Service Level Agreements in Service-Oriented Architecture Environments
• SEI Report
Publisher
Software Engineering Institute
CMU/SEI Report Number
CMU/SEI-2008-TN-021DOI (Digital Object Identifier)
10.1184/R1/6583811.v1Topic or Tag
Abstract
Quality attribute requirements play an important role in service selection in a service-oriented architecture environment. It is easy to envision finding several services that fulfill the functional requirements but fail to meet important quality attribute measures. Service level agreements provide the architect with a specification of the verifiable quality characteristics that the service will provide. Such a specification allows the architect to select the service that best supports the system’s quality attribute requirements. This report surveys the state of practice in service level agreement specification and offers guidelines on how to assure that services are provided with high availability, security, performance, and other required qualities. In addition, this report discusses the quality properties that have been expressed in service level agreements, and it considers the mechanisms used to assure service quality by contract and those used by service providers to achieve and monitor quality properties. Also, this report examines the support for expressing service quality requirements in existing service technologies and describes areas where more research is needed.
Part of a Collection
Service-Oriented Architecture Information Center
Cite This SEI Report
Bianco, P., Lewis, G., & Merson, P. (2008, September 1). Service Level Agreements in Service-Oriented Architecture Environments. (SEI Report CMU/SEI-2008-TN-021). Retrieved September 11, 2026, from https://doi.org/10.1184/R1/6583811.v1.
@techreport{bianco_2008,
author={Bianco, Phil and Lewis, Grace and Merson, Paulo},
title={Service Level Agreements in Service-Oriented Architecture Environments},
month={Sep},
year={2008},
number={{CMU/SEI-2008-TN-021},
institution={Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University},
doi={10.1184/R1/6583811.v1},
url={https://doi.org/10.1184/R1/6583811.v1},
note={Accessed: 2026-Sep-11}
}
Bianco, Phil, Grace Lewis, and Paulo Merson. "Service Level Agreements in Service-Oriented Architecture Environments." (CMU/SEI-2008-TN-021). Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University. Software Engineering Institute, September 1, 2008. https://doi.org/10.1184/R1/6583811.v1.
P. Bianco, G. Lewis, and P. Merson, "Service Level Agreements in Service-Oriented Architecture Environments," Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University. Software Engineering Institute, SEI Report CMU/SEI-2008-TN-021, 1-Sep-2008 [Online]. Available: https://doi.org/10.1184/R1/6583811.v1. [Accessed: 11-Sep-2026].
Bianco, Phil, Grace Lewis, and Paulo Merson. "Service Level Agreements in Service-Oriented Architecture Environments." (SEI Report CMU/SEI-2008-TN-021). Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Software Engineering Institute, 1 Sep. 2008. https://doi.org/10.1184/R1/6583811.v1. Accessed 11 Sep. 2026.
Bianco, Phil; Lewis, Grace; & Merson, Paulo. Service Level Agreements in Service-Oriented Architecture Environments. CMU/SEI-2008-TN-021. Software Engineering Institute. 2008. DOI: 10.1184/R1/6583811.v1. https://doi.org/10.1184/R1/6583811.v1