What is SLA (Service Level Agreement)?
Turkish: SLA
An SLA defines uptime, response time, resolution targets, measurement methods, and remedies between a provider and a customer.
What is an SLA?
An SLA (Service Level Agreement) is a written agreement that defines the level at which a service will be delivered. It is common in cloud hosting, software maintenance, help desks, API services, and enterprise SaaS contracts where service quality must be measurable.
An SLA is more than “we respond quickly.” It should state support hours, first response targets for critical incidents, resolution or workaround goals, planned maintenance exclusions, and credits or remedies if targets are missed.
What Does an SLA Include?
- Uptime target: The percentage of time the service should remain available.
- Response time: The target for the first response to a reported issue.
- Resolution or workaround target: The time to reduce impact or fix the issue.
- Measurement method: The tools, locations, and periods used for calculation.
- Exclusions: Planned maintenance, customer-caused outages, or force majeure.
Business Use
An SLA clarifies expectations between provider and customer. For example, a B2B portal may only need a 30-minute response during business hours, while a payment platform may require 24/7 monitoring and faster intervention.
Uptime percentage alone is not the whole SLA. The contract should clearly explain the measurement period, whether planned maintenance counts, and how communication happens during an incident.
Related Terms
Monitoring tracks application and infrastructure metrics, logs, and alerts to detect problems before users or SLAs are affected.
SLI and SLOSLIs and SLOs define measurable service signals and the reliability targets teams commit to for those signals over time.
UptimeUptime expresses how long a system remains accessible outside planned or unplanned outages, usually as a percentage or time window.