IT Service Level Agreements

General Overview

This is a Service Level Agreement (SLA) between the College Community and the Information Technology (IT) Department to document:

The technology services that IT provides the College.
The levels of defined response, availability ,and maintenance associated with those services.
The responsibilities of IT as a provider of those services and of customers receiving said services.
The process for requesting services from IT.

This agreement is valid as of September 2023. Review is done at a minimum of every two (2) years.

Service Description

Service Scope

Defines a general level of predictability for IT communication and services.
Reflects how IT conducts business currently and the direction of future services.
Outlines clear policies related to the services of IT.
Outlines clear descriptions of services offered though the IT Service Catalog.
Describes how work will be prioritized and indicated response times.
Details the reporting on service levels to the College Community.

Out of Scope

Support for software, hardware, or services that have not been procured through the IT Department.
Responsibility for the loss of data or productivity due to unsupported software, hardware, or services.

Assumptions

Services, access to services and accountability measures provided by IT are clearly documented in the IT Service Catalog. The IT Service Catalog is continually updated with changes as information is provided regarding what services are offered, how to access services, and how to get assistance for services.
Outages to services are considered Incidents. Incidents will be communicated and documented to all stakeholders.
Services are provided in adhered to College policies and IT procedures found in the IT Service Catalog

Roles & Responsibilities

IT Responsibilities

Responsibilities and requirements of IT in support of this Agreement include:

Providing services outlined in the IT Service Catalog.
Meeting response times and resolutions times associated with the priority assigned to Incidents, Problems, Service Requests, and Projects.
Providing a ticket number for transparency when working on requests.
IT implemented processes and procedures to meet service level commitments.
Generating semesterly reports on service level performance.
Appropriately notifying stakeholders of all scheduled maintenance via normal communication channels.
Appropriately notifying stakeholders of all Incidents impacting critical services via normal communication channels.
Interact with the College Community in a respectful and courteous manner.

Customer Responsibilities

Customer responsibilities and requirements in support of this Agreement include:

Complying with IT policies and procedures.
Using the defined processes for requesting support and services.
Provide detailed information regarding your request for support or service.
Provide a safe and accessible working environment for IT staff.
Responding in a timely manner to inquiries from IT staff who are resolving Incidents and/or Problems, or are handling Service Requests and/or Projects.
Monitoring communication channels for upcoming maintenance and notifying IT of any potential conflict or dependencies that could negatively impact College operations.
Provide consent for IT staff to access IT resources remotely or in-person when requested.
Interact with IT staff in a respectful and courteous manner.

Requesting Support or Service

Each request for support of service falls under a different category within our system:

Incident: Major issue impacting services provided by IT.
Problem: Break/fix request.
Service Request: New request.
Project: Large request or internal request to IT.
Programming: Application Team coding request.

There are five (5) methods for contacting IT for all requests:

Jira Portal: https://lambtoncollege.atlassian.net/servicedesk/customer/portal/9
Web: https://www.mylambton.ca/college-information/it-service-desk
Email: ITservicedesk@lambtoncollege.ca
Phone: 226-776-3096
In-Person: South Building B1-161

Requests sent through the Jira Portal are the most efficient method to log any request for support or service.

Hours of Coverage, Response Time, & Escalations

For all requests, the goal of IT is to have a staff member assigned and acknowledge requests within eight (8) business hours of receiving the request.

Hours of Coverage

The IT Department's hours of operation are 8:00am to 8:00pm EST Monday through Thursday, 8:00am to 4:30pm EST on Friday, excluding holidays and College closures. Customers may contact IT through any of the approved methods of contact.
Requests submitted via the Jira Portal, email, or phone (voicemail) can be sent at any time are and are reviewed during the hours of operation.
IT responds to off-hours unplanned outage Incidents as required.

Response

For response to technical support or service, the goal of IT is to acknowledge and assign requests based on request type. This does not indicate that the request for support or service will be resolved, only that the request has been responded to.

Incident: IT will respond within one (1) business hour.
Problem: IT will respond within two (2) business hours.
Service Request: IT will respond within four (4) business hours.
Project: IT will respond within eight (8) business hours.
Programming: IT will respond within eight (8) business hours.

This is determined to be the Time to First Response for all reporting functions.

Prioritization

In order to assist the team with workload, IT will allocate a priority for each request. There are four (4) priority levels:

Critical
High
Normal
Low

IT utilizes a prioritization matrix to determine the priority and allocate points that will determine the priority level of the request.

Scope	Goodwill	Operations	Urgency	Points Allocated
Impacts >50% of users (lab, classroom, department)	Students, External Clients, and/or CLT will be affected negatively or positively	Core College (Academic) activities cannot occur	Event underway and immediate action could resolve the issue	3 points each
Impacts >10 but <50% of users (lab, classroom, department)	Contract Obligations/Government Regulations would not be met	Core College (Administrative) activities cannot occur	Event scheduled to occur but enough time remains to respond without impacting the event	2 points each
Impacts <10% of users (lab, classroom, department)	Department will be affected negatively or positively	Tasks are more difficult but not impossible to complete	Event can be postponed or is far enough away to allow response without loss of productivity	1 point each
Impacts a single user	Goodwill unchanged	Interferes with non-business related use	No scheduled completion time is required and normal work can continue until responding	0 points each

Score is added for each category, total score indicates the priority of the request:

12 Points: Critical
9 to 11 Points: High
5 to 8 Points: Normal
0 to 4 Points: Low

The majority of requests that come to IT would be given the priority level of Normal.

This is determined to the the Priority for all reporting functions.

Resolution

All communication regarding resolution will be sent through Jira that will also send email updates.

Incident (Critical): IT will resolve within two (2) business hours.
Incident (High): IT will resolve within four (4) business hours.
Incident (Normal): IT will resolve within eight (8) business hours.
Incident (Low): IT will resolve within eight (8) business hours.

Problem (Critical): IT will resolve within eight (8) business hours.
Problem (High): IT will resolve within eight (8) business hours.
Problem (Normal): IT will resolve within four (4) business days.
Problem (Low): IT will resolve within ten (10) business days.

Service Request: Due to the nature of Service Requests, resolution time will depend on the request. This is noted in the IT Service Catalog below each item. For the majority of requests, IT will aim to resolve within ten (10) business days.

Project: Due to the nature of Projects, resolution time will depend on the request. IT will communicate the anticipated Due Date that will determine the resolution date.

Programming Enhancement/Project: Due to the nature of Programming requests, resolution time will depend on the request. IT will communicate the anticipated Due Date that will determine the resolution date.

This is determined to be the Time to Resolution for all reporting functions.

Exceptions

Due to the volume of requests received during the first two (2) weeks of any semester, Time to First Response and Time to Resolution may be longer than normal. IT Staff will inform customers if such an exception is necessary and will look to minimize this impact to any Critical or High requests.

Escalations

If, at any time, you are not satisfied with the level of service on your request, you may contact Ken Chipman, Lori Atkin, or Dave Mitton:

ken.chipman@lambtoncollege.ca or 226-776-3084
lori.atkin@lambtoncollege.ca or 226-776-3044
dave.mitton@lambtoncollege.ca or 226-776-3051

They will gather additional details, categorize and process your request and respond to you with the action taken.

Maintenance & Service Changes

The IT Change Management process minimizes unintended service disruptions or other impacts to the College Community as a result of changes in the production environment. IT does this by actively monitoring, managing, and evaluating changes to maximize the service benefits to the College, while minimizing the risks involved when making said changes. This may include a rollback strategy to mitigate risks.

All IT related service outages will be communicated to the College Community.

Feedback & Performance Monitoring

In an effort to continually improve the quality of service, IT will be proactive in monitoring established performance indicators and seek feedback through surveys at regular intervals. The College Community is encouraged to provide honest feedback regarding the services provided when asked. All feedback received will be kept confidential.

Performance and availability reports will be monitored and published for the College Community on a quarterly basis for review.