Cloud Performance Standards and Requirements

B.

Whereas a contract spells out general terms and costs for services, the SLA is where the real meat of the business relationship and concrete requirements come into play.

The SLA spells out in clear terms the minimum requirements for uptime, availability, processes, customer service and support, security controls and requirements, auditing and reporting, and potentially many other areas that define the business relationship and the success of it.

The cross-cutting aspect that relates to the requirements placed on the cloud provider by the cloud customer for minimum performance standards and requirements that must be met is SLAs (Service Level Agreements).

SLAs are agreements between the cloud provider and the cloud customer that specify the minimum performance standards that the cloud provider is expected to meet. These standards can include metrics such as uptime, response times, and availability of services. SLAs are designed to ensure that the cloud provider meets the needs and requirements of the cloud customer and that they are able to deliver services at a level that meets the customer's expectations.

SLAs are important in the context of cloud security because they can help to establish clear expectations and standards for performance and availability. This can help to reduce the risk of security incidents by ensuring that the cloud provider is delivering services at a level that meets the customer's needs. Additionally, SLAs can help to establish clear lines of responsibility and accountability in the event of a security incident, making it easier to determine who is responsible for resolving the issue.

In summary, SLAs are an important cross-cutting aspect of cloud security that relate to the requirements placed on the cloud provider by the cloud customer for minimum performance standards and requirements that must be met. By establishing clear expectations and standards for performance and availability, SLAs can help to reduce the risk of security incidents and ensure that both the cloud provider and the cloud customer are meeting their obligations.