How do we hold vendors and managed service providers to their SLAs?

The contract is where it starts

Most SLA failures start in the contract, not at the service desk. If the agreement measures activity, you will get activity. Write it around outcomes your business can feel.

Start with what the business needs

How fast must a critical fault be fixed? What availability does revenue depend on? Put those targets in the agreement in plain terms, with one clear way to measure each.

Measure every month

Ask the vendor for the data and check it against your own records. If the two disagree, settle the method first. Arguments about numbers waste more time than the failures themselves.

Tie remedies to misses

Service credits help, but they rarely repair the business impact. Add a path for repeated misses: a recovery plan, an executive review and the right to exit.

Review at executive level

Service managers see tickets. Executives see risk and cost. A quarterly review with senior people from both sides keeps the agreement alive.

Check the supplier chain

If your vendor relies on another provider, your SLA is only as strong as theirs. Ask how the commitments pass down.

A short checklist

• Targets tied to business outcomes
• One agreed way to measure each
• Monthly reporting from both sides
• Remedies for repeated misses
• Executive review every quarter

I have written a paper on this.