Service Level Agreements: What Are They And Why Do You Need Them?

By Author: Wilber Whitfield
Total Articles: 72
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We live in times where the trust factor is becoming less credible when it comes to money and business matters. Gone are the days when just by giving a word or just by promising something, an unquestionable agreement, without any documentation, was taken for granted and nobody thought of breaching it. But as we have now advanced into a world wherein the value of a promise is almost void and so arose the need of having legal agreements and treaties that bind people by what they promised to the other party/parties. Any breach in such agreement now results in legal action, imprisonment and monetary fines. The need of agreements at different levels and of different types has now become a sheer necessity to save ourselves from losses.

As time progressed, the need for SLA’s or service level agreements has dramatically increased. They are considered to be important documents in the business field. These days, most companies are using service level agreements when making contracts to make sure that the companies or clients their dealing with will act accordingly with their agreement and fulfill their promises. In addition, ...
... SLA’s also help prevent delays and breach of contracts.

In business terms, Service Level Agreements can be defined as important documents that hold the record which has detailed specification of the services to be delivered as agreed to between the parties in contract. The importance of Service Level Agreements also extends to the fact that it tracks the goals accomplished and conditions that the company failed to achieve. A person who drafts the Service Level Agreement (SLA) has to be very careful as to what all terms and conditions he/she is putting down on the agreement as even if a small point is miscommunicated or written wrongly, it may prove to be of great loss to the company. Drafting of an SLA requires listing down of rules that tell as to how the work will be measured and how the performance will be measured; it even lays down the quality of products/services expected and the quality promised to deliver.

A huge number of large companies and corporations have made SLAs an important part of engaging in business. They always have them in handy in case any business deal comes up and may require legal documentation. Service level agreements are helpful in many businesses because they ensure that no one gets victimized by broken deals and breach of contract. These documents help these companies become more aware of their responsibilities and will be able to understand how serious their agreements are.

Usually, service level agreements contain service descriptions and the methods to be used in delivering them. These documents are very important because they serve as proof for services that have been agreed upon by two parties. Aside from that, they also enable better IT management because they are inserted into the CAFM software. This computer aided tool provides automated processing and makes everything in these agreements clearer.

A Service Level Agreement is a must if you want total transparency and clear terms and conditions laid down on an official platform to ensure that the products and services rendered/received are of the best or as per the standards the parties agreed upon.

Service level agreement management is a tedious work for any company, this is were Xcellonfm.com comes to make managing these documents easily with its FM System.