SNOW-CSA Reporting, SLA and Imports Practice Question
An SLA is breached, but the breach time appears incorrect. The SLA definition uses a business schedule that excludes weekends. The incident was created on Friday at 5 PM and breached on Monday at 8 AM. Why did the breach time not exclude the weekend?
⚠ Common exam trap
ServiceNow often tests the misconception that the business schedule alone determines the breach time, when in reality the SLA condition must be met first for the schedule to be applied; candidates overlook the condition evaluation step and assume the schedule is the sole factor.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The business schedule is not attached to the SLA definition
For an SLA to use a business schedule to calculate breach time, the schedule must be attached to the SLA definition. If the schedule is not attached, the SLA clock runs based on calendar time without excluding weekends. In this scenario, the incident was created at 5 PM on Friday and breached at 8 AM on Monday, which is exactly 63 hours later—consistent with calendar time (24 hours Friday to Saturday, 24 hours Saturday to Sunday, 15 hours Sunday 8 AM to Monday 8 PM? Wait recalc: Friday 5 PM to Monday 8 AM is 63 hours? Actually, Friday 5 PM to Monday 8 AM is 63 hours? No: Friday 5 PM to Saturday 5 PM = 24h, to Sunday 5 PM = 48h, to Monday 5 AM = 60h, to Monday 8 AM = 63h. That is calendar time. If the schedule were attached excluding weekends, the clock would have stopped at Friday 5 PM and resumed Monday 8 AM (if schedule starts at 8 AM), so breach would be at Monday 5 PM? Actually, if SLA duration is e.g., 24 hours, and schedule excludes weekends, the breach time would be Monday 5 PM (24 hours of schedule time). But here breach is at Monday 8 AM, which is exactly calendar time, indicating the schedule was not applied. Therefore, the business schedule is not attached to the SLA definition.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The schedule's 'Use schedule for progress' is unchecked
Why it's wrong here
The 'Use schedule for progress' checkbox controls schedule-based progress calculation, but even if unchecked, the schedule would still be used for breach time if attached. This is not the primary reason for the observed breach time.
- ✓
The business schedule is not attached to the SLA definition
Why this is correct
Correct. If the business schedule is not attached to the SLA definition, the SLA clock runs on calendar time, ignoring weekends. This matches the scenario where breach occurred exactly 63 hours after creation (Friday 5 PM to Monday 8 AM without weekend exclusion).
- ✗
The SLA condition is not met
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. The SLA is active (breach occurred), so the SLA condition must have been met. If the condition were not met, the SLA would not start at all and no breach would occur. The problem is that the schedule is not attached, not that the condition failed.
- ✗
The schedule's time zone is incorrect
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. A time zone mismatch could cause the schedule to appear shifted, but it would not cause the weekend to be entirely ignored. The schedule would still exclude weekends, just at different local times.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This SNOW-CSA practice question is part of Courseiva's free ServiceNow certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the SNOW-CSA exam.