is invoked for a call. The agreement also contains rules about how the times in the matrix are used to specify escalation and agreement breach times.
Generally, calls invoke several escalation events before eventually triggering an agreement breach event. At this point, the agreement has been broken, and penalties may apply. Escalations are designed to prevent agreement breaches from occurring.
These rules apply to requests and tasks as well.
Agreement Matrices and Escalation Matrices
The different matrices you need to create are related to the type of escalation you have on your system. If you have First Call Back and Response escalation, you will need a First Call Back and a Response matrix.
Remember, escalations are internal alerts used to prevent agreement breaches.
Factors
You do not have to create a different escalation matrix in addition to the agreement matrix. When creating an agreement, ASM Core enables you to use an existing agreement matrix as an escalation matrix, but applied at a certain factor or multiple in the matrix. Each time the escalation matrix is figured out by multiplying the corresponding time by the factor you choose (usually a number between 0 and 1). That allows time between an escalation and when the agreement will be breached.
For example: For a service agreement with a company to fix software and hardware problems, all software issues must be resolved within 120 minutes. Hardware issues must be resolved within 90 minutes unless they are server issues, in which case the time is only 60 minutes. High priority calls must be fixed within half those times.
The agreement times can be factored into a Priority by Config Item Type matrix. However, the escalation times must always be smaller than the agreement times (say, half), otherwise by the time a call escalates the agreement times have already been breached.
To account for this, after creating the Resolve Agreement Matrix, also create a Resolve Escalation matrix, based on the Resolve Agreement Matrix but at a Factor of 0.5, that is, one half.
The two tables below show how these matrices work. The third dimension, Service, is not being used in this example.
Creating an Agreement Matrix
The Matrix Definition window enables you to create an agreement matrix.
Select the Menu button, then Admin, and then select System Administration. The System Administration window is displayed, with a menu of options available.
In the Explorer pane, select Service Level Management.
Select Matrix Definition to open the window.
Select the New icon . A pop-up window New Matrix Type appears.
In the New Matrix Type window, select the entity (Calls, Requests, Tasks/Approvals) for which you want to create the agreement matrix. Call matrices can be used to set IPK thresholds whereas Request and Task/Approval matrices can be used to set workflow thresholds.
Select Ok. A new row is added to the browse table on the Matrix Definition window with the Matrix Type field set to your selection.
In the Name field, type a name for the matrix you want to create.
Ensure all matrices have meaningful names such as ‘Response Escalation for Software Support’ so the correct matrices can be chosen when applying them to a contract.
At X Dimension, select a matrix criterion from the drop-down list. You can adjust the column widths if required.
The choices for Dimension X are Priority and Unspecified. Generally, you organize matrices by Priority. However, if you only want to base the matrix on a Y Dimension criterion, select Unspecified.
At Y Dimension, select your matrix criteria from the drop-down list. This is optional, and the fields displayed depend on the matrix type.
Requests
Unspecified, By Request Type, By Workflow Template
Tasks or approvals
Unspecified, By Task Type
At Z Dimension, select your matrix criteria. If you do not want to use dimension Z, set it to Unspecified. Otherwise, select Service and then select a specific service in Filter by which is in the section below the definition area.
After timings are entered into the matrix for the first service, select the next service for which timings need to be set.
The matrix appears below the definition area, based on the dimensions you selected. The columns will be Priority (or Default if you chose X Dimension to be Unspecified), and the rows will be labeled based on your Y Dimension criterion. If you selected Workflow Template as the Y Dimension criterion, the rows will list each workflow template.
For each cell in the table, specify the length of time when the escalations and breach occur for a particular agreement, in the format “h:mm”, where h represents the hours and mm represents the minutes of the agreement. To set a time of two hours and fifteen minutes, type 2:15 into the cell.
To use the same times for several rows, type the time in one of the rows and then use the and buttons to copy and paste the times. You can use the CTRL and Shift keys to copy onto multiple rows.
Select to save the changes. Provide the Change Reasons if prompted to do so.
Renaming an Agreement Matrix
Select the Menu button, then Admin, and then select System Administration. The System Administration window is displayed, with a menu of options available.
In the Explorer pane, select Service Level Management.
Select Matrix Definition to open the window.
Select the required Event Type by selecting on the Name field.
Type over the name with the new name.
Select to save the changes. Provide the Change Reasons if prompted to do so.
Deleting an Agreement Matrix
Select the Menu button, then Admin, and then select System Administration. The System Administration window is displayed, with a menu of options available.
In the Explorer pane, select Service Level Management.
Select Matrix Definition to open the window.
Select the required row and select the Delete Icon.
Select to save the changes. Provide the Change Reasons if prompted to do so.
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