Service Level Agreements:Evaluating and Negotiating Law School Technology SLAs
Ramsey DonnellAssoc. Director for Access & OrganizationThe John Marshall Law School
What is an SLA?
• Service Level Agreement•Core component of many technology contracts•Ancillary•Sometimes offered at added cost
•Promise by a vendor to meet a certain level of service
Examples
• Categories of agreements•Hosting•Cloud computing –ASP, software-as-service•Network connectivity•Technical support/maintenance
Examples
• Library/Law School agreements• Internet connection•Website hosting• ILS hosting/maintenance•Course management system hosting/support•Lecture capture•Server maintenance/support
Are SLAs negotiable?
• Often they are• If not…•Is it worth the price?•Does it signal a problem with the service provider?
• Ask to see SLA early in process
The Bones of an SLA
1. What is being measured?• Availability, performance,
support
2. How is it measured?• Metrics—uptime, etc.
3. Remedy• Credits
First things first…
• Is the SLA part of the signed contract?•How can the SLA be modified?•“We reserve the right to change the terms of this SLA…”
Availability, cont’d
•Exclusions from calculation•Scheduled maintenance•Hours per month?•Advance notice?•Limitations?
Availability, cont’d
•Exclusions from calculation•Emergency maintenance/unplanned downtime•Plan to minimize unplanned downtime?
Availability, cont’d
•Exclusions from calculation•Force majeure•Acts of god, war, natural disaster…•Overbroad?•Mitigation?
Force majeure• “Provider shall not be liable to Customer
for any failure or delay caused by events beyond Provider’s control, including, but not limited to, Customer’s failure to furnish necessary information, sabotage, failure or delays in transportation, communication or utilities, failures or substitutions of equipment, labor disputes, accidents, shortages of labor, fuel, raw materials or equipment, or other technical failures.”
Calculating Service Availability
AV Availability of service/system in a given month (percentage)
Total DT Minutes in a given calendar month for which service/system is not in operation
Permitted DT
Minutes of DT in a given month that is excluded from the calculation of AV (e.g., scheduled maintenance, DT due to force majeure)
Total service time
Total number of minutes in the given calendar month
Provider assumptions
• Assumptions underlying service levels•If exceeded, no remedy under SLA•Volume and transaction assumptions•Orders per second•System queries•Data transfer•Expansion
Services & Metrics
• Technical support•The system is down!•Mechanism for reporting?•Help desk—phone support•Online ticketing system
Technical support
• Response time•Severity Levels•Critical—faster response times•How defined?•Who assigns?
Technical support
• Time to resolution/workaround•When must work begin?•What resources devoted?•When will it be resolved?
Sample severity levels
Severity Level
Response Time
Resources Resolution
Severity 1 – service unusable
15 minutes
Immediate assignment of dedicated technician, continuous effort
2 hours or less
Severity 2 – portion of service unusable
2 hours Reasonable personnel and effort
8 hours or less
Severity 3 – minor errors
8 hours As needed As mutually agreed