This document describes the Service Level Agreements (SLA) for creating and maintaining websites within the Letters and Science Information Technology (LS IT) unit. The SLA applies to all service tiers unless specified within the document.
Definition of Service Tier
Tier 1: full support
- Tier 1 Groups: Departments, Programs, Centers, Unit Groups, and Events/Conferences/Symposiums (Tier 1 in advance of event; Tier 3 after event)
- Supported Platforms: SiteFarm, Plone, Drupal
- Recovery Time Objective: 2 hours
Tier 2: basic hosting/questions
- Tier 2 Groups: Faculty Research Projects, Department Special Project/Web Applications, Research Collections/Museums, Collaborative UC Groups
- Software Platforms: SiteFarm, Plone, Drupal, Faculty WordPress
- Recovery Time Objective: 1 Day
Tier 3: Hosting only
- Tier 3 Groups: Faculty Individual Websites, Faculty Lab Websites, Event / Conference / Symposium (after event)
- Software Platforms: SiteFarm, Faculty WordPress, GitHub Pages
- Recovery Time Objective: 1 Week
1. Agreement Overview
This SLA is an agreement between all Tier Groups and LS IT for the provisioning of IT services required to support and sustain websites.
- This Agreement remains valid until superseded by a revised agreement mutually endorsed by the stakeholders.
- This Agreement outlines the parameters of all IT and communications services covered as they are mutually understood by the primary stakeholders.
- This Agreement does not supersede current processes and procedures unless explicitly stated.
2. Goals & Objectives
The purpose of this SLA is to ensure that the proper elements and commitments are in place to provide consistent IT service and communications support and delivery to each Tier group by LS IT.
The goal of this Agreement is to obtain mutual agreement among the stakeholders.
The objectives of this Agreement are to:
- Provide clear reference to service ownership, accountability, roles and/or responsibilities.
- Present a clear, concise and measurable description of service provision to the customer.
- Match perceptions of expected service provision with actual service support and delivery.
3. Stakeholders & Roles
The following Service Provider(s) and Customer(s) represent the primary stakeholders associated with this SLA:
Tier 1 Customers:
- Department/Program represented by chair/director and/or CAO
- Unit represented by group manager
- Center represented by group manager
- Events/Conferences/Symposiums represented by event/program manager
Tier 2 Customers:
- Faculty Research Projects represented by faculty member
- Department Special Project/Web Applications represented by group manager/director
- Research Collections/Museums represented by program manager/director
- Collaborative UC Groups represented by group manager
Tier 3 Customers:
- Faculty Individual Websites represented by faculty member
- Unit or Center represented by group manager
- Event/Conference/Symposium (after event) represented by event/program manager
Service Provider(s):
- Letters and Science Information Technology Unit (LS IT), represented by the LS IT Director.
- SiteFarm (IET): https://ucdavisit.service-now.com/servicehub?id=it_catalog_content&spa=1&sys_id=d777e5991b9798103f4286ae6e4bcbbc)
- Faculty WordPress (IET): https://ucdavisit.service-now.com/servicehub?id=it_catalog_content&sys_id=f4591d551b5798103f4286ae6e4bcb10
Web Lead:
- Person will serve as the primary point of contact for the Service Providers regarding a website.
Content Editor(s):
- Site Manager - Designated person(s) from group with access to creating, editing, updating, and removing content and website structure. Also has ability to add new Content editors.
- Site Editor - Designated person(s) with access to creating, editing, updating, and removing content. A site editor's access optionally may be limited to just one section of a site or one type of content.
4. Periodic Review
This Agreement is valid from the date the website development is approved until further notice. This Agreement should be reviewed at a minimum once per year by all stakeholders.
5. Service Agreement
The following service parameters are the responsibility of the Service Provider(s) in the ongoing support of this Agreement.
5.1. Service Scope
The following Services are covered by this Agreement:
- Technical support (general inquiry and break/fix) and end-user training, as needed (LS IT)
- Technical infrastructure maintenance and monitoring (LS IT)
- For Tier 1 and 2 groups, technical changes to functionality and visual appearance (LS IT)
5.2. Customer Requirements
Customer responsibilities and/or requirements in support of this Agreement include:
- The customer will identify one Web Lead, who will serve as the primary point of contact for the Service Providers, and inform LS IT when that person changes.
- The customer will ensure reasonable availability of Web Lead for service related incidents or requests.
- The Web Lead will be empowered to make decisions about the website on behalf of the customer and will be responsible for timely decision making.
- The customer is solely responsible for creating, editing and maintaining all content (e.g., faculty profiles and CVs, graduate and undergraduate information, course information, organizational information, etc.)
- The Customer will ensure that personnel who fill the roles defined above are available for technical training on the use of the web content management system provided by the Service Provider(s).
5.3. Service Provider Requirements
Service Provider responsibilities and/or requirements in support of this Agreement include:
- LS IT
- Training customer Web Lead and Content Editor(s) in the operation of the web content management system.
- Maintaining the technical infrastructure, including servers and networks, required to support the website; this includes active monitoring and response regarding website availability and performance within the parameters outlined in this Agreement.
- Providing technical support for the use of the web content management system and break/fix services for any technical problems that arise with the website.
- For Tier 1 groups, implementing technical changes to the functionality and design theme of the website and the underlying web content management system in consultation with the other stakeholders and within the parameters outlined in this Agreement. Technical and design theme changes must be approved by the Site Manager and Site Editors.
- For Tier 1 groups, making specific content structure changes requested by authorized customers, including instruction on and assistance in text updates (replacing/adding/removing text; no editing services are provided), image manipulations (cropping, resizing, etc.), and file content uploads (uploading documents and other media).
5.4. Service Assumptions
Assumptions related to in-scope services and/or components include:
- Changes to services will be communicated and documented to all stakeholders.
- The infrastructure and web content management system underlying the website are shared among many departments and programs; consequently, any technical changes beyond the limitations of the system requested by the customer may be subject to rejection at the discretion of the LS IT director.
6. Service Management
Effective support of in-scope services is a result of maintaining consistent service levels. The following sections provide relevant details on service availability and monitoring of in-scope services and related components.
6.1. Service Availability
- For service components provided by LS IT:
- Technical support is available via the channels (phone, email, web, desk visit), times (generally, Monday-Friday 7:30AM-6:00PM) and parameters outlined in the general LS IT service agreement, found at http://lsit.ucdavis.edu/. Technical support includes answering technical questions about the operation of the web content management system, specific authorized content changes, and break/fix for technical problems that arise.
- Technical changes to the website and infrastructure beyond break/fix are provided on a best effort basis and will be prioritized along with requests from other customers based on technical difficulty, expected benefit across sites, and availability of technical resources. Technical changes are made at the discretion of the LS IT director.
- LS IT will offer group technical training on the use of the content management system at least once per quarter, assuming that there is demand.
6. Termination of service (Tier 2 and 3)
- Voluntary termination
- Customer may choose at any time to terminate the service.
- Customers should provide two weeks' notice to the Service Provider.
- The Service Provider will maintain an archive for 3 months, after that it will be deleted.
- Suspension or termination with cause
- Violation of the Service Level Agreement may result in the suspension or termination of website.
- Termination of service will occur only after the Service Provider has warned the Customer of the violation and the Customer has not taken steps to rectify the violation in a reasonable period of time.
- For WordPress websites, see item 4 (https://www.faculty.ucdavis.edu/terms-of-use/).
7. Unused site instances (Tier 2 and 3 -Faculty WordPress)
- See item 5 (https://www.faculty.ucdavis.edu/terms-of-use/).