Book excerpt: Covering all aspects of Information Technology Service Level Agreements (SLA's), this essential manual is a step-by-step guide to designing, negotiating and implementing SLA's into your organization. It reviews the disadvantages and advantages, gives clear guidance on what types are appropriate, how to set up SLA's and to control them. An invaluable aid to IT managers, data center managers, computer services, systems and operations managers. This unique, comprehensive guide is a major update of Andrew Hiles' landmark 1991 guide to Service Level Agreements and 2000 Second Edition.