Service – Level Agreement

A service-level agreement (“SLA”) is an agreement that contains agreements between the supplier and the customer of a service. A SLA is often concluded in IT and is often a permanent addition to the SaaS agreement.

In a SLA, performance indicators and quality requirements of the service are agreed upon. It is often agreed upon what the actual availability of the service is and how the supplier maintains the service. A fine is often agreed for when the supplier fails to comply with these agreements. 

In general, the customer pays a fixed amount per month (or any other period) for the services agreed through the SLA. The agreement also determines which activities are not within the scope of the SLA, at least that are not covered by payment of the fixed amount. These activities can then be purchased by the customer at an hourly rate. In that case, this hourly rate will also be included in the agreement.