A Service Level Agreement (SLA) is a contractual commitment between a service provider and an end-user. It defines the expected level of service, focusing on measurable performance targets such as system availability, latency, and technical support responsiveness.
The agreement operates through SLIs (Service Level Indicators) and SLOs (Service Level Objectives). While SLIs are the actual metrics tracked, SLOs are the target values agreed upon. Failure to meet these thresholds typically triggers financial penalties, service credits, or contract termination clauses.
Standard Metrics
- Uptime: The percentage of time the service is operational and accessible.
- Latency: The maximum delay allowed for processing a request.
- Throughput: The volume of data or transactions processed within a specific timeframe.
In enterprise cloud services, an uptime of 99.95% is a common benchmark. This allows for approximately 21.92 minutes of downtime per month. If the provider exceeds this limit, the customer is typically entitled to a refund ranging from 10% to 100% of the monthly service fee, depending on the severity of the breach.