Without a comprehensive and effective Service Level Agreement (SLA) in place when purchasing hardware or software, your investment runs the risk of being ineffective, and/or costing more than originally planned. The key to a successful SLA is all about the details. The four components of an SLA should be:

Description: A descriptive overview of the task at hand

Target/Deadline: When the project/term is complete and what should have been completed at this point

Measurement: How you will measure against the project goals. Many will use a percentage, dependent on the project

Penalty/Reward: a penalty for missed deadlines or often a reward is built in as an incentive

Without these four components, your SLA will not be successful. Each component must be well defined and agreed upon by both parties. The key is to look at this as a shared document, for both the vendor and purchaser to share in success or failure of the project.

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