On Tue, 31 October 2000, Bradley Dunn wrote:

The ability to "guarantee" performance is orthogonal to how you write your SLAs.

Anyone with knowledge of risk management and actuarial science understands this.

SLA's are a bit like reverse insurance. You pay a lot of money, and if the network crashes you get a little back. But you never get back more than you paid. With insurance you pay a small premium, and if you die your family gets more money back. Although, if you live a long life, you may not recoup your premiums.