Editing Service-level agreement (section)

==Specific examples==

===Backbone Internet providers===
It is not uncommon for an internet backbone service provider (or [[network service provider]]) to explicitly state its SLA on its website.<ref name="NTT_SLA">{{cite web |url=http://www.us.ntt.net/support/sla/network.cfm |title=Global IP Network SLA |publisher=NTT Communications |access-date=22 June 2016}}</ref><ref name="VerizonSLA">{{cite web |url=http://www.verizonenterprise.com/terms/global_latency_sla.xml |title=Global Latency and Packet Delivery SLA |publisher=Verizon |access-date=22 June 2016}}</ref><ref name="AT&T_SLA">{{cite web |url=http://www.att.com/gen/general?pid=6622 |title=Business Edition - AT&T U-verse Voice and TV - Terms of Service (TOS) and AT&T Broadband - Service Level Agreement (SLA) |publisher=AT&T |access-date=22 June 2016}}</ref> The U.S. [[Telecommunications Act of 1996]] does not expressly mandate that companies have SLAs, but it does provide a framework for firms to do so in Sections 251 and 252.<ref>[[Wikisource:Telecommunications Act of 1996#SEC. 101. ESTABLISHMENT OF PART II OF TITLE II.]]</ref> Section 252(c)(1) for example ("Duty to Negotiate") requires [[incumbent local exchange carrier]]s (ILECs) to negotiate in good faith about matters such as resale and access to rights of way.

New emerging technologies such as 5G bring new complexities to the network operators. With more stringent SLAs and customer expectations, problem resolutions must be prioritized based on impacted subscribers.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.infovista.com/resources/nla/how-360-customer-experience-assurance-will-help-to-increase-roi |title= Ready for anything? How 360⁰ customer experience assurance will help to increase RoI |publisher=Infovista|access-date=12 April 2023 }}</ref>

===5G slicing===
With the introduction of [[5G network slicing]], the need of having a 360º view of the 5G slices becomes imperative to deliver premium SLAs and monetize service faster.

===Fixed networks===
For fixed networks subscribers, service modeling appears to be one of the most suitable ways to effectively monitor SLA's and ensure they are met.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.infovista.com/resources/sa/assuring-advanced-cloudified-networks |title= Assuring advanced cloudified networks – why an integrated approach to automated assurance and operations is essential |publisher=Infovista |access-date=12 April 2023}}</ref>

===WSLA===
A '''web service level agreement''' ('''WSLA''') is a standard for service level agreement compliance monitoring of [[web service]]s. It allows authors to specify the performance metrics associated with a web service application, desired performance targets, and actions that should be performed when performance is not met.

WSLA Language Specification, version 1.0<ref name="f016">{{cite web |last=Ludwig |first=Heiko |last2=Keller |first2=Alexander |last3=Dan |first3=Asit |last4=King |first4=Richard P. |last5=Franck |first5=Richard |title=Web Service Level Agreement (WSLA) Language Specification |date=2003-01-01 |url=https://cliplab.org/Projects/S-CUBE/papers/ludwig03:wsla-ibm.pdf}}</ref> was published by IBM in 2001.

===Cloud computing===
The underlying benefit of [[cloud computing]] is shared resources, which are supported by the underlying nature of a shared infrastructure environment. Thus, SLAs span across the cloud and are offered by service providers as a service-based agreements rather than a customer-based agreements. Measuring, monitoring and reporting on cloud performance is based on the end UX or their ability to consume resources. The downside of cloud computing relative to SLAs is the difficulty in determining the root cause of service interruptions due to the complex nature of the environment.

As applications are moved from dedicated hardware into the [[Cloud computing|cloud]], they need to achieve the same even more demanding levels of service than classical installations. SLAs for cloud services focus on characteristics of the data center and more recently include characteristics of the network (see [[Carrier Cloud|carrier cloud]]) to support end-to-end SLAs.<ref name="RuedaTheServ11">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z306GUfFL5gC |chapter=The Service Aggregator Use Case Scenario |title=Service Level Agreements for Cloud Computing |author1=Rueda, J.L. |author2=Gómez, S.G. |author3=Chimento, A.E. |editor1=Wieder, P. |editor2=Butler, J.M. |editor3=Theilmann, W. |editor4=Yahyapour, R.  |publisher=Springer Science+Business Media, LLC |pages=329–342 |year=2011 |isbn=9781461416142}}</ref>

Any SLA management strategy considers two well-differentiated phases: negotiating the contract and monitoring its fulfillment in real-time. Thus, SLA management encompasses the SLA contract definition: the basic schema with the [[Quality of service|QoS]] parameters; SLA negotiation; SLA monitoring; SLA violation detection; and SLA enforcement—according to defined policies.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}

The main point is to build a new layer upon the grid, cloud, or [[Service-oriented architecture|SOA]] middleware able to create a negotiation mechanism between the providers and consumers of services. An example is the EU–funded Framework 7 research project, SLA@SOI,<ref name="ButlerMotiv11">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z306GUfFL5gC |chapter=Motivation and Overview |title=Service Level Agreements for Cloud Computing |author1=Butler, J.M. |author2=Yahyapour, R. |author3=Theilmann, W. |editor1=Wieder, P. |editor2=Butler, J.M. |editor3=Theilmann, W. |editor4=Yahyapour, R.  |publisher=Springer Science+Business Media, LLC |pages=3–12 |year=2011 |isbn=9781461416142}}</ref> which is researching aspects of multi-level, multi-provider SLAs within service-oriented infrastructure and cloud computing, while another EU-funded project, VISION Cloud,<ref name="VillariHowTo12">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SB-6BQAAQBAJ |chapter=How to Federate VISION Cloud through SAML/Shibboleth Authentication |title=Service-Oriented and Cloud Computing |author1=Villari, M. |author2=Tusa, F. |author3=Celesti, A. |author4=Puliafito, A. |editor1=De Paoli, F. |editor2=Pimentel, E. |editor3=Zavattaro, G.  |publisher=Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg |year=2012 |pages=259–274 |isbn=9783642334276}}</ref> has provided results concerning content-oriented SLAs.

FP7 IRMOS also investigated aspects of translating application-level SLA terms to resource-based attributes to bridge the gap between client-side expectations and cloud-provider resource-management mechanisms.<ref name="BonifacePlat10">{{cite book |author1=Boniface, M. |author2=Nasser, B. |author3=Papay, J. |title=2010 Fifth International Conference on Internet and Web Applications and Services |chapter=Platform-as-a-Service Architecture for Real-Time Quality of Service Management in Clouds |display-authors=etal |pages=155–160 |year=2010 |doi=10.1109/ICIW.2010.91|isbn=978-1-4244-6728-0 |s2cid=8631786 |chapter-url=https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/271078/1/2010_-_21078.pdf }}</ref><ref name="CuomoAnSLA13">{{cite journal |title=An SLA-based Broker for Cloud Infrastructures |journal=Journal of Grid Computing |author1=Cuomo, A. |author2=Di Modica, G. |author3=Distefano, S. |display-authors=etal |volume=11 |issue=March 2013 |pages=1–25 |year=2013 |doi=10.1007/s10723-012-9241-4|s2cid=10203057 }}</ref> A summary of the results of various research projects in the area of SLAs (ranging from specifications to monitoring, management and enforcement) has been provided by the European Commission.<ref name="KyriazisCloud13">{{cite web |url=https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/news/cloud-computing-service-level-agreements-exploitation-research-results |title=Cloud Computing Service Level Agreements - Exploitation of Research Results |editor=Kyriazis, D. |publisher=European Commission |pages=51 |date=June 2013 |access-date=22 June 2016}}</ref>

===Outsourcing===
[[Outsourcing]] involves the transfer of responsibility from an organization to a supplier. This new arrangement is managed through a contract that may include one or more SLAs. The contract may involve financial penalties and the right to terminate if any of the SLA metrics are consistently missed. The setting, tracking and managing SLAs is an important part of the [[outsourcing relationship management]] (ORM) discipline. Specific SLAs are typically negotiated upfront as part of the outsourcing contract and used as one of the primary tools of outsourcing governance.

In software development, specific SLAs can apply to application outsourcing contracts in line with standards in [[software quality]], as well as recommendations provided by neutral organizations like [[CISQ]], which has published numerous papers on the topic (such as ''Using Software Measurement in SLAs''<ref name="CurtisUsing15">{{cite web |url=http://it-cisq.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Using-Software-Measurement-in-SLAs-Integrating-CISQ-Size-and-Structural-Quality-Measures-into-Contractual-Relationships.pdf |title=Using Software Measurement in SLAs: Integrating CISQ Size and Structural Quality Measures into Contractual Relationships |author1=Curtis, B. |author2=Herron, D. |author3=Subramanyam, J. |publisher=CISQ |date=July 2015 |access-date=22 June 2016}}</ref>) that are available in to the public.