Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Making sure their word is their bond...


...get it in writing.


Wouldn't it be nice if everyone actually did what they said they were going to do?


If you are in any type of service / subcontract situation, get it in writing.


I cannot stress the sheer importance of an SLA (or Service Level Agreement).




A service-level agreement (SLA) is a negotiated agreement between two parties where one is the customer and the other is the service provider. This can be a legally binding formal or informal 'contract'.


The SLA records a common understanding about services, priorities, responsibilities, guarantees and warranties. Each area of service scope should have the 'level of service' defined. The SLA may specify the levels of availability, serviceability, performance, operation, or other attributes of the service such as billing. The 'level of service' can also be specified as 'target' and 'minimum', which allows customers to be informed what to expect (the minimum), whilst providing a measurable (average) target value that shows the level of organization performance. In some contracts penalties may be agreed in the case of non compliance of the SLA (but see 'internal' customers below). It is important to note that the 'agreement' relates to the services the customer receives, and not how the service provider delivers that service.


Don't have a SLA in place? Or, would like to improve your current SLA? Contact Passion for Paper Business Solutions. We'd be happy to help!