New Service Level Agreement

Welcome to the new Certus Technologies SLA Package – Fixed Price IT your business can rely on.  

Executive Summary  

An unprecedented approach has been undertaken by Certus Technologies to provide you with customer orientated Service Level Agreements that address many of the IT issues facing your company. This is an approach that focuses on tasks and outcomes for you – not the time taken to perform work. We call it Outcome Based Service Work.

This is a unique offering as it offers much more than a standard maintenance agreement.

The key questions are:

• Is computer uptime crucial to the success of your organisation?
• Have you always wanted to have?

·         More reliable computer systems

·         Capped IT costs

·         An easy to calculate budget for IT expenditure

·         An organisation that has the efficiency of your network as its priority

·         A service organisation that contacts you and keeps you informed

·         A reward for loyalty

The Certus Technologies SLA addresses all of these areas, and goes a step beyond all previous SLAs, with the establishment of our tailored Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze Service Level Agreements.

Traditionally IT companies are focussed on the time spent performing work for their clients. This makes it difficult to estimate labour charges before work is performed, thus rewarding IT companies that perform work slowly, rather than those that perform work efficiently.

The Certus Technologies SLA forms the backbone of the relationship between Certus Technologies and you, the Client. It is provided to you on 4 different levels to match your service requirements and budget, each level clearly defining the work that will be performed under the SLA at no charge to you.

It is an incredibly simple concept. The SLA is not based on the number of hours work allowed each month. There are simply a range of tasks, outcomes and regular maintenance that will be performed under the scope of the SLA.

If Certus Technologies engineers perform their work slowly or you have more problems in a certain month (problems that are covered under your SLA level), there is no additional cost to you.

The Certus Technologies SLA is therefore, a commitment to you to ensure work is performed efficiently and that the performance of your network is always at its peak.

This is an exciting concept offering from Certus Technologies. It is about providing the efficiency and savings you deserve.

There are 4 different levels of SLAs available; Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze, in addition to having no SLA which we have termed ‘Nickel’.

As you move up through the levels of SLAs, there are several key issues that improve for you:

• The tasks and outcomes covered for free increase;
• The maintenance checks increase in frequency;
• The consultancy discussion and recommendations increase in frequency;
• The phone response times improve;
• The on-site response times improve;
• The response times for critical MS Security updates improve;
• The cost of travelling decreases;
• The cost of additional charges decreases for work that is required outside the scope of your specific SLA;
• In some circumstances additional items are included such as free priority response, free labour on network upgrades, etc.  

The Service Levels  

This information is designed to give you a conceptual summary of the major differences among the plans.

Platinum Service Level

• Only standard hardware warranty items covered for free (for hardware purchased from Certus Technologies)
• No call out fee payable – even for work that is required that is outside the scope of the SLA
• No priority call-out fee
• Regular maintenance checks (more often than Gold) – for full details of maintenance check please email
• Very high phone response priority
• Very high on-site response priority
• Platinum level discounted labour charges for work required outside the scope of the SLA
• Platinum level discounted travelling charges
• A dedicated e-mail address for Platinum clients
• Free software support for most issues. More detail is given in a following table but conceptually free support is given on:
• Simple day to day minor issues that impact one user or a few users
• Simple fixing of minor problems
• New user creation
• Resetting passwords for users
• Repairing problems with automatic virus definition updates
• Resetting hung/frozen user sessions
• Configuration of routers and firewalls
• Rebooting servers
• Standard Office-type application software patches
• Standard Office-type application installs and upgrades
• Solve configuration issues related to Microsoft Office-type products (excludes the creation of Visual Basic scripts/code, mail merge setup and macros etc.)
• Re-install of operating system and applications on workstations after hardware failure – or when deemed necessary
• Re-install of server operating system after hardware failure
• Free labour charges on major network upgrades – with conditions:
• The Client must have been a Platinum level support client for a minimum of 2 consecutive years immediately preceding the network upgrade
• The Client must agree to a minimum of a further year as a Platinum level support client
• Any required new hardware is purchased from Certus Technologies
• This offer is only able to be used a maximum of once every 3 years  

Gold Service Level

• Only standard hardware warranty items covered for free (for hardware purchased from Certus Technologies)
• No call out fee payable – even for work that is required that is outside the scope of the SLA
• Regular maintenance checks (more often than Silver) – for full details of maintenance check please email
• High phone response priority
• High on-site response priority
• Gold level discounted labour charges for work required outside the scope of the SLA
• Gold level discounted priority call-out fee
• Gold level discounted travelling charges
• A dedicated e-mail address for Gold clients
• Free software support for certain issues. More detail is given in a following table but conceptually free support is given on:
• Simple day to day minor issues that impact one user or a few users
• Simple fixing of minor problems
• New user creation
• Resetting passwords for users
• Repairing problems with automatic virus definition updates
• Resetting hung/frozen user sessions
• Configuration of routers and firewalls
• Rebooting servers
• Standard Office-type application software patches
• Standard Office-type application installs and upgrades
• Solving configuration issues related to Microsoft Office-type products (excludes the creation of Visual Basic scripts/code, mail merge setup and macros etc.)  

Silver Service Level

• Only standard hardware warranty items covered for free (for hardware purchased from Certus Technologies)
• No call out fee payable – even for work that is required that is outside the scope of the SLA
• Regular maintenance checks (more often than Bronze) – for full details of maintenance check please email
• Improved phone response priority
• Improved on-site response priority
• Silver level labour charges for work required outside the scope of the SLA
• Silver level discount on priority call-out fee
• Silver level discount on travelling charges
• A dedicated e-mail address for Silver clients
• Free software support for certain issues. More detail is given in a following table but conceptually free support is given on:
• Simple day to day minor issues that impact one user or a few users
• Simple fixing of minor problems
• New user creation
• Resetting passwords for users
• Repairing problems with automatic virus definition updates
• Resetting hung/frozen user sessions
• Configuration of routers and firewalls
• Rebooting servers
• Standard Office-type application software patches  

Bronze Service Level

• Only standard hardware warranty items covered for free (for hardware purchased from Certus Technologies)
• No call out fee payable – even for work that is required outside the scope of this SLA
• Regular maintenance checks – for full details of maintenance check please email
• Improved phone response priority
• Improved on-site response priority
• Basic Bronze discounted labour charges for work required outside the scope of the SLA
• Basic Bronze level discounted priority call out fees
• Basic Bronze level discounted travelling charges
• A dedicated e-mail address for Bronze clients
• Free software support for some issues. More detail is given in a following table but, conceptually, free support is given on:
• Simple day to day minor issues that impact one user
• Simple fixing of minor problems
• Simple fixing of minor printing issues caused by software
• New user creation

Following tables detail further the various differences between the levels of SLAs. These include the frequency of maintenance checks and the response times. There is also indicative information to indicate the types of work that will be covered for free at each support level.

*No Service Agreement*

• Only standard hardware warranty items covered for free (for hardware purchased from Certus Technologies)
• Service is Return to Base (or a call-out fee is applicable)
• No regular maintenance checks
• Lowest phone response priority
• Lowest on-site response priority
• Highest labour charges with charges applicable for all non Certus warranty issues
• Highest travelling charges
• No free software support is offered  
  

Guaranteed Response Times

The 4 SLAs have differing response times. The response times are summarised in the table below. Note that response times are guaranteed times to respond to a problem, not to resolve an issue.

Service Rates

Where possible, Certus Technologies operates under a fixed price policy (FPP) based around specific tasks. This is designed to allow you to know the price that will be charged before any work is performed. Work that is not in the list of standard items will either be charged at an hourly rate or quoted individually before work commences (at the discretion of the Certus Technologies engineer, depending on the nature of the task).

If you request work to be performed outside the normal business hours, allowed under your SLA, that work will be charged at an additional after-hours rate. If the work to be performed is work that would normally be undertaken for free under your SLA, that work is charged at the difference between the normal rate and the afterhours rate. The after-hours rate is typically charged at 40% more than the normal business hours rate.

For additional budgeting help, the Certus Technologies SLA also offers overtime insurance. This is an additional fixed amount that allows for normal items covered under your SLA to be performed after hours for no additional charge. Work that was required to be performed outside of normal business hours would be at the discretion of Certus Technologies, but would typically be work that would require significant system downtime for all users – such as updating a LOB application.

If there are additional charges incurred during a month, these items will be invoiced monthly.

  Preventative Maintenance Schedule

There are 4 levels of support contracts offered – with each one having a specific visitation schedule.

The maintenance schedule is summarised in the table below:

Information provided to the Client

• A written report is sent to the Client within 7 days of each Maintenance Check.
• A summary report is sent to the Client within 7 days of each Consultancy Discussion with any recommendations noted.

Items included in all Certus Technologies SLAs  

Hardware Audit

• Before the agreement begins, Certus Technologies will perform an audit of all your hardware and list all of the items covered under the maintenance agreement.
• A client must include their entire network at any one site. As often a problem in one part of a network leads to problems in another area, an holistic approach must be taken. The exception is when a customer has multiple sites. In this scenario, a client can choose to have different sites covered at different levels.
• The initial hardware audit is free to existing Certus Technologies clients. There will be a charge to non Certus Technologies networks as work may be required to bring the network up to an appropriate level.
• At regular intervals the hardware audit is updated by Certus Technologies so that you and Certus Technologies are both aware of what is on the network.
• It is the responsibility of the Client to notify Certus Technologies within 5 working days of any changes to the items covered by the SLA.  

Maintenance Check

• At the interval specified, a health check is performed to gauge the health of the existing network.
• Regular maintenance tasks are performed.
• Performance of the network is reviewed.
• When the Maintenance Check is on-site, users are asked about issues since the previous maintenance visit. If the maintenance check is being performed remotely, the site contact is asked about any specific issues that exist.
• A written summary report is provided within 7 days after each check and further recommendations are noted on this report.  

Microsoft Critical Security Updates

• As potential areas of exploitation are discovered by Microsoft within their operating systems, critical patches are released to overcome these potential hazards.
• As a Microsoft Certified Partner, Certus Technologies is informed of these patches very shortly after they are released.
• These patches are applied to the server/s on a client’s network within a day (or days depending on the level of support chosen) to minimise the possibility of a client having their server compromised.

Unlimited support time for specific tasks

• Unlike most maintenance contracts that have an allowance of hours – and then charge you extra if you use more, the Certus Technologies SLA is outcome and task orientated (Outcome Based Service Work).
• There is no limit to the number of hours of support you receive in a month – your support level will however, determine what type of support you will receive for free.  

Discounted Rates

• If the tasks required fall outside the scope of the SLA chosen, additional work is performed at a discounted rate.
• The discount is higher as you move up into higher support levels.
• If work is required outside the normal operating hours of the support level chosen, the afterhours work is also performed at a discounted rate.  

Reduced Call-Out Fees

• All clients under an SLA have no call-out fees (excluding any travelling fee).
• All clients under an SLA have a reduced fee for a priority call-out with the Platinum Service Level having no priority call-out fee.  

Free Consultancy Consultation

• A discussion with a Network Consultant (either via phone or on-site) will take place on the frequency related to your specific SLA.
• This is an opportunity to see what improvements might need to be made to your current network to gain the most efficiency.
• Planning discussions would also be held on any required upcoming purchases and expenditure, due to expansion or new staff or similar.
• This is also an opportunity for the Client to be informed of the latest technologies and how that technologies may be integrated into the current network environment.  

Common Maintenance issues  

There are common items that cause downtime and failures in a computer network. A maintenance contract aims to address some of these issues in a number of ways.

Backup

• Users faithfully insert their tape each day and remove the next day hoping the backup has been completed. It is only when data is required that the backup is tested.
• Software and data is always changing.
• Stored data can increase dramatically – sometimes in a very short time frame.
• Files are left open, documents become corrupted, tapes and heads become dirty and worn out.
• As part of the maintenance program, a small sample of data is restored from a backup to verify that data is being correctly written to tape.
• Backup logs are checked to view what has been occurring with backups and estimations of when a larger tape drive will be required can be made.
• The tape drive is cleaned using a cleaning tape to ensure longevity of the drive and better utilisation of tapes.  

Viruses

• A network has the latest anti-virus software, but can still receive viruses.
• Virus signatures can become out of date quickly.
• Scheduled scanning may have been disabled or stopped.
• Security patches may not have been applied to the server.
• As part of the maintenance program, virus signatures are checked to ensure the latest signature files have been applied and to see that they are scheduled to continually update.
• The scheduled scans are checked to ensure that the schedule is still appropriate and that the log files report that the scanning is being performed.
• Security patches are checked on the server and workstations.
• Microsoft Critical Security patches are applied within days of being released (depending on the level of SLA chosen).

Firewall

• A network has a firewall, but can still be deliberately compromised (‘cracked’).
• Crackers are constantly trying to find ways into networks. This may be through software flaws/bugs or new cracking methods.
• Viruses will often exploit software flaws that are discovered.
• Security patches and updates are released regularly and need to be applied promptly to try and avoid unauthorised access.
• Firewall configurations should be updated if flaws are discovered.
• IOS versions / firmware revisions of firewalls and routers should be applied shortly after they are released.  

Crashing Systems

• Some networks seem to keep crashing for no apparent reason.
• Windows software will often become corrupt after a period of time.
• Other software will often become corrupt over time.
• This corruption can cause crashes or cause computers to run slowly or introduce other unstable behaviour.
• Fans will often become choked with dirt and either stop spinning or reduce their speeds. This can lead to overheating systems.
• System tools are available that can improve the performance of these areas.
• Regular application of updates and patches will improve stability.
• Regular checking of fans on systems can lead to a faulty fan being replaced before it allows a system to overheat.
• There are times when possibly even a clean install is necessary for a PC to perform at its best.  

Utilisation

• Many clients do not make full use of their computer system.
• Computer software is constantly improving.
• New features are being constantly added to current software.
• Most people use less than 10% of their computer system’s potential.
• With regular contact with support engineers, questions are able to be asked easily and improvements to user operation can be made.  
  

Hardware Failures

• Workstation hard drives can fail taking one user out of action.
• Server hard disks can fail losing data and bringing the entire network to a standstill.
• It can often take several days to rebuild a server and have it fully operational – meaning a large IT bill as well as crucial downtime for an organisation.
• Many clients have a RAID system in place and assume they are safe with this level of protection – although RAID systems are dramatically better than a non-redundant hard drive sub-system, failures can still occur.
• Hard drives are physical devices operating at high speeds (up to 15,000rpm) and high temperatures. Devices with this load on them can sometimes still fail.
• Depending on the level of RAID deployed, a server can usually withstand a single hard drive failure. Often there is a cause for a single hard drive to fail and a second failure can follow within a relatively short time frame of the first failure.
• Regular checking of log files can warn of impending disk failure before it occurs.
• If a hard drive in a RAID sub-system fails, the sooner it is replaced the less likely a catastrophic failure will occur. Regular maintenance checks are much more likely to detect a failure in time then no checks.
• Systems can be deployed to allow a much faster recovery from a catastrophic failure then is normally the case so that if a catastrophic failure occurs, the system can be brought back up to a previous state in a much shorter time frame. (NB: Disaster Recovery Plans are not offered in the standard range of SLAs but can be added as a separate issue at additional cost).  

An IT department