Service Level Agreement
Terminology note
Originally, the term is used in the realm of quality.
Introduction to the notion
Service level agreements are contracts made between the user of the system and the supplier. They are themselves a means of establishing the governance of the information system. They play a central role in methodologies like ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library).
As a metaphor, the notion applies to many things, including software components.
Related terms: quality, service (logical aspect, SOA).