Operating Level Agreement - an internal agreement between different departments or teams within the same organization that defines the services, standards, and expectations for their working relationship. It specifies delivery times, quality standards, and responsibilities for internal service provision.
Acronym for 'Operating Level Agreement,' developed as an internal counterpart to SLAs (Service Level Agreements). The concept emerged in IT service management in the 1990s-2000s as organizations recognized the need to formalize internal service relationships, not just external customer commitments.
OLAs are like marriage contracts for departments - they make expectations explicit before problems arise! The magic happens when teams negotiate their OLAs together, because the conversation often reveals mismatched assumptions and creates mutual understanding about constraints and priorities.
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