The article explains the process of developing a service level agreement within a brand and the importance associated with the same. Readers going through the blog can have a brief idea of the reasons for writing such a contract agreement.

SLA Metrics Tracking Process Templates

The service level agreement or SLA is defined as a contract between a service provider and a customer which clarifies the standard and level of services to be offered. In general, the SLAs are created and provided by the service providers themselves. SLA Metrics – The organisations used to customise their SLAs to satisfy the specific customer requirements.

Importance of SLAs 

• Ensuring honesty of both the parties involved: It is an agreement that helps to keep both the parties involved transparent. If any issue arises regarding the service level, this SLA helps with all the vital metrics, roles and responsibilities or expectations initially agreed upon. A legally approved SLA can act as a protector for both the customer and service provider towards eliminating any misinterpretation of the contracts. 
• Provides clear metrics: It provides the metrics through which one can measure the service level. It helps both the parties better understand the effectiveness of the service level and whether it satisfies the terms and conditions of the contract. 
• Offers consequences of unmet expectations: It provides a clear insight into the consequences if the obligations remain unmet. It defines the consequences, including legal procedure, penalties or other forms of financial compensation. 
• Improves the relationship between provider-business: A legally implemented SLA helps establish a productive relationship between client and business, and neither need to consider the consequences of an obligation unmet. 

SLA Metrics: Benefits of SLAs in the Practical Business Circle:

SLAs bring a wide variety of advantages like the following:

• Better customer experiences: Customers who invest their hard-earned money in a service provider company are taking a risk. This SLA gives them a safety net against any untoward situation where the service provider fails to meet the expectations. If the service provider fails to meet the expectations, the customer can take legal action against him. The SLA works similarly if the customer is looking for any unwanted favour from the service provider. 
• Enhanced employee experience: SLA has well-narrated obligations and transparent metrics, which help to improve the employee experience. The employees better understand the expectations level and how their performances got rewarded.

• A proven source of information: SLA acts as a protector of the interest of both parties. It is considered one of the most reliable sources of legally vetted information related to service standards and other guidelines.

• Improved productivity and performance: With a clear set of expectations mentioned in the service level agreements (SLAs), the employee performed better as these expectations guided them to perform well and establish better personal accomplishments in the given business context.  

Various Types of SLAs:

There are three most commonly defined SLAs: 

1. Customer SLAs: The most commonly defined SLA is customer SLA. It is an agreement between the service provider and an external customer. It is also referred to as an external service agreement.
2. Internal SLAs are designed to create a service standard within a particular brand or company. It helps to meet vital goals of different teams or departments of that company that depend on each other to function. 
3. Multilevel SLAs: A contract is created when there is more than one service provider or more than one end-user. It can be designed for external and internal customers and include different price ranges for different service levels.

The Points Which Should Be Included in SLAs:

There is no standard format for SLAs. It mainly considers the different types of business, customers, service types, or types of industries. There are other SLA elements common in many SLAs.

1. The gist of the Agreement: The summary of the agreement is the most important element of an SLA. It includes a detailed outline of the service, stakeholders’ details, and the metrics that will be used to measure the success rate of such a contract.
2. Objectives of both parties: To focus on the customer’s goals, some SLAs forget to connect those goals with the organisational objectives of the service being provided by the company. When it comes to selling, it is equally important for the service company to measure the goals that eventually help them establish better client achievements. 
3. Schedule for periodic reviews: SLAs must include a review schedule that helps assess the SLA and make changes whenever needed. However, such changes can be incorporated in accordance with specific business requirements.
4. Important contact details: It should carry the details of those people responsible for rendering a particular service, for that matter of fact.
5. Compensation for undelivered goals: Since the SLAs are law-binding contact, they should carry the list of consequences of unmet goals properly so that both the parties involved can have clear expectations on missing obligations. 
6. Terms for cancellation of agreement: The SLAs have a definite expiry date. So there should be some official procedure to terminate the agreement, which both the parties should follow. These terms and conditions should be written vividly on the SLA to avoid any legal complications in future. 

Conclusion:

Service Level Agreements define the pattern of service within a brand with respect to some conditions. Service level agreements are, however, understood to be designed according to business requirements, while such agreements are often governed through defined terms and conditions. Service level agreements also remain market specific and are often governed by the products sold under the brand. On the other hand, SLA metrics are quite easy to follow as the data can be accumulated with little effort. At the same time, it is equally important to choose the correct number of metrics to define the gamut of services being provided to the consumer. Bringing in data variety will provide more options that help analyse the service pattern under consideration. 

On the other hand, fewer metrics can not provide enough information to prove that the service contract is a success. Experts suggest that there should be a reliable baseline against every metric which needs to be revised during periodic SLA reviews. 

Helpful Links

• Four Different Aspects of SLA
• System for Managing SLA
• Purpose of Service Level Agreement