SLA (service-level agreement)
Response times, uptime or turnaround, promised in writing and measured, so both sides can tell whether the service was delivered as agreed.
Updated October 2026 · with examples from our own builds
What does SLA mean in practice?
An SLA turns 'we'll be quick' into targets: a support reply within a set number of hours, a case answered within minutes, uptime above an agreed level each month. It can sit between you and your customers, between you and your vendors, or inside a product, where timers track each ticket or case against its target.
A promise is only as good as its measurement. One nobody tracks is marketing; a timer in the product showing what is about to breach is an operating tool.
Never publish an SLA your monitoring and staffing can't support. An uptime figure in marketing copy is a commitment customers may hold you to.
SLA at a glance
- Specifies
- Response, resolution or uptime targets
- Needs
- Timers or monitoring that measure it
- Don't
- Publish figures you can't support
Where has SLA come up in our builds?
The support desk threads email tickets from inbound mail, with per-address inboxes and routing, reply macros, SLA timers and satisfaction surveys.
An NGO's command screen gathers its open cases with their SLA status. An unanswered case widens its search after 5 minutes, alerts fallback responders after 15 and is marked unanswered after 30, with the reporter told at each step.
One of the false claims planted in a test post was a 99.99% uptime SLA the company had never published; the support gate caught it and held the post.
Common questions about SLA
What uptime should my product promise?
Only what your hosting, monitoring and on-call cover can support, measured the same way you will report it. Many early products promise none publicly and agree targets in enterprise contracts instead.
How do I track SLAs inside my product?
Give each ticket or case a timer against its target and show what is close to breaching, so staff act before the promise is broken rather than after.
Related terms
Sources
Planning a product and not sure where SLA fits? Ask us, or browse all 116 terms in the glossary.