A Service Level Agreement (SLA) is the part of your IT support contract that sets out what service you can expect and how quickly. It turns a promise of “good support” into measurable commitments you can hold your provider to.
What a good SLA includes
- Response times: how quickly an engineer will start working on your issue.
- Priority levels: for example, critical (the whole business is down), high (a team or key system is affected), normal (one user) and low (requests and changes).
- Hours of cover: the hours when support is provided, and whether out-of-hours cover is included or extra.
- Scope: which users, devices, systems and sites are covered.
- Escalation: who to contact if an issue is not being resolved.
- Reporting: how performance is measured and reviewed with you.
Response time vs resolution time
A response time is how fast someone starts on your problem. A resolution time is how fast it is fixed. Be wary of very short response times that just mean an automated acknowledgement. Ask how many tickets are resolved on the first contact and how priorities are decided.
ABCOM’s SLA
Every ABCOM managed IT support agreement includes a written SLA. We commit to responding to every support ticket within 2 hours during support hours (8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday). Tickets are dealt with as they come in, and the most severe issues, such as the whole business being unable to work, are prioritised first. The full details are set out in your agreement before you sign. Ask us for a copy.
Related: How quickly can you respond to emergencies?
Want this looked after for you?
ABCOM has supported Sussex businesses and charities since 1996 and is an NCSC Assured Service Provider – Cyber Advisor (Cyber Essentials). Talk to a real person about your IT.
Also read
How ABCOM can help
Talk to a real person at our Burgess Hill office. We are an NCSC Assured Service Provider and have supported Sussex businesses since 1996.