Service Level Indicators (SLIs) are key performance metrics designed to measure and define, track, and measure the performance and reliability of a product or service.
What are Service Level Indicators (SLIs)?
Tracking customer satisfaction is critical for every business or service provider. Organizations need to understand how their products and services are performing, what their target customers think about them, and implement additional measures to improve customer satisfaction. Service Level Indicators (SLIs) are among the most popular options used by organizations to gauge these metrics.
SLI metrics are frequently used as the basis for driving comparisons between the actual performance of an organization and the organization’s core objectives. They are usually expressed as a percentage or ratio, offering organizations a clear and concise way of measuring the quality of their service over a defined period.
It is important to note that SLIs are part of an organization’s Service Level Objectives (SLOs), which define the desired level of performance that a service provider wants to achieve for a given metric. In turn, both SLIs and SLOs are part of Service Level Agreements (SLAs), which represent contractual agreements between a service provider and a customer that outline the agreed-upon level of service performance, availability, and other service metrics.
The SLI metrics can vary significantly based on the organization and its SLAs, including but not limited to service availability, latency, throughput, error rates, and many others. For example, an SLI for a web application might measure the percentage of requests successfully processed without errors. In contrast, an SLI for a database might measure the average response time for queries.
Why Use Service Level Indicators?
Service Level Indicators (SLIs) are a critical component of measuring and ensuring the quality and reliability of a service by identifying areas for improvement. There are several reasons why companies use SLIs, including:
- Early Detection of Issues: SLIs can help detect issues before they escalate to impact users. By monitoring and analyzing the right SLIs, teams can detect performance degradation, errors, or other challenges that can affect the service quality and resolve them before they cause significant damage.
- Predictive Analysis: By tracking SLIs over time, teams can identify patterns and predict future performance, making it easier to address issues before they occur. This can save time and resources while preventing costly downtime for the service.
- Faster Resolution Time: With SLIs, teams can quickly identify and diagnose issues impacting service quality, making resolving problems and minimizing downtime easier.