Definition
An Operational Level Agreement OLA is an internal document that defines the responsibilities and expectations between different departments or teams within an organization that support a service. It clarifies how these internal groups will work together to ensure a service meets its agreed upon service level targets. OLAs are crucial for maintaining service quality and ensuring smooth internal operations. For example, an IT operations team might have an OLA with the network team to ensure network uptime meets the service level agreement SLA requirements. This differs from an SLA which is typically an external agreement with a customer, while an OLA is internal between service providers. Understanding OLAs is important for IT service management domains and can appear on certifications like ITIL Foundation.