Oakland University
UNIVERSITY TECHNOLOGY SERVICES
More documentation and announcements can be found on the UTS Website at http://www.oakland.edu/uts.
Topic: Distributed Support Service Level Agreement
Audience: Staff and Faculty who provide local or departmental information technology support. Date: June 6, 2008
1.0 Overview
This Service Level Agreement (SLA) is between University Technology Services (UTS) and the designated information technology support staff within the academic and administrative offices of the University, referred to in this document as Distributed Technology Support (DTS). Under this SLA, UTS agrees to provide specific information technology services and support and DTS agrees to provide support specific to the individual area. This SLA also covers performance andreliability targets and objectives.
2.0 Purpose
The purpose of this SLA is to establish a cooperative partnership between decentralized information technology support staff members (DTS) and the central information technology organization (UTS) by clarifying roles, setting expectations, and providing mechanisms for resolving problems.
2.1 Committee
A committee named the Distributed Technology Support Committee is formalized under this SLA. Membership shall consist of any self-identified university employee, not employed within UTS, and with responsibilities for information technology, network or computing support. Also, any UTS professional staff member may participate on the Committee.
3.0 Terms of Agreement
This service is provided on an ongoing basis. From time to time it may be reviewed and modified by the Distributed Technology Support Committee. Changes to this agreement will be done with the approval of the Distributed Technology Support Committee.
4.0 Support Hours
Systems monitoring and operation is handled 24 hours a day, 5 days a week, on regularly scheduled weekdays. Standard support is provided by University Technology Services on regularly scheduled weekdays, during standard business hours, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
Extended support hours may be available. When possible, UTS will attempt to extend the business day through flexible scheduling. The extended day is generally from 7:30am to 6:00pm on regularly scheduled weekdays. Extended day service is not guaranteed.
Goodwill service may be available at other times, such as nights, weekends and holidays. Goodwill service is not guaranteed. Goodwill service refers to UTS staff members casually monitoring systems and notifications during their personal time. We do not have an on-call scheduled rotation at this time, due to staffing limits.
Scheduled support service for a specific event can be scheduled in advance through planning between DTS and UTS. Support should be requested at least 2 weeks in advance. If support requests are expected over major holidays (4th of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas break), the request should be submitted 6 months in advance. Requests from distributed support staff for singular coverage for special events that occur on evenings, weekends and holidays will be considered. Such requests should be submitted to UTS well in advance of the planned event.
Regularly scheduled maintenance will be scheduled during low use hours as much as possible; such work will be done before 8am or after 5pm whenever possible. The regular maintenance window is midnight to 8 AM on Wednesday morning. Scheduled changes usually must be done when contracted support for problem resolution is available, and due to budget constraints, UTS seeks to contract support for Monday through Friday (24x5) excluding holidays.
UTS will respond to critical requests within 4 hours of receiving the report within the standard support hours. A best effort response will be provided at other times. UTS will respond immediately to emergency situations as defined in the Oakland University Emergency Response Plan and the Desktop Emergency Guide. Emergency contacts may be placed to the Helpdesk during standard support hours or to the Oakland University Police Dispatch during other times.
5.0 Priorities
We seek to prioritize projects that are in alignment with university strategic initiatives. Priority setting guidelines are on the UTS web site at http://www.oakland.edu/uts/policies#priorities.
6.0 University Technology Services Responsibilities
University Technology Services consists of several organizational teams: Network Communications, Architecture Technical Support, Database Applications, Operations and Secure Client Services / Helpdesk. The leadership of University Technology Services is responsible for:
- Information technology technical direction, strategic planning and capacity planning
- Systems and network architecture
- Information technology policy, standards, guidelines and service level agreements
- Security, risk assessment, legal compliance, business continuity planning
- E-learning infrastructure
- Enterprise systems, E-commerce and web-based service delivery
- Relationship building
- Resource allocation, budget, and project coordination
All UTS teams work in compliance with University information technology policies and it is expected that all university employees comply with the information technology polices listed at Policies and Guidelineshttp://www.oakland.edu/uts/policies.
6.1 Network Communications Services Responsibilities
The Network Communications team is responsible for the wired and wireless voice, video and data communications network. This team will evaluate, engineer, purchase, configure, install, troubleshoot and maintain the data and voice network switches, servers, wireless access points and software related to the communications infrastructure in accordance with policy #850 Network Policy. Also, this team will:
6.1.1 Provide a connection to the campus Internet backbone and assure successful operation of the University in conjunction with that connection.
6.1.2 Diagnose all reported backbone problems.
6.1.3 Provide a static or DHCP Reserved IP address for each server.
6.1.4 Provide DNS name administration services for each server. This includes entering the server name and appropriate aliases in the university-wide DNS system. Only one DNS name/IP address pair is supported per server. Administrative changes to the server DNS name/IP address pair are restricted to 3 per year.
6.1.5 Perform regularly scheduled maintenance on Wednesday mornings between the hours of 4 AM and 8 AM.
6.2 Technical Support Responsibilities
The Tech Support team is responsible for the servers, operating systems, identity management and middleware. This team will provide maintenance of the hardware and software on servers in the Dodge Datacenter or other UTS facilities, or on other servers under a pre-arranged service level agreement. Current service levels are displayed at File & Storage Services http://www.oakland.edu/uts/storage. In addition, this team will:
6.2.1 Provide assistance with purchasing decisions. Department, academic, administrative, or research units may purchase a server, or may request that UTS purchase a server. Technical Support may assist with the purchasing decisions on the request, providing evaluation appropriate to the project, including, but not limited to, server sizing, purchasing options, configuration, security, licensing and network requirements. University Technology Services sometimes has adequate capacity on existing servers or existing software license agreements, so prior review with a Tech Support team representative is recommended. Requests for installation must be submitted 4 weeks prior to server arrival.
6.2.2 Provide a secure server location, if possible. Technical Support cannot guarantee that a location in the server room is available for a new server. Servers installed in the Dodge Datacenter must be purchased as rack-mount. Approval must be obtained from Tech Support prior to purchase if the server is to be located in a UTS facility.
6.2.3 Provide review of a proposed physical location. Installations outside the Dodge Datacenter or other UTS facility should be reviewed carefully in advance of server installation. The physical location of the server requires environmental (air cooling), physical security and network availability review.
6.2.4 Maintain the collaborative work environment, including identity management (login accounts, email addresses, LDAP directory, etc.), email, file storage, and calendar systems.
6.2.5 Maintain the E-learning infrastructure systems, including Moodle, Scantron and Go-Print. Vendor support contacts will be provided to DTS for these systems so that DTS members can facilitate problem resolution directly. Any unresolved problem will be escalated to Tech Support for resolution.
6.2.6 Maintain the systems security environment, including operating system push strategy and group policy, central gateway anti-virus / spam systems, and client/server anti-virus systems.
6.2.7 Maintain the centralized backup systems. UTS administers backups of all systems in the Dodge Datacenter. At least four (4) versions of a file are kept for 30 days after it is deleted from the client server. If only one version of a file exists on a client server, the backup will not expire until 30 days after the file is deleted from the client server. Backups are written to a central storage disk array, and then copied to tapes. Tapes are sent offsite weekly; however, they are not required for restoring data unless disks are corrupted. Tapes are generally for Disaster Recovery purposes. Verification of backup should be coordinated with UTS staff on the Tech Support team.
6.3 Operations
Operations is responsible for Telecom, systems monitoring, operations and facilities. This team will:
6.3.1 Provide the following services: telecommunications; coordinated office moves for network, telecom and PC connections; backup/restore services; system monitoring; and security access processing.
6.3.2 Provide storage of backup media in UTS as arranged.
6.4 Database Applications
Database Applications provides support for database applications, enterprise systems and integration. The Database Applications group at Oakland University encompasses both information delivery and information management components. The group is responsible for:
6.4.1 Banner is run vanilla, without modification. Support is limited to integration, add-ons, and problem-solving.
6.4.2 Installation and support of server applications other than the products listed are the responsibility of the owner. Units may contact the application vendor or UTS to provide this service.
All applications installations of any kind on centralized servers must be coordinated between UTS and the owner with a minimum of 10 days notice in order to ensure adequate availability of resources if problems arise from the installation. Complete backups of the server should be taken immediately prior to any installations. UTS will respond to operating system problems arising from an application installation consistent with established service priorities.
Administration and support of all server applications are the responsibility of the owner. Contact with the application vendor is the responsibility of the local owner, not UTS, unless otherwise negotiated. This includes all use of the application itself, including setting of privileges, training, tuning, client connectivity, generation of reports, and so forth. UTS may be able to supply these services, if desired and contracted by the system owner in advance.
6.5 Secure Client Services
Secure Client Services/Helpdesk provides support for the following:
6.5.1 Helpdesk will follow the Helpdesk Service Level Agreement and Desktop Service Level Agreement standards.
6.5.2 The Helpdesk will troubleshoot problems with the desktop operating system, including performance problems, consistent with established service priorities, and will escalate issues to senior technical or network support staff as needed. Troubleshooting services are available only for those systems installed with the current release and one full version behind.
6.6 Distributed Technology Support Responsibilities
Distributed Technology Support staff will:
6.6.1 Provide the name and contact information of a primary technical contact to UTS.
6.6.2 Create a local information technology organization that complies with usage described in university policy #890.
6.6.3 Maintain local network connections in accordance with university policy #850.
6.6.4 Perform system administration for systems outside the UTS Dodge Datacenter and other UTS managed facilities, in accordance with university policy #880.
6.6.5 Assure that local software usage is compliant with policy #870.
6.6.6 Assist University Technology Services in the identification of priorities, potential cost cutting or service improvements. DTS will provide local priority assessment and will initiate scheduling of goodwill service with UTS.
6.6.7 Be responsible for local disaster recovery and business continuity planning within the guidelines of their unit operations, including development of hardware and software asset management lists. For systems under UTS management, DTS will provide specific backup/ restore instructions, including names of those authorized to restore, as needed (in absence of specific instructions, UTS will make the judgment).
6.6.8 Notify UTS of any system or server to be installed in a UTS managed facility or on a UTS managed server prior to purchase of the system or server.
6.6.9 Provide support including, but not limited to the following:
- Selection, purchase, installation and distribution of software and hardware specific to departmental operations.
- Distribution of applicable documentation and training materials, and distribution of information learned at DTS meetings or email notice, as appropriate.
- Localized training and information sharing, particularly about University information technology policies and activities.
- Initial desktop and printer installation, proper property release and problem triage.
- Assistance with Helpdesk contacts.
- Local application support, including contracting the appropriate service and support contracts for departmental systems.
- Initial Banner problem triage and support, and reporting.
- Identification of security issues.
- Maintenance of open communications about local events with UTS staff members.
APPENDIX A
UTS Service Level Agreement for the Oakland Center
Addendum to the Distributed Service Level Agreement Update on January 6, 2006
(1) When does UTS contact the System Specialist for Student Affairs about something in the OC?
System Specialist for Student Affairs supports the following departments that are located in the Oakland Center:
- Student Technology Lab b. Reservations c. Administrative Offices d. Banquet Rooms e. Meeting Rooms (All Levels) f. Chartwell Offices g. Public Computer Labs (O'Bears Cafe, Oakland Center Lower Level, and Kiosks) h. Wireless Networking in the Oakland Center
- Print-wise System (Go Print) j. Scheduling System (CEO) k. IP Video Surveillance System l. Network connection from the Oakland Center to other campus buildings is unavailable m. Internet access is unavailable n. GrizzNET in the OC is unavailable o. Wireless network issues or localized network issues within the Oakland Center
(2) When is the Manager of ID Card Operations contacted?
- Any issues relating to the functionality of the ID Card System
(3) Who do other departments or organizations not listed above contact for technical assistance?
The UTS Helpdesk will support all student organizations as outlined in the Desktop Service Level Agreement and Policy #890. Student organizations would include the Oakland Post, WXOU, Student Congress, Student Program Board, and other General Student Organizations located in the Oakland Center.
Distributed Support Service Level Agreement