Learner Support Services
A Directorate of Corporate Services
Software Availability and Support Levels
This Service Level Definition (SLD) underpins the Service Level Agreement (SLA) between Learner Support Services (IT Services Division) and Facilities Managed Departments, to define service levels, operating practices, and reporting policies for the provision and support of the ICTServicedesk and support facilities. An SLA comprises this SLD together with Schedules A (supported equipment), B (Software Categorisation List), and C (any special departmental requirements), signed at the appropriate point. Services provided under the SLA will be monitored internally within LSS by the IT Board. Agreements will normally be reviewed at least annually by IT Services and the departments concerned. If required the SLA may be terminated at this stage, by either party.
This SLD applies only to the computer and network equipment owned by the Department and included in the schedule of equipment supported by IT Services under this Facilities Management agreement.
IT Services will remove from the schedule any equipment that is withdrawn from service. In addition, IT Services reserves the right, following appropriate discussion, to withdraw old items of equipment or software from schedules when it is no longer practical to support them or to arrange maintenance.
Further equipment or software may be added to the schedules by mutual agreement. IT Services will consider all additional equipment, adding it to the schedule if support is feasible or notifying the Department if it is not. In addition, IT Services will notify the Department if additional equipment will affect the level of resourcing of the agreement. IT Services will normally approach the Department on an annual basis to check the schedule of equipment.
IT Services is only able to agree to support software to the level indicated in the current Software Categorisation List (please see schedule B attached). Additional software may be supported by mutual agreement if appropriate support is available within IT Services. IT Services will not normally write or modify software, scripts or macros on behalf of a supported Department. Development work may be undertaken by IT Services; however, this will be outside the terms of this agreement and any such work may be chargeable to the Department.
The Department will be wholly responsible for equipment or software that is not included in the schedule.
Please note, special requirements for individual departments, over and above the agreement detailed below, can be found in schedule C if appropriate.
The Telecoms & ICT Support group, in the form of ICT Service Desk and ICT Support, provide 'first level' support on any computer or telephony related matter. Support includes desktop equipment, micro applications, equipment maintenance, and application support. The purpose of the ICT Service Desk and ICT Support teams is two-fold: to provide help and assistance where possible, and to initiate a problem resolution procedure for any problems that cannot be resolved immediately.
Specified software will be fully supported, with all other requests being handled on a best endeavours basis. These will be reviewed regularly as new products are introduced.
ICT Service Desk will be available from 07:30 - 17:30 weekdays. Team meetings will be held from time to time; at such times a voicemail facility will be available. The service will not be available when the University is closed. There will be one telephone number for all calls - extension 3333. Outside of these hours an out-of-hours support service hosted by the University of Northumberland will be available. The service will operate every night, 5.30 p.m. to 07.30 a.m. and at weekends from 5.30 p.m. on Friday until 07.30 a.m. on the following Monday. Alternatively, you can still leave us a voicemail to be acted upon when ICT Servicedesk next opens. Electronic mail can also be sent to mailbox ‘ictservicedesk@Bradford.ac.uk'.
A problem/request logging system (currently RMS Servicedesk) will be employed to track calls and ensure that requests and problems are logged; users will receive email confirmation when a job is both logged and closed. This will provide details of the job and an RMS job reference number; please quote this reference number in all enquiries or correspondence. Users may also track the current status of their jobs via the RMS web based interface at: http://ictservicedesk.brad.ac.uk
Log in using your University of Bradford username/password. Then navigate via the options on the left hand side of the screen, clicking on Service Desk, Support Calls/Incidents and Search by Call/Incident Number. You will then be prompted for your call reference number.
As LSS provides both computer network and voice connections we need at least ten working days notice of new staff or staff office moves which will require us to change our network or telephony configuration. Please submit the web form. This will be automatically forwarded to ICT Servicedesk.
Any member of staff from the Department may call extension 3333. However, the Department will be expected to nominate a contact person who will be able to assist IT Services staff to gain access to offices and other areas where they are required to carry out work.
Students will normally refer a problem with equipment or software to a member of staff who will report it to ICT Servicedesk (to ensure that a return call can be made). However, ICT Servicedesk does not replace the Learner Support Centre, which will be available as usual for student queries.
Please note, abusive callers will not be tolerated. All ICT Servicedesk and ICT Support staff are under strict instruction to terminate such calls, until the individual concerned can discuss their problem/request in a reasonable manner. Persistent offenders may be disciplined under the University’s Code of Practice on Personal Harassment or University Ordinances and Regulations.
It should be stressed that this agreement covers Facilities Management of departmental equipment and software as outlined below. It is not an alternative to a maintenance service. In particular, IT Services does not have a stock of spares or loan equipment.
The Department is strongly advised to arrange for maintenance of equipment, i.e. through a maintenance contract, insurance cover or warranty agreement. Alternatively the Department may elect to pay for equipment repairs on a parts and labour basis from an appropriate supplier.
IT Services cannot undertake maintenance engineering work but will:
and the Department will be expected to
The Facilities Management Service covers the following:
IT Services will
The Department will be expected to
NB: Departments should be aware that the University has framework agreements in place with approved suppliers for the purchase of PC hardware, both full systems and individual components. Purchases outside these frameworks constitute a breach of those agreements on the part of the University. Moreover, departments should consult with the LSS Micros Division prior to any hardware purchase, through ICT Service Desk on X3333 or email to: ictservicedesk@Bradford.ac.uk. LSS will be under no obligation to support equipment purchased without prior agreement.
IT Services will
The Department will be expected to
NB: Departments or individuals, who have a requirement for specialist software packages, should seek advice from the LSS Micros Division prior to any purchase being made, through ICT Service Desk on X3333 or email to: ictservicedesk@Bradford.ac.uk. LSS will be under no obligation to support software purchased without prior agreement.
For equipment in schedule A, IT Services will
The Department will be expected to
NB: Departments should be aware that an “at risk” period is in operation for essential maintenance and upgrade work to JANET, YHMAN, and the University campus network; this takes place every Tuesday 07.00 – 09.00 hours.
Please note also, that the University (through LSS) reserves the right to disable access to a user’s account if the user fails to abide with the terms and conditions of their SLA or University Regulation 21.
For equipment in schedule A, IT Services will
The Department will be expected to
For equipment in section 4.4 above, IT Services will
The Department will
IT Services will
The Department will
In order to comply with licensing requirements and British Law, the Department will be expected to
We note that Microsoft and FAST may audit the University to ensure that an appropriate licence covers all use of software.
This section of the Service Level Definition details the obligations of both Learner Support Services and the Facilities Managed Departments with regards to the provision and support of student computer cluster rooms.
IT Services is only able to support clusters that run either the standard Staff Computer Configuration, the standard Public Cluster Configuration, or agreed derivatives thereof.
The minimum specification of the computers concerned must be at least that of the minimum specification of the current IT Services provision. This means that departments will be required to replace the cluster equipment in line with IT Services replacement policies (currently every four years). The suitability of equipment for use in a cluster environment should be discussed with a representative of IT Services prior to purchase. IT Services reserves the right to withhold support for unsuitable equipment.
Wherever possible, all computers in a given cluster room should be the same make and model. Where this is not the case, support must be agreed with IT Services.
Any software that the department requires to be made available on cluster computers should be passed to IT Services for testing prior to purchase. Whilst IT Services will make every effort to install applications on the cluster computers it will not be responsible for software that is incompatible with the supported computer configurations. The department will be responsible for ensuring that sufficient licences are purchased to allow the software to run on multiple computers at once. Where software has a limited number of licences IT Services will make reasonable attempts to limit its use, where possible. The department will be responsible for testing any software once it has been installed to ensure that it works as expected in advance of its use in any teaching.
To ensure that the Department receives an acceptable level of service, IT Services monitors the progress of a request through its Call Tracking Procedure. All calls to ICT Servicedesk are logged.
If you have an emergency (e.g. a file server is out of action affecting the majority of staff or a teaching cluster) please ensure that ICT Servicedesk is informed when you place the call. This will ensure that the work is scheduled appropriately.
Following initial investigation, we will normally provide you with an estimate of the expected time to completion. If a fault is not solved in the designated time, it will automatically be referred to more senior staff within IT Services.
If the delay is due to circumstances beyond our control (e.g. maintenance supplier repair times) we will normally notify the departmental contact.
However, if you are concerned about the progress of a logged call or feel that response is inadequate, e.g. if the response is not within the designated time, please follow the escalation procedure below.
| Priority | Route | Description | Example Definition | Target RESPONSE Timescale | Target SOLUTION Timescale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | ICT Service Desk | Critical/Major | Business critical service unusable: LDAP authentication, email, campus wide network issue, telephone system. Major University Service down: VLE, Saint, Powersolve etc. Novell Netware (G & H drives). Building specific network issue (e.g. Richmond Building). | 1 hour | 4 hours |
| 2. | ICT Service Desk | Major | Major service running but with serious degradation (e.g. Email, CBApps, VLE, Network Printing, Saint etc). Group or individual unable to fulfil role: PC, network connection or telephone down. | 4 hours | 1 working day |
| 3. | ICT Service Desk | Administration | Administrative tasks: setting up new accounts e.g. Unix, Novell, VLE, MM, Saint etc. | 1 working day | 2 working days |
| 4. | ICT Service Desk | Minor/Individual | Non critical hardware/application problem on single PC: (e.g. CD drive, USB ports etc). | 2 working days | 5 working days |
| 5. | ICT Service Desk | Planned Changes/Minor Issues | Planned changes to Voice/Data network. Hardware/Software problem – Service unaffected. | 2 working days | 10 working days |
| 6. | ICT Service Desk | Development | Agreed Development or project work with deadline. | 2 working days | 30 working days |
| 7. | ICT Service Desk | Development | Agreed Development or project work - no deadline. | 2 working days | 60 working days |
NB: Members of staff should note that the expected completion date quoted represents the latest date we would normally expect your request to be completed by, not the definitive date when your job will be attended to; your request may be actioned well in advance of the expected completion date, e.g. a job with a target solution of 5 working days may well be completed on the same day it was logged.
To assist you in choosing and using the most suitable software for your purpose, we have classified publicly available software according to two criteria - Software and Support. Please refer to the information shown below before deciding which package(s) to use.
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Content last updated: September 2009