SLA

An SLA, or service level agreement, is a contract between a service provider and a customer that documents the expected level of service, responsibilities, and remedies if those levels are not met. It defines the scope of the service, the performance targets, monitoring methods, reporting requirements, incident handling, and the terms of service duration and termination.

Common components of an SLA include the service scope, service levels or objectives (SLOs), service level indicators (SLIs), measurement methodologies, responsibilities of each party, monitoring and reporting cadence, support hours, incident management processes, remedies such as service credits or termination rights, and any exclusions or exceptions.

Types of SLAs vary by approach. A service-based SLA applies the same terms to all customers for a given service. A customer-based SLA tailors terms to a particular customer. Multi-level SLAs involve different levels of terms, such as corporate-level, customer-level, and service-level obligations.

Metrics and measurement revolve around availability and performance. Common targets include uptime or availability, response times, repair or restoration times, throughput, and capacity. SLIs are the concrete metrics used to measure performance, while SLOs are the agreed targets for those metrics.

Enforcement and governance involve ongoing monitoring, reporting, and verification. When SLAs are breached, remedies may include service credits or escalation procedures, and changes typically require formal amendments. Transparency and audits help validate compliance.

Illustrative examples include cloud providers guaranteeing a monthly uptime of 99.9%, with credits for outages beyond thresholds and defined response times for incidents. SLAs should align with organizational risk, legal considerations, and operational practices to be effective.