Service Level Agreement (SLA) (IT Glossary)

Service Level Agreement (SLA): A service level agreement (SLA) is a contract that establishes a set of deliverables that one party (the service provider) has agreed to provide another (the client). An SLA defines the level of service you can expect from a vendor, laying out the metrics by which service is measured, as well as remedies or penalties should agreed-upon service levels not be achieved. It is a critical component of any technology vendor contract.