Glossary
A service level agreement states the service a supplier commits to (response times, availability, resolution targets) and what happens when it is missed. Without the consequence, it is a statement of intent.
Availability percentages get attention and are rarely the thing that hurts.
A four-hour response target during business hours in one time zone, on a definition of 'critical' the supplier decides, is a very different commitment from what the headline implies.
Service credits are the common mechanism and are usually small relative to the disruption, which is a reason to treat an SLA as an expectation-setting document rather than as insurance.
Response time, covered hours, how severity is defined and by whom, resolution expectations, and the consequence when a target is missed. Availability percentages get most of the attention and are usually the least relevant.
Rarely. They are typically small relative to the disruption. Treat an SLA as a way of setting expectations and escalation paths, not as insurance against loss.
A service level agreement states the service a supplier commits to (response times, availability, resolution targets) and what happens when it is missed. Without the consequence, it is a statement of intent.
