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1. Using technical or wordy language and statements

2. Using a confusing layout or design 3. Leaving out important stipulations and information—don’t make it too simple! 4. Avoiding managers and decision-makers— bypassing critical decision-makers and taking responsibility for the fnal version of the Service Level Agreement yourself is a mistake 5. Providing copies to key parties

The most important aspect of the SLA is the defnition of the performance measures and metrics for the operational services that the IT service provider provides on behalf of the customer. The performance metrics that are defned in the SLA are the same standards that the customer uses to evaluate whether the service provider is meeting their obligations for the level and quality of service as agreed to in the SLA.

Selecting the appropriate metrics can be complicated by the enormous number of potential metrics that could be considered, and it must be tempered by considerations such as the organizational experience of metrics, the type of performance to be incentivized, and cost and efort of collection. It is important that the customer understands the areas of performance they would like to measure and ensures that performance measures and associated performance metrics align with business objectives. In addition, the customer must be aware that the performance metrics drive service levels, which, in turn, drive cost.