Paying the penalties
Of course, when a major problem occurs, the loss of data or business opportunity can't be compensated by any amount of money. However, a good SLA does outline exactly what sort of penalty should be paid in the event of an outage. This sanction should have enough teeth to make the ASP live up to its responsibility.
Penalties are often broken into minor and major categories, with a description of each being clearly articulated in the agreement. Often, a certain number of minor infractions will account for a major infraction. The agreement should also outline how many major infractions would be cause to allow you to withdraw from the contract without penalty.
Usually, penalties are designed to be a percentage of the monthly contract; the specific percentage is generally based upon the severity of the problem. Users should look for a proactive penalty approach in which the ASP uses sophisticated monitoring tools to spot any problems and voluntarily pays for any time that a metric is missed. A reactive policy, on the other hand, requires that the customer spot the problem and offer proof that remuneration is needed.
