Digital Public Schools-Fictitious School
Service Level Agreement
Technology Department Help Desk
Last Update: January 30, 2005

 

Purpose

This agreement describes the services and support provided by Digital Public Schools (DPS) Technology Department Help Desk and the responsibilities of the end-user (DPS staff, instructors, and students) in working with the Help Desk. This SLA is a two-way agreement between the technology department and end-user. This agreement specifies the level and extent of service of the Help Desk, responsibilities of the customer, and is consistent with the districts technology goals.

Scope
 Service Level Agreements includes all areas where there may be end-user expectations of service levels, which may vary from the Technology Department’s ability to support.  It is especially critical to review the SLA wherever discrepancies between end-user expectations and Technology Department service commitments could result in disruptions to operations at Digital Public Schools.     

NOTE:  In many instances the requirements of the end-user may exceed the Technology Department’s ability to support.  In these instances, the scope of the SLA should be limited to what the Technology Department can support.  Once this baseline of support is established, it is the responsibility of both the end-user and Technology Department to work together and determine how support can be increased to meet the end-user’s expectations.  New agreements will be documented by updating this SLA and approved by the Technology Department Director and DPS Superintendent.

Supported Technology

All school district hardware and software will be supported by this agreement.

  1. Application Software :  All major applications located on Digital Public School central servers and administered/supported by the Technology Department.
  2. Data & Voice Network :  All data and voice networking equipment, cable infrastructure, and facilities.
  3. Desktop Hardware & Software :  All DPS desktop/notebook computers, peripherals, operating systems, and approved client application software loaded on district owned systems.
  4. Help Desk Support :  Customer expectations as to hours of support and coverage by the Help Desk staff.

 

Goals

  • Stable network with minimal down time.
  • Provide an effective manner to report problems.
  • Accurate tracking of problems submitted.
  • Appropriate assessment of required urgency of service.
  • Satisfactory response time by the Technology Department.

 

Help Desk

Technology Department Help Desk a central point of contact, to provide computing related assistance to DPS staff, instructors, and students.

Contact Information

Location: Digital High School

Telephone: 269-555-5555
Email: helpdesk@digital.k12.mi.us

Work Order Request Form: http://www.digital.k12.mi.us/technology/work_request/work_request.htm

Normal Hours of Operation

Monday-Friday 8:00AM - 4:00PM
Closed Saturday, Sunday and Holidays

After-hours, callers can leave a message. Voice mail, email messages, and work order request received during closed hours, will be reviewed the following workday before 10:30 AM . There is no routine support response time established for desktop/notebook units or printers during night and weekend hours, unless special arrangements are negotiated with Technology Department for specific events.

Request for Services - responsibility of the end-user

  1. Follow guidelines for proper care of equipment.
  2. Computer hardware and software purchases must have prior approval and ordered through the Technology Department.
  3. In emergency situations the user should go directly to their Go-To person or contact the Help Desk.
  4. Complete work order request as soon as they believe a problem exists and Go-To person can not resolve.
  5. Accurately describe the problem based on the priority levels.
  6. Complete the evaluation section of the work order request.

Follow these basic troubleshooting steps before completing Work Order Request:

 Each school building has been assigned a Go-To person (Building Technical Representative) who acts as the initial response person. These individuals will attempt to solve problems that arise and any situation they can not address will be forwarded to the Technology Department. For a current list of Go-To people see website: http://Digital.k12.mi.us/technology/gotohelp.html

 When Go-To person is unavailable or unable to adequately resolve problem, end-users can complete Work Order Request Form: http://Digital.k12.mi.us/technology/workorders.html. The general request form will allow users to describe the problem and assign priority level that will determine response time. Forms will be managed by the Technology Department Administrative Assistant and distributed as appropriate.

Priority Levels

  • Level 1: Emergency- current situation is effecting large groups or prohibits instruction from taking place or students can not complete lessons due to a failure in technology (network is down, computer lab without power, or virus alerts)
  • Level 2: High Priority – current situation is preventing efficient operation of the classroom/office and alternatives are not available or inconvenient. (Can not log in using different machine.)
  • Level 3: Normal Priority – current situation effects are isolated to only one or a few people and some type of alternative is available. (e-mail down, machine locked up)
  • Level 4: Low Priority-no loss in work time for students or staff.

Types of Request

Request for Accounts

Requests for Accounts are handled through the Technology Department and require appropriate approval of DPS Administration. When the account has been created, the faculty or staff member will be contacted by Technology Department to schedule an orientation session. The faculty or staff member must be trained to use their account and have read the most recent Service Level Agreement before their account will be released to them.

Training/Professional Development

For training and professional development contact your building Go-To person. Each building is responsible for determining the individual needs of training and professional development which includes: technology implementation, needed skills and refresher activities to promote students growth and development. Each building staff development plan supports the unique strategies for improvement in their area. DPS utilizes local technology experts to provide content to faculty and staff. If necessary Go-To person and/or the Help Desk/Instructional Technology Team will obtain the necessary training and then collaborate with the faculty and staff to provide necessary instruction.

Software Requests

The list of site-licensed software is available from the Technology Department and can only be installed on district owned equipment. Software installation can be requested by completing the Work Order Request Form. Additional/new software request must be submitted by Go-To representatives or DPS Administration. All software installations must be approved by the Technology Department to avoid potential software conflicts and software licensing issues. Any unauthorized installation of software resulting in a work order request will be charged directly to end-user for actual expenses/damages incurred.

Hardware Upgrade Requests

Requests for installation of additional workstation hardware and peripherals are handled through the Help Desk. The Help Desk consultant will assign a tracking number (work order) to a technician. The technician may need to see hardware to determine the needed part information, which may require a site visit or the end-user to bring hardware into the Technology Department. Once Technology Department has the part information a cost estimate will be provided. The Help Desk requires appropriate building and administrative approval to place the order. Once the new part has arrived, a technician will install the equipment, unless otherwise directed by the end-user. The purchased part will be charged back to the building or appropriate fund.

New Workstation and Peripheral Equipment

New Equipment must be purchased and installed by the Technology Department; to insure proper tracking of assets/equipment and utilization of educational/ quantity discounts that may be available. When the equipment arrives the Help Desk will contact end-user to arrange installation based on current priority schedule and end-user availability.

Request for Data File Retrieval

DPS Technology Department routinely backs up files on campus servers to tape on a daily basis to provide disaster and data loss recovery. Daily tapes are kept for two weeks. Weekly tapes are kept for three weeks. The monthly tapes are kept for three months. The individual and department files stored on the DPS servers and network drives are included in this backup. Should a restore of an individual’s or building’s file(s) be required, go to contact the Help Desk. The hard drive (C: drive) on an individual’s workstation/notebook is not included in this backup. The staff, instructors and students are responsible for backing up files stored on the hard drive of lab workstations and/or their computer.

 Response Time- responsibility of Help Desk

  • Respond to the problem based on the priority level.

It is the goal of the technology department to solve emergency problems with the smallest amount of interruption to instructional time.

  • Within reason resolve the issue or provide alternatives.
  • Communicate with service providers and vendors to ensure prompt resolution.
  • Explain why the problem occurred and how it can be avoided in the future.

 

Problem Category

Response Time*

System wide: Network or network server (level 1)

15 minutes

System wide: Software application on network (level 2)

1 hour

Labs/Offices- computer equipped classrooms:

  1. Critical software application or access to network during normal school hours (level 1)
  2. Critical software application or access to network after school hours (level 2)
  3. Non-critical have alternative means of access (level 3)

 

 

  1. 15 minutes
  2. 2 hours
  3. 1 work day

 

Individual:

  1. User is down with no other computing resource alternative. (level 2)
  2. User has other means of access today but needs within a day. (level 3)
  3. The problem is important, but not critical. User can still work or has other means of access. (level 3)
  4. The problem is annoying, but does not interfere with the user’s work or student learning. (level 4)
  5. Installation of software and/or hardware that is non-critical.

 

 

  1. 4 hours
  2. 1 work day
  3. 1-3 working days
  4. 3-5 working days

  5. 5-7 working days

New Installations and Special Projects

Scheduled according to completion of necessary paperwork, master schedule and users availability

Miscellaneous Projects

As time allows.

 *RESPONSE TIME is defined as the time between receipt of the work-order/call during normal hours and the time that the Help Desk begins working on the problem. Due to the wide diversity of problems that can occur, and the methods needed to resolve them, response time IS NOT defined as the time between the receipt of a call and problem resolution.

Some problems may require resolution by outside vendors (warranties, service providers, outside resources) which the Help Desk has limited control over. The Help Desk will regularly follow up on issues being resolved by outside resources.

 Evaluation and Escalation Procedure

An evaluation section is provided on every Work Order Request Form and will be reviewed by the Technology Department.

Evaluation section on Work Order Request must be completed at least 1 work day prior to escalating problem. If your problem has not been addressed in the specified time frame, or if the service you received was not satisfactory, contact the following personnel.

To escalate a problem, contact the following in order:

  1. Go-To person in your building: http://www.Digital.k12.mi.us/technology/gotohelp.html
  1. Technology Department Director: Kyle Computer
  1. Building Administrator- Principal
  1. District Office: Superintendent
  1. Board of Education

Authorization

The parties signing this SLA agree that the responsibilities stated in this SLA will be in effect immediately with review and update to be performed annually (at the minimum).

_____________________
Kyle Computer                
Technology Department
Date: _____________________

_____________________
I. M. Computer Wiz
Digital Public Schools User Representative
Date: _________________

 

 

Resources

 CIO - Putting IT in writing, Christopher Koch, 11/15/1998 http://www.cio.com/archive/111598_sla.html

CXO Media Inc, Darwin Mag- Service Level Agreements, http://guide.darwinmag.com/technology/outsourcing/sla/

 Establishing Service Level Agreements, Naomi Karten, http://www.nkarten.com/sla.html#est

Indiana University - Purdue University Fort Wayne : IT Services' Service Level Agreements- http://www.its.ipfw.edu/DOCS/SLA/

Lewis-Clark State College: SLA Process- http://www.lcsc.edu/it/Service_Level_Agreements/SLA_Process.htm

Network World Fusion - Crafting service-level agreements that work, Johna Till Johnson, 3/25/02 http://www.nwfusion.com/columnists/2002/0325eye.html

Network World Fusion - Strengthen service-level agreements , Shally Bansal Stanley , 5/6/02 http://www.nwfusion.com/careers/2002/0506man.html

Sturgis Public Schools Technology Department: http://sturgis.k12.mi.us/technology/index.html

 

 Things to add noted after assignment was complete:

  • must sign and turn in the “Acceptable Use Policy”
  • first use the “Troubleshooting Checklist” before requesting additional help from the Service Provider
  • add training to goals
  • consider funding
  • add downtime for upgrades.

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