A Categorization Scheme for SLA Metrics

Abstract. Effective SLAs are extremely important to assure business continu-ity, customer satisfaction and trust. The metrics used to measure and manage performance compliance to SLA commitments are the heart of a successful agreement and are a critical long term success factor. Lack of experience in the use and automation of performance metrics causes problems for many organi-zations as they attempt to formulate their SLA strategies and set the metrics needed to support those strategies. This paper contributes to a systematic cate-gorization of SLA contents with a particular focus on SLA metrics. The in-tended goal is to support the design and implementation of automatable SLAs based on efficient metrics for automated monitoring and reporting . The catego-rization facilitates design decisions, analysis of existing SLAs and helps to identify responsibilities for critical IT processes in disruption management dur-ing the execution of SLAs. 1 Introduction Service Level Agreements (SLAs) defining the quality attributes (QoS - Quality of Service) and guarantees a service is required to process, are of growing commercial interest with a deep impact on the strategic and organisational processes, as many research studies and intensified interest in accepted management standards like ITIL