Service levels and uptime

Typical wording

The supplier guarantees 99.5 % monthly uptime. On breach, a price reduction is given as a credit note on a stated scale.

What it means

The service is to be available almost all the time. If it is not, you get money back on a fixed scale - normally not compensation for your actual loss.

Common practice

99.5-99.9 % monthly uptime is common for cloud services. Planned maintenance is normally excluded from the measurement. The price reduction is nearly always the only remedy.

What to look for

• What counts as downtime, and what is excluded?
• Must you claim the credit note yourself, and by what deadline?
• Is there a threshold where repeated breaches give a right to terminate?
• Is uptime measured by the supplier itself?

Source