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ITS Information Technology Services SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENT For ITS Customer Support Our Lady of the Lake University Version 1.1b CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .......................................................................................................... 1 QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE .................................................................................................. 2 OVERVIEW ............................................................................................................................. 3 ITS Support Strategy, Philosophy, and Focus .................................................................. 3 ITS Help Desk: Single Point of Contact for ITS Support ................................................... 3 ITS Structure ........................................................................................................................... 4 Terms and Acronyms ........................................................................................................4 SUPPORTED APPLICATIONS, DEVICES AND SCOPE OF SERVICES .............................. 5 Applications, Programs and Devices Supported .............................................................. 5 Services Provided ............................................................................................................ 8 What Is Not Supported? ................................................................................................. 10 THE SUPPORT REQUEST PROCESS ................................................................................ 10 Customer’s Responsibilities ........................................................................................... 11 When and How to Contact ITS ....................................................................................... 12 ITS’s Responsibilities ..................................................................................................... 13 Priority Definitions .......................................................................................................... 14 Target Response and Resolution Times ........................................................................ 16 Solution Procedure ......................................................................................................... 17 Closure Procedure ......................................................................................................... 17 HOW ITS COMMUNICATES WITH CUSTOMERS ............................................................... 18 MAINTENANCE, BACKUP, AND RETENTION..................................................................... 18 APPENDIX A: PRODUCTION DOWN (BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) BY PRODUCT/SERVICE ............................................................................................................ 19 APPENDIX B: FORMAT FOR E-MAIL REQUESTS FOR SUPPORT ................................... 19 APPENDIX C: ITS’S SUPPORT PROCESS AND WORK ORDER SYSTEM WORKFLOW . 20 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ITS Units wish to acknowledge the work of the University System of Georgia’s Office of Information and Instructional Technology whose Service Level Guidelines, Version 1.4, provided the structure for this document 1 QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE Which Contact Method to Use? NOTE: Support requests submitted through e-mail or by phone are monitored during business hours only. Issue/problem New or update existing production down (emergency) support request Update existing non-production down support request New, non-production down support request Method Telephone: (210) 431-3908 1-800-260-8130 (toll free) E-mail: [email protected] Refer to Appendix B: Format for E-mail Requests for Support. Non-emergency or emergency after-hour support request Refer to Procedure for After-Hour Support. Contact Information E-mail: [email protected] (update existing non-production down support request) Telephone: 210.431.3908 or 1.800.260.8130 (toll free) (report new or update existing production down support request) Hours of Operation Help Desk Location: Help Desk Outpost: 1st floor of Sueltenfuss Library Help Desk: Annex D Monday – Thursday: 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. Friday-Sunday: 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Note: Exceptions are inclement weather days and announced, official university holidays. Teaching Learning Technology Center 1st floor of Sueltenfuss Library Monday – Friday: 8:30am – 5:30pm Appointments outside these hours can be made when given at least three days notice. Street Address and Directions Issue/problem Method Address: 411 SW 24th St. San Antonio, TX 78207 Directions: Web site directions page at www.ollusa.edu, About OLLU, Maps & Directions 2 OVERVIEW Information Technology Services (ITS) provides central support to Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) customers for ITS products and services. The efficient operation and service of these products require that ITS and its customers share and understand support procedures, roles and responsibilities, lines of communication, and expectations. In order to ensure an acceptable level of customer support, ITS has established consistent and efficient processes and procedures that are outlined and defined within this Service Level Agreement (SLA). In This Document This document contains the following sections: Supported Products and Scope of Services The Support Request Process How ITS Communicates With Customers Maintenance, Backup, and Retention SLA Change Review Policies and Procedures Appendix A: Production Down (Business Interruption) by Product/Service Appendix B: Format for E-mail Requests for Support Appendix C: ITS’s Support Process and Case Management System Workflow Definition of Service Level Agreement This Service Level Agreement defines the processes and procedures that determine support goals and objectives. The guidelines are based on customer requirements and support center capabilities. From a high level the SLA defines, but are not limited to, products supported, services offered, methods customers use to request services, priority levels, and target response and resolution times. The SLA benefits customers and the support center by outlining the following guidelines to Maintain consistent service delivery Understand and meet customer expectations Establish performance standards to track, manage, measure, and report against Establish baseline or benchmarks for service performance and behavior Provide a means to maintain customer focused initiatives and strategies Purpose The ITS/OLLU SLA ensures that an acceptable level of service is defined and provided to OLLU constituents and customers through ITS. The focus is on technical (installation, setup/ configuration, upgrade, release/fixes, defect correction to baseline product, test-to-production migration, infrastructure, etc.) and functional (production application, business processes, business impact, etc.) support of ITS products and services. More specifically, the SLA outlines customer support to OLLU constituents and customers. The SLA is an outline of support methodologies, processes, and guidelines and not a contractual agreement in any form. As such, best practices and standards outlined herein reflect ITS’s processes developed over time, with input from OLLU constituents, to provide customer support that is also based on support industry best practices, standards, and methodologies. The processes described are subject to change as ITS continues to improve customer support. Customers have the opportunity to make comments and suggestions through the SLA change review process. For more information refer to SLA Change Review Policies and Procedures. ITS Support Strategy, Philosophy, and Focus ITS facilitates and manages support and service to OLLU constituents for ITS products and services using a professional and credible line of communication. ITS strives to provide customer satisfaction through knowledgeable, timely, consistent, efficient, and courteous responses to all requests. The focus is on customer support, business/organization, and continuous improvement of key information technology components through consistent, best business practices and standards. ITS Help Desk: Single Point of Contact for ITS Support To simplify support for customers, the ITS Help Desk is the single point of contact for all customer requests. ITS processes support requests using a three-tier strategy and support model. ITS customers can contact the ITS Help Desk by e-mail, telephone, or fax. The ITS Help Desk then processes a support request as follows: Logs inquiries in a work order system Assesses the problem Assigns initial priority based upon guidelines and business procedures Responds with a solution or Assigns support request to ITS tier 2 (functional) or tier 3 (technical) support 3 resources (See Appendix C for explanation) Through its three-tier support model, ITS accomplishes the following objectives: Implements standard operating procedures and business process procedures that are specific steps to meet expectations and establish consistent and efficient operations Adheres to target response and resolution times Ensures status update and solution information is logged and tracked in a timely and accurate manner for possible reuse ITS Structure The Information Technology Services (ITS) Division is made up of the following four functional units: Administrative Technology Help Desk Infrastructure Services Teaching Learning Technology Center (TLTC) These units are lead by the Chief Technology Officer (located in St. Martin Hall, Room 203). Collectively, the division is responsible for the maintenance and support of about 3000 hardware items (computer systems, servers, printers, network and media devices), and for supporting about 4000 customers. Administrative Technology is the unit within ITS that is responsible for the ongoing maintenance and user support for all the university’s administrative systems, including: the e-commerce solution (Touchnet), the web site (iModules), the biometric time-clock system (Stromberg), our Student Information System (Colleague), the web interface to Colleague (Web Advisor) and various other web services and systems (including the university Print Shop). This team is temporarily located on the first and second floors of St. Martin Hall (Rooms 103, 207 and 212). The Help Desk is comprised of several sub-units: desktop support, lab support, and media services and is primarily responsible for user support. The Help Desk and Lab Support group includes a Lab Manager and several Information Technology Support Specialists who are located in the St. Martin Hall Annex (Rooms C and D). These team members are the first responders to any request for technological assistance. They also load and maintain requested software on all lab, classroom, faculty, and staff computers. The Media Services unit (located in Annex A) is responsible for the maintenance, installation, and delivery of all audio-visual equipment throughout the university. Infrastructure Services is the unit primarily responsible for the development, maintenance, and support of the computer networking and telecommunication infrastructure on campus. Their areas of responsibility include the wired and wireless networks (excluding the Apogee managed residence hall network, Resnet), Microsoft Exchange servers (e-mail), telephones and voice mail, campus mobile communication devices, and the acquisition and inventory of hardware. They are located temporarily on the first floor of the Sueltenfuss Library. The Teaching Learning Technology Center assists OLLU faculty, staff, and students in creating efficient and highly effective learning opportunities. Their responsibilities include providing teaching, learning, and technology expertise, resources, and support. This team includes an instructional technology administrator, an instructional designer, and a digital media technician. The TLTC is located on the ground floor of the Library. Terms and Acronyms The following are terms and acronyms used in this document are defined in the following table: Term ASP Colleague DBA Datatel Production down SLA SME SOS Definition Application Service Provider Name of administrative software vendor Database administrator Administrative Software vendor A mission-critical service is not working – See Priority Definitions on page 15 Service Level Agreement: an agreement outlining the rules of service between the service provider and the customers Subject matter expert Service on site, vendor support personnel 4 SUPPORTED APPLICATIONS, DEVICES AND SCOPE OF SERVICES This section defines ITS scope of services offered and supported products. Applications, Programs and Devices Supported ITS provides central support to OLLU constituents and customers who use ITS products and services. Supported enterprise applications, services, library, learning, business products, programs, tools, and initiatives are described in the following table: Supported Applications Description Adobe products Various products that allow you to create and edit documents, videos, graphics and audio files. Aperture Tool to manage massive libraries, speed through photo edits, make essential image adjustments, and deliver photos online and in print using one simple, integrated workflow. Campus Police database. Tool to capture audio, on-screen activity, and keyboard/mouse input, and runs on Mac or PC desktops and laptops. Ability to edit capture into a polished video. Phone system, Conferencing, Voicemail and auto attendant services for OLLU users ARMS Camtasia Cisco Unified Communications systems Colleague ConnectED Alert Corel Paintshop Pro DHCP services DNS services Estudias Datatel’s enterprise administrative software for the University which is the central repository for all student, financial, faculty and staff data. Campus emergency alert system, hosted by Blackboard, for voice, txt, email alerts Software that allows you to edit graphics. Automatic IP numbering for network devices, a basic intranet infrastructure service. Domain Name services for local and Internet server name resolution, a basic Intra/Internet infrastructure service. ZogoTech’s solution to report integration with Datatel’s Colleague; software used by the TRIO program. Licensing Restrictions Level of Support Must be purchased by individual or department Must be purchased by individual or department Assistance with purchasing, installation and training. Must be purchased by individual or department Assistance with purchasing, installation and training. Faculty and Staff only Must be purchased by individual or department TRIO Department Assistance with purchasing, installation and training. Audio conference scheduling via HelpDesk request, voicemail & phone problem resolution Install and Train Maintain software updates Keep user database current, assist periodic testing Assistance with purchasing, installation and training. Install Maintain software updates 5 Supported Applications Description Licensing Restrictions EZProxy External authentication service Library Final cut Pro Studio A video and audio production suite which includes 6 applications, each designed specifically for editors. GarageBand ’09 Music creation and editing software. ILife iPhoto ’09 Graphic editing software. ImageNow University’s document scanning software utilized by various departments on campus. Provider of OLLU’s web site and content management system. Movie editing software. Must be purchased by individual or department Must be purchased by individual or department Must be purchased by individual or department Faculty and Staff iModules iMovie ’09 Informer iWeb ’09 Lake Online (Blackboard) Mailman list service Entrinsik’s solution to report management integrated with Datatel’s Colleague. Software that allows you to design, publish, and update your own websites without HTML. Password-protected Course Management System (formerly known as WebCT). Open source email list service application. Assistance with purchasing, installation and training. Install and Train Maintain software updates Must be purchased by individual or department Faculty and Staff Assistance with purchasing, installation and training. Must be purchased by individual or department Faculty, Staff and Students Assistance with purchasing, installation and training. Faculty and Staff Microsoft Office 2003/2007 Microsoft Windows Server 2003, 2008 Application suite for user productivity on all university-owned PC’s. Microsoft Active Directory infrastructure and application server OS of choice. The email system provided for OLLU network users, separate servers for academic users, staff and students. Application server OS for specialized services, such as Mailman. Tool for creating and managing exams that can be printed to paper or published directly to Lake Online. End user access to Scheduler Plus database (scheduling software) Faculty and Staff SAVII & Express Requester Assistance with purchasing, installation and training. Train Antivirus application for servers and desktops. Respondus Maintain, upgrade, troubleshoot Assistance with purchasing, installation and training. Faculty and Staff Antivirus Software MS Exchange/Outlook email servers Redhat Linux Level of Support Install and Train Maintain software updates Coordinate installations, maintenance, and training Manage Announcements and Community mail lists, plus others setup on request Installation Maintain software updates Installation and training Logon accounts and user info for all OLLU users Maintain email accounts for all current OLLU constituents Faculty Installation and training 6 Supported Applications Scheduler Plus SharePoint (myOLLU Portal) SPSS Softchalk Stromberg Timeclock StudyMate Touchnet eCommerce WebAdvisor Who’s Next Wimba Live Classroom Wimba Pronto Windows XP Professional and Windows Vista Business Edition Windows 7 Description Resource and room scheduling software used primarily by Physical Plant, Campus Activities, and Registrar. University portal for students, faculty, and staff. A software package used for statistical analysis Level of Support Manage access accounts to the scheduling application Faculty, Staff, Students Faculty/Students A web lesson editor that lets you easily create engaging, interactive web lessons that are usable for Lake Online. Provider of OLLU’s hourly time keeping system which integrates with Datatel’s Colleague Human Resources application. Tool to allow instructors create Flash-based activities and games using simple templates. The Flash activities are usable with any web server or can be published directly to Lake Online. E-Commerce system for student payments. End users access to student, faculty, and staff records and financial information on Colleague system. Blue Eon’s scheduling software used by TRIO, WEC, and the Counseling Center. A live, virtual classroom environment with robust features that include audio, video, application sharing and content display, and MP4 capabilities. OLLU-centric instant messaging and voice chat tool. Must be purchased by individual or department Hourly Staff Hourly Student Employees Install and Train Maintain software updates 50 licenses for faculty and 50 concurrent licenses for student and class use in OLLU labs Assistance with purchasing, installation and training. Install Maintain software updates Faculty Installation and training Students Maintain custom software updates Maintain software updates Faculty, Staff, Students TRIO Department Weekend College Counseling Center Faculty, Staff and Students Install Faculty, Staff and Students Coordinate installations, maintenance, train Desktop operating system for all university-owned computers. Faculty and Staff Installation and training Desktop operating system for all university-owned computers Faculty and Staff Install Maintain software updates Training Supported Devices Cell phones Cisco IP Telephone system Cisco Wireless Access Points Dell desktop PC’s Licensing Restrictions Coordinate installations, maintenance, train Description OLLU approved vendors’ cell phones Office phone devices across campus and Houston office Distributed devices to provide wireless networking across the San Antonio campus Lab and office computer systems 7 Supported Devices Dell, Lenovo, Toshiba laptop/notebook computers Dell and HP servers Firewall/VPN device HP, Dell and Ricoh printers and multifunction devices Apple iMac Apple Mac Pro or MacBook Pro Routing/switching devices Toshiba and Fujitsu Tablet PC’s Studio & studio gear maintenance Description Office/traveling computer systems Rackmount, blade, and standalone Application Servers Cisco firewall/VPN router to provide security from malicious Internet traffic and to allow approved users secure remote access to campus systems. Networked and standalone printing/scanning/and/or faxing devices used across campuses Desktop system for special requirements such as certain general purpose labs, faculty with special needs for Mac-only applications Desktop system for special requirements such as the Arts/Graphics lab Cisco routers, switches located across campus to carry network voice, data and IP video traffic. Office/traveling computer systems Studio manager will maintain studio lighting, control room, audio, and camera equipment. Services Provided ITS provides the following services: Service Description ARMS maintenance Infrastructure Services will maintain the ARMS server operating system upgrades and application software upgrades provided by the vendor. Cellular Phone Service The Help Desk will maintain and acquire cell phones. Colleague maintenance Administrative Technology will maintain the Colleague system to the current release and software updates provided by the vendor, Datatel. Infrastructure Services will maintain the DHCP servers’ hardware, and install OS patches and application patches provided by the vendor Infrastructure Services will maintain the DNS servers’ hardware, and install OS patches and application patches provided by the vendor, and will maintain DNS configurations to support OLLU approved Internet naming services. Infrastructure Services will maintain the Exchange server hardware, and install OS patches and application patches provided by the vendor, and will respond to user inquiries about the use of Outlook and the Outlook Web Access client (OWA). Administrative Technology will maintain the Estudias application to the current release and software updates provided by the vendor, ZogoTech. Infrastructure Services staff will maintain the Firewall/VPN device hardware, and install OS patches and application patches provided by the vendor, and respond to user inquiries about the use of Cisco VPN services. Any requested modification to firewall rules should be routed through the Director of Infrastructure Services. Administrative Technology in conjunction with the Help Desk will assist users in selecting and purchasing/renting supported printing or other multifunction devices. Help Desk staff will maintain HP and Dell devices, but supplies and maintenance kits must be purchased by the user/dept. Ricoh rented devices will be maintained by the contracted vendor. Help Desk staff will install desktop drivers for approved devices. DHCP servers DNS servers maintenance Email MS Exchange/Outlook support Estudias maintenance Firewall/VPN support HP, Dell and Ricoh printers and multifunction devices ID Card System The Help Desk and Infrastructure services will maintain the ID System servers. Help Desk will configure door access for faculty, staff, and student. ImageNow maintenance Administrative Technology staff will maintain the Imagenow server operating 8 Service Interdepartmental Billing for: Cell phones, long distance, and print shop Lake Online (Blackboard) Microsoft Office 2003/2007 support Network cabling infrastructure Residence Hall network Residence Hall phone system Routing/switching devices SAVII & Express Requester maintenance Scheduler Plus maintenance Stromberg Timeclock maintenance Telephones: Cisco IP phone system Touchnet e-Commerce maintenance Voicemail: Cisco Unified Messaging system support WebAdvisor maintenance Who’s Next maintenance Wimba Class Live Description system updates and application software upgrades as provided by the vendor, Perceptive. Billing for these services is handled by: Administrative Technology: Print Shop Infrastructure Services: Cell phone and long distance TLTC staff will maintain the licensing, coordinate installations and maintenance between OLLU and vendor, Blackboard. Both the TLTC and Help Desk staff will provide training opportunities and respond to user inquiries about the use of the Microsoft Office applications suite, which includes Word, Excel, Access, Outlook, PowerPoint. Infrastructure Services will maintain, install, or contract the maintenance or installation of all network cabling on the main campus. Infrastructure Services will work with remote site providers to accommodate network and phone requirements at remote sites. Infrastructure Services will maintain residence hall network switches, network cabling, and network jacks in rooms. End-user support for resident students is provided by Apogee Telecom. Infrastructure Services will maintain residence hall phone cabling and phone jacks, but resident students provide their own telephone sets. Infrastructure Services will maintain the routing/switching devices hardware, and install operating system updates and application software upgrades as provided by the vendor. Infrastructure Services will maintain the application software updates as provided by the vendor. Infrastructure Services will maintain the Scheduler Plus server operating system updates and application software upgrades as provided by the vendor. Administrative Technology will maintain the Stromberg Timeclock server operating system updates and application software upgrades as provided by the vendor, Kronos. Infrastructure Services will maintain the Cisco IP Telephone system servers and phones, and install operating system updates and application software upgrades as provided by the vendor, and will respond to user inquiries about the use of Cisco and other phone and fax devices on the OLLU campus. Administrative Technology will work with the vendor, Touchnet, to ensure software updates are up-to-date. Infrastructure Services will maintain the Unified Messaging servers’ hardware, and install operating system updates and application software updates as provided by the vendor, and will respond to user inquiries about the use of voicemail and/or unified messaging. Administrative Technology staff will maintain the WebAdvisor server operating system updates as well as work with the vendor to ensure that software updates are done as provided by the vendor, Datatel. Help Desk will maintain the installation of the client program and work with the Administrative Technology unit regarding updates to the software. TLTC staff will maintain licensing, coordinate installations and maintenance between OLLU and vendor, Wimba. Wimba Pronto TLTC staff will maintain licensing, coordinate installations and maintenance between OLLU and vendor, Wimba. Windows Vista Business Ed. support Help Desk and TLTC will provide training opportunities and respond to user inquiries about the use of the Vista operating system, which includes Internet Explorer version 7. Help Desk and TLTC will provide training opportunities and respond to user Windows XP Professional 9 Service Description support inquiries about the use of the XP operating system, which includes Internet Explorer versions 6 and 7. Windows 7Professional Support Help Desk and TLTC will provide training opportunities and respond to user inquiries about the use of the Windows 7 operating system, which includes Internet Explorer 8. Wireless networking support Infrastructure Services will maintain the Cisco wireless access points and install software updates as provided by the vendor, and will respond to user inquiries about the use of the OLLU wireless network. What Is Not Supported? ITS does not support unique, local modifications that OLLU users may make to the standard application suite and desktop settings for university-owned PC’s. All University purchased software, computers, networking, and audio visual equipment acquired through the processes outlined in the Policy for the Allocation and Acquisition of Information Technology Resources will be supported. (See ITS Policies under Academics, Campus Technology at www.ollusa.edu.) Hardware or software purchased individually that fall outside of the scope of approved technologies will not be supported by ITS. Below are hardware/software that is currently not supported by ITS: Unsupported Hardware/Software Description Personal networking equipment Switches, routers, hubs, access points – such devices are not permitted connection to the campus network without prior approval of ITS University Computer Equipment purchased outside of ITS Software purchased outside of ITS Computers, laptops, printers, scanners Any software that was purchased without consent of ITS staff. Unlicensed software Personal software purchased by faculty, staff and/or student THE SUPPORT REQUEST PROCESS In order to achieve good customer support, both ITS and the customer are responsible for specific activities and deliverables. The basic components of the support process are outlined in the following table. The first table describes the customer’s responsibility to analyze the problem and decide when it is appropriate to contact ITS to request assistance. Departmental and/or unit staff outside of the ITS Division use and know the software, hardware, and procedures better than the ITS staff. These staff members within the units and/or departments should be contacted prior to contacting ITS for assistance. The second table describes ITS’s responsibility to process, resolve, and close the case. These components are explained, in the order presented in the tables, in the remainder of this section. 10 business/academic unit support staff for technical issues. Customer Responsibilities Step 1 Determines if the problem requires ITS support. This step includes knowing the environment, isolating the problem, reviewing documentation, and consulting the unit/department’s knowledgeable user. Refer to What to do Before Contacting ITS: Customer’s Checklist. Step 2 Takes the following actions if the issue cannot be isolated: Collect information including error message numbers, text, customer name, and contact information. Determine urgency based on the impact of the issue from an individual, business/academic unit, or overall university perspective. Contact the ITS Help Desk. Refer to Which Contact Method to Use? ITS Responsibilities Step 1 Establishes the priority of the call/ticket. Refer to Establishing Priority Engages external support groups or vendors if necessary. Refer to Engaging External Support Groups and Vendors. Responds and resolves support request based upon target response and resolution times Communicates the solution to the customer, solicits customer feedback about the solution, and closes work order ticket when appropriate. Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 The ITS Help Desk is the single point of contact for secondary support if an business/academic unit identifies a local, business/academic unit specific, production down (business interrupting) event or incident that has an impact on services delivered by ITS. When an issue or problem is isolated to be a local issue or problem that has an impact on services delivered by ITS to that business/academic unit, a business/academic unit representative should contact the ITS Help Desk immediately by telephone. The ITS Help Desk might notify ITS functional and technical resources. Depending upon the nature of the interruption or service impacted, ITS might elect to notify external support groups or vendors, for example Datatel for Colleague and WebAdvisor support or TouchNet (for Credit Card payment transactions). What to Do Before Contacting ITS: Customer’s Checklist The following checklist will help customers determine if they have a problem that requires ITS support and what information they should collect before contacting ITS. Determine if the Problem Requires ITS Support 1. Know the environment: Review the technical architecture of the application (refer to application documentation for more information). Anticipate where, and under what conditions, various errors might occur. 2. Customer’s Responsibilities ITS’s Responsibilities 3. Customer’s Responsibilities This section describes the steps customers take in the request process. When to Request ITS Support The first step for the customer is determining if the problem requires ITS support. Experienced OLLU business/academic unit personnel are the best resources to provide primary functional user support for ITS applications, services and products. Business/academic unit users also rely on their own Isolate the problem: Isolate hardware from software operation and performance issues. Isolate network from software operation and performance issues (performance or access issues can be related to an business/academic unit’s Local Area Network). In order to show the series of steps taken by the customer and then by ITS during the support request process, this section is divided into two major sections: 4. Review the application documentation. Consult business/academic unit SME or technical staff. Experienced business/academic unit personnel are the best resources to provide primary support for ITS applications, services, and products. Collect the Following Information Before Contacting ITS If the issue cannot be resolved by business/academic unit resources, collect the following information before contacting ITS. The 11 customer can help ITS provide better customer service by providing accurate and detailed information when submitting a question, problem, or request. 1. Error message number and text 2. Detailed description of operations or processes being performed when the error occurred 3. Information about whether the operation or process worked before and what has changed since the last successful operation 4. Panel/record/form printouts or screen capture prints 5. Trace or log files 6. Business/academic unit’s primary customer contact name and communication information (telephone number, e-mail address) and a backup customer contact 7. name and communication information should the primary not be available Sharing Sensitive Information Sensitive information (social security numbers, credit card numbers, student IDs, etc.) should be removed or made illegible before sending screen shots, documents, or other communications to ITS. If sensitive information must be shared with ITS, it should be communicated in a way that does not compromise the security or sensitivity of the information. Determining Urgency Urgency is defined by the impact of the issue, from the customer’s perspective, on the individual, overall business, or organization. ITS uses the urgency level, along with other factors or pieces of information, to determine the priority level. If the customer makes a support request by telephone or Issue/problem Report a new or update existing production down (emergency) support request Update existing non-production down support request New, non-production down support request Non-emergency or emergency after-hour support request New or update existing production down (emergency) support request e-mail, the ITS Help Desk representative will help the OLLU customer set the urgency level using the same criteria that define priority. The criteria include, but are not limited to, the production down (business interruption) definitions and guidelines that are defined in the following section, Appendix A: Production Down (Business Interruption) by Product/Service. When and How to Contact ITS In order to provide consistent and efficient customer support, ITS has established the following procedures to guide support operations. Support Communication Guidelines The ITS Help Desk provides a single source of support which OLLU customers can access using the contact methods shown in the Hours of Operation, Street Address, and Contact Information section. An ITS representative is assigned to each request; all requests receive a response. NOTE: Support requests submitted through e-mail are monitored during business hours only. For after-hour support, refer to Procedure for After-Hour Support (Emergency and Non-Emergency). Which Contact Method to Use? Successful customer support requires that the service provider and its customers both follow clear communication guidelines. ITS requests that OLLU customers use the guidelines in this section to ensure the best possible support. The following table outlines the four methods to contact ITS support based on the issue. Each method is described in detail in the sections following the table. NOTE: Support requests submitted through e-mail are monitored during business hours only. Method Telephone: (210) 431-3908 1-800-260-8130 (toll free) E-mail: [email protected] Refer to Appendix B: Format for E-mail Requests for Support. Refer to Procedure for After-Hour Support. Telephone: (210) 431-3908 1-800-260-8130 (toll free) 12 Hours of Operation, Location, and Contact Information Hours of Operation: Monday – Thursday: 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. Friday - -Sunday 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Summer Hours 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Note: Exceptions are inclement weather days and announced, official university holidays. Support outside normal business hours is limited. Location: Located in Annex D with the HelpDesk Outpost Located in the first floor of the Sueltenfuss st Library, 1 Floor Lobby th 411 SW 24 St. San Antonio, TX 78207 Contact Information: E-mail: [email protected] (enter new or update existing non-production down support request. See Appendix B for email format) Telephone: 210.431.3908 or 1.800.260.8130 (toll free) (report new or update existing emergency, production down support request) ITS’s Responsibilities What Happens After a Customer Requests Support: ITS’s Support Process When a customer requests support, ITS establishes the priority of the case, engages external support as necessary, and then resolves the case based on the target response and resolution times for that priority. For detailed information about the ITS support process and workflow managed through ITS’s work order system, refer to Appendix C: ITS’s Support Process and Work order System Workflow. Establishing Priority Priority defines the severity of problems and has an impact on ITS’ resource engagement time line. Priority is based upon, but is not limited to General production down (business interruption) guidelines in Appendix A: Production Down (Business Interruption) by Product/Services Customer defined urgency Other customer parameters or problem Summary and Description field information ITS knowledge of importance and impact Procedure for After-Hour Support While the Help Desk representative is logging the incident, the representative and the OLLU customer will assess the customer urgency using the same criteria that define priorities. These individuals will set initial priority for the support request. The following are the procedures to engage ITS support for emergencies and non-emergencies after normal business hours. NOTE: Priority 1 support requests engage ITS support resources as quickly as circumstances allow, and take precedence over all other support request Emergency To request after-hour emergency, production down support, please contact the following number: 210431-4101. Non-Emergency An OLLU customer must schedule the request for non-emergency, after-hours support at least 2 weeks in advance using the following method: Email to: [email protected] 13 Priority Definitions Priorities are defined in the following table: Priority # Criteria Target Response Time * Any widespread outage of mission critical systems (Colleague, Lake Online). Any problem where more than five OLLU customers are prevented from completing work or school assignments due to a widespread outage. For example, a network, hardware, server or application failure. (Production Down) 1 Urgent Administrative Technology applications considered Priority 1 are: Colleague (if Colleague is down, the following systems are also affected: WebAdvisor, Touchnet Ecommerce (student payments), and EZ Spooler (Colleague printing). Other applications considered Priority 1 are: Stromberg (during payroll), and myOLLU Portal and the OLLU Web Site. TLTC Priority 1 affects all courses. Other widespread outages to Lake Online, Flash Streaming server, Cattura Video server, and Wimba Live Classroom server. Will contact ITS personnel responsible for affected systems within 2 hours. If needed, will contact vendor support based on service contract agreements. Examples: Lake Online is unavailable to all users—on and off campus. Examples: E-Mail services are not functional; Lake Online is unavailable, OLLU classroom computing technology or computer lab is not functioning pending a class. Affects one to five individuals, no workaround available. Priority 2 problems include situations where one client cannot perform work or class assignments due to network, hardware or application failure but the interruption does not have a direct effect on the OLLU community as a whole. Administrative Technology applications such as ImageNow document scanning and Informer report writing tool are considered a priority 2. 2 High TLTC Priority 2 issues affect courses of more than one instructor and or widespread outage of Lake Online ancillary Power links: Wimba Pronto, Respondus, Study Mate, Direct Submit/Safe Assign, and Scholar. Initial response within 8 working hours. Resolution within 1 to 2 business days*. Example: Failure of a faculty/staff office workstation. Example: Users cannot post to discussions due to application failure whenever frames or other complex HTML codes are present in a course. Example: Wimba Class Live is not working in any class. Example: Failure of classroom technology or applications Example: Computer Lab Printer Failure Affects fewer than five people, workarounds available. Priority 3 problems include situations where there is a non-critical loss of functionality. A customer can move to another workstation to perform their tasks or the customer has another alternative to facilitate their work. 3 Administrative Technology systems considered a priority 3 are: Estudias, the Data Warehouse, and FRx Financial reporting software. Medium TLTC Priority 3 issues affect the one or more courses taught by only one instructor. Example: Assignments, assessments or students missing from one course. Technical personnel assigned to a level 3 call request is expected to respond to the customer within 8 business hours (1 day) and is expected to provide a resolution within 24 business hours (3 days). Example: Can't check e-mail from one computer, but could use WebMail from another computer. 14 Priority # Criteria Target Response Time * Example: Application failure on office computer, OLLU laptop, or open computer lab workstation. Example: Failure of office printer The technical personnel assigned to a Priority 4 request is Priority 4 is reserved for requests that result in an increase in new functionality for a expected to follow up single customer. Examples of this are O/S upgrades, application upgrades or any other with the customer computer related enhancements in order for a customer to perform their work. These (Faculty, Staff, call requests are scheduled at the convenience of both the client and technician. Student) within 16 business hours (2 Example: Adding a new quiz, assignment, or new tool. New installation of Studymate. business days)* No effect on productivity, or unsupported software. 4 Low Example: New Installations of Image Now, Colleague, Pronto, where not production critical. Example: Installation of new equipment. Resolution time will vary depending on other priorities, but customer will be updated weekly. Example: Installation of additional printer drivers. No effect on productivity, or unsupported software. 5 Project Level 5 is reserved for requests that result in an increase in functionality for multiple customers. Examples of this are O/S upgrades, application upgrades or any other computer related including OLLU computer lab image changes or enhancements in order for a customer to perform their work. These call requests are scheduled at the convenience of both the client and the technician. Example: Requests for hardware/software recommendations, requests for research articles on instructional technology, or requests for analysis of an assessment or project instructions. Project scope and deadline will be set at the beginning of the project. Resolution time will vary depending on other priorities, but customer will be updated weekly. All others 6 Low Priority 6 includes projects that do not follow current objectives, exceed available resources, and/or requests from a Vice President or higher (anything that is not academic support). Will be determined by CTO, supervisor and/or team. *Note: Based on normal ITS Unit business hours 15 Target Response and Resolution Times Acts of nature (weather), power outages, or unexpected occurrences where demand exceeds service, product, or support supply limits The target response and resolution times outlined in the table above depend upon the assigned priority. ITS will make every effort to meet the target times. NOTE: The examples noted above do not affect resource allocation to urgent (production down/business interruption) support requests which always receive the highest priority. Target Response Time Response time is the period between the customer‘s contacting the ITS Help Desk with a problem, question, incident, or support request and the time when the ITS Help Desk, tier 2, or tier 3 representative acknowledges receipt of the request or begins diagnosing or exploring the issue with a OLLU customer or an ITS vendor/partner. Response time also refers to the initial response to the request, and to a response to an additional request on an existing support request. If a support request is not resolved within the timeframe specified, or if circumstances have changed requiring a change in priority, the customer should contact the ITS Help Desk with the work order number and the reason for the change in priority. ITS also follows guidelines that can affect target resolution times by downgrading an emergency, production down (urgent) support request, or closing a support request when the customer has not provided ITS with sufficient information. Target Resolution Time Resolution time is the time between when ITS receives the support request and the time the customer accepts the solution. Engaging External Support Groups or Vendors Factors Affecting Target Timesiod While ITS makes every effort in advance to minimize conditions that may have an impact on resolution target times, the following factors may affect target times for high, medium, and low priority support requests: Official university holidays and other announced closings Business or service interruptions affecting many users and/or multiple business/academic units (ITS reserves the right to redirect resources to the most critical needs) Completion of checklists that ITS may require of business/academic units before going live with a new or updated ITS service or product, such as local database upgrades Lack of timely or accurate information provided to ITS, such as information to begin incident or problem diagnosis or resolution, or confirmation of a resolution New developments that may require remediation and continued testing, such as scripts to be run through job submission Dependency upon a third-party vendor/partner, such as manufacturer defect correction Complexity of an incident or problem (performing a database intervention may take longer than resolving less complex issues) ITS may redirect support resources to day-one, golive implementation issues that impact multiple business/academic units and users and this may result in longer resolution times for other priority support requests ITS enlists the services of third-party vendors whose products and services are an integral part of selected OLLU business and academic solutions and hardware. Since support provided by vendors has an impact on response and resolution target times, ITS works closely with vendors. The servers and other devices that host OLLU production services are maintained under provider/vendor maintenance agreements with a four hour response time. Servers and devices are configured to minimize the impact of hardware failure on production services. Guidelines for Downgrading Emergency, Production Down Support Requests ITS has established the following general guidelines for downgrading emergency, production down support requests: Must have ITS unit director’s verbal or written (email) approval Upon further investigation, or collaboration with customer, issue is determined to be less than urgent, production down, or emergency (ITS follows up with customer about definitions of urgent, production down, and emergency) Help Desk misinterprets customer communicated symptoms or Help Desk misinterprets urgent, production down, or emergency guidelines (ITS follows up with training about definitions for the Help Desk) Customer does not reply to communications or discontinues engagement with ITS support resources Incident or problem meets guidelines to force support request to closure 16 Solution Procedure The ITS Help Desk has established the customer contact-solution procedure to ensure that the customer verifies that the problem has been solved before the support request is resolved. The customer is asked to confirm, by telephone or e-mail, that the solution is satisfactory. The procedure is outlined in the following table: IF… Then… ITS develops a solution for a customer’s support request… The ITS Help Desk will notify customer of the solution by telephone or email The customer reports back to the ITS Help Desk with 3 business days that the solution is successful… ITS Help Desk closes the support request. The customer reports back to the ITS Help Desk with 3 business days that the solution is NOT successful… ITS support staff continues to work toward a solution. The customer does NOT report back to the ITS Help Desk with 3 business days… ITS Help Desk closes the support request. Closure Procedure In the instance of an open ticket in which the customer has not provided sufficient information for ITS to proceed, and attempts to contact the customer for more information are unsuccessful, then ITS closes the support request using the procedure described in the following table: IF… ITS does not have sufficient information to proceed with a support request… The customer does not respond with 5 days… The customer does not respond with 3 days (8 days total)… The customer does not respond to requests within a total of 10 days after ticket creation…. The customer wants to re-engage ITS support resources for the same issue… Then… ITS Help Desk emails the customer and requests that the customer provide the information with 5 business days. ITS Help Desk emails a follow-up request that the customer provide the information within 3 days. ITS Help Desk attempts to contact the customer by telephone and request the customer provide the information within 2 days. ITS Help Desk closes the support request. The customer must open a new support request. 17 HOW ITS COMMUNICATES WITH CUSTOMERS ITS uses multiple methods to communicate regarding system issues and/or informational items. The following communication methods may be used: MyOLLU Portal Announcements Lake Online Announcements Email to community distribution lists Web Site Email to faculty, staff and student distribution lists ITS Unit directors will send an email notification to all customers to announce emergency, unplanned events that result in major or extended loss of access to or service provided by an ITS enterprise application, service, or infrastructure resource. Examples include scheduled maintenance overruns exceeding one hour, or any Priority 1, Urgent service outage MAINTENANCE BACKUP AND RETENTION ITS maintains a regular maintenance schedule and provides advance notice for additional maintenance. Business/academic unit administrators are encouraged to share this schedule with users so they can plan appropriately for the maintenance period. ITS recommends that administrators place these events on the business/academic unit calendar and communicate the information through other regular channels of communication. Regular Maintenance Schedule A regular maintenance schedule is necessary for any enterprise application and includes tasks such as database snapshots, system backups, application of patches and fixes, upgrades, defect corrections, security releases, and database interventions. Depending on the activities to be carried out, it may not be necessary for ITS to use all of the scheduled time. However, ITS reserves the full maintenance period at each occasion. The schedule is outlined in the Software Updates Schedule. Emergency Maintenance Schedule The additional maintenance schedule is for emergency maintenance and maintenance on systems and services that do not have a regular maintenance schedule. ITS provides advance notice for additional maintenance, as shown in the Regular and Additional Maintenance Schedules table. Backup Procedures ITS follows backup and data retention procedures for all supported systems. Mission-critical production systems are backed up daily. Off Site Backup Cycle Backup strategy includes an off-site rotation. ITS contracts with a third-party vendor that maintains secure off-site facilities in San Antonio. Archival backup tapes of production systems are picked up once a month with a rotation set of tapes returned each month. Maintenance Schedules While every effort is made to optimize the availability of services, ITS schedules a regular maintenance, with no pre- or post-notification, for updates and other contingencies. ITS also schedules additional maintenance in advance, with notice. 18 APPENDIX A: PRODUCTION DOWN (BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) BY PRODUCT/SERVICE The criteria for production down status for the products and services supported by ITS are outlined in the following table. Although the criteria listed are not all inclusive, they represent the most common production down scenarios. Application/Service Business/Production Interruption Colleague More than one office, lab or classroom loses network connectivity during normal business, classroom or lab hours WebAdvisor Server goes down during normal business hours TouchNet (e-Commerce payment system) Server goes down during normal business hours iModules web pages LakeOnline/Blackboard Network/Internet access Phone system Email Voicemail More than one office or classroom or lab loses OLLUSA web page connectivity during normal business, classroom or lab hours One or more classroom or lab loses Lake Online connectivity for more than 5 minutes at ANY time. More than one office or classroom or lab loses network or Internet connectivity during normal business, classroom or lab hours More than one office or classroom or lab loses phone system connectivity during normal business, classroom or lab hours More than one office loses email connectivity during normal business or office hours More than one office loses voicemail connectivity during normal business or office hours APPENDIX B: FORMAT FOR E-MAIL REQUESTS FOR SUPPORT For non-emergency support request From: customer email alias or address To: [email protected] Subject: Request Message body: Request narrative Rationale if appropriate Desired delivery/completion date Customer’s building and room number Phone extension # Course Name, Number and section Name of Professor 19 APPENDIX C: ITS’S SUPPORT PROCESS AND CASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM WORKFLOW To meet customer support expectations outlined in the SLA, ITS follows a three-tier Help Desk model. The support process, responsibilities, and workflow associated with each tier are described in this section. Tier 1 Support – ITS Help Desk The ITS Help Desk is responsible for providing a single point-of-contact for customer support. Hours are: 8:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m. (Monday-Thursday) 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. (Friday-Sunday) Summer Hours are 8:00a.m.-5:00 p.m.(M-S) The Help Desk is composed of the following staff: Help Desk Manager Help Desk Analysts Help Desk Support (Student employees) Staff Responsibilities Help Desk responsibilities include, but are not limited to the following tasks: Answer telephone, monitor voice mail, and email during ITS business hours of operation Provide initial point of contact during normal hours listed above for ITS’s emergency, production down (business interruption) incident response system Monitor paging notifications and Help Desk voice mail during normal Help Desk hours. Log support requests into the work order system, enter summary descriptions, enter or verify customer contact information, and select categorization, support request type, and assignment group Assess user business or organization impact and select initial priority level to set initial target response and resolution times Respond to open support requests using target response and resolution times as guidelines Assist tier 2 or tier 3 staff by performing research and track and update support request actions and results Provide first contact level resolution based on information, knowledge, training, application of trouble-shooting skills, and other supporting documentation or reference tools Request initial diagnostic information such as screen prints, error numbers, messages, infrastructure technical information, application information, and configuration information Tier 2 Functional Support and Tier 3 Technical Support Tier 2 and 3 support groups are responsible for support requests that cannot be resolved by the ITS Help Desk. Tier 2 and tier 3 ITS support groups are also responsible for items related to Colleague setup and configuration for business/academic units. Tier 2 Functional Support and tier 3 Technical Support include the following: Tier 2 - functional analysts, subject matter experts (SMEs), and consultants (administrative, business process, instructional, enterprise application experts, library science services staff, and learning management system staff) Tier 3 - developers, database administrators, technical analysts, workstation support, network support, systems support, security support (database, code development, technical service, and web technology) Tier 2: Business Analysts, Knowledgeable Users, and Consultants Staff Responsibilities Monitor work order system queue for assigned and open support requests Monitor e-mail for messages from work order system Monitor requests for support from telephone calls, voice mail, and e-mail as received by or forwarded to ITS’s Help Desk for entry within work order system Respond to open support requests using target response and resolution times as guidelines Log all issues, communications, research details, resolutions, etc. Collaborate with customers on issue resolution Request additional diagnostic information needed from the customer, such as screen and panel prints, traces, error numbers, and messages Diagnose the issue, and either resolve or escalate to the next level of support Tier 3: Developers, Database Administrators, Technical Analysts, and Workstation Support NOTE: Before the Help Desk transfers a work order to tier 3, tier 2 staff must diagnose the problem, which might require specific expertise in a given area such as workstation configuration, database issues, or report maintenance. Staff Responsibilities Tier 3 responsibilities are the same as tier 2 with the following additions: Diagnose the issue and either resolve it, escalate it through internal groups, work with vendors to find a solution, escalate to management, or document why a request cannot be completed Back up tier 2 personnel when they are not available 20
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