[Advertorial] Hosting providers promise you all sorts of things, but what can you really rely on? An SLA describes essential aspects such as the availability of services and makes promises enforceable. At least: if the SLA is good. What is such an SLA and what should you pay attention to?

When you choose a hosting provider, you are outsourcing an important part of your business operations. Keeping servers for applications and websites running is not your core responsibility, but rather that of the provider. In doing so, you are still handing over a crucial part of the foundation of your company.

In other words, you better choose a good hosting provider. “Good” is subjective, but an SLA is not. The SLA lays out in black and white what you can expect, from whom, and how quickly.

Service level agreement

SLA stands for Service level agreement. “It’s an agreement between your company and your chosen hosting partner,” says Kenneth Deviaene, Solutions Sales at Combell. This agreement very clearly defines what the two parties can expect from each other. These expectations relate to service, quality and performance. “In this way we ensure that everyone has the same expectations and that there are no misunderstandings when working together.”

If you decide to outsource things like hosting, the SLA is a very important document. Finally, the SLA gives you guarantees from the partner you work with. When choosing a partner, it is important to pay attention to what exactly is included in the SLA. According to Deviaene, these points are very important:

• Ensure the SLA guarantees incident resolution times;
• The SLA must ensure 24/7 monitoring;
• Choose the highest possible uptime guarantee.

Reaction vs. solution

Resolution times are important, but not always present. For example, a provider could offer very short response times. While this guarantees that you will have someone on the phone quickly in the event of a problem, it does not guarantee that the problem will be resolved within a set amount of time. “When something goes wrong, you want a solution as quickly as possible,” says Deviaene.

According to Deviaene, monitoring is equally important. Knowing that your hosting provider is monitoring your server gives you confidence that they will take proactive measures when necessary. Prevention is better than cure: A problem that your partner fixes before it occurs does not cause downtime. Deviaene: “Monitoring limits the risk of malfunctions.”

Five nines

The last point speaks for itself. The availability guarantee indicates the extent to which your provider is confident that the solution you purchased will remain available. The five nines are the gold standard there: 99.999 percent operating time.

This availability guarantee must be enforceable. Ideally, you should choose an SLA where the guarantee is accompanied by compensation for non-performance. “This also keeps your hosting provider busy,” says Deviaene. A strong SLA with compensation shows how secure the hosting provider is.

This is a commercial contribution in collaboration with Combell. Click here for more information about the company’s solutions.