In cloud environments, maintaining responsibilities that are not defined in the service level agreement falls on whom?

In cloud environments, the responsibility for maintaining aspects that are not explicitly defined in the service level agreement (SLA) typically falls to the customer. The SLA outlines the service expectations, including uptime, performance, and support, but anything not covered within that agreement remains the responsibility of the customer to manage.

This can include specific data management policies, compliance requirements, or custom configurations that are unique to the customer's operation. It emphasizes the shared responsibility model prevalent in cloud services, wherein cloud providers manage the infrastructure and platform security, while customers are tasked with managing their applications, data, and overall usage of cloud services according to their specific needs.

Understanding this division of responsibilities is critical for customers to ensure they are adequately maintaining their environments, especially in terms of compliance, security, and operational integrity, beyond what is guaranteed by the cloud provider in the SLA.