How IT vendors use SLAs to fool customers over performance

Service-level agreements (SLAs) are supposed to commit IT vendors to a specific level of product performance. However, many vendors are shirking accountability by using vague wording, withholding metrics showing underperformance, and setting only minor penalties for failure.

Traditional providers find it difficult to structure end-to-end SLAs, creating confusion for the consumers and coming across as a smoke-and-mirrors distraction. Customers want to know that they can rely on a vendor’s service and expect it to stand behind whatever has been promised.

Shashi Kiran, Chief Product Officer at cloud-first WAN provider Aryaka, comments: 

‘Service Level Agreements are complex to construct, hard to administer and notorious to experience. Box vendors cannot own service SLAs and service providers aren’t known for delivering a great experience. This results in a hodge-podge of SLAs packaged in legalese that is hard to understand and interpret, creating a smoke and mirror illusion. 

In part, this is due to the stitching up that service providers need to do across OEM technologies, the network and service delivery, without any deep integration. A well-thought-out integrated architecture can go a long way to untangling the SLA and deliver a superior experience.’