Service-Level Agreement Draft

Who it's for

• IT service managers
• Technical support team leaders
• Cloud service providers
• Network administrators
• Data centre operators

Use cases

• Creating a service agreement for a new cloud hosting client
• Defining support tiers for a software as a service product
• Establishing response times for a critical infrastructure service
• Drafting an escalation procedure for a managed security service
• Developing a service-level agreement for a bespoke IT solution

FAQ

Sample output

Here's a draft of the Service Level Agreement (SLA) for the Acme Payments API in plain English:

### Scope
This Service Level Agreement (SLA) outlines the service level expectations for the Acme Payments API, which is designed to facilitate secure and reliable payment processing. The Acme Payments API is a set of programming interfaces that allow developers to integrate payment capabilities into their applications. This SLA applies to all customers who have subscribed to the Acme Payments API service with a 99.9% uptime tier.

### Availability
We target 99.9% uptime for the Acme Payments API each calendar month, measured by external monitoring tools. This means that the API should be accessible and functional for at least 99.9% of the time in any given month. Scheduled maintenance, which is necessary to ensure the security, performance, and reliability of the service, is announced at least 7 days in advance and is excluded from this calculation. Downtime due to scheduled maintenance does not affect our uptime target.

### Response and Resolution Times
The following table outlines our response and resolution times based on the severity of the issue. Severity levels are defined as follows:
- **P1 (Critical)**: The Acme Payments API is completely unavailable or severely impaired, significantly impacting business operations.
- **P2 (Major)**: A significant component of the Acme Payments API is not functioning, affecting business operations but not completely halting them.
- **P3 (Minor)**: A minor issue with the Acme Payments API that does not significantly impact business operations.

| Severity | Response Time | Resolution Time |
| --- | --- | --- |
| P1 (Critical) | 1 hour | 4 hours |
| P2 (Major) | 2 hours | 8 hours |
| P3 (Minor) | 4 hours | 12 hours |

Response time refers to the time it takes for our support team to acknowledge and start working on an issue after it has been reported. Resolution time is the time it takes to resolve the issue after it has been acknowledged. Our support team operates during business hours (GMT).

### Escalation Path
If you are not satisfied with the progress of resolving an issue, you can escalate it to our senior support team. To do so, please reply to the email thread with your support request and include "Escalation Request" in the subject line. Alternatively, you can contact your dedicated account manager, if assigned, who will facilitate the escalation process. Escalations are reviewed promptly, and we will provide an update on the next steps within 2 hours of receiving the escalation request during business hours.

### Exclusions
This SLA does not cover downtime or issues caused by factors outside of our control, such as:
- Customer's internet connectivity issues
- Problems with the customer's application or integration with the Acme Payments API
- Third-party services that are not part of the Acme Payments API