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The notion of the Service Level
Agreement (SLA ) has been in existence for
several decades now, together with that of outsourcing.
In fact, no-one could now imagine ever entrusting
its IT system to a third party who could not commit itself to prescribed levels
of performance, quality and security.
Since the SaaS model is a specific,
recently-developed form of outsourcing, the SLA
must be adapted to new constraints and practices. Let us therefore try
to address this question.
In SaaS mode, the client (within our sector: a
bank) signs a single contract with
the provider (in our case: SAB Services),
for an offer covering software, hardware, network and services.
The provider supplies the client with a « bundle »
of resources and services: defined banking software packages, secure technical
infrastructures, technical administration, operational system and regular
updates.
The client (i.e. the bank employee) is
connected using a simple browser and a secured link. This also applies to the final client (i.e.
the client of the bank), when he uses our remote banking service (e-SAB).
The infrastructure,
installed for the bank, comprises of servers and interfaces secured by the
banking networks.
The IT operational
system is also
secured: real-time replication back-up, continuity plan.
The
Support service plays an essential role in the quality of the SaaS model. It comprises of a “hot-line”, but also
corrective maintenance, regulatory and fiscal maintenance, and the maintenance
of parameters specific to the bank.
Please note that the provider services (SAB)
can be extended to cover associate solutions, such as printing, statutory
archiving, and Electronic Documents Management. Certain contracts may also
contain a BPaaS (Business Process as a
Service) component, designed specifically for the banking sector: management
of Forex rates, interest rates, securities reference databases, Corporate
actions, etc. All of these services are optional.
The bank pays a periodic usage fee based on its current levels of activity.
An SLA (Service
Level Agreement) is a contractual document which defines the quality of the
service to be provided to the client establishment.
In particular, it incorporates a performance chart: the referencing of
quality indicators, a guarantee of availability, response times, re-start and
incident response time-frames.
It also states the referencing of volume indicators, which are used to
calculate invoices which vary with usage.
In general, our SaaS pricing structure
comprises of a fixed annual charge, to
which is added a variable quarterly
invoicing. The latter is based on basic
banking units such as the number of credits, savings passbooks, positioned
securities, Corporate Actions.
In order to avoid disputes during the lifetime
of the SaaS contract, the procedures and distribution of responsibilities are
defined as precisely as possible, in the form of a distribution matrix.
There follows an example of an actual SLA concerning a banking production environment:
- guaranteed
service availability of 99.5% on a monthly 24/7 basis (24 hours a day, 7 days a
week)
- Guaranteed Hardware Re-start Timeframe of 4
hours on a 24/7 basis.
- System
and hardware service on-call on a 24/7 basis.
It is important to note that the SaaS provider
must “link” any contracts entered into with associates (hosts, operators, software
publishers) to the SaaS-type contract entered into with its clients.
Any constraints imposed by banks, guarantees,
schedules and insurance clauses must also be factored in on a “cascade” basis.
By Jean-Loup Joly (jeanloup-joly@sab2i.com)
Deputy Managing Director, SAB
