This text is for general information only. It does not constitute legal advice or a recommendation for any specific factual situation.
Availability is not just a percentage
SaaS agreements often include a service availability commitment, such as 99.5%. Without rules on measurement, maintenance windows, exclusions, incident procedures and consequences of breach, the clause may have limited practical value.
Issues worth structuring
- what availability means and how it is measured,
- which interruptions are excluded,
- response, workaround and repair times,
- whether RTO and RPO are addressed,
- whether service credits are the only remedy,
- exit and access to data after termination.
An SLA should match the architecture of the service, the support model and the customer’s operational needs. Otherwise, it remains a marketing appendix rather than a risk management tool.