SLA (Service Level Agreement)
An SLA is the measurable commitment inside a service contract — uptime percentages, response and resolution time targets, and the remedies when they are missed — the numbers that drive helpdesk triage and vendor accountability.
The metrics that matter
Uptime is quoted in nines: 99.9% allows ~43 minutes of downtime a month, 99.99% about four. Response SLAs are split into first-response (how fast someone acknowledges) and resolution (how fast it is fixed), usually tiered by priority — P1 outages get minutes, cosmetic issues get days. Remedies range from service credits to termination rights.
In a helpdesk, the SLA is the operating clock: ticket priorities map to countdowns, escalation rules fire when a deadline approaches, and breach reports become the vendor review agenda — which is why our ticketing workflow article treats SLA design as the backbone of support operations.
SLAs in the regulatory frame
For financial entities, DORA raises the stakes: ICT third-party contracts must contain defined service levels plus audit and access rights, and the register of information records them. An SLA is no longer just a commercial instrument — in regulated sectors it is a compliance artifact.
Related Standards
- •Regulation (EU) 2022/2554 (DORA) — ICT contract requirements
- •ISO/IEC 20000 — service management
Further Reading
Products & Services
Need help with this?
We consult and build across all of these domains — tell us what you are working on.