The purpose of this Service Level Agreement (SLA) is to formalize an arrangement between ALT N and the CLIENT to deliver specific services in respect to the PROJECT developed. This document is intended to provide details of the provision of these services to the CLIENT.
Application is a fully hosted solution where ALT N is responsible for the installation and configuration at the web server; the CLIENT purchases the server from the data centre to host the PROJECT
ALT N hosts the PROJECT on the data centre web servers, and the CLIENT users access it remotely via the internet.
CLIENT has their own separate Mysql Database with access logging and security enabled.
This agreement provides the CLIENT with access to their own PROJECT database, the following guaranteed services, and support in response to requests from the CLIENT to ALT N.
For disaster recovery, ALT N have web servers hosted by 2 organizations with data centres in different countries. Our primary servers are located in UK with 1&1; alternative servers are in India with VSNL.
In the event of a disaster occurring at the data centre hosting the PROJECT (i.e. the servers located at that data centre will be unavailable for more than 24 hours), ALT N will restore the CLIENT database to a server on the other data centre within 24 hours. The restore will use the last offsite copy of the daily backup.
A request for support will require the CLIENT to either call or email the ALT N Help Desk. The following services are provided in response:
Defined as activities associated with root-cause analysis and bug-fix isolation and resolution:
Analysis of the root causes of problems. Problems will be reviewed to determine their root causes, measures will be taken to correct the sources of the problems, and reports will be prepared and distributed in a timely fashion.
Defined as the emergency repair of any PROJECT operation that does not comply with expected system operation. This includes system errors, "hung" or halted screens, or unexpected results within the system that render it unusable for the purpose for which it was designed.
Advice about or education on how to use the PROJECT.
Advice on the browser environment required by PROJECT (installing ActiveX components, security settings etc).
Ideas and requests for system enhancements will be formally logged and noted for consideration by ALT N for inclusion in a future release.
Daily backups and offsite copies of the CLIENT Mysql database will be taken and archived (10 versions of backups are kept at any one time).
Every effort will be made to conduct periodic monitoring of PROJECT to assess application availability.
Recording, storing, and retrieval of information to assist in the resolution of problems will be established and maintained.
This agreement does not cover the following requests. However, ALT N would be pleased to provide a separate statement of work in proposing services to address any of the following:
ALT N provide standard and bespoke training on PROJECT, but this is not included within this SLA.
Use of unsupported or non-standard hardware or software often results in unexpected behaviour of otherwise reliable systems.
Any change in a database or system that involves functionality not within the current release, even if the new functionality would seem to be an improvement over the old one.
Any data conversion or data import that cannot be carried out by the standard facilities available within PROJECT.
This agreement is in effect upon the date of acceptance of this agreement and continuous till the CLIENT or ALT N terminates this contract with a written request.
This agreement is between ALT N and the CLIENT, as named on the top page of this agreement.
For the purposes of this agreement, a Support Request is generally defined as a request for support to fix a defect in existing application code or a request for support that involves no modifications to application code, such as a question.
For the purposes of this agreement, a Work Order is generally defined as any request to make modifications to the functionality of PROJECT or any request to add functionality to PROJECT. Such requests are not covered under this agreement.
The ALT N Help Desk is manned between 10am and 4pm, Monday to Friday (excluding Bank Holidays). Online chat facility will also be available during operating hours to chat with the help desk assistant directly to explain about any problems you might be facing. This facility will be available from our website www.altnsolutions.co.uk
Outside of these hours, voice messages may be left on the Help Desk answer phone for a return call the following business day. The CLIENT may also email requests for support to support@altnsolutions.co.uk
The following characteristics are used to identify the severity of a problem report:
It is not necessary (nor is it likely) to have perfect match of each characteristic to categorize a problem report at a particular severity level. A given problem must be judged against each of the characteristics to make an overall assessment of which severity level best describes the problem. The CLIENT and ALT N will jointly determine the initial severity rating for a call. ALT N management may then negotiate with the CLIENT to modify this severity after the report is elevated to them.
The characteristics below do not cover work requests. Severity levels for work requests may carry a different set of characteristics and weightings. Work requests are not covered as part of this service level agreement.
Severity 1 (Critical) | Severity 2 (High) | Severity 3 (Medium) | Severity 4 (Low) | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Business/financial exposure | The application failure creates a serious business and financial exposure. | The application failure creates a serious business and financial exposure. | The application failure creates a low business and financial exposure. | The application failure creates a minimal business and financial exposure. |
Work Outage | The application failure causes the CLIENT to be unable to work or perform some significant portion of their job. | The application failure causes the CLIENT to be unable to work or perform some significant portion of their job. | The application failure causes the CLIENT to be unable to perform some small portion of their job, but they are still able to complete most other tasks. May also include questions and requests for information. | The application failure causes the CLIENT to be unable to perform a minor portion of their job, but they are still able to complete most other tasks. |
Number of Users Affected | The application failure affects a large number of users. | The application failure affects a large number of users. | The application failure affects a small number of users. | The application failure may only affect one or two users. |
Workaround (carries the heaviest weighting of the characteristics for Severity 1 and 2) | There is no acceptable workaround to the problem (i.e., the job cannot be performed in any other way). | There is an acceptable and implemented workaround to the problem (i.e., the job can be performed in some other way). | There may or may not be an acceptable workaround to the problem. | There is likely an acceptable workaround to the problem. |
Response Time | Within one hour. | Within four hours. | Within eight hours or by next business day (EST). | Within eight hours or by next business day (EST). |
Resolution Time | The maximum acceptable resolution time is 24 continuous hours, after initial response time. | The maximum acceptable resolution time is five business days. | The maximum acceptable resolution time is 30 business days. | The maximum acceptable resolution time is 90 calendar days. |
The CLIENT has the following general responsibilities under this agreement:
ALT N has the following general responsibilities under this agreement:
There are several roles deployed within ALT N that are integral to the provision of support services to the CLIENT.
These roles include the following:
The ALT N Technical Support Manager will provide the overall direction of the activities of the support specialists, participate directly in the production of the associated deliverables, and will negotiate with the CLIENT's support manager regarding the classification of enhancements and the scheduling of tasks. This individual will report to the ALT N Technical Director. His or her duties will include:
The ALT N Technical Support Assistants work as a dynamic team of support professionals who provide PROJECT application support. Reporting to the ALT N Technical Support Manager, they are responsible for the timely submission of all deliverables. Their duties include:
The ALT N backup support specialists work as a dynamic team of support professionals who provide PROJECT application support. Reporting to the ALT N Technical Manager, they are responsible for the timely submission of all deliverables. Their duties include: