SLA — Service Level Agreement
Definition: A contractual commitment between a vendor and customer defining the level of service expected, often with penalties if not met.
Example
A SaaS SLA might promise 99.9% uptime. Miss it, and the customer gets account credits.
When you'll hear it
SLA shows up most often in board meetings, quarterly business reviews, and strategy off-sites. When someone uses it, they're usually referring to service level agreement — and they expect the room to already know what that means.
FAQs
SLA vs SLO?
SLA is the contract with the customer. SLO is the internal target your team aims for — usually stricter than the SLA.
What does SLA stand for?
SLA stands for Service Level Agreement.
What does SLA mean in business and finance?
A contractual commitment between a vendor and customer defining the level of service expected, often with penalties if not met.
Where will I hear SLA used at work?
SLA comes up most often in board meetings, quarterly business reviews, and strategy off-sites. It's used as shorthand for service level agreement, so people assume you already know the term.
Related terms
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