{"id":346,"date":"2021-01-19T13:09:00","date_gmt":"2021-01-19T13:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stick.lndo.site\/?post_type=blog&p=346"},"modified":"2022-08-03T09:17:22","modified_gmt":"2022-08-03T09:17:22","slug":"what-you-need-to-know-about-sla","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/intexsoft.com\/blog\/what-you-need-to-know-about-sla\/","title":{"rendered":"Service Level Agreement & Why You May Need It"},"content":{"rendered":"
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January 19, 2021 \u2022 by \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAlexandra &\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAndrew\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Service Level Agreement & Why You May Need It<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Have you ever happened to work with the service supplier and not to get the expected outcomes? Or maybe, the supplier was not as transparent as you wanted? Well, today, we will tell you about the agreement that solves the majority of such issues \u2013 the Service Level Agreement or SLA.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Service level agreement definition<\/span><\/h2>\n

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SLA is an external document (signed between the customer and the supplier) describing the service\u2019s parameters. \u201cCompliance with SLA\u201d is equivalent to the fact that the service corresponds to the parameters and values \u200b\u200bof the metrics set in the agreement. Although the term first appeared in the IT-sphere, today, such documents are also used for other B2B<\/a> segments, e.g., in the maintenance of commercial real estate, in the repair of specialized equipment, etc.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Service Level Agreements are actively used where the provider and the customer are autonomous to each other.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Why you may need Service Level Agreement<\/span><\/h2>\n

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The hesitation of companies that haven’t worked with such a document is in vain. The SLA doesn’t bureaucratize IT or any other service department, but it formalizes and makes the interaction between the parties more transparent.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The SLA contains a description of the provided services and sets the areas of responsibility between the parties within a particular service.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The agreement also includes terms and conditions when the service is considered completed when the contractor’s liability is ceased. This means that the IT service provider doesn’t have to fix bugs in the developed system if they emerge in a year, after the expiration of the stated six-month warranty.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The document prescribes parameters for the services, and acceptable hesitations are considered as a level of SLA. E.g., You can specify that the team must respond to requests in two hours max or something else. However, if one of the parties disagrees on the conditions, it’s better to be discussed before signing the agreement and set the possible deflections so that nobody has false expectations. Essentially, the timings are not the only viable metric source. You can also set parameters and hesitations for the quantity of the performed tasks and other possible measures.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Supplier’s and client’s perspectives<\/span><\/h2>\n

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From the supplier’s side, SLA contents are a set of supplier’s goal-oriented metrics (opposed to KPI, usually set by the client but often confused with SLA). If parameters are met – great, if not – it is time to figure out who’s the fault and act according to conditions also set in the agreement. It’s critical to be very cautious about the metrics and parameters because if you focus on them more than on a solution itself, you are risking ruining the project.<\/span><\/p>\n

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From the client’s perspective, SLA is also useful for setting terms, conditions, and possible deflections for inquiries. Plus, it’s possible to state penalties for suppliers if there are any violations that are not prescribed as possible deflection (so called indemnification clause).<\/span><\/p>\n

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What kind of metrics to monitor?<\/span><\/h3>\n

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Depending on the provided service, metrics can vary. Some indicators can be monitored within SLA. Remember that you should set everything as simple and straightforward as possible, considering only the most critical parameters. Essentially this includes:<\/span><\/p>\n

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