How can you negotiate an SLA that meets your business needs?

If you rely on internet services for your business, you know how important it is to have a reliable and fast connection. But what happens when your internet service provider (ISP) fails to meet your expectations or your contract terms? That's where a service level agreement (SLA) comes in. An SLA is a document that defines the quality and availability of the service you receive from your ISP, as well as the penalties or remedies if the service falls short. In this article, you'll learn how to negotiate an SLA that meets your business needs and protects your interests.

1 Know your requirements

Before you start negotiating an SLA with your ISP, you need to have a clear idea of what you need from your internet service. Think about your business goals, your daily operations, your customers, and your budget. What are the minimum and maximum speeds you need? How much downtime can you tolerate? How much bandwidth do you consume? How do you measure and monitor your internet performance? These are some of the questions you should answer to determine your requirements and expectations.

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Ilan Zachar
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The topic says Knowing the requirements of an SLA I would rephrase to write your requirements and define your SLAs. Knowing the requirements of an SLA involves understanding the business objectives, identifying stakeholders, and defining critical metrics. On the other hand, writing them entails you the owner translating this understanding into a formal document, specifying service scope, performance benchmarks, responsibilities, incident resolution procedures, and incorporating legal considerations. While knowing focuses on comprehension, writing transforms that knowledge into a detailed agreement that aligns with organizational goals and ensures clear expectations between parties involved.

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2 Understand the SLA terms

Once you have your requirements, you need to understand the SLA terms that your ISP offers or proposes. An SLA typically includes the following elements: service scope, service level objectives, service level indicators, service level reports, service credits, and dispute resolution. You should read and analyze each element carefully and compare it with your requirements. For example, you should check how the ISP defines and measures the service level objectives, such as uptime, latency, packet loss, and throughput. You should also check how the ISP reports and verifies the service level indicators, such as speed tests, ping tests, and traceroutes. And you should check how the ISP calculates and applies the service credits, which are the compensation or discounts you receive if the service level objectives are not met.

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Ihor Humeniuk

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Sometimes people mix the SLA with OLA. Your web-resources have to be in service as much time as possible. Negotiations of any kind of services (hosting, SaaS, etc.) could be accompanied with process metrics belonged to OLA (maximum duration of ticket resolution, dwelling time of your claim, etc.) but service availability should in a focus, particularly, the total possible time out of service during a month.

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3 Negotiate the SLA terms

After you understand the SLA terms, you can negotiate them with your ISP to make sure they align with your business needs. You should be prepared to present your requirements, explain your rationale, and provide evidence or data to support your claims. You should also be flexible and willing to compromise on some aspects, as long as they don't affect your core business functions. For example, you might accept a lower service credit rate if the ISP guarantees a higher uptime percentage. Or you might agree to a longer dispute resolution process if the ISP offers a more transparent and responsive service level reporting system.

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4 Review and sign the SLA

The final step is to review and sign the SLA with your ISP. You should make sure that the SLA reflects the terms and conditions that you negotiated and agreed upon. You should also make sure that the SLA is clear, concise, and consistent. You should avoid any vague or ambiguous language that might lead to confusion or disputes in the future. You should also look for any clauses or exclusions that might limit your rights or obligations under the SLA. For example, you should watch out for any force majeure clauses that might exempt the ISP from liability in case of unforeseen events or circumstances.

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Ilan Zachar
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Reviewing is critical. I usually let legal address the verbiage in the agreement but keep a close eye in every iteration especially the final one that the parameters and delivery elements like delivery date of the service, term of the agreement, IP's, configuration, bandwidth specs... have not changed. Only after this will I sign the agreement.

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5 Monitor and enforce the SLA

Once you have signed the SLA, you need to monitor and enforce it throughout the duration of your contract with your ISP. You should keep track of your internet performance and compare it with the service level objectives and indicators defined in the SLA. You should also review the service level reports that the ISP provides and verify their accuracy and completeness. If you notice any discrepancies or violations, you should notify the ISP and request the appropriate service credits or remedies. You should also document and escalate any issues or disputes that arise and follow the dispute resolution process outlined in the SLA.

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Ilan Zachar
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Monitoring is the simplest part of an SLA with the ISP. The reason is that their service needs to be up. With an ISP either they are up and it works to spec (because it is all programmed in the hardware (very little human intervention) or it is down because of one or more reasons (most cases the client's equipment). Where I see the ISP SLA come into play is the recovery and compensation (if in the agreement) from a service disruption.

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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How can you negotiate an SLA that meets your business needs?

1

2

3

4

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1 Know your requirements

2 Understand the SLA terms

3 Negotiate the SLA terms

4 Review and sign the SLA

5 Monitor and enforce the SLA

6 Here’s what else to consider

Internet Services

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How can you negotiate an SLA that meets your business needs?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 Know your requirements

2 Understand the SLA terms

3 Negotiate the SLA terms

4 Review and sign the SLA

5 Monitor and enforce the SLA

6 Here’s what else to consider

Internet Services

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