Use these pro tips to find a Cloud service level agreement (SLA) that will keep your dental practice, computer network, images, storage, hosting, and performance, predictable and secure.
Cloud Service Level Agreements
As your office’s manager, it’s your job to keep your dental practice safe — and that includes on the Cloud. One of the first lines of defense on the Cloud today is a Cloud service level agreement (SLA).
Cloud SLA’s give your office a guarantee that the promises made by your Cloud service provider (such as performance levels) will be adhered to. Further, a SLA gives you protection should that service fall short of your agreement.
Why Your Dental Practice Needs a Solid Cloud Service Level Agreement
As security of networks, imaging, and patient data become more complex, you need a security strategy that will protect you on every front — all while delivering the performance you need to satisfy customers and grow your practice without interruption.
A solidly written Cloud SLA does just that by anticipating and planning for every challenge your practice may face. A SLA can help your dental practice operate smoothly and uneventfully across geographies, networks, and systems, deliver measurable results, and ensure that it won’t be you (or your budget) on the hook if something goes wrong.
Your Dental IT Department Can’t Always Protect You
Because of strict security concerns and HIPAA compliance issues, a dental practice needs assurances of complete protection while operating on the Cloud — assurance that often exceeds what an internal IT team is capable of delivering.
Dental IT is growing more complex than even sizable internal IT departments can handle. Many IT personnel and CIOs know that and don’t want to put their jobs on the line making performance and security promises they can’t keep.
This is where a Cloud SLA comes in.
Most Cloud providers have dedicated personnel with up-to-date Cloud training, and as such, are often better equipped to handle the computing security and storage needs of modern dental practices.
Calling in reinforcements in the form of managed Cloud services is in everyone’s best interest. Further, it doesn’t mean scrapping IT jobs within your organizations — it means protecting them.
Do SLAs Even Matter Anymore?
SLAs used to be the keystone that made choosing one provider over another easy. But, because they had little to do with a good experience for customers and their clients, the line has blurred.
However, just think about the risks of not having one:
- Poor service levels and confusion over service expectations
- Embroiled disputes with providers as to who should incur the costs of downtime and security failures
- Providers pleading ignorance when they don’t deliver what they should
- Inadequate security levels for your data
- Your practice left vulnerable and possibly trapped in a contract that doesn’t serve your dental practice’s needs and goals
What’s in a Cloud Service Level Agreement?
A Cloud service level agreement, like any SLA, does what the name suggests — it defines the services being offered, sets expectations for both you and the provider, and outlines how you will navigate expected and unexpected changes in your Cloud service. It’s sort of like a blueprint, roadmap, and warranty all rolled into one. And its most important feature may be a set of clearly defined deliverables, along with specific actions to be taken (or penalties to be incurred) by the provider if the deliverables aren’t met.
Cloud SLAs are both a tool and an asset. They ensure the stability of your Cloud computing resources, protect your data, and minimize your expenses in the event of an attack, disaster, or downtime.
Find a Cloud SLA Designed for Dental Practices
As you know, dental practices have very unique Cloud security and data storage needs, and as such, need a Cloud SLA that reflects these realities.
Which is where The Complete Cloud™ comes in. As the first Cloud software designed completely for dental practices, The Complete Cloud™ understands your Cloud computing needs.
Advantages of The Complete Cloud™ and Its Service Level Agreement
Migrate your practice management software to your own private managed Cloud without disruption. Use the desktop, software, and applications you’re familiar with, but gain benefits from The Purple Guys’s The Complete Cloud™.
Specifically, you’ll experience superior:
1. Performance levels and service guarantees:
The Complete Cloud™ service level agreement guarantees 99.95% uptime. It also describes what it will measure and report, and how.
2. Data security, privacy, and ownership:
The service level agreement of The Complete Cloud™, unlike many Cloud plans, affirms your dental practice’s ownership of its data stored on our system, and your rights to get it back. It will tell you the location of your data, how you can access it, and in what format. It also encrypts all stored and transmitted data.
3. Support (from experts in dental technology) available 24/7/365:
As a dental practice, you often need to see emergency patients. We do the same. When you need us, we are there — whenever. We conduct proactive maintenance monitoring and rapid response.
4. Rapid disaster recovery:
We’ve got you covered with live-to-the-second encrypted backup and replication to enable a speedy recovery.
5. Complete security and compliance:
In the event of an audit, we provide everything you need on the IT side to ensure your data meets all security and compliance issues. We have advanced physical data center protection, multi-level military-grade encryption, and enterprise-grade protection against inbound and outbound virtual threats.
6. The ability to easily scale as you grow:
New location? No problem. We can scale you up, connect everything, and your Cloud service level agreement doesn’t change. Everything is still on our fully compliant network and servers (including email).
The Complete Cloud™ Protects Your Patients, Too
A solid Cloud service level agreement creates a higher end-user satisfaction. More uptime and less disruption in your practice enables a smoother, happier workplace, enhanced transactions, and happy patient interactions. Your employees and patients will thank you for keeping their sensitive data secure and your website and applications a breeze to use.
When seeking your Cloud SLA, take your time, ask hard questions, and find a service provider you trust. We’re here to protect you.