SERVICE
LEVEL AGREEMENT
Requesting Organization(s) / [ Type Department Name ]
Service Title / [ Type Service Name* ]
Document Owner / [ Type Owner Name ]
Effective Date / [ Type Date], Version [#]
Review Date / [ Type Date]
Physical Document Location / [Type location]
Online document Location / [ Type URL of Online Copy ]
* Must use IT Services Catalog titles when available (http://itservices.gmu.edu)
VERSION HISTORY
Version No. / Date / Revised By / Reason for ChangeAPPROVAL SIGNATURES
By signing below, I agree to the terms of this Service Level Agreement (SLA) and that these terms will take effect the date approved and signed by all required parties. I acknowledge that the performance period of this agreement is twelve months and may be extended only upon review and re-approval by all approving parties. I also agree that I have read and complied with the Data Stewardship Policy 1114 and am aware that an immediate revision of the SLA is required if any changes to data sets covered by this agreement occur during its performance period. I agree to review potential data set changes with the IT Security Office and notify key stakeholders of proposed changes, including the Service Provider, so that this SLA can be revised prior to implementing any data set modifications.
Phone:
Email:
/ Date
Representative, Requesting Organization
Phone:
Email: / Date
Data Steward, Requesting Organization
Phone:
Email: / Date
Review:
Executive Director
Phone:
Email: / Date
SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Service Description 1
2. Service Level Performance 2
3. Roles and Responsibilities 3
3.1 Service Provider Stakeholders 3
3.2 Service Provider Responsibilities 3
3.3 Service Dependencies & Underpinning Contracts 3
3.4 Requesting Organization Stakeholders 4
3.5 Requesting Organization Responsibilities 4
4. Methods of Requesting Service 4
5. Hours of Coverage, Response Times and Escalation 5
5.1 Hours of Coverage 5
5.2 Incidents 5
5.3 Escalation Process 6
5.4 Service Requests 6
6. Maintenance and Service Changes 6
7. Pricing 7
8. Service Review & Reporting 8
9. Data Stewardship & Security 8
Appendix A: Required Policies, Processes and Procedures 10
Appendix B: IT Support Center’s Urgency Table 11
SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENT
This Service Level Agreement (SLA) between the Service Provider(s) and Requesting Organization(s) documents the working relationships required to support the requested service identified below. This SLA will be reviewed on an annual basis and remain valid until an associated dataset is modified or the agreement is revised or terminated. Either party may amend or terminate this agreement through written notification and pending approval of all stakeholders.
Requesting Organization(s) / [ Type Department Name ]
Service Title / [ Type Service Name ]
1. Service Description
This section describes the service being requested, the resources to be provided by the ITU, any user requirements, and important service support boundaries.
Insert description from the IT Services Catalog if available (http://itservices.gmu.edu)
Features / [Type text]
List service features, such as those related to design, development, hosting, and implementation.
Optional Features / The Requesting Organization(s) has the option to request [Insert Services] to be provided by [Insert Provider] at an additional cost. The Requesting Organization(s) will indicate their intent to exercise this option by circling either “Yes” or “No” in the column to the right. /
Yes / No
Resources Provided by Service Provider / [ Type text ]
List significant infrastructure, people, and processes that will be provided, such as (a) escalated support services, (b) system operations, administration, and network connections, (c) web access, (d) system level backup processes, and/or (e) disaster recovery
User Requirements / [ Type text ]
Example: Software Requirements (PHP-5.3, Apache Web Server-2); System Access Requirements (Shell Access via SSH; My SQL privileges, file level privileges to view log files)
Service Boundaries / [ Type text ]
List any relevant systems, services and features not included in this agreement
2. Service Level Performance
This section details how the Service Provider(s) will monitor or track and report on service performance. The table below provides a list of the metrics and target performance levels to be reported on along with the format and interval of the reporting.
Metric* / Target Performance Level (TPL) / Format / Interval[Type text] / [Type text] / [Type text] / [Type text]
[Type text] / [Type text] / [Type text] / [Type text]
[Type text] / [Type text] / [Type text] / [Type text]
[Type text] / [Type text] / [Type text] / [Type text]
The Service Provider(s) will not report on the following service levels or metrics:
[Type text]
* To complete this section, identify important metrics—e.g., Key Performance Indicators—that can be measured on a regular basis. Balance the importance of a desired metric against its ease of collection. Avoid including an excessive number of metrics or metrics that cannot be analyzed in a timely manner. Find example metrics online at ITIL Key Performance Indicators or the Service Metric Template. Frequently used metrics include Response Time, Throughput, Customer Support, Availability, and Utilization. Examples provided below.
Metric: Response Time
TPL: 95% of users will experience a response time of two seconds or less during regular working hours of 7:30 to 5:00
Format: Report
Interval: Weekly
Metric: Availability
TPL: The application will be available 98% of the time, 7 days a week, 19 hours per day
Format: Listerv Notification
Interval: Monitored Daily
3. Roles and Responsibilities
This section documents the roles and responsibilities of the Service Provider(s) and Requesting Organization(s). It also identifies all primary stakeholders associated with this Service Level Agreement.
3.1 Service Provider Stakeholders
The Service Provider(s) Stakeholders associated with this SLA are listed below along with their respective Title/Role and departmental contact information (versus reach numbers of specific persons). Service Provider responsibilities are addressed in Section 3.2.
[Type text] / [Type text] / [Type text]
[Type text] / [Type text] / [Type text]
[Type text] / [Type text] / [Type text]
[Type text] / [Type text] / [Type text]
3.2 Service Provider Responsibilities
The Service Provider(s) agrees to provide the infrastructure, technology, people, processes and monitoring tools necessary to support the service requested. In addition, the Provider agrees to the following responsibilities:
· [List responsibilities here as related to each provider identified in 3.1.]
Example Responsibilities:
o Clearly document services provided in ITU Support Center Service Catalog, if available
o Meet response times associated with the priority assigned to incidents and service requests
o Generate quarterly reports on service level performance
o Provide appropriate notification to customers and Stakeholders for all scheduled maintenance via the ITU Maintenance Calendar, the Alerts and Outages web page, or another agreed upon communication
3.3 Service Dependencies Underpinning Contracts
Certain services may be relied upon to ensure the service requested in this SLA functions as documented. Such service dependencies are listed below with links to their respective Operational Level Agreements if available. (If an OLA does not exist, the Service Provider(s) identified with the dependent service will serve as a primary contact.)
Service* / Description / Unit / OLA Exist? / OLA Link[Type text] / [Type text] / [Type text] / [Yes/No] / [Type URL]
[Type text] / [Type text] / [Type text] / [Yes/No] / [Type URL]
[Type text] / [Type text] / [Type text] / [Yes/No] / [Type URL]
[Type text] / [Type text] / [Type text] / [Yes/No] / [Type URL]
[Type text] / [Type text] / [Type text] / [Yes/No] / [Type URL]
* To complete this section, identify and briefly describe important and relevant service dependencies. Note whether an OLA exists for each service and provide a URL for any existing OLAs. Examples of service dependencies include network availability, backups, data center hosting, reporting, and vendor support.
3.4 Requesting Organization Stakeholders
The Requesting Organization(s) Stakeholders associated with this SLA are listed below along with their respective Title/Role and departmental contact information (versus reach numbers of specific persons). Requesting Organization(s) Stakeholder responsibilities are addressed in Section 3.5.
Stakeholder / Title/Role / Contact Information[Type text] / [Type text] / [Type text]
[Type text] / [Type text] / [Type text]
[Type text] / [Type text] / [Type text]
[Type text] / [Type text] / [Type text]
3.5 Requesting Organization Responsibilities
The Requesting Organization(s) is considered to be the Data Owner and is responsible for all data sets within their purview that are covered in this agreement. This data may be Sensitive, Protected or Public Data as defined by Policy 1114, Data Stewardship (refer to Section 9 of this document). In addition, the Requesting Organization(s) agrees to the responsibilities listed below:
· [List relevant responsibilities here for the Requesting Organization(s)]
Example responsibilities may include policy implications or tasks, utilizing the ITU Support Center for incidents, or contacting the IT Service Manager for additions or changes in established service levels.
4. Methods of Requesting Service
This section identifies the various methods by which the Requesting Organization(s) may request service or support:
· [List specific methods here]
Example methods may include the following:
o Online via Service Desk Express (SDE)
o Phone via ITU Support Center (703-993-8870)
o Email ()
o Walk-in (ITU Support Center)
o Negotiation with Service Provider
5. Hours of Coverage, Response Times and Escalation
This section describes the particular hours of coverage, the response times, incidents, and the escalation processes for this service. For all requests, the ITU’s goal is to have a staff member assigned to the service and acknowledging service requests within eight (8) business hours of receipt. Campus priorities may require exceptions to this goal.
5.1 Hours of Coverage
Hours of Coverage / [State specific hours of coverage]Example: This service is provided (enter number) hours a day (enter number) days a week except for periods of planned maintenance.
Exceptions / [ List any exceptions to service coverage]
Example: This service may be temporarily unavailable during the planned maintenance period on Sundays. Refer to Section 6 for additional information.
5.2 Incidents
An incident is defined as an unplanned interruption to an IT Service or a reduction in the Quality of an IT Service. The IT Support Center categorizes incidents based on urgency type: Urgent, Standard, Scheduled (see Appendix B).
Support Hours / [Describe the number of business hours of support, the number of after hours of support, and how the Service Provider manages them]
Response Time / [Describe the Service Provider’s response times per type of incident—urgent, standard, or scheduled—and both during and after business hours. List any exceptions to this response time.]
Reporting / [ State how incidents will be reported to the Requesting Organization and/or key Stakeholders]
5.3 Escalation Process
Escalation / [ Define the escalation process if the Service Provider is not meeting expectations]Exceptions / [ List any exceptions to this process]
5.4 Service Requests
This section describes methods that should be used by the Requesting Organization(s) to make inquiries about or modifications to the service covered in this SLA. It also documents response times agreed to by the Service Provider(s).
Service Modification Inquiry / [Describe how the customer should request modifications to the service, its features or functions.]
Example: Submit requests for changes in service features, functions , or other service modifications to <insert Service Provider contact information>.
Response Method / [ Identify process by which the Service Provider will respond to requests]
Response Time / [ Identify response turnaround time. List any exceptions]
6. Maintenance and Service Changes
This section describes when this service is subject to maintenance and how the Service Provider(s) will communicate service changes.
Maintenance / Is the maintenance window for this service consistent with the one described in Section 6? Yes / NoIf “No”, describe the differences in the field below.
Alternate Maintenance Window / [ Describe how the maintenance window for this service differs from the standard window described here in Section 6.]
A maintenance window is a defined period of time during which planned outages and changes to production services and systems may occur. (A production service or system is used by university members to complete business or academic tasks and objectives.) The purpose of specifying standard maintenance windows is to allow clients of the service to prepare for possible disruption or changes. The ITU uses the following standard maintenance window:
· Planned outages are generally scheduled and performed between 7:00 A.M. and 11:00 A.M. on Sundays. Commonly, work scheduled outside of this window has explicit sign-off from the client representative.
· Planned outages and changes are not scheduled during significant events or key dates, if known. This includes two weeks prior to the start of each academic quarter, the first week of classes, finals week, and grading week.
The Service Provider(s) will schedule maintenance and service changes during regular maintenance windows, as needed. Service changes that cannot be scheduled during regular maintenance windows will be scheduled at the Provider’s discretion unless otherwise noted in this Agreement. Major upgrades will be treated as projects outside the scope of a weekly maintenance window.
The Service Provider(s) agrees to publish changes that affect customers’ service in the ITU Maintenance Calendar located on the Alerts and Outages page. The Calendar is the official outage and maintenance schedule for the ITU.
7. Pricing
This section details any costs required to support this SLA. As needed, information pertaining to billing and fund transfers are included (e.g., transfer dates, organization codes, and billing exceptions).
[Type Text] / [Type Cost $$]
[Type Text] / [Type Cost $$]
[Type Text] / [Type Cost $$]
Transfer Amount / Transfer From / Transfer To / Transfer By
[Type Cost $$] / [Type Org Code] / [Type Org Code] / [Type Date]
[Type Cost $$] / [Type Org Code] / [Type Org Code] / [Type Date]
Exceptions / [ List any exceptions to service costs]
Example: If the Requesting Organization terminates this agreement during the agreement period, the Organization agrees to pay all initial costs, all backup services costs, and monthly support costs for the period of service provided.
8. Service Review Reporting