Free Checklist
SLA review checklist
12 things to check in every Service Level Agreement. Whether you're the provider or the customer, these are the clauses that matter.
01
Uptime commitment
What percentage uptime is promised? 99.9% sounds good but still allows 8.7 hours of downtime per year. Make sure the number works for your business.
Watch for providers quoting high uptime figures without defining what counts as downtime.
02
How uptime is measured
Is it measured monthly or annually? Monthly measurement is better for the customer. Annual measurement hides bad months.
Annual averaging can mask a full week of outages. Always push for monthly measurement.
03
Exclusions from uptime
What doesn't count? Scheduled maintenance and force majeure are normal exclusions. Watch for overly broad exclusions that gut the commitment.
If the exclusion list is longer than the commitment itself, the SLA is probably worthless.
04
Service credits
What do you get if they miss the SLA? Credits should be meaningful, not token. Check the cap on credits too.
A 5% credit on a monthly bill is barely an incentive. Look for credits that actually sting.
05
Support response times
What are the response times for different severity levels? Response time is not the same as resolution time. Make sure both are defined.
A one-hour response time means nothing if resolution takes weeks. Pin down both numbers.
06
Escalation process
How do you escalate an issue? There should be a clear path from support to management to executive level.
No named contacts or escalation path? That's a sign support will be a black hole.
07
Reporting and transparency
Do they provide regular uptime reports? Can you audit their metrics? If they don't share data, you can't hold them accountable.
Self-reported uptime with no independent verification is just marketing.
08
Penalties vs termination rights
Can you terminate if SLAs are consistently missed? Credits alone might not be enough if the service is unreliable.
If three months of missed SLAs still doesn't trigger a termination right, the penalty structure is too weak.
09
Change management
How are changes to the SLA handled? Watch for clauses that let the provider change SLAs unilaterally.
"We may update these terms at any time" is a red flag. Changes should require mutual agreement.
10
Data backup and recovery
What's the backup frequency? What's the recovery time objective (RTO)? If they lose your data, what happens?
No defined RTO means no obligation to get you back online quickly. Get a number in writing.
11
Security obligations
Does the SLA cover security incidents? What's the notification timeframe? This matters more than most people think.
If the SLA is silent on breach notification, you could be the last to know about a compromise.
12
Exit and transition
What support do you get when leaving? Is there a transition period? Vendor lock-in is real and SLAs should address it.
No data export clause or transition support means you're trapped. Plan the exit before you sign.
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