Information Technology Service Level Agreement (SLA) for Student Laptop Support

This document is an addendum to the Stern Information Technology Service Level Agreement Master Agreement which clearly spells out the statement and intent and agreement terms for all Stern IT Service Level Agreements including this one.

Contents:
I. Supported Services
II. Service Limitations and Exclusions
III. Non-Performance
IV. Service Assurance
V. Costs
VI. Approvals

Stern IT provides all Stern students, further referred to as ‘clients’, with technical laptop consultation and diagnosis for basic problems. The highest level of support is provided for Stern recommended laptop models which can be found here http://www.stern.nyu.edu/it/services/mobile.html. For those models, Stern IT provides hardware support, wireless connectivity, email, and printing troubleshooting. For other laptop models Stern IT provides support for wireless connectivity, email and printing troubleshooting. Clients should contact the Stern IT Help Desk for laptop support related issues.

Service Description

This SLA describes Stern IT’s commitment to provide the following services:

This SLA does not cover the following services:

• Faculty and Staff laptops – please consult the Stern IT Desktop Support SLA.
• Student desktops – Stern IT does not provide this service
• Loaner Laptops – please contact the Helpdesk for more information at (212) 998-0180 or helpdesk@stern.nyu.edu.

Service Level Objective

Escalation: The Help Desk strives to resolve as many laptop issues as possible by the first person that the client contacts. For those laptop Incidents beyond the skill or knowledge of the Help Desk to resolve, the Help Desk contacts a laptop support technician. The technician will initiate contact with the client to set up time to service the laptop. The services that the technician can perform depend on the model of laptop as described in the table above.

For laptops that fall under the category of Full Support, Stern IT strives to resolve 80% of problems within the first hour of receiving the machine. Stern IT maintains a stock of commonly replaced hardware components for the supported models to facilitate meeting that timing objective. For the remaining,  more complicated problems, Stern IT strives to resolve the issue within 24 hours. There will be instances, for example when demand exceeds supply for a specific part or the part is an uncommon one, for which Stern IT will not have stock on hand. Stern IT maintains contracts with our laptop suppliers that guarantee next-day delivery for those parts such that the repair can be made within 48 hours.

As priority is given to Full Support laptops, the target remediation and repair for Partial and Basic support laptops is to have 70%  of issues resolved in 72 hours. Stern IT will also recommend alternative vendors to support laptop models for which we have minimal experience.

Service Availability

Core hours (excluding University holidays):

Service Availability
Academic Year Hours (Spring & Fall Semesters)

• Monday – Friday: 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.
• Saturday – Sunday: 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. (Help Desk only, excludes laptop technicians)

Summer Session Hours:

• Monday – Thursday: 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.
• Friday: 8:00 a.m. – 8:00p.m.
• Saturday – Sunday: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (Help Desk only, excludes laptop technicians)

Client Responsibilities

• Required to adhere to the ‘Policy on Responsible Use of NYU Computers & Data’ found at http://www.nyu.edu/its/policies/responsibleuse.html

• Provide a valid NYU ID card and a Stern username
• Provide a power adapter
• Provide a detailed and truthful description of the incident
• Provide detailed history of past maintenance and repair performed on the laptop
• Sign a copy of Laptop Release Form, which will be provided upon checking laptop in
• Have an English Language Operating System (OS) (Vista/XP, Mac OS 10.X). Other operating systems as well as operating systems configured for foreign languages will not be supported.
• Maintain up-to-date virus protection
• Maintain all software up to date
• Perform frequent operating system updates
• Responsible for the backup of their own data
• Laptop must not contain any offensive material, pirated software or anything that violates NYU policies or state and federal law
• Maintain professional conduct
• Good Citizenship Feedback: The Service Recipient will provide the service provider with satisfaction feedback at the conclusion of each service rendered.  Feedback information will be used to evaluate and manage service continuity.

How to Access the Service

Service requests for Laptop support are made via the Stern IT Help Desk. This can be done via:

• Online IT Helpdesk service view: http://helpdesk.stern.nyu.edu (preferred)
• Email: helpdesk@stern.nyu.edu
• Phone: 212-998-0180
• Walk-In: UC-120

Glossary:
For a Glossary of term referenced in this and all Stern IT SLA’s, please refer to the Stern IT Glossary of Terms.

Support Hardware and Software:
For a current list of Hardware and Software supported by Stern IT, please reference Stern IT Supported Hardware and Software.

II. Service Limitations and Exclusions

Routine Downtime
The Stern IT Help Desk is closed during University holidays.  A complete listing of the Holiday schedule can be found at http://www.nyu.edu/hr/calendars/offcal.html. Both the Help Desk voicemail and email are available for incident reporting during holidays, and will be monitored by Help Desk support staff.

Other Limitations
The Desktop Support group cannot guarantee agreed upon service levels should factors beyond our control affect our operations.  This includes, but is not limited to:

• Natural or man-made disasters
• Fire alarms
• Electrical outages or disruptions
• Building construction
• Equipment failure related to abuse

Exclusions

• Software installation. Please contact software manufacturer directly for assistance.
• Software configuration. Please contact software manufacturer directly for assistance.
• Software maintenance. Please contact software manufacturer directly for assistance.
• Training on how to use the software. Please contact software manufacturer directly for assistance.
• Non-English OS or any OS other than Vista/XP, Mac OS 10.X. Please contact your OS Developer directly for assistance.
• Data backup. The client is responsible for keeping accurate and timely back up of all your data.
• Non-Stern Network Settings (such as other ISP’s SMTP settings, or VPN Clients). Please contact Network service providers directly for assistance.
• Software and hardware purchasing. Stern IT will provide recommendations based on need, but client is responsible for making  own purchases.
• Hardware peripherals (i.e. Bluetooth mice, clickers, webcams, etc.). Please contact manufacturer directly for assistance.

NYU Computer store can provide additional services. They can be contacted through:

• website at http://www.bookstores.nyu.edu/computer.store/
• phone: (212) 998-4672
• walk-in: 242 Greene Street, New York, NY 10003

III. Non-Performance

The successful implementation of this agreement depends upon all owner parties’ full execution of responsibilities detailed in the document. This section lays out what constitutes non-performance and its consequences.

Service Provider

Non-Performance

• Failure by desktop support to meet the Service Level agreement

Consequence
In the case of two months of non-performance in a row, the Help Desk Manager will analyze the cause of failure and present a plan of corrective action to the Stern IT Director of Client Services, CIO, and Deputy CIO to bring the shortcomings of the service back in-line with our desired goals.

Client

Non-Performance

• Client not adhering to ‘Client responsibilities’ as stated in this SLA
• Problems caused by unsupported software hardware/software
• Repeat offenders (clients who have already had their PC compromised multiple times through their own negligence)
• Using software (peer-to-peer etc) for illegal ends
• Not being truthful when reporting the issue

Consequence
Denial of service to client, or escalation to management level for review

IV. Service Assurance

 The Director of Client Services may be contacted via telephone or e-mail during regular business hours to address any problems or concerns related to the service provided.

Stern IT will provide a standard set of reports to measure performance against this Service Level Agreement as follows:

V. Costs

These costs are for client reference only and are included here to provide an estimate of the cost involved in the tasks that the Laptop Support team carries out. Clients will not be charged.

Labor Only – Parts incur additional cost.

VI. Approvals

Stern IT

Stern Administration