A Service-Level Agreement (SLA) is a service you anticipate from your vendor, explaining the metrics and remedies or penalties agreed-on service levels to be achieved. Creating service level agreements (SLAs) is not the most compelling aspect of a managed services provider (MSP) role. Still, it remains an integral part of the customer relationship.
SLAs are an essential part of any outsourcing and technology vendor contract. An SLA offers remedies beyond listing when conditions are not fulfilled.
Therefore, the first thing you should know:
- Draw Precise Service Depiction.
- Set Clear Anticipations About Reporting Problems.
- Retain Practical Implementation Metric Benchmarks.
- Enlighten Your Clients About MTBF(mean time between failures)/MTTF(mean time to fix).
- Familiarize Them with MTTR(mean time to repair)
- Have a Clause For Customer Recompense.
Therefore, an SLA illustrates the service expected by a client from a supplier with all metrics laid out. SLAs are generally between businesses and service providers, and they can also be between different departments within a company.
Table of Contents
An SLA is an Integral Part of a Vendor Contract
An SLA has all information about the contracted services and their agreed-upon dependability and liabilities in one document. There should be clear metrics, obligations, and anticipations. So that in the possibility of issues with the service, neither party can claim cluelessness. It brings both parties on the same platform.
Any contract without an SLA, examined by legal counsel, can be misconstrued, and the SLA should protect both parties.
SLAs should include the technology or business goals of the agreement. It can harm deal pricing and service delivery quality and affect consumer experience if overlooked.
Who Supplies the SLA
Generally, most service providers have their own SLAs, and there can be many samples with various service levels at different quotes. However, the client and legal counsel should check and alter these if needed.
The client should indicate desired services when sending out an RFP (request for proposal). The supplier will detail his services and quotes according to the client’s expectations.
SLAs Should Contain Details
The SLA should have the following details:
- It should explain the services and their desired service levels.
- It should also have metrics to measure the services.
- It should define the duties and obligations of each party.
- If a breach occurs, it should point out the remedies or penalties.
- Also, have a protocol for adding and removing metrics.
- Either party should design metrics so bad behavior is not rewarded. For example, if there is a breach of service and the client fails to provide the supplier’s information, the supplier should not be penalized.
The Key Elements of SLAs
The two main elements of SLAs are services and management:
- Service elements must include service specs, terms of service availability, and time windows for each level of service.
- Duties and commitments of both parties in escalation procedures and cost/service tradeoffs.
- It should include detailed measurement standards and plans, reporting procedures, contents and frequency, a disagreement resolution method, an indemnification clause covering the client from third-party litigation in case of service level breaches, and a mechanism for updating the agreement if required.
This last item is crucial since service conditions and vendor credentials may change from time to time to keep the SLA up-to-date.
Indemnification Clause
An indemnification clause is a mandatory requirement, and the vendor agrees to indemnify the client company for any infringements of its stakes. Indemnification means that the vendor is liable to pay the client in case of litigation resulting from infringement of the warranties.
An SLA is Renegotiable
In case of a company merger with another, or some other company acquires it, its SLA may or may not continue to be effective. Parties may have to renegotiate the contract. The new company may not alienate existing clients and may choose to respect the existing SLAs.
Verification of Service Levels
Generally, statistics are available on online portals. The client and the supplier can negotiate so there is a good understanding of the entire process.
To measure performance, clients should invest in third-party tools to catch SLA performance data.
Metrics should be Monitored
Items on an SLA should avoid chaos and high costs on either side. Depending on the service, the types of metrics to monitor may include:
- Availability of Service: How much time the service is available for use may be estimated by time slot. E-commerce operations typically have highly aggressive SLAs at all times. 99.9 percent uptime is a not uncommon requirement for a site that generates millions of dollars an hour.
- Fault Rates: This is the count of errors in major deliverables. The category includes production failures like insufficient backups and restores, coding errors/rework, and ignored deadlines.
- Technical Markers: The measurement of technological markers using commercial analysis tools that investigate factors such as program size, coding defects, etc., should be in an outsourced application.
- Security: In these technologically advanced times, application and network security breaches can prove expensive. Calculating controllable security measures like anti-virus updates and mending is key to fixing all appropriate preventive measures in an incident.
- Business Results: IT customers want to include business process metrics in their SLAs. Using existing KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) is best if you can calculate the vendor’s contribution to those KPIs.
Factors Selecting Metrics for Your SLA
The approach of an SLA should be fair use of best practices and conditions that will support service execution and avoid additional costs.
- Choose Metrics that Motivate: The first objective of any metric is to inspire(ensure) the proper relationship between the client and the service provider. Both parties will work to meet the performance objectives defined by the metrics. The focus first should be on the behavior that you want to boost. Try and test your metrics by placing yourself in the other side’s position. How best would you deliver, and how would you optimize your performance? Will it enhance the performance and better the actual result? It is always helpful for both parties to remain on the same page during the work execution and delivery.
- Metrics in Service Provider’s Control: An SLA’s metrics should assess factors within the outsourcer’s command. A common error is to blame the service provider for delays, but sometimes it occurs because of the client’s lack of performance. For example, suppose the client changes specifications for the application code several weeks later. It’d be one-sided and demoralizing for the service provider, and the client cannot expect delivery on a pre-specified date. A two-sided SLA that measures the client’s performance of mutually dependent actions is an excellent way to concentrate on the planned outcomes.
- Select Metrics That Organize Easily: You need to balance a metric’s power against its supply. When you have a doubt, compromise in favor of an accessible collection. Remember, no one will spare the effort to collect metrics manually.
- Less is More: You should refrain from gathering a disproportionate amount of metrics or metrics that produce a massive amount of data. No one will have time to analyze the data. Therefore, whatever you have, stick to the metrics execution instead of more data.
- Fix a Useful Baseline: To set the valuable metrics, they should be affordable and achievable at performance levels. You must be prepared to review and readjust the settings at a future date through an already laid down process specified in the SLA. You can also visit the historical data if available.
Define Your Metrics with Care
A service provider may tweak SLA descriptions to ensure a smooth transaction. Some providers meet all that is in the SLA 100 % by supplying automated reports. Customers should also set SLAs clearly to define the service level’s purpose. The SLA should have a clause about monitoring services, including data collection, reviews, etc.
What Provider Fails to Adhere to Metrics
When vendors miss minimum performance criteria, the provider and client decide to put a specific percentage of monthly fees “at risk”.
Revision of SLAs
Always remember businesses may change so will their service necessities. An SLA should not be a static document; rather, SLAs should have provisions for changes and modifications during the contract term.
Conclusion
The SLA is a crucial part of any service provider agreement, and it pays off in the long run if the SLA is suitably written and codified at the beginning of an association.
An SLA specifies remedies to avoid confusion since it protects both parties and saves time and money for both customers and the service providers.
