Service Level Agreement _SLA_ Template

Service Level Agreement (SLA) Template This template provides a consistent format for a Service Level Agreement (SLA) between a Service Provider and one or more IT Customers requiring IT services. The purpose of this document is to ensure that the proper elements and commitments are in place to provide consistent service support and delivery to the Customer by the Service Provider. Instructions 1. Save this template under a new name before making initial revisions 2. Review & complete all relevant sections in this template 3. Remove all sections that are not relevant 4. Replace or remove all colored text from the final draft of this document -Replace all text in blue (required) -Remove all text in orange (instructional) -Replace or remove all text in green (examples) 5. Adjust any template verbiage as required to reflect unique requirements 6. Reformat all final text to black 7. Update (or insert desired format) Table of Contents 8. Remove this page before final revisions Note: This document is for reference use only and should be viewed as an example, not a final document to meet the needs of all IT organizations; content is the sole responsibility of the author. 2 Service Level Agreement (SLA) for [Customer] by [Service Provider] Effective Date: [Effective Date] Document Owner: [Document Owner] Business Relationship Manager: [Business Relationship Manager(s)] Version Version Date Revision /Description Author [Version] [Date] [Revision /Description] [Author] Approval (By signing below, all Approvers agree to all terms and conditions outlined in this Agreement.) Approvers [Title and/or Affiliation] Approval Date [Approver] [Title and/or Affiliation] [Approval Date] Agreement Termination Approvers [Title and/or Affiliation] Termination Approval Date [Approver] [Title and/or Affiliation] [Approval Date] Subsequent Agreement Ref.: [Subsequent Agreement(s) Reference] 3 Table of Contents 1. Agreement Overview .............................................................................................................. 4 2. Goals & Objectives ................................................................................................................. 4 3. Stakeholders ............................................................................................................................ 4 4. Service Environment ............................................................................................................... 5 5. Periodic Review ...................................................................................................................... 6 6. Service Agreement .................................................................................................................. 6 6.1. Service Scope .................................................................................................................. 6 6.2. Customer Requirements .................................................................................................. 7 6.3. Service Provider Requirements....................................................................................... 7 6.4. Service Assumptions ....................................................................................................... 7 7. Service Management ............................................................................................................... 8 7.1. Service Availability ........................................................................................................ 8 7.2. Availability Restrictions ................................................................................................. 8 7.3. Service Measurement ...................................................................................................... 9 7.4. Service Level Reporting ................................................................................................. 9 7.5. Service Requests ............................................................................................................. 9 7.6. Service Maintenance ..................................................................................................... 10 7.7. Service Exceptions ........................................................................................................ 10 Appendix A: Associated Policies, Processes and Procedures ..................................................... 11 A.1 Change Management.......................................................................................................... 11 A.2 Release Management ......................................................................................................... 11 A.3 Incident Management ......................................................................................................... 11 A.4 Problem Management ........................................................................................................ 11 A.5 Configuration Management ............................................................................................... 12 Appendix B: Service Performance Reviews ................................................................................. 12 Appendix C: Business Continuity Management ........................................................................... 12 Appendix D: Third Party Contracts .............................................................................................. 12 Appendix E: Definitions ............................................................................................................... 12 Appendix F: Amendments ............................................................................................................ 12 F.1: Annual Support Costs ........................................................................................................ 12 4 1. Agreement Overview This Agreement represents a Service Level Agreement (“SLA” or “Agreement”) between the Enterprise Technology Services (ETS) group and [Customer] for the provisioning of IT services required to support and sustain [System and/or Service Name]. This Agreement remains valid until superseded by a revised agreement mutually endorsed by the stakeholders. Changes are recorded in the Amendments section of this Agreement and are effective upon mutual endorsement by the primary stakeholders. This Agreement outlines the parameters of all IT services covered as they are mutually understood by the primary stakeholders. This Agreement does not supersede current processes and procedures unless explicitly stated herein. 2. Goals & Objectives The purpose of this Agreement is to ensure that the proper elements and commitments are in place to provide consistent IT service support and delivery to the Customer(s) by the Service Provider(s). Revise purpose relative to the specific needs of the organization. The goal of this Agreement is to obtain mutual agreement for IT service provision between the Service Provider(s) and Customer(s). Include /revise goals relative to the specific needs of the organization. The objectives of this Agreement are to: • Provide clear reference to service ownership, accountability, roles and/or responsibilities. • Present a clear, concise and measurable description of service provision to the customer. • Match perceptions of expected service provision with actual service support & delivery. Include /revise objectives relative to the specific needs of the organization. 3. Stakeholders The following Service Provider(s) and Customer(s) will be used as the basis of the Agreement and represent the primary stakeholders associated with this SLA: IT Service Provider(s): [Service Provider(s)] (“Provider) IT Customer(s): [Customer(s)] (“Customer”) 5 The following stakeholders are responsible for the deployment and ongoing support of this agreement: (contact information may include E-mail address, phone number, support line, pager, etc.) Stakeholder Title /Role Contact Information [Stakeholder] [Title /Role] [Contact Information] [Stakeholder] [Title /Role] [Contact Information] [Stakeholder] [Title /Role] [Contact Information] [Stakeholder] [Title /Role] [Contact Information] 4. Service Environment The following information provides detail on the users, tools, applications and/or other components supported by this SLA: Number of End Users: [# End Users] specific to application(s), if in scope Number of Concurrent Users: [# Concurrent Users] Number of Registered Users: [# Registered Users] User Base Description: [User Base Description] e.g. internal users, external users, etc. In-Scope Applications: [In-Scope Applications] e.g. including versions, modules, packaged, proprietary, etc. Infrastructure Services: [Infrastructure Services] e.g. specific network, security, telephony requirements, etc. SLA Dependencies: [SLA Dependencies] e.g. Operational Level Agreements (OLAs), Underpinning Contracts (UCs), parallel SLA dependencies, etc. 6 5. Periodic Review This Agreement is valid from the Effective Date outlined herein and is valid until the Date of Termination. This Agreement should be reviewed at a minimum once per fiscal year; however, in lieu of a review during any period specified, the current Agreement will remain in effect. The Business Relationship Manager (“Document Owner”) is responsible for facilitating regular reviews of this document. Contents of this document may be amended as required, provided mutual agreement is obtained from the primary stakeholders and communicated to all affected parties. The Document Owner will incorporate all subsequent revisions and obtain mutual agreements /approvals as required. Business Relationship Manager: [Business Relationship Manager] Review Period: [Review Period] e.g. “Annually” or “Quarterly” Previous Review Date: [Last or Previous Review Date] Next Review Date: [Next Review Date] This Agreement will be posted to the following location and will be made accessible to all stakeholders: Document Location: [SLA Directory and/or Location] 6. Service Agreement The following detailed service parameters are the responsibility of the Service Provider in the ongoing support of this Agreement. 6.1. Service Scope The following Services are covered by this Agreement; full descriptions, specifications and costs are outlined in the IT Service Catalog. (References to the Service Catalog may be pasted into this document or added as an Appendix to the Agreement for clarification, if required) Reference No. Service 1.1.0 Software licensing & patching 1.2 Minor software upgrades 3.2.0 Application server backup and recovery 4.4 User security & account management 7.6.6 Application data backup and recovery 11.1 Automated server monitoring 7 6.2. Customer Requirements Customer responsibilities and/or requirements in support of this Agreement include: List Customer responsibilities; these can be categorized by department, application or specific to service parameters. • Adherence to any related policies, processes and procedures outlined in Appendix A: Related Policies, Processes and Procedures. • Appropriate incidents and/or request prioritization as previously outlined and/or in cooperation with the Service Provider. • Advanced scheduling of all service related requests and other special services with the Service Provider. • Creation and maintenance of all required project documentation. • Appropriate use of support toolsets as outlined in Appendix A: Related Policies, Process and Procedures. • Payment for all service-related setup and/or configuration costs prior to service provision. • Review all hours logged by Service Provider for appropriateness. • Reasonable availability of customer representative(s) when resolving a service related incident or request. 6.3. Service Provider Requirements Service Provider responsibilities and/or requirements in support of this Agreement include: List Service Provider responsibilities; these can be categorized by department, application or specific to service parameters. • Meeting response times associated with service related incidents. • Generating quarterly reports on service levels for Customer (-see Service Level Management). • Training required staff on appropriate service support tools. • Logging all Provider resource hours associated with services provided for review by the Customer. • Appropriate notification to Customer for all scheduled maintenance (-see Service Level Management). • Facilitation of all service support activities involving incident, problem, change, release and configuration management. 6.4. Service Assumptions Assumptions related to in-scope services and/or components include: • Services are provided to customers external to IT and are communicated through one or more assigned Business Relationship Manager(s). • Customer user base will remain within 5% of current staff levels. 8 • Funding for major upgrades will be provided by the Customer and treated as a project outside the scope of this Agreement. • Changes to services will be communicated and documented to all stakeholders. 7. Service Management Effective support of in-scope services is a result of maintaining consistent service levels. The following sections provide relevant details on service availability, monitoring, measurement and reporting of in-scope services and related components. 7.1. Service Availability Coverage parameters specific to the service(s) covered in this Agreement are as follows: Outline specific times during which service provision is provided /valid. • 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. U.S. Eastern Time • Monday -Friday, 365 days per year This section may be broken down by application, environment or categories specific to Customer requirements or Service Provider constraints, e.g.: Production Computing Environment Customer Availability Sundays, 2:00 p.m. to Sundays, 2:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time Maintenance Window Sundays, 2:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time Automated Server Monitoring 24 x 7 365 days per year Development Computing Environment Customer Availability Monday to Friday, 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time Maintenance Window Monday to Friday, 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time; Fridays, 8:00 p.m. to Mondays, 6:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time Automated Server Monitoring Monday to Friday, 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time 7.2. Availability Restrictions This section may be used to document specific times customer requires service availability and may include specific hours or days that should be avoided when emergency changes are required. 9 7.3. Service Measurement The following measurements will be established and maintained by the Service Provider to ensure optimal service provision to the Customer: Measurement Definition Performance Target Application X Availability Percentage of time Application X is available outside of maintenance window. 95.5% availability. Client Response Time Client response time for Application X for a sample of transactions executed in less than 10 seconds. 92.5% of specified transactions in 30 seconds or less. # of Unscheduled Outages Number of outages during the Core Availability Time # of Unscheduled Outages 7.4. Service Level Reporting The Service Provider will supply the Customer with the following reports on the intervals indicated: All Recipients and Responsible parties should be outlined with contact information in the Stakeholder section of this Agreement. Report Name Interval Recipient Responsible Application Availability Report Quarterly Business Manager Business Relationship Manager Client Response Time Report Quarterly Business Manager Business Relationship Manager Application Incident Report Quarterly Business Manager Incident Manager 7.5. Service Requests In support of services outlined in this Agreement, the Service Provider will respond to service related incidents and/or requests submitted by the Customer within the following time frames: • One (1) hour (during business hours) for issues classified as Critical. • Two (2) hours (during business hours) for issues classified as High priority. • Four (4) hours (during business hours) for issues classified as Medium priority. • Eight (8) hours (during business hours) for issues classified as Low priority. • Twenty Four (24) hours (during business hours) for a general service Request. 10 Refer to the service support policies, processes and related procedures for additional information in Appendix A: Related Policies, Processes and Procedures. Specific incident and/or request parameters, thresholds and/or samples may be inserted here for additional clarification. 7.6. Service Maintenance All services and/or related components require regularly scheduled maintenance (“Maintenance Window”) in order to meet established service levels. These activities will render systems and/or applications unavailable for normal user interaction for the following locations and timeframes: Location(s): [Location(s)] Timeframe(s): [Timeframe(s)] e.g.: 2:00 a.m., Sundays, U.S. Eastern time Time Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Begin 02:00 EST 0:00 0:00 02:00 EST 0:00 0:00 0:00 End 14:00 EST 0:00 0:00 02:30 EST 0:00 0:00 0:00 Add additional locations and timeframes as required. 7.7. Service Exceptions Any deviations from current policies, processes and standards are noted by the following Service Exceptions: (Insert any special conditions /constraints related to coverage times and dates) Service Ref# Exception(s) Batch Processing 2.1.1 Batch processing is covered by SLA #332-A Application Data Backup 9.3.2 Retention is limited to 2 years on site storage 11 Appendix A: Associated Policies, Processes and Procedures This Appendix contains any instrumental policies, processes or procedures required to support this Service Level Agreement. A.1 Change Management Definition: Change management refers to any event that alters the existing state of a Customer’s production IT services, including software, hardware, networks and facilities. Tool Requirements: [IT Change Management Tool(s)] Tool Link(s): [Tool Link(s)] Documentation: [Documentation Location /Link(s)] A.2 Release Management Definition: Release management ensures that all the technical and non-technical aspects of a change or related groups of changes are coordinated and facilitated in a standard manner. Tool Requirements: [IT Release Management Tool(s)] Tool Link(s): [Tool Link(s)] Documentation: [Documentation Location /Link(s)] A.3 Incident Management Definition: The process of managing unexpected operational events with the objective of returning service to customers as rapidly as possible. Tool Requirements: [IT Incident Management Tool(s)] Tool Link(s): [Tool Link(s)] Documentation: [Documentation Location /Link(s)] A.4 Problem Management Definition: Problem Management identifies the root cause of a single significant, multiple or reoccurring incident(s) to prevent further incident activity. Tool Requirements: [Problem Management Tool(s)] 12 Tool Link(s): [Tool Link(s)] Documentation: [Documentation Location /Link(s)] A.5 Configuration Management Definition: Identifies, records and validates critical computing components and their relationships with other configured items, maintaining a virtual representation of the IT infrastructure. Tool Requirements: [Configuration Management Tool(s)] Tool Link(s): [Tool Link(s)] Documentation: [Documentation Location /Link(s)] Service Delivery process references may be added, if required. Appendix B: Service Performance Reviews This section may contain additional details on SLA reviews, if required. Appendix C: Business Continuity Management This section may contain service recovery plans and related details, if required. Appendix D: Third Party Contracts This section may contain information on related Underpinning Contracts (UCs) that affect service support and/or delivery. Appendix E: Definitions Use this Appendix to supply any definitions specific to the environment or terminology referenced in this Agreement. Appendix F: Amendments Use this Appendix to reference any subsequent amendments to this agreement. F.1: Annual Support Costs Amendment Date: [Amendment Date] 13 Amendment 1 Detail: Annual support costs for in-scope services outlined in this agreement will be billed to the customer on a quarterly basis.