Defining milestones and actions for service targets

In the Step 4 of 4 tab of the Service Target wizard, if you are not using a template, you can define milestones for your service target. This step is optional.

Milestones are notification mechanisms to make sure that service target commitments are being met. You can define a set of milestones to trigger at certain points as you progress towards the service target goal. For example, you can create a milestone to notify your manager if the request has not been resolved within 50 percent of the start of the service target goal.

Related topics

Measurement-criteria-for-service-targets


Warning

If you try to update more than one milestone action and save the service target without a build action, a unique index violation error message is displayed explaining the current state of the data; for example: "Unique index violation on schema: SLM:Milestone, entry: 000000000000495, 1 unique index(es), field(s): 179."

After you build the service target, those duplicate milestone actions are deleted and the index violation error is no longer displayed.

Step 4 of 4.gif


To create milestones

(Click the forward play icon to see the entire process)

  1. In the Milestones section, click Add.
  2. From the Select menu, select Custom > New Milestone.
  3. Click OK.
  4. In the Title field, enter a brief title of the milestone or select from an existing template.
    Do not include any parentheses in the milestone title.
  5. In the Description field, enter a description for the milestone.
  6. From the Execute When list, select one of the following to specify when the milestone should trigger:
    • Start Qualification Occurs—Whenever the request is modified and the criteria for the start qualification are met, the milestone runs. This milestone is perpetual and is active for the life of the request.
    • Stop Qualification Occurs—Whenever the request is modified and the criteria for the stop qualification are met, the milestone runs. This milestone is perpetual and is active for the life of the request.
    • Exclude Qualification Occurs—Whenever the request is modified and the criteria for the exclude qualification are met, the milestone runs. This milestone is perpetual and is active for the life of the request.
    • Custom Qualification—Specify a custom qualification in the Execute If field. This setting allows you to precisely control when the milestone runs. This milestone is perpetual and is active for the life of the request.
    • Percentage of Goal Time From Start—In the At field, specify the time, as a percentage, from the start of the measurement. For example, a command to run after 50 percent of a four hour goal results in the milestone executing two hours after the start of the measurement.
    • Percentage of Goal Time From End—In the At field, specify the time, as a percentage, to the end of the measurement. For example, a command to run when 25 percent of a four hour goal remains results in the milestone executing one hour before the goal expires.
    • Hours & Minutes From Start—In the Or At field, specify the time in hours and minutes from the start of the measurement. For example, a command to run at three hours results in the milestone executing three hours after the start of the measurement. This milestone runs, even if the goal is less than three hours.

    • Hours & Minutes From End—In the Or At field, specify the time in hours and minutes from the end of the measurement. For example, a command to run at one hour results in the milestone executing one hour before the goal expires.

      Warning

      If you use one of the first four criteria that are not time-scheduled (Start Qualification Occurs, Stop Qualification Occurs, Exclude Qualification Occurs, or Custom Qualification), you might see more actions than you anticipated. This result is because the milestone runs whenever the ticket is modified and the criteria are met. To resolve this situation, use the Percentage or Hours options that are controlled by the elapsed goal time. Alternatively, you can select Custom Qualification and enter an Execute If criteria that uses transaction (TR) value to control the frequency of the milestone execution.

  7. For percentage and hours criteria, specify how often the milestone must recur.
    This milestone might extend past the Due Date of the measurement. Set the recurrence in the following fields:
    1. In the Repeat For field, enter the number of times you want the milestone to recur; for example, 10 times.
    2. In the After Every field, specify how often you want the milestone to recur in hours and minutes; for example, every 5 minutes.
  8. In the Execute If field, click Define to enter a qualification specifying under what circumstances the action must occur.
    For example, the action of Notifying the Manager needs to take effect if 'Service Status' < "Resolved" or 'Service Status' != "Work In Progress".
  9. Click OK.


To specify actions for milestones

You must create at least one action to associate with a milestone. Add as many actions as you want. To change the order in which the actions are triggered, highlight the action and click Up or Down.

Before you begin, you must create a milestone to associate with an action.

  1. In the Actions section, click Add.
  2. In the Select field, from the menu, select an option to define a custom action or to select from the available action templates.
  3. Click OK and begin defining your actions accordingly.

 

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