# Monitoring contract > An agreement that defines what a healthy integration means: uptime, throughput, errors and alerts. Category: E-commerce and workflow. A monitoring contract is an agreement between an integrator and a customer that defines uptime targets, throughput metrics, error thresholds and alert channels for an integration. Without it, a healthy integration means different things to different stakeholders. ## How PhotoRobot uses it PhotoRobot Academy teaches to sign it before deployment and before switching to [automatic publishing](https://www.photorobot.com/glossary/automatic-publishing). Covered in module [B26](https://www.photorobot.com/academy/curriculum#b26-industry-4-0). ## Related terms - [Automatic publishing](https://www.photorobot.com/glossary/automatic-publishing): Making finished images available online immediately after capture and processing, without manual upload. - [SLA (service level agreement)](https://www.photorobot.com/glossary/sla): A contract that defines the service levels a provider commits to, such as response times. - [Integrator](https://www.photorobot.com/glossary/integrator): A software engineer who connects PhotoRobot to ERP, PIM, DAM or e-commerce systems.