How Do Service Level Agreements (SLAs) Work In Managed IT Services?

By: Eileen Smith on February 21, 2025

How Do Service Level Agreements (SLAs) Work In Managed IT Services?

Workforce Enablement | Managed Services | Efficiency

How important is 24/7 IT support for your business? How long can your business handle downtime if your equipment fails? Would you prefer having the option to get onsite support from a local or regional managed IT provider, or are you comfortable with completely virtual support?

When choosing a managed IT services provider (MSP), it’s important that you know what your IT challenges and business needs are so that you can figure out what service level you need. Service levels are spelled out in a service level agreement, or SLA.

Whether you have an MSP and are looking to switch providers, or you’re still undecided about outsourcing your IT, it’s important that you understand what SLAs are and how they work within managed IT services.

In this article, we’ll discuss the key aspects of SLAs and why they are so important in strengthening the client-managed IT provider relationship.

With this information, you’ll know what support you can expect in managed IT services so you can optimize uptime and productivity for your business.

What Are Service Level Agreements (SLAs) Within Managed IT Services?

An SLA is a formal contract between a business and its managed IT provider that outlines the service standards the provider has promised to deliver.

SLAs are an essential part of managed IT services because they let both the provider and the customer know what the expectations and responsibilities are for both sides.

They're included in managed service provider agreements (MSPAs) and ironed out during contract negotiations.

This means that you should raise any questions you have about service levels during contract negotiations so that you go in with clear, and realistic, expectations.

They provide the timeframe a provider will take to confirm your IT issue after receiving a service request, and how long it will take them to resolve the problem.

SLAs identify the hours and days your provider is available for support.

For example, an SLA may be written as 24/7/365, which means that support is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Or, an SLA of 8 hours a day, five days a week means an MSP would respond to issues during regular business hours, excluding weekends and holidays.

Does your business operate during regular business hours and not require technical support after hours, or do you have multiple shifts throughout the day? How long would your business be able to handle downtime before it affects your bottom line?

You'll need to take these and other considerations into account when determining the right service level for your business.

Both the customer and provider benefit from SLAs because they set clear expectations for both parties, establish metrics to hold an MSP accountable, and helps ensure that customers get consistent, reliable service.

What's Included In A Service Level Agreement?

Managed IT service providers use SLAs to spell out the covered services being provided, your service level, the ticketing and escalation process, monitoring and reporting, along with projected response and resolution times.

Regardless of the client, SLA response and remediation times should be standard across the board based on your contract.

SLAs should also spell out what your responsibilities are as the client. For example, if you have a new hire starting, you are responsible for informing the provider at least 72 hours in advance.

This allows the MSP time for proper onboarding, including ordering any devices the new employee will need (such as a personal computer, monitor, dock, mouse, etc.) and configuring the devices with the required security and operating tools.

SLAs in managed IT services typically cover the following:

Included services and devices
Response times
Estimated resolution times
Device/product installation and setup
Technical support for covered devices
Hours of support availability (and days of the week)
Incident reporting
Escalation procedures
Emergency support
Automated monitoring on all devices covered in the contract
Methods of support (online chat, phone, onsite)
Reporting and professional services, including consulting and project management for products and services
Performance metrics (such as resolution times and uptime)
Responsibilities and expectations of both parties

What Is The Service Request Ticketing Process?

The ticketing process should be clearly communicated so that you know the proper steps to follow to get the right help when you need it.

The ticketing process will generally include:

Point of contact

You should know who the main point of contact is for different service request issues and their contact details.
If it’s a technical problem, you should understand the requirements for putting in a helpdesk service request.
Each provider will have its own ticketing process for different types of service requests, whether through an online portal, phone, or email system.
Not submitting support requests through the correct channel will likely lead to a delayed response from your provider, and it could even cause your issue to be unintentionally overlooked if the MSP isn't aware of the problem.

Synopsis of the problem

Be prepared to provide all the relevant information about the issue, when it started, the number of users or systems affected, and the right point of contact within your organization.

Initial response and evaluation

The provider will acknowledge that they’ve received the service request. The initial confirmation response times will depend on the method used to submit the request.
After that, the provider must assess each request, create and assign the ticket to the appropriate staff, and estimate the time it will take to resolve the matter.

Status updates

The MSP should provide regular communication with status updates for ongoing work or projects to keep clients informed about the progress to date.
Keep in mind that from a practical standpoint, projected timeframes may need to be adjusted for a host of reasons.
So, status updates ensure that both sides understand what’s behind any unexpected delays and whether any additional action or information is needed from either the client or service provider to get the work back on track.

Ticket escalation

Sometimes issues can’t be resolved within the projected timeframes. If an issue requires higher level support or additional information from a third-party vendor, for instance, your managed IT provider will take steps to escalate it.
If your business is experiencing an IT emergency, or you have ongoing concerns about unmet SLAs, you'll want to know your provider's escalation procedures in the event you need to initiate an escalation request.
MSPs will shift resources, as needed, to prioritize more critical issues, which could also affect the time it takes to address other issues.

Resolution

Once an issue is resolved, your MSP will document the remediation steps and close the ticket.
If your issue gets resolved on its own or you no longer need support, you can always contact the provider to close the service ticket at that point.

Feedback mechanism

Your managed IT provider should have a way for clients to provide feedback about the responsiveness and quality of the services they received.
If you’re searching for information about a managed IT company’s customer satisfaction, providers will often feature client testimonials, success stories, and reviews on their websites.

The Bottom Line With SLAs In Managed IT Services

When it comes to managed IT services, having a well-defined SLA will allow you to understand the process and what you can expect when you reach out to your managed IT provider for help with an issue.

After reading this article, you now know the importance of SLAs in establishing metrics to measure your provider’s performance in delivering on its promised services and support laid out in your contract.

It should be noted that not every managed IT provider includes SLAs within their managed services agreements. When searching for an MSP, if a provider doesn’t include SLAs within their contracts, this is a red flag that signals a reluctance to being transparent.

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