You've heard the application service provider (ASP) hype, and you're finally getting around to considering using one of those outsourcing services. But you're well aware of the risks; you'll be entrusting your most important processing tasks and a wealth of corporate data to a third party.
You can minimise your company's risks--or at least know clearly what you're getting into--by insisting on a service level agreement (SLA). Don't dismiss an SLA as just another acronym, because it can carry a lot of weight. And it just might keep your company--and you--out of hot water. The SLA outlines the rights and obligations of both the customer and the service provider in measurable terms, and it states the consequences if the ASP fails to deliver on its guarantees.
Before you contract an ASP, you need to know what to expect from an SLA.
