ITPEC IP October 2018 Question 61
An SLA contains a written description of arrangements, such as the content of the service agreed upon between a service provider and a service user. Which of the following is an appropriate merit that is obtained by both the service provider and the service user through concluding an SLA?
Explanation
A shared recognition of the service's content, scope and minimum required level — the benefit of an SLA that both sides receive, not just one of them.
An SLA (service level agreement) is agreed between the provider and the user of an IT service. It writes down what the service includes, where its scope ends, and the service levels to be achieved (availability, response time, recovery time), with how they are measured and reported. Because both parties hold the same written definition, the user knows what to expect and the provider knows what it must deliver, which prevents misunderstandings and disputes.
Answer (b)
Why not others:
- •(a) — checking that the invoiced amount matches the service performed is a benefit to the user, who pays the invoice, not a shared one
- •(c) — negotiating fees when the service falls short protects only the user; an SLA usually fixes such reductions or penalties in advance rather than leaving them to negotiation
- •(d) — being protected from excessive demands on the service benefits only the provider
Key rule: An SLA is a mutual agreement: its core value for both sides is a common, measurable definition of the service; one-sided advantages are side effects, not its purpose.
Service Management · AI-written, may contain errors
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