The sla, or service level sla agreements, is an essential tool for companies of all sizes. It provides clarity to customers and suppliers on expectations and standards, helps prevent misunderstandings, and establishes a way to measure performance.
While each company has its own best practices when it comes to slas, there are some common elements that all of them should include. SLAs should have a description of services provided, the expected availability of those services, and the methods that will be used to monitor performance. It is also important for slas to have a section that defines metrics, and that those metrics should be easy to collect.
When an sla is breached, penalties need to be established. These can be financial, such as refunds or credit to the customer. Another option is to offer a license extension or additional support to the client. These penalties should be clearly defined in the sla and included in the contract.
PandaDoc’s sla template has an excellent layout that makes the terms and conditions easy to read. It outlines time frames, dates and expectations in clear language with few legal jargon. It also identifies the specific responsibilities of each team. This can help reduce the number of emails, calls and tickets resolving confusion about who does what. This approach is also a good way to encourage cooperation between teams. For example, if marketing sends sales leads, the SLA could require that they be responded to within a certain amount of time so that the sales team can meet its monthly revenue goals.