Your customers don't care whether it is you, your ISP, ASP, or other outsourced provider who screws up - they just know they can't do business with you when they want to. All that matters is that your e-business is failing to deliver - and that you need to hold someone accountable.Meaningful Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are unambiguous, comprehensive, and enforceable. SLAs commit suppliers to a defined quality of service: failure to meet explicit service levels can result in penalties or even legal action.Spectacular losses often follow e-business outages, particularly when SLAs are not in force. The biggest hit is not necessarily loss of income or profit, but impact on stock values - especially when markets are skittish. Some losses have exceeded $40 million with stock values falling by 26%.This new book offers the keys to effective SLAs with Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Application Service Providers (ASPs), which can go a long way toward averting catastrophic losses as well as day-to-day headaches.

Your customers don't care whether it is you, your ISP, ASP, or other outsourced provider who screws up - they just know they can't do business with you when they want to. All that matters is that your e-business is failing to deliver - and that you need to hold someone accountable.Meaningful Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are unambiguous, comprehensive, and enforceable. SLAs commit suppliers to a defined quality of service: failure to meet explicit service levels can result in penalties or even legal action.Spectacular losses often follow e-business outages, particularly when SLAs are not in force. The biggest hit is not necessarily loss of income or profit, but impact on stock values - especially when markets are skittish. Some losses have exceeded $40 million with stock values falling by 26%.This new book offers the keys to effective SLAs with Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Application Service Providers (ASPs), which can go a long way toward averting catastrophic losses as well as day-to-day headaches.

CONTENTSPREFACEINTRODUCTION1. Service Level Agreements: a Brief History2 Service Level Agreements and E-services3. Service Level Agreement — Definition4. Service Quality - Definitions5. The Service Level Agreement6. Principles of Service ManagementFigure 0.1: Making Service Meet Business Needs7. Service Support CharacteristicsFigure 0.2 Service Support Levels8. Service Management DisciplinesFigure 0.3: The Service Management Toolkit9. Availability Management10. Performance Management11. Capacity Management12. Security Management13. Change Management14. Problem Management15. Environment Management16. Quality Management17. Service Ownership18. Point of Delivery19. Internet-specific IssuesTable 1.1: Recent SurveysKEY POINTS1 THE E-BUSINESS CONTEXT1.1 the E-business Context: the Need for SLAsTable 1.2: E-losses1.2 Service Level Agreement — Definition1.3 What to Include in a SLA1.4 Service Quality — Definitions & MetricsFigure 1: Example of Network Availability and Response (TransitTime) DefinitionFigure 2: How Averages Can Distort User Reality - Supplier ViewFigure 3: How Averages Can Distort User Reality - User View1.5 Penalty ClausesTable 2: Cost of E-commerce and Online Service Outages1.6 Planning for ChangeKey Points2 SLAs for ISPs2.1 Overview of ISPs & SLAs2.2 America on Line (AOL)2.3 AT&T2.4 ISP SLAs2.5 Psinet2.6 Sprint2.7 Uunet2.8 Qwest2.9 Cable & Wireless2.10 Monitoring Delivery3 SLAs FOR ASPs3.1 Asp: Definition3.2 Scalability3.3 Asps - Benefits3.4 How Viable Are ASPs?Table 3.1: ASP Size3.4.1 AOL3.4.2 NetStore3.4.3 Corio3.5 Quality of Service3.6 Optimization3.7 ASP SLA MetricsTable 3: Critical Component Analysis - Cumulative AvailabilityTable 4: Contacts for Monte Carlo Analysis ToolsKEY POINTS4 SLAs FOR CLECS & OTHER *SPs4.1 CLECS: Definition4.2 About CLECS4.3 Verio4.5 Other Services; Package Hosting & Website Development4.5.1 DataSoft4.5.2 ClearDaze4.5.3 Global WebNow4.5.4 BriSpeed Technologies, Inc.4.5.5 IntiraKEY POINTS5 MEASURING & MONITORING *SP PERFORMANCE5.1 Monitoring Tools and Their Use5.2 Application Monitoring5.3 Network Monitoring5.4 CASE STUDY5.4.1 Vigil5.5 Systems Monitoring5.6 Satisfaction Monitoring5.7 Monitoring and Litigation5.8 Measurement and Monitoring Tools: Summary5.9 Web Sites6 OUTSOURCING ISSUES6.1 Background6.2 Issues of Service "Ownership"6.3 Outsourcing Disputes6.4 Case Studies6.4.1 Satisfactory - Info6.4.2 AimNet6.4.3 The Salvation Army6.4.5 Bermuda.com6.5 The Invitation to Tender6.6 Analysing Quotes & Supplier Capabilities6.7 Outsourcing Service Specifications6.8 Outsourcing Vendor Evaluation Criteria6.8.1 Criteria6.8.3 Desirable Criteria6.8.4 Preparing for Supplier EvaluationTable 6.1: Supplier Evaluation Checklist6.9 Handling TendersKEY POINTS7 SOURCES OF HELP & ADVICE7.1 SOURCESKEY POINTSACKNOWLEDGMENTSBIBLIOGRAPHYAPPENDICESAPPENDIX A: SLA FOR CACHEA.1 SCOPE OF SERVICES AND SLAA.1.1 ObjectiveA.1.2 DefinitionsA.1.3 AvailabilityA.1.4 SupportA.1.5 Service LevelsAPPENDIX B: EXAMPLE INTERNET ACCESS SLAB.1 SERVICE: SCOPEB.2 SERVICE LEVELSB.2.1 Network AvailabilityB.2.2 Packet LossB.2.3 Backbone LatencyB.2.4 Outage Notification to CustomerB.3 Security Service LevelsB.4 CreditsAPPENDIX C SLA FOR A MANAGED LOTUS NOTES SERVICEC.1 SERVICE OVERVIEWC.2 SERVICE LEVELSC.2.1 AvailabilityC.2.2 ReliabilityC.2.3 ResponseC.2.5 Service ObjectivesTable C.1: Services and Service ObjectivesC.3 CreditsAPPENDIX D: GLOSSARYAPPENDIX E: CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEYABOUT THE AUTHOROTHER SLA TOOLS AND RESOURCES BY ANDREW HILES

Your customers don't care whether it is you, your ISP, ASP, or other outsourced provider who screws up - they just know they can't do business with you when they want to. All that matters is that your e-business is failing to deliver - and that you need to hold someone accountable.Meaningful Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are unambiguous, comprehensive, and enforceable. SLAs commit suppliers to a defined quality of service: failure to meet explicit service levels can result in penalties or even legal action.Spectacular losses often follow e-business outages, particularly when SLAs are not in force. The biggest hit is not necessarily loss of income or profit, but impact on stock values - especially when markets are skittish. Some losses have exceeded $40 million with stock values falling by 26%.This new book offers the keys to effective SLAs with Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Application Service Providers (ASPs), which can go a long way toward averting catastrophic losses as well as day-to-day headaches.