Service Level Agreement
Effective date: September 2020
Last updated:September 2020
Important note: this agreement only applies to software purchased by the requestor directly from Plus Software. For Plus Software software purchased through distributors or resellers of Plus Software products, the requestor should refer directly to the distributor or reseller for details of the service level agreement available. Where the requestor is a Plus Software distributor or reseller the terms of the distribution/reseller agreement supersede this agreement.
1. Introduction
This Service Level Agreement ('SLA') describes the processes involved in Plus Software's delivery of support functions to the Requestor. Provision of this service is conditional upon the Requestor subscribing to and paying for an applicable support agreement in accordance with the End User License Agreement (EULA).
2. Support general process
Plus Software utilizes a two-tier support model for processing incident reports for support. Initial request for support is made adhering to the support email guidelines contained within this schedule. An Engineer will validate all contract information and evaluate details relevant to the question or issue. A unique Service Request number will be assigned and delivered to the Requestor via email. This Service Request number will be used to track the incident until final resolution.
If necessary, an incident will be reproduced in Plus Software's testing environment. Further investigation, including additional troubleshooting or debugging activity may be required. Based on these results an incident may be brought to resolution, or, if an anomaly is identified, escalated to Development.
3. Support general process
Support requests should be entered directly into the ticketing system of the applicable service desk portal which can be found
When an email is sent, a support engineer will need to identify the following information:
- Requestor name
- Requestor Contact name
- Requestor Contact email address
- Requestor Contact telephone number
- Site name
- Product name
- Version
- Computer hardware platform
- Platform version
- Detailed incident description including, where appropriate, steps to reproduce the problem
Some of this information (such as the identity of the person raising the incident) may be obvious though not expressly stated. Plus Software's engineers will not refuse reasonable requests, though it would be prudent to include the information as a precaution.
Plus Software support engineer will attempt to resolve the issue. If the issues cannot be resolved remotely, the incident may then be tested in Plus Software's test lab. Once the incident has been transferred to Plus Software's test lab the Requestor may be required to submit some additional information. In the event Plus Software is unable to diagnose and where appropriate, resolve the issue, then Plus Software agrees to escalate the problem resolution in accordance with Plus Software's escalation procedure. In all cases, Plus Software will provide the Requestor a respective incident tracking number in all communications with the Requestor. In the event that Plus Software assesses the nature of the Error to be a non-Plus Software issue or failure, Plus Software will reply accordingly.
All requests to open a Service Request will be routed to all Plus Software's available engineers.
4. Target Times
Plus Software Support will prioritize and respond to new support tickets as detailed in the table below. The Requestor will be allowed the discretion to set the initial priority of requests. In the event of abuse, Plus Software reserves the right to revoke this provision.
| Priority | Criteria | Target Response Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 -Critical | An issue that renders a single site completely down and unusable. | Within one working hour. (When raising an incident of this priority the Requestor must provide remote site access or site-based contact details including telephone number.) |
| 2 -Very High | An issue that causes a Productivity loss for more than five users at a given site. | Within one working hour. |
| 3 -High | An issue that causes a Productivity loss for at least one user at a given site. | Within four working hours. |
| 4 -Normal | An issue that does not cause a Productivity loss or a request for scheduled work. | Within one business day. |
*Operating Hours: 0800 - 18:00 GMT, 09:00 - 18:00 EST
Target Response Time is defined as the time between receipt of the user request and the time that the Plus Software Service Desk acknowledges receipt of the problem and provides the client with a unique ticket reference number.
5. Workarounds
Where relevant, Plus Software will try to offer workarounds to reduce the impact of any problem. These are meant as a practical step to help mitigate any problem.
6. Escalation
Some work items (especially those associated with critical situations) may need to be handled in a faster manner than given in the table above. When this becomes the case, the Requestor will notify Plus Software of the critical situation and Plus Software will make reasonable efforts to expedite the resolution of the critical situation.
If Plus Software determines that sufficient information has been provided by Requestor and the escalation is accepted, an action plan will be agreed between Plus Software and the Requestor. Each action plan should include the following information:
- Problems statement, including early evaluation of possible resolution
- Confirmation, when possible, that Plus Software can reproduce the problem
- Problem status
- Requestor Contact telephone number
- Actions required
- Who needs to perform the actions ("who" may refer to Plus Software, the Requestor, other vendors, etc. It does not necessarily require the identification of a specific engineer)
- Projected date for resolution, and if possible confidence level of date being met
Once a problem no longer requires escalation it will return to normal support.
7. Software Releases
The current software releases are made available on the public product website. Releases will be accompanied by release notes that will include known issues and fixes relating to the build and changes within the software release. It is the Requestor's responsibility to store older software releases, if required, although the website will typically also include the previous supported version.
Beta and Pre-Release software will be available to Requestor by the Plus Software support team. Please note, Beta and Pre-Release software may not be accompanied by relevant release notes and documentation. By definition, Beta and Pre-Release software will not be supported outside of a dedicated testing environment. Full support for Beta and Pre-Release software may not be available.
8. Software Versions Covered
Plus Software will provide support primarily for the current release of software. Support for previous versions is given at Plus Software's absolute discretion. When a problem exists, it is not recommended to upgrade to a newer release unless:
- There is good reason to expect that the upgrade will address the issue.
- A Plus Software engineer recommends the upgrade.
9. Requests to the Requestor
Plus Software will inform the Requestor if they believe that an issue raised by a Requestor is not caused by a Software/Services or configuration error. In this situation the Requestor will be asked how to proceed. The Requestor may request Plus Software to proceed with problem fault finding or stop fault finding at this point. Should the former option be selected, the fault finding may be at the expense of the Requestor if the fault does not lie with Plus Software Software/Services. In this scenario the Requestor will pay Plus Software for the time taken to diagnose the issue at Plus Software's current consultancy rates and pay any reasonable expense costs incurred by Plus Software. The Requestor is not liable to pay should the issue relate to a problem with Plus Software software/services which is resolved by a Software/Services configuration change, a Software/Services change or a Software/Services patch.
10. Exclusions
Plus Software shall have no obligation to support:
- Product that is not stated as a supported version at Plus Software's product website or other agreed method; as such Plus Software may require that, for a given problem, the Requestor upgrades the Software/Services at a site to a newer version.
- Product problems caused by Requestor or Requestor negligence, misuse or misapplication, use of product other than is specified in Plus Software user guide or in any other causes beyond the control of Plus Software
- Product installing on any computer hardware that does not meet Plus Software's minimum hardware requirements.
- Product problems directly related to third-party hardware, software or equipment not directly associated with the supplied software.
11. Communications
Critical situations may require the parties to use the telephone for immediate communications. The parties will follow up such communications via the electronic interface. Each party is responsible for its own costs of this communication.
In circumstances where materials have to be exchanged using facsimile, courier services, or other delivery services, each party is responsible for funding their own costs of these exchanges.
12. Definitions
The definitions, apply to all of this Service Level Agreement:
Requestor- The party raising a support request and Software license
Enhancements- All Software/Services changes, including new releases, new versions, product improvements, system modifications, updates, upgrades, and field modifications.
Error- An error in the Software, which degrades or affects the product to the detriment of the Requestor's usage, as compared to Plus Software's published specifications.
Fixed- The repair or replacement of object or executable code versions of product to remedy an error.
Service Desk Web Portal- A website provided by the Distributor for Plus Software to raise service requests.
Information- Any idea, data, program, technical, business, tangible or non-tangible information, however conveyed.
Productivity- A primary reason the Software/Services was deployed to reduce the time to undertake repetitive tasks and increase the daily productivity of the Customer's workforce.
Second Line support- Technical and administrative support and troubleshooting of Supplier's Software/Services.
Software- A Plus Software software product purchased by the Requestor.
Services- A Plus Software service product purchased by the Requestor.
Target Response Time- The amount of time between the initial contact of Requestor and the time that a Supplier engineer begins working on the problem. Note: For clarification Target Response Time is not defined as the time between the receipt of contact and problem resolution.
Work around- A change in the procedures followed or data supplied by Plus Software to avoid Error without impairing use of the product to the detriment of the Requestor or its Customers.