Striking an SLA
Working out the SLA can be tricky. Unless you have done it before and know what you want, consulting with your provider is a good idea as the provider has done it many times before.
According to IDC's Benson, the companies that have sat down and worked out what their business goals are usually have a more successful contract.
Ask anyone who has been down this road before and they will be sure to stress the importance of having clear objectives and expectations. When problems occur you will be referring back to your SLA, so it will need to be clear.
Grant says it is important to have quantifiable objectives and realistic expectations. And he notes that the higher the service levels, the more expensive the service is. He says SLAs require a whole negotiation process and at Data #3 SLAs aren't discussed until the provider and the customer both know what they are dealing with.
"The issue with SLAs is a lack of aligned expectations. It could be a lack of completeness or clarification. It is quite important to understand the issues to set realistic SLAs," says Grant. "It becomes a contract."
And like with many other contracts, there can be penalties involved if service levels are missed. Grant says it isn't uncommon to penalise poor performance but he says it is also important to encourage good performance.
"There can be penalties but we are unlikely to take a penalty unless we get a benefit. Where there is downside there has got to be upside."
Profit-sharing capabilities can be a successful tool in SLAs, where a bonus system is used. The provider receives more money for achieving certain levels of service and in turn the customer receives better service, just make sure the agreement is mutually beneficial.
Also make sure the SLA can be renegotiated before the contract is up. Most contracts are for two to three years, but if the current agreement isn't working, you don't want to wait for two to three years before getting the chance to change it. Besides it is in the best interests of both parties to have a good SLA in place.
End results
And if you get all this right, then hopefully you will be a happy customer. For Mencinsky he says while there are marked improvements in Isis Projects' network, there are still some areas that he is not entirely happy with.
"One of my big issues is that [Bulletproof's] systems detect if it is up but not how long it is running. The network could be running like a dog, but according to their systems everything is fine," he says.
For him, instead of just checking if the network is up and running, the provider should also monitor the quality of the network, see if there are lags anywhere, any bandwidth issues, if it is running as fast at it could and should.
"Ours is up 95 percent of the time so we want to know how to improve the quality instead of focussing on the uptime. But Bulletproof are working on it...they have done a good job, they have gone above and beyond their call of duty, and didn't charge me, and it quite impressed me," Mencinsky says.
So, what does Mencinsky think of network outsourcing now?
"There are cost benefits, efficiency has improved, and it is scalable. We obtain leading edge knowledge for a fraction of the cost of permanent training, and we are under what we were paying before. It is definitely the way of the future."
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