Service Level Agreement

What Does Service Level Agreement Mean?

A Service Level Agreement (SLA) is the service contract component between a service provider and customer. A SLA provides specific and measurable aspects related to service offerings. For example, SLAs are often included in signed agreements between Internet service providers (ISP) and customers.

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SLA is also known as an operating level agreement (OLA) when used in an organization without an established or formal provider-customer relationship.

Techopedia Explains Service Level Agreement

Adopted in the late 1980s, SLAs are currently used by most industries and markets. By nature, SLAs define service output but defer methodology to the service provider’s discretion. Specific metrics vary by industry and SLA purpose.

SLAs features include:

  • Specific details and scope of provided services, including priorities, responsibilities and guarantees
  • Specific, expected and measurable services at minimum or target levels
  • Informal or legally binding
  • Descriptive tracking and reporting guidelines
  • Detailed problem management procedures
  • Detailed fees and expenses
  • Customer duties and responsibilities
  • Disaster recovery procedures
  • Agreement termination clauses

In outsourcing, a customer transfers partial business responsibilities to an external service provider. The SLA serves as an efficient contracting tool for current and continuous provider-customer work phases.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…