SLA for Cloud Computing Service Provider |
As a standard practice, the customer
and service provider enters into a
service based agreement before commencing of any project. The agreement is a way to determine and note
down the requirement from the customer, commitment by the vendor, and pricing
for the entire project. The Service Level Agreement (SLA) in case of cloud
migration from traditional infrastructure includes cloud carrier, provider,
broker, and list of services required to make the upcoming solution operable.
Besides, the SLA mentions the model (Iaas, Saas, or Paas), method, and
ETA from start to complete the migration.
The SLA is a legal entity and involves the law. Although, practically,
SLAs are only for the formality and both sides keep enough room to manage extra
requirements and additional time taken to develop the system. But, in case if
the matter reaches the court of law, the SLA helps. In case of any
organization, the SLA is not just a legal document; it also states the details of the entire project as the federal system seeks.
Method
A core SLA team initiated the SLA. This team consists of experts from the organization. The idea is to recognize
the focal point of creating an interface with the service vendor on SLA.
Once the team is set up, and
visions are straight the team chalks out
the main agreement points. The experts who write the terms and conditions in the form of bullets ensure that they write
down every single detail concisely. A very well written SLA forms the
base of a trustworthy relationship between the vendor and service provider.
In case of any organization, moving its structure from traditional to
cloud-based model like Iaas, multiple things
must be part of SLA. Non-disclosure commitment of the data, adherence,
and compliance with the government policies about
the information handling, service commitment, output expectations, storage
plans, backup plans, and total control on
the system from access to destroyable rights are few of the points must be
added to the SLA.
First of all, there has to be a Single Point of Contact (SPOC) from the
organization to Cloud vendor. The SPOC helps
to clear any chances of communication
gaps. A vendor cannot say that they had informed about a possible downtime
unless they write to the SPOC.
During the entire development process, the vendor should be asked to
share the report of key functionaries, test cases, expected test results, and
achieved results. Deviation beyond a certain level must be considered as a breach of the SLA.
Discussion
An SLA is shared in electronic
form for review between both the parties must be on physical, and court notified paper. Each of the terms
must be read, understood, and committed by both the parties.
Conclusion
When there are many small and large services being worked upon, an SLA becomes an important document. It has to
be abided by both the parties for a smooth transition ad business operation.
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