WORKSHOP SLA SPECIFICATION BY ETIENNE WERY Lawyer at the Paris & Brussels Bar, Partner ULYS IT OUTSOURCING SUMMIT 27/11/2003

WORKSHOP SLA SPECIFICATION

BY

ETIENNE WERYLawyer at the Paris & Brussels Bar, Partner

ULYSIT OUTSOURCING SUMMIT 27/11/2003

OVERVIEW OF WORKSHOP

General theory about the SLA Duration 1/2hour

SLA workshop Duration 1hour

Workshop discussion and correction Duration 1/2hour

Questions Duration 1/2 hour

TABLE OF CONTENT

General concepts about the SLA General concepts about the ASP The SLA inside an ASP Writing of an SLA

ASPIC best practices Main subjects to cover

SLA failures Workshop Lessons learned SLA specification : Challenges Questions

TABLE OF CONTENT




DEFINITION OF THE SLA

Service Level Agreements (SLA) are:

An SLA is a legal contract that specifies the contractuable deliverables, terms and conditions between the service provider and the end-user

The SLA is a formal, legally binding, statement of expectations and obligations between a service provider and its customer or customers

USE OF THE SLA

AN SLA is used in outsourcing contracts An SLA answers to the following

questions:

Who delivers which service when? What happens if problems arise? What is the service and how is the service

quality assessed? How to work changes into the SLA?

PURPOSES OF USING AN SLA

Identifies and defines customer’s needs Provides a framework for understanding Simplifies complex issues Reduces areas of conflict Encourages dialog in the event of disputes Eliminates unrealistic expectations Plays as a marketing instrument Plays as a partnership instrument Transforms a “best effort obligation” into an

“obligation of result”

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An ASP is a company that delivers and manages applications and computer services to subscribers/clients via the Internet or a private network

DEFINITION OF AN ASP

Classicaloutsourcing

ASP

ASP vs. CLASSICAL OUTSOURCING

Transfer of personnel Higher level of maintenance Supplies mostly “standard applications” Hardware belongs to/hired by the ASP Hardware located at ASP

Customer

ASPISV

VAR

IAP SI

BO P

….

ASP CHAIN

TABLE OF CONTENT




Customer

ASPISV

VAR

IAP SI

BO P

….

ZONE OF INFLUENCE OF SLA

Zone of influence of SLA

NETWORK SLA

HOSTING SLA

APPLICATION SLA

SUPPORT SERVICE SLA

SLA DOMAINS

TABLE OF CONTENT




ASPIC BEST PRACTICES

Application service providers consortium (ASPIC) and World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) set up best practices:

To build up good relationship between ISP and customer

To avoid conflicts

ASPIC BEST PRACTICES (I/III)

Infrastructure Data Center Server Load balancing Clustering Geographic Redundancy

Connectivity Network architecture Scalability Connectivity Options

Security Authentication Access Control Integrity Confidentiality Non-repudiation Security of Hardware Security of Software

ASPIC BEST PRACTICES (II/III)

Application Application management Intellectual Rights Property Databases Pricing Application Preparation Sharing of liabilities Sharing of tasks Maintenance of the Application

Maintenance Maintenance of the application Maintenance of the system Maintenance of the Network Reports Help-Desk

ASPIC BEST PRACTICES (III/III)

Implementation Choice of application Preparation of the Platform Installation Configuration and Customisation Conversion / migration of data Reports Tests Integration Training of the customer

TABLE OF CONTENT




Main subjects to cover (I/III)

1. Introduction and purpose

2. Service to be delivereda) Uptimeb) System response timec) Lost datad) Customizatione) Change controlf) Billing responsesg) Report generationh) Other issues

Main subjects to cover (II/III)

3. Performance, tracking and reporting

4. Problem management

5. Fees and expenses

6. Customer duties and responsibilities

7. Warranties and remedies

8. Security

Main subjects to cover (III/III)

9. IPR and confidential information

10. Legal compliance and resolution of disputes

11. Termination

12. Examination of clauses- descriptions

SERVICE LEVELS

Target level

Minimum acceptable level

Unacceptable level

Bonus price

Negotiated price

Price reduction

Contract termination

Service level

TABLE OF CONTENT




MAJOR SLA FAILURES

Negotiation problems Specification of efforts versus specification of

results Unclear service specification Incomplete service specification Incomplete cost management « Dead-end » SLA documents Exit Management

TABLE OF CONTENT




WORKSHOP (I/II)

Aim of the workshop

Identify major problems when writing an SLA On service provided On service levels based on the organisation’s specificity Costs

How to handle major issues

WORKSHOP (II/II)

Workshop process Divide audience in 3 groups, each group represents

a major SLA party Customer Service provider Parallel service provider

Each group will react towards different given clauses

Analyse clauses and try to find major issues about the SLA

CLASSIFY MAJOR ISSUES SLA failures

Negotiation problems

Efforts vs. Results

Unclear service specification

Incomplete service specification

Incomplete cost management

“Dead-end” SLA

Exit Management

TABLE OF CONTENT




LESSONS LEARNED

Does your SLA include:A specified level of customer support?Provisions for system and data security?A guaranteed level of system performance such as sub-second response time?Continuous system availability?In case of failure to deliver, is there a designated contact person who can address the issue?Enforcement procedure? Refund? Termination and choice of new ASP without penalty?

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SLA SPECIFICATION: CHALLENGES

Scope and Methodology Pre-understanding Service level management & service process

management Knowing the actors and following a structured

approach

TABLE OF CONTENT




QUESTIONS

I would be pleased to answer your questions

Documents

WORKSHOP SLA SPECIFICATION BY ETIENNE WERY Lawyer at the Paris & Brussels Bar, Partner ULYS IT OUTSOURCING SUMMIT 27/11/2003