SLA (Service Level Agreement) is an agreement that defines expected service levels between a provider and a client.

What is SLA?

SLA is a formal agreement that defines expected service levels, including metrics, responsibilities and consequences of non-compliance.

Components

Metrics

  • Availability: Percentage of available time
  • Performance: Response time
  • Capacity: Service capacity
  • Quality: Service quality

Responsibilities

  • Provider: Provider responsibilities
  • Client: Client responsibilities
  • Third parties: Third-party responsibilities
  • Escalation: Escalation procedures

Consequences

  • Penalties: Non-compliance penalties
  • Bonuses: Compliance bonuses
  • Termination: Contract termination
  • Mediation: Mediation procedures

SLA Types

By Level

  • Service Level: Service level
  • Operational Level: Operational level
  • Underpinning Level: Underpinning level
  • Customer Level: Customer level

By Scope

  • Service: Specific service
  • Customer: Specific customer
  • Multi-level: Multiple levels
  • Corporate: Corporate

Common Metrics

Availability

  • Uptime: Uptime
  • Downtime: Downtime
  • MTBF: Mean time between failures
  • MTTR: Mean time to repair

Performance

  • Response Time: Response time
  • Throughput: Processing capacity
  • Latency: Service latency
  • Bandwidth: Bandwidth

Quality

  • Error Rate: Error rate
  • Success Rate: Success rate
  • Quality Score: Quality score
  • Customer Satisfaction: Customer satisfaction

Implementation

Phase 1: Negotiation

  • Requirements: Define requirements
  • Metrics: Select metrics
  • Levels: Establish levels
  • Consequences: Define consequences

Phase 2: Documentation

  • Contract: Document contract
  • Procedures: Operational procedures
  • Metrics: Define metrics
  • Reports: Report structure

Phase 3: Implementation

  • Monitoring: Implement monitoring
  • Reports: Generate reports
  • Review: Review compliance
  • Improvement: Continuous improvement

Phase 4: Operation

  • Monitoring: Continuous monitoring
  • Reports: Regular reports
  • Review: SLA review
  • Renegotiation: SLA renegotiation

Best Practices

Negotiation

  • Realism: Realistic levels
  • Measurement: Measurable metrics
  • Consequences: Clear consequences
  • Flexibility: Flexibility in changes

Monitoring

  • Automation: Automate monitoring
  • Alerts: Non-compliance alerts
  • Reports: Regular reports
  • Analysis: Trend analysis

Management

  • Communication: Effective communication
  • Review: Regular review
  • Improvement: Continuous improvement
  • Renegotiation: Periodic renegotiation

References