Service Level Agreements, or SLAs, are popular with companies outsourcing IT work. For instance, if a company does not have its own IT department, but would need IT-related services such as installation and maintenance of equipment and/or software, it can sign an SLA with an IT services provider.
One issue with getting into SLAs, however, is expectations. SLAs are known to be prepared by technical personnel, hence the wordings and stipulations are usually in tech-speak. So if the company getting into contract with the IT firm does not have organic personnel or managers who understand technology, they are most likely to be left in the dark with the contents of the SLA. This might lead to the company’s being dissatisfied with service, for instance, if the service levels are different. For example, downtime might mean for the IT company that equipment and software are completely not working. But for a company’s managers, it might mean just even a slight slowing down of the system.