Crafting the Perfect WAN SLA

Nemertes Issue Paper

Overview:
Service-Level Agreements (SLAs) are a critical part of a WAN-services contract. But crafting a workable set of SLAs is often a black art, subject to much confusion, differences in interpretation of and disconnection between what’s being measured, and the actual needs of the customer. SLA requirements also vary based on whether the provider is offering plain-vanilla WAN services, or managed services. Successfully negotiating SLAs requires setting the right penalty clauses—not meaningless contract credits, but the option to cancel a contract in full, without termination penalty, in the event of chronic or acute failure to meet delivery commitments. This issue paper provides key factors for crafting WAN and managed service SLAs, as well as penalty and termination clauses. We also provide additional guidance for ongoing billing, rate inspection and review, support, and technology review clauses.

Author(s): Irwin Lazar, Vice President, Communications Research, Johna Till Johnson, President and Senior Founding Partner

Keywords: SLA, WAN, MPLS, Ethernet, Managed Services, Delay, Latency, Jitter, Contract

Vendors mentioned: None

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