IT, online stores and brand protection · Czechia and Slovakia
Support and maintenance agreement and SLA
Delivery of the system is not the end of the relationship. Support begins. We prepare a support and maintenance agreement and SLA in which availability, response times and incident categories mean the same thing to both parties. The supplier promises only what it can deliver, the customer has protection when the service fails, and disputes over urgent tickets are avoided.
- Lawyer admitted to both the Czech and Slovak Bar Associations
- For suppliers and customers
- Prices agreed upfront
What we'll do for you
A poor SLA is worse than none. It promises things that cannot be measured and fails in a dispute. We write parameters that can be read from tickets and logs, rather than feelings.
Select an item to see the details.
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Support scope
Exactly what the retainer includes — support, maintenance and minor development — and what is billed separately, including rules for ordering additional work.
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SLA parameters
Availability and measurement methods, maintenance windows, response times and incident resolution periods by category, realistically arranged for both parties.
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Reporting and escalation
How incident reports are received and handed over, who determines the category and how escalation works when progress stalls.
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Credits and penalties
Consequences of non-performance — service fee credits, rights following repeated failures and termination options with transition to another supplier.
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Related arrangements
Relationship to licence and implementation agreements, updates and new versions, backups, exit and handover when support ends.
Deliverablea support and maintenance agreement with SLA parameters that can be measured, met and enforced
How it works
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- Consultationday 0
We review the system, expectations and actual capacity and propose support levels.
- Draft agreement and SLA
We prepare the agreement with an SLA annex and refine parameters with both parties' technical teams.
- Negotiation and signing
We support you in responding to the other party's comments and agree a compromise that can be delivered.
- Keeping the agreement current
We amend the agreement as the system or support levels change.
No-obligation enquiry
Ready to start?
Send us an enquiry. We reply within 24 hours with a price confirmation and next steps. The first 30-minute consultation is free and commits you to nothing.
- 1Send your enquiry via this form
- 2Within 24 h you get a price confirmation and plan
- 3We start work only after your approval
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What clients ask
Didn’t find your question? Ask us directly →
What should a sensible SLA contain?
Measurable availability with clear methodology, incident categories with response and resolution times, maintenance windows, reporting procedures and credits as the primary consequence of non-performance. Above all, realism — an SLA is a commitment, not marketing. Promising 99.99% without the infrastructure to support it invites disputes.
As a supplier, how do we prevent misuse of urgent tickets?
Define incident categories by operational impact rather than client perception, reserve a reasoned right to reclassify them and set retainer limits. A well-written SLA protects both parties, including your team from endless unpaid weekend interventions.
The supplier is not meeting the SLA. What can we do?
Depending on the agreement, claim credits, escalate, terminate following repeated failures and demand cooperation in switching suppliers. If these tools are missing, we assess what statutory rights are available and prepare a better agreement for the next period.
We rely on goodwill for support, without an agreement. Is that a problem?
Not while everything works. The problem arrives with the first serious incident or the supplier's departure: no guaranteed times, no exit arrangements and data and access held by the other party. It is worth agreeing support terms while things are calm, rather than during a crisis.
How much does a support agreement cost?
It depends on system complexity and support levels. We confirm the price upfront and honour what we agree.
Legal Q&A
Common questions on this topic
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We are a medium-sized business. Does NIS2 apply, and must we register with NBÚ?
Two things matter together: whether your activity is in Annex 1 or 2 to Act No. 69/2018 Coll. on Cybersecurity, and whether you are at least medium-sized, generally having at least 50 employees or both annual turnover and balance-sheet total above EUR 10 million. If so, you must identify this yourself and notify the National Security Authority within 60 days of starting the activity. Exceptions matter: some entities register regardless of size, and group companies count towards size.
Read the answer -
A client refuses to pay for standby because no intervention was needed. Are they right?
Generally not. Under service contracts, standby fees pay for reserved capacity and readiness to respond within the agreed time, which has value even in a month without incidents. Entitlement depends on agreed and actually maintained availability rather than intervention numbers. In a dispute, the provider must prove availability, making duty schedules, availability records and responses to requests decisive.
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Who owns the copyright in software created for me by a supplier?
An author's economic rights are non-transferable. A program commissioned directly from its author generally falls under the employee-work regime, and the customer exercises the rights unless the parties agree otherwise. Where a company supplies the software, however, the customer does not automatically obtain every entitlement: rights from its employees and subcontractors must be checked, and an appropriate licence or an assignment of the right to exercise economic rights must be agreed. The contract should also address source code, modifications and further licensing.
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Further reading
NIS2 does not end at registration: cybersecurity belongs in supplier contracts
The Cybersecurity Act requires essential service operators to conclude specific agreements with suppliers affecting their networks and systems, covering security policies, audits and incident reporting. What the agreement needs, what to ask IT suppliers for and what to watch when you are the supplier.
Read more →
Bespoke software: source code, SLAs and escrow determine your control
Paying for application development does not mean owning it. Without express terms, copyright law gives customers only narrow rights. The contract determines the rest: rights to the work, source code delivery, measurable SLAs and escrow if the supplier fails.
Read more →
Agile software development: a contract designed for sprints
Sprints do not fit a conventional contract for work: scope is flexible, software is delivered incrementally and acceptance is ongoing. A framework agreement with orders, budget caps, a definition of done and rules for the backlog and repository handover provides a solution.
Read more →