Glossary · simply explained

SLA (Service Level Agreement)

An SLA makes service quality measurable: availability, response times and consequences of missing them — contractually assured.

A service level agreement (SLA) is the contractual assurance of measurable service quality: it defines metrics such as availability, response and recovery times, specifies how they are measured and reported, and regulates the consequences of missing them — usually service credits.

Good SLAs create clarity for both sides: the customer knows what to rely on; the provider knows what it is measured against. What matters is that the metrics fit the business — and do not just sound legally impressive.

What belongs in a solid SLA

  • Availability with a clear definition: what counts as an outage, what as a maintenance window?
  • Response and recovery times per severity — including service hours (8x5 to 24/7).
  • Measurement and reporting: who measures how, and at what rhythm is it reported?
  • Consequences of missing targets: service credits, escalation rights, termination options.

SLA, SLO and the service promise

Behind an SLA are internal service level objectives (SLOs) — the targets the operation is designed for. The SLA is the contractually promised lower bound of those. Important for managed services: a number like availability alone says little if reporting paths, escalation and communication during incidents are not equally well defined. A 99.9 percent promise without a defined response time is worth little when it matters.

Frequently asked questions about SLA (Service Level Agreement)

What does 99.9 percent availability mean concretely?

Arithmetically, 99.9 percent allows around 8.8 hours of downtime per year, or roughly 43 minutes per month. What matters is the definition behind it: what counts as an outage, how is it measured, are maintenance windows excluded? Only these details make the number comparable.

What is the difference between SLA and SLO?

The SLO is the internal target an operation is designed for; the SLA is the contractually promised lower bound towards the customer. Serious providers keep SLOs stricter than their SLAs — leaving buffer before a promise breaks.

What are service credits?

Service credits are refunds due when an SLA is missed — usually tiered by the severity of the deviation. They rarely cover the real damage but set the right incentive and make quality measurably enforceable. Important: automatic credit instead of a claims process.

Which response times are common in managed services?

Typical are tiered commitments per severity — such as response within 15 to 30 minutes for critical incidents in a 24/7 model, longer periods for low priority. The distinction between response (qualified work begins) and recovery matters.

What should I look for in SLA reports?

Regularity, traceability and honesty: monthly reports with the agreed metrics, incident history including causes and measures — and a measurement methodology that is disclosed. A report showing only green lights deserves questions.

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