Service Level Agreements

[xdavid]

I am a ltd co (sole employee) working direct to small business clients with general IT support and remote maintenance of business servers, offsite backups, etc.

One of my clients needs a written Service Level Agreement (due to HIS client wanting to see it, mainly for security/privacy reasons to do with the files they work on).

Question... Who normally creates the SLA? Should the client have one for 'all' his consultants to sign or should I have a 'standard' one to give all my clients?

Thanks.
David

PS. I know I should probably have had one anyway but have gone without due to the small, close-knit community we are in. It will be useful to get this one done for the future.

[northernladuk]

Well I think either party can write them, from the client it will be what they expect you to do, if you write it you put in what you are prepared to offer. If none exists I would think it would be in your interests to write them so you have control of the SLA and can dictate terms that suit you best. The client might drop something on you that you are not prepared to or cannot do so might be better to beat them to it.

Saying that the client is making a mistake if they are happy for their consultants to offer SLA's though. They are going to end up with so many SLA's there is no way they can offer their customer an proper end to end SLA and will start dropping plates left right and center.

Stick yours in and hope they accept it knowing they are creating a rod for their own back but expect them to wise up and go for a standard set IMO.

[malvolio]

Well I think either party can write them, from the client it will be what they expect you to do, if you write it you put in what you are prepared to offer. If none exists I would think it would be in your interests to write them so you have control of the SLA and can dictate terms that suit you best. The client might drop something on you that you are not prepared to or cannot do so might be better to beat them to it.

Saying that the client is making a mistake if they are happy for their consultants to offer SLA's though. They are going to end up with so many SLA's there is no way they can offer their customer an proper end to end SLA and will start dropping plates left right and center.

Stick yours in and hope they accept it knowing they are creating a rod for their own back but expect them to wise up and go for a standard set IMO.

An SLA that isn't a negotiated agreement between both parties isn't worth anything. the clue is in the word "agreement".

So put in a draft and be prepared to haggle about the detail. But an SLA is about how the service is delivered, it probably won't contain too much about how the service is managed, which is what the end client is looking for..

OK, enough ITIL pedantry. Ask them what the end client wants to see and write that up. And leave out anything that is not directly relevant to those objectives.

[Jessica@WhiteFieldTax]

Either party can write it.

A small alarm bell is ringing tho: if you are doing direct small business support work, then surely, commercially, you must have some sort of contract - which would be the effective SLA - setting out your rate, payment terms, responsibilities, liability, etc?

Within the contract you can split the SLA out to a seperate appendix section if you wish, or embedd it in the main agreement.

[JamJarST]

Either party can write it.

A small alarm bell is ringing tho: if you are doing direct small business support work, then surely, commercially, you must have some sort of contract - which would be the effective SLA - setting out your rate, payment terms, responsibilities, liability, etc?

Within the contract you can split the SLA out to a seperate appendix section if you wish, or embedd it in the main agreement.

I would be very surprised if the contract was as in depth as a real SLA, how many contracts specify uptime/downtime of servers, ticket turnaround etc.?

[Jessica@WhiteFieldTax]

I would be very surprised if the contract was as in depth as a real SLA, how many contracts specify uptime/downtime of servers, ticket turnaround etc.?

Agree, but equally how many small B2B SLAs go into that detail? Even if a SLA did, the underlying contract has to be the basis for enforcement?

My point is the existing contract has to be the starting point.

[malvolio]

Agree, but equally how many small B2B SLAs go into that detail? Even if a SLA did, the underlying contract has to be the basis for enforcement?

My point is the existing contract has to be the starting point.

Actually I disagree. You can of course make it a contractual obligation that there is an agreed SLA in place, but it's not a necessity. You can sign up to an SLA that contains performance levels, KPIs and penalty clauses indpendently of the overarching contract, just as you can with an NDA or an Company Internet Usage policy, and they are still binding.

[Jessica@WhiteFieldTax]

Actually I disagree. You can of course make it a contractual obligation that there is an agreed SLA in place, but it's not a necessity. You can sign up to an SLA that contains performance levels, KPIs and penalty clauses indpendently of the overarching contract, just as you can with an NDA or an Company Internet Usage policy, and they are still binding.

Yes, but in a B2B context that would be unusual. The contract is the basis of the relationship, it has to be at law.

Signing up other agreements separately, eg NDA or Company Internet Policy, is more typical of employment / disguised employment arrangements.

[malvolio]

Yes, but in a B2B context that would be unusual. The contract is the basis of the relationship, it has to be at law.

Agreed there has to be an overarching contract betwen the parties or nothing has any validity. However, that contract does not have to include subsidiary agreements.

Signing up other agreements separately, eg NDA or Company Internet Policy, is more typical of employment / disguised employment arrangements.

Really? On what basis? I've signed lots of things independently of my contract (which doesn't mention it at all) to gain the security clearance I need to do this particular job. Am I therefore a de facto employee? I signed a binding NDA with the PCG years ago (long since lapsed, but necessary at the time) when I was a paying member and had no working relationship beyond that.

Employment is defined by the RMC decision and still stands - any one of D&C, irreducible MOO and RoS, in reality and unambiguously. All else is simply window dressing.

[JamJarST]

Yes, but in a B2B context that would be unusual. The contract is the basis of the relationship, it has to be at law.

Signing up other agreements separately, eg NDA or Company Internet Policy, is more typical of employment / disguised employment arrangements.

Rubbish!!! NDA is standard business practice and are required by the majority of businesses and as for Internet usage policies, I have worked in many loactions where they are required even by guests let alone contractors.