The SLA should include a detailed description of the services. Each individual service should be defined, i.e. there should be a description of the service, where it is to be provided, for whom it is to be provided and when it is needed. For example, if one of the services is the delivery of a particular report, the corresponding provision of the SLA must describe the report, indicate what it should contain, specify its format (possibly with reference to a specific model), how it should be delivered (e.B. by e-mail), to whom, when and how often (e.B to the finance team every day until 10 am.m every weekday morning). Service level agreements can also be important for more modern tier agreements that include components such as shared services, revised contract methods, and cloud computing adjustments. In addition to setting out baseline expectations, the agreements clearly define how key performance indicators are to be assessed. It`s also a good idea to review your SLA as your business evolves and grows, as the SLA should reflect its changing needs and capabilities. If you need help creating a service level agreement or want to review an agreement you currently have in place, Contract Counsel can help. We are happy to put you in touch with a fully approved lawyer who can help you create or revise your Service Level Agreement. Contact us today to get started. Availability of the Service: The length of time the Service is available for use.

This can be measured by the time window, where, for example, 99.5% availability between the hours of 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. is required and availability is more or less indicated at other times. Ecommerce operations usually have extremely aggressive SLAs at all times; 99.999% uptime is a requirement that is not uncommon for a website that generates millions of dollars per hour. Customers can create common metrics for multiple service providers, consider the cross-vendor impact, and consider the impact the vendor may have on processes that are not considered part of the contract. Most service providers provide statistics, often through an online portal. There, customers can verify that SLAs are being met and whether they are eligible for service credits or other penalties as stated in the SLA. Next, the customer must specify the expected performance standards for each individual service one after the other. This varies depending on the service. Using the sample report above, a potential service level could be 99.5%. However, this must be carefully weighed.

Often, a customer wants performance standards at the highest level. While understandable, in practice this could prove impossible, unnecessary or very costly. On the other hand, the service provider may well argue that performance levels should be deliberately set low to ensure that the service can be provided at a competitive price. It`s all a matter of judgment and the customer needs to carefully consider each level of service – it often happens that individual services are weighted differently based on their commercial importance. Performance standards for the availability of an online service are generally high, as it is crucial for the customer to ensure the constant availability of the service. Other individual services may be less important and service levels for these may be set at a lower level. For example, Customer is responsible for providing an agent to resolve issues with the Service Provider related to the SLA. The service provider is responsible for achieving the service level defined in the SLA. The performance of the service provider is assessed on the basis of a number of measures. Response time and resolution time are among the most important metrics included in an SLA because they relate to how the service provider handles a service disruption.

Service level agreements are important because they help meet customer expectations, define the consequences of breaches, and define protocols for acceptable and unacceptable performance issues. You can also give customers the ability to compare agreements from multiple vendors to determine which company is best for them. Agreements are particularly advantageous for providing recourse to customers in the event of undesirable actions occurring with their service. They ensure that both parties understand their expectations and responsibilities and eliminate doubts about protocols in case suppliers do not meet those expectations. Service Description – The ALC requires detailed descriptions of each service offered in all possible circumstances, including processing times. Service definitions should include how services are deployed, whether a maintenance service is offered, what is the uptime, where dependencies exist, an overview of processes, and a list of all technologies and applications used. In addition to the services that customers can expect from their provider, SLAs can also detail the services that providers do not offer. These can help resolve points of confusion or tacit assumptions made by the customer about what is included in their service.

Exclusions facilitate access to service offerings in the event of a discrepancy. Many agreements begin with an overview that describes the main contractual bases such as the contract start date, the parties involved, and a general summary of the expected service offerings. The summary may include key terms and clarify the responsibilities of the parties in the agreement. For example, if they use the term “supplier” in the agreement, they can explain in this first part of the document to whom this title refers. In addition to defining performance metrics, an SLA can include a plan to resolve downtime and documentation on how the service provider will compensate customers in the event of a breach of contract. Service credits are a typical remedy. For example, service providers may provide credits that correspond to the length of time they exceeded the SLA performance guarantee. A service provider may limit performance penalties to a maximum amount to limit the risk.

SLAs are an integral part of an IT vendor contract. An SLA summarizes information about all contractual services and their agreed expected reliability in a single document. They clearly state the parameters, responsibilities and expectations, so that in case of problems with the service, neither party can invoke ignorance. It ensures that both parties have the same understanding of the requirements. Service level agreements are usually signed contracts, and the last part of the document is reserved for stakeholder signatures to confirm agreement and understanding. This section may include termination information, mechanisms for updating the contract as a customer`s requirements or the supplier`s capabilities change, and a indemnification clause that protects each party from unnecessary liability or loss. The SLA should define the overall objectives of the services to be provided. For example, if a third-party vendor`s goal is to improve performance, reduce costs, or provide access to features and/or technologies that cannot be deployed internally, the SLA should state this.

This will help the client design service levels to achieve these goals and should leave the service provider in no doubt about what is required and why. Who is responsible for ensuring that each party`s objectives are met? In this section of your SLA, clarify which team does what and who talks to whom. Is there a separate employee who uses the services compared to the employee who reports on performance on a weekly basis? Clearly state who is involved in the SLA and how. In addition to these three types, there are three other classifications: client-based SLAs, service-based SLAs, and multi-level SLAs. This SLA also uses chips to uniquely identify its services and customer promises. For example, a decision manager might be a more valuable contact than an intern. If this is the case, you can perform the above analysis for each subset of leads and set separate goals for each type/level of quality. Multi-level SLAs can take different forms.

This type of agreement can support a company`s customers or the company`s various internal departments. The purpose of this type of SLA is to describe what is expected of each party when there is more than one service provider and one end user. Here is an example of a tiered SLA in an internal situation: The purpose of this SLA is to specify the requirements of the SaaS service, as defined here, in terms of the following: The goal should be to fairly integrate best practices and requirements that maintain the service and avoid additional costs. A STATEMENT of work may fall under an SLA, which may fall under an MSA. These contracts are also all different from a non-disclosure agreement that binds one or more parties to confidentiality. Here are some service level agreement templates that you can use to define the service you will offer to end users: Before subscribing to an IT service, the SLA should be carefully evaluated and designed to achieve the maximum service value from an end-user and business perspective. .