What are your uptime/availability SLAs?
Explanation & Context
Explanation of the Question
This question is asking about your Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for uptime and availability. Uptime refers to the amount of time a system or service is operational and accessible, while availability is a measure of how often the system is up and running versus being down. SLAs are formal commitments that specify the level of service you promise to deliver to your users or customers. These agreements typically include metrics such as the percentage of time the service will be available (e.g., 99.9% uptime) and the maximum allowable downtime within a given period.
Why It Matters
Understanding and clearly defining your uptime and availability SLAs is crucial for several reasons. First, it sets clear expectations for your users or customers regarding the reliability and performance of your service. Second, it helps you prioritize and allocate resources effectively to meet these commitments. Finally, in the event of a service outage, having well-defined SLAs can guide your response and recovery efforts, ensuring that you address the issue promptly and communicate transparently with your users.
Example of Evidence
To demonstrate fulfillment of this question, you might provide a document outlining your SLAs, including specific uptime and availability targets. For instance, you could show an SLA that guarantees 99.9% uptime over a rolling 12-month period, with no single outage lasting more than 30 minutes. Additionally, you might include reports or dashboards that track your actual uptime and availability against these targets, showing your commitment to meeting or exceeding the agreed-upon standards.
Example Responses
Example Response 1
Our uptime/availability SLAs are based on the standard offerings provided by our PaaS provider, which guarantees a 99.9% uptime. We monitor our service to ensure we meet these SLAs and work closely with our provider to address any issues that may arise.
Example Response 2
We have established uptime/availability SLAs that guarantee 99.95% uptime over a rolling 12-month period. Our infrastructure is designed with redundancy and failover mechanisms to ensure high availability, and we conduct regular reviews and audits to ensure compliance with these SLAs.
Example Response 3
As our software is deployed on-premises at our clients' locations, we do not have formal uptime/availability SLAs. However, we provide best practice guidelines and support to help our clients maintain high availability of our software within their own environments.

