Simple Excel Task Tracker With SLA Tracking

What Is Service Level Agreement?

An SLA(Service Level Agreement) is an official commitment between a service provider and their client. While the provider may be internal or external to the clients’ organization, the SLA is more or less the same.

Simple Excel Task Tracker with SLA Tracking

The SLA's main goal is to plainly state the aspects of the agreed-upon level of service, not in contractual terms but in day-to-day language. The only difference between the internal and external providers' SLA will be the consequences if the provider doesn’t hold up their part of the agreement.

Since this isn’t a legal contract but more of an appendix to one, the SLA doesn’t cover what the client will pay for services rendered. When you have a small team and want to manage a few tasks, all need a simple tracking mechanism for team tasks. This excel tracking template is simple and easy to use. It allows tracking multiple people and highlights SLA breaches.

How to Measure SLA?

The following points describe how the SLA will be measured and how to determine whether the provider has lived up to their agreed-upon levels of service 

• MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures): How many hours out of a day (24 hours) will the service be available. This is referred to as “up-time” in the service agreements (such as the internet, cable TV, electricity, etc.).

• MTTR (Mean Time To Repair): Defines the time period of how long the provider has to fix the problem, denying the client of using the service. This refers to unforeseen problems.

• Responsiveness: Defines how much time can pass between a call for service and response, which will solve the problem.

• Consequences for not Meeting the Agreed-Upon Levels of Service: What will the compensation be if the provider doesn’t meet their agreed-upon levels.

• Constraint Clauses: Occurrences that are out of the provider's hands, where force major denies the possibility of achieving the service levels. For example, Flooding, fire, hurricanes, etc.

• Consequences: The SLA usually states how they will be measured, by whom, and when. The results of these measurements determine which (if any) of the consequences will be used.

What Are The Different Types Of SLA's?

Numerous types of SLA’s can be offered to a client, and below are the main types that are commonly used 

1. Customer-Based SLA: This agreement type is between the provider and a specific customer (or customer group) and outlines which services will be covered by the provider. An IT supplier provides internet services, TV-based content, and landline communications to a hotel chain (the client). The SLA will state the measurements of each of the three services provided.

2. Service-Based SLA: This agreement covers all the users who use a certain service provided by a service company. For example, Cell phone coverage is offered to all clients of a telecommunications provider.

3. Multi-Level SLA: This service is split into three different levels, each of which covers the same needs of separate customers in the same organization - Examples are Corporate Level SLA, Customer-Based SLA, and Service Based SLA.

What Are Different SLA Tracking Methods?

Once an SLA has been agreed upon and the contract has been signed, both parties measure the various aspects of the agreement to ascertain whether the SLA has been met.

There are various methods to track this, and the points below describe the more popular ones 

Sampling:

Since continuous tracking is a costly affair, sampling the service provided allows the client to determine whether the SLA is met. This is achieved by testing the service once every period of time, for a short period. For example: Logging into an internet site for 5 minutes every four hours to determine that the internet is available.

BI Tracking:

This option provides continuous automated tracking throughout the day and presents charts and analysis of the services provided. This will grant a holistic overview of the SLA and re expensive hardware and software and maintenance and a set-up period.

Continuous Tracking:

This option is a combination of the two above. It requires tracking the services throughout the day but is done manually by extracting information from the systems and analyzing them.

Advantages Of An Excel Task Tracker

• Easy to Set Up:

The basic information required is the task name, expected end date, actual (estimated) end date, the difference between the two, and comments. The difference is a simple formula that calculates the difference between the two dates. See attached template as an example.

• Features:

Once the info is inserted into the spreadsheet, it allows easy use of many built-in features (e.g., filtering, sorting, and conditional formatting).

• Easily Shared:

Excel is a built-in application of the Office suite most people have on their computer. This allows the plan to be easily distributed and used by the team members and stakeholders.

• Customizable:

It is possible to add any number of columns to the basic info, such as red flags to draw attention to the task which is in major delay. It is also possible to add drop-down lists, which will allow the updaters to choose a category of tasks, status, reasons for the delay, etc.

• Charts:

Once the spreadsheet is up and running, it is quite simple to add charts that will visually present the project's current status and recognize bottlenecks and problematic tasks.

• Familiarity:

Most people are familiar with Excel, which can diminish the reluctance of using it daily.

• Macros:

Recording a macro is a simple way of performing repetitive tasks in an automated fashion. This can make the usage of the spreadsheet much more efficient.

About Our SLA Tracking Excel Tracker

• Simple and easy use tracker which highlights tasks that go outside SLA.

• The tracker captures task ID, description, received date, and SLA counter.

• Support SLA tracking in terms of days.

• The tacker is available for 6 and 3 team format.

• Configurable SLA can be set to be red, green, or amber.

• If any task is under SLA, then the counter will be GREEN.

• If any task is right on SLA, then it is AMBER.

• If any task is breached SLA, then it is marked RED.

• To use the tracker, enter the task id, description, and received date.

• DO NOT CHANGE ANYTHING IN THE COUNTER COLUMN AS IT IS AUTO-CALCULATED.

Using the task tracker

If you are looking for a Help Desk Tracker, we strongly recommend Excel Ticket Tracker.