When selecting a cloud services provider, the process involves more than just storage or compute capability; it also involves the Service Level Agreement (SLA) that they provide. An SLA is an important contract that outlines the service that will be provided. Here are some considerations to keep in mind while looking over a cloud SLA: 

1. Uptime Commitments
Seek out the commitment to uptime; and specified articulation of uptime commitment is a good indicator of how serious your provider is about uptime (typically expressed as a percent; i.e., 99.9%, etc.). Even the smallest differences can affect your business. For example, 99.9% uptime means 8.766 hours of down time a year. 

2. Performance Standards
An SLA should include the expected standards of performance of the service, such as latency, throughput and/or response time. These can be very important for a customer whose business relies referring to real-time data, for example, or with going very fast. 

3. Response to Support
Check to ensure that the SLA includes expectations about how long the provision of support is expected to take. Check also to see if needed support is differentiated by severity of trouble—critical outages versus minor bugs.

4. Data Security and Regulations
The SLA should state how the safety of your data will be maintained, and, if applicable, provide evidence of compliance with any industry regulations (e.g. GDPR, HIPAA or ISO). This is a key consideration as many businesses, especially those dealing with sensitive information, need to be assured their data will remain safe.

5. Disaster Recovery and Backups
You should find out what the provider has in its offering, in terms of disaster recovery. SLAs should specify how data is backed up, the frequency of backups, and how quickly you can expect them to recover data in the event of a failure (the RTO/RPO).

6. Scalability and Flexibility 
Check that the SLA permits you to expand. Is there a charge if you scale down? You should look for an SLA with clear pricing and capacity formality, that is easy to follow.

7. Penalties and Remedies
A good SLA will specify the penalties or remedies available to you if the provider is unable to meet its contractual obligations. Typically, it includes a service credit at the very least, or in some cases, possibly terminating the contract altogether. Again, the SLA should be written to protect your business.

8. Exit Strategy 
Always check what happens if you want to stop using the service. The SLA should cover re-start your data or delete it, and in what format.

9. Monitoring and Reporting Tools 
SLAs should give access to tools to monitor service performance, in real time. This will allow you to hold the provider more accountable and will develop trust.

Knowing the fine points of a cloud SLA can prevent nasty surprises down the line. A good SLA provides you a safety net—visibility into performance, accountability, and peace of mind, as you grow and evolve in the cloud.