Service Level Agreement (SLA) for website care: What must be?

The real problem in life

Have you ever? As a business owner You hire agencies to take care of the website. When the web crashed at midnight, which was the big campaign. Can't contact anyone Before replying to the next morning Lost a lot of business opportunities Or in the agency of the agency Customers ask to edit the "urgent" event at 11pm on Friday. And expecting to finish immediately Despite not agreed in advance These unequal expectations are the beginning of a broken relationship. The money is lost. The website is also broken.

Why did that problem occur?

Most problems arise because there is no "The rules together" clearly from the beginning. Both sides work on "Expectations", the business owner expects to be 24/7, while the agency has a limited time and resources. When there is no document specifying the scope of responsibility, response time, and what is not included in the service Is like building a house without a blueprint Everything will be full of confusion, interpretation and conflicts that are waiting for the eruption.

If left, how will it affect?

If letting the "gray" situation continue The consequences are more intense than expected. On the business owner You will lose income from the web that crashes or has a problem, losing credibility in the customer's eyes, and most importantly, losing mental health and uncertainty. As for the agency side Will encounter the Burnout team from work external work, scope of work that escalating (Scope Creep), causing the project to lose And finally, losing a reputation in the market Working without SLA is like traveling without a map. May reach the destination But was at risk of getting lost and exhausted first

Is there any solution? And where should it start?

The best solution is to prepare. "Service level agreement" or Service Level Agreement (SLA). SLA is a promise that clearly specifies the details and standards of the service. Starting SLA should look at the following main components:

• Scope (Scope of Services): Clearly specify what website care services, such as updates, plug -in, backup, scan safety, or edit small content and something that is not included, such as new designs, SEOs, or adding large features.
• Response and Resolution Times: Define the severity of the problem (such as Critical, High, Medium, Low) and specify the time to "reply" and "solve problems" at each level, such as the Critical problem (the website crashes) must respond within 15 minutes and solve in 2 hours.
• UPTIME GUARANTENE: specify as a percentage of how much the website will be able to access, such as 99.9% and with compensation conditions if not as agreed.
• Communication channels and business hours (Communication & Support Hours): Determine the main channels for reporting problems (such as the Ticket system, email) and clearly specify the working time such as Monday-Friday 9.00-18.00 hrs. For both parties to understand the communication. Having a good practice in communication with customers is very important for agency. To build a smooth relationship
• Responsibility of each party (ROLES and Responsibilities): Distribute the duty of both the agency. (Service providers) and customers (service recipients) clearly, such as customers must provide information and content. The agency is responsible for technical care.

These agreements will help reduce misunderstandings and create professional working standards. For more information about SLA, you can study from Atlassian, which is a good source of information.

Examples from the real thing that used to be successful

One agency used to encounter problems with customers calling at the event at two o'clock regularly. Make the team tired and want to resign after using the SLA to apply by schedule a clear working time at 9.00-18.00 hrs. And create a Ticket system for emergency problems outside the time and specify the Response TIME for an urgent. Still being systematically cared for Makes customers feel more stable and trusting in the service Finally, the relationship of both sides improved. And renew the website for many years

If wanting to follow, what to do? (Can be used immediately)

You can start creating a SLA for website care services immediately using this simple checklist:

1. All specified: Write a list of all website care that you serve (such as Backup daily/weekly, update CMS/Plugin, Security Scan, UPTIME Monitoring).
2. Determine the severity of the problem: divide the problem into 3-4 levels
   - Critical: Website crashes, cannot enter the business.
   - High: The main function is not available (such as the payment system, contact), but the website can still enter
   - Medium: showing some mistakes, the small features do not work
   - LOW: LOW: Correct, adjusting the general advice.
3. Set a reply and edit: create a schedule for each level of violence such as
   - Critical: Reply 15 minutes, edit 2 hours
   - High: Reply 1 hour, fix 8 hours
   - Medium: Reply 4 hours, work queue.
4. Set uptime guarantee: Most of them are 99.5% - 99.9% and specify compensation conditions (such as service fees) if not as targeted.
5. Draft: All information together is a document that is easy to read. May start with a general template to download and adjust to your business. More information studies from reliable sources such as Techtarget will help you understand the definitions and components. Better
6. Talk and agree with customers: take the SLA body to talk to the customer to understand and adjust together until the satisfaction of both parties before starting the work. The safety of the e -commerce website is an important part that should be specified in SLA, which you can see. Czech safety list for e -commerce web To be a guideline

Finally, if you feel that taking care of the website is complicated and professional, website renovation from experts is another interesting option.

Questions that people tend to wonder And the answers that are cleared

Q1: Uptime 99.9% means how long the website will fall?
A: Uptime 99.9% in one year allowed the website to crash about 8.77 hours. This clear calculation allows customers to see the image and understand the actual limitations.

Q2: If the customer informs out of the business specified in SLA, what should be done?
A: Agency should have an automatic response system. (Auto-RESPONSE) to inform that And will proceed at the next operation Except in the case of a Critical problem that agreed in advance that there is a clear external support.

Q3: SLA is a complicated legal document?
A: It's not always necessary. For the SLA website care, it can be a document that is easy to understand. But must cover important issues Completely mentioned And accepted by both parties Its heart is to create clarity. Not creating a terrifying legal document

Q4: Between the agency and freelance. Is there a different SLA?
A: The same important Whether agencies or freelance, having SLA will help create professionalism and manage customer expectations as well. Which is an interesting issue when Compare between employment of agency and freelance.

Summary to be easy to understand + want to try to do

SLA is not just a boring document. But is a powerful tool to build good relationships between customers and agencies It helps to change from "Floating expectations" to become "tangible rules" help reduce conflicts. Protect both sides And make the work together smoothly and most effective Finally Good investment in creating a good Sla from the beginning Will save your money and mental health in the long run

It's time! Do not let your business relationship shaking because of unclear. Try to use the checklist that we give to use and create your first SLA. Whether you are a business owner who is looking for a website administrator Or is an agency that wants to upgrade your service as a professional The beginning of SLA is the first step to a sustainable success.

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