Global Service Levels are defined as the general levels of support that are applicable to every DII service.  Customer unique requirements (additions or changes) are documented in an SLA Addendum and take precedence over Global Service Levels.

Global Service Levels are described below:

2.1      Service Support

• Business Hours

The DII Service Desk is staffed Monday -Friday 7:45 to 4:30. 

Data Center Operations: Monday through Friday -6:30am to midnight

• Non-Business Hours:

DII uses a vendor to take calls during non-business hours.  The vendor will contact DII personnel as appropriate for issues with data center operations, mainframe, desktops, telecommunications, and server infrastructure.  The wide area network (WAN) is monitored 24/7/365.  DII is not resourced to support issues after business hours, and is only available via "best effort".

Calls placed for support for Network Engineering or 828-3544 after 4:30 PM and weekends/holidays will be redirected to Contact Communications.  Issues requiring immediate attention will be forwarded to the appropriate DII employee who will triage the report and follow proper procedures to restore activities to normal operations.

• Holiday Schedule

Holidays are considered non-business hours

• How to Get Help (Contact Support)

For all service and support inquiries submit a request to DII’s Service Desk -- Helpdesk Ticketing System: https://ent-footprints.state.vt.us .  You will need a username and password to login to the system.  If you do not have an account, you may submit your request by requesting your IT staff or Office Technical Contact to submit it on your behalf  Or  

Call 802-828-3544 Option 1

• Duties and Responsibilities Overview
  • DII Responsibilities

DII receives calls from state government employees all over Vermont as well as from other entities who conduct business with the state for services we provide. For a listing of services, please see our Service Catalog.

You can expect the following from us:

1. We will acknowledge your issue within 15 minutes to 1 hour, depending on priority of the issue.
2. We will take ownership of the issue.
3. We will listen to you.
4. We will resolve issues in a timely manner.
5. We will ask for your feedback (customer surveys).

• Customer Responsibilities:

We want customers to partner with us to find an agreeable resolution to any situation. Maintaining a positive connection by sharing information, demonstrating the ability to listen and remaining accountable are critical aspects for both DII and our customers. We ask the following from our customers:

1. Report technology issues in a timely fashion.
2. Provide as much detail into the symptoms of the issue as possible.  (Include proper contact information for the DII Technician to contact the customer, including a time frame when the customer is available to work on the issue.)
3. The customer will be expected to work with DII in a timely manner and make themselves and/or their equipment available for troubleshooting issues.
4. Request and schedule special services well in advance. For example installation of new equipment or creation of new user accounts.
5. Acquire proper/recommended training for users.
6. Customer will pay all charges for equipment and/or services rendered.
7. Problem Determination. Customers can use a number of tools to help them solve problems. Below is a list of them:

a.     Previous tickets where the solution was given. – When people have been good at updating the resolution to in house issues, this can become a resource.

b.     Service Desk Knowledgebase – a collection of FAQ’s, How To’s and historical support transactions.

• Incidents, Problems and Service Requests
  • Ticket Creation

The DII IT Specialists will be expected to create tickets that come in over the phone. Customers with access to the Service Desk application via user name and password will also be expected to create tickets.  Once the ticket is created it will be auto assigned based on pre-defined criteria or you can assign it to the appropriate group.

Upon creation of a ticket, the customer will automatically receive an email confirmation with the ticket or reference number.  This confirmation denotes that the Incident or Service Request has been logged at the DII Service Desk, and that it has been assigned to a team/IT Specialist.  The customer is responsible for ensuring that their email address is provided to the DII Service Desk for update and resolution notification purposes.

• Ticket Prioritization

The DII Service Desk assigns a priority to every incident or service request that is initiated.  A prioritization model is used to ensure a consistent approach to defining the sequence in which an item needs to be resolved and to drive the assignment of resources.

DII will respond to problems according to the following priorities:

• Critical – Response time is 30 minutes. Used when many people are affected by this incident.  
• Urgent – Response time is 1 hour.  Used only for tickets coming from the Governor’s office or commissioners.
• High – Response time is 2 hours.  Used when 1 or more customers are experiencing a problem that needs fairly quick attention. .
• Medium – Response time is 4 hours.  Used when 1 or more customers are experiencing a problem that has a work around or does not need to be solved in 2 or less hours.
• Low – Response Time is 8 hours.  Used when 1 or more customers is experiencing a problem that is not effecting their work, but they would like it fixed.

Acknowledgement time is defined as the time allotted for an IT Specialist to acknowledge receipt of the reported incident.  This metric is measured monthly and the internal SLA is that 99.50% of the tickets will be acknowledged within the time defined.

Response time is defined as the base time allotted to begin the troubleshooting or implementation effort. If the customer requires a specific date or time for the effort to commence, it must be defined within the ticket information.

Ticket Resolution (Closing a Ticket.)

Documenting a complete resolution, once it is found, within the ticket is required. This will help others who run into the same problem. This can also be used to do some cross training.  The DII goal for Closing Tickets is 90% of Service Desk tickets will be closed within 10 Business Days.  (Most normal, routine incidents/requests where processes exist are actually completed in less than a week; however, some incidents may require a work around for a short term until fully resolved (which may take longer than 10 days).  The general expectation is that 90% of problems or incidents will be resolved within 10 days or less, with some exceptions.

2.2            Customer Communication

As previously stated, DII will update customers as incidents are being worked and upon incident resolution.  DII will also provide communications when incidents or outages occur that may impact the customer through the following methods:

• A message on the DII Help Desk phone so that you know there is an outage and it is being worked on.  
• A global Footprints ticket will be created followed by an email to the DII-VSMS distribution lists. The email will advise Information Technology contacts in other Agencies and Departments of the disruption and will advise that people link to the Footprints Global Ticket for ongoing updates and information.
• Notification on the DII Homepage:  http://dii.vermont.gov/
• If the outage affects all other forms of communication, DII will send a voice mail “blast” to the Information Technology contacts in other agencies and departments to notify customers of the disruption.

2.3            Customer Escalation

 The DII Service Desk is the single point of contact for initiating all Incidents and Service Requests, including any requests for ticket escalation. Please contact the DII Service Desk at 802-828-3544 Option 1 or submit a Footprints ticket:  https://ent-footprints.state.vt.us/.  If problems are not resolved to an acceptable level of satisfaction, either party can contact the other parties’ management to obtain awareness and/or assistance.

2.4            Change Management Process

All requests for changes (i.e. additional services, etc) whether originated by DII or the customer, must go through a change management process for approval.  The process starts with a request submitted via the DII Service Desk.

Change Management is a control process that ensures that changes can be made with the least amount of risk of business disruption.  The scope of Change Management includes changes to all architectures, processes, tools, metrics, documentation, IT Services and other configuration items (CIs).

DII initiated changes will not be executed without first notifying the customer, and when appropriate, getting customer approval.  In the case of an emergency, the customer will be contacted as quickly as feasible and informed of the changes.

Customer agrees to provide personnel for testing and validation of their equipment functionality after upgrades and other significant system changes.

The following table summarized the change management communications process:

2.5            Security Standards and Policies

• DII services adhere to DII and State Security Standards and Policies.  A list of published policies is located here:  http://dii.vermont.gov/Policy_Central
• The Customer is responsible for ensuring that their systems and services are compliant with and follow State Security Standards and Policies.

2.6            Business Continuity Plan

DII has a Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) to ensure the continuity of critical business functions.  Organizations we support should have a plan as well.  It is your responsibility to coordinate your plan with ours, as necessary.

2.7            Service Level Reviews

Service Level Agreements (SLA) will be reviewed, and/or renewed, at least once per year or as required. Customers may request a review of Service Level Agreements at any time by contacting the DII Service Management Director at 828-0469.

As a result of these reviews or as other information is provided, Service Improvement Programs will be implemented as needed.

2.8            Metrics and Reports

Metrics and reports will be discussed at the Service Level Reviews.

DII currently posts its resolution metrics (3 month average) at the following location:  http://dii.vermont.gov/DII_Divisions/Customer.  The metrics are updated monthly.

An example of overall DII metrics follows:

missed goal - SLA met vs. closed tickets within same month

2.9            Dispute Resolution

The Parties (DII and the Customer) agree that it is in their mutual best interest to resolve disputes informally and amicably. If representatives of the Parties are unable to resolve any dispute after reasonable negotiation, the issue must be escalated to the Deputy Commissioner (DC) to address with their peers within the Customer Organization.  The DC will brief CIO and identify risks and consequences of the event; summary of the process, options and results as well as actions that can be taken to prevent reoccurrence (if feasible).

2.10          Confidentiality

 As a result of this SLA, each Party (DII and the Customer) is likely to have access to information or records of the other Party that is exempt from disclosure under applicable law. Such information shall be deemed “Confidential Information.” Each Party shall maintain all Confidential Information of the other Party in strictest confidence and will not at any time use, publish, reproduce or disclose any Confidential Information, except to the extent necessary to carry out the Party’s duties under this SLA or as expressly authorized in writing by the other Party.

Each Party shall, prior to disclosing any Confidential Information to any contractor or other third party, promptly seek and obtain authorization for the disclosure from the other Party and shall ensure that the contractor or other third party is subject to a non-disclosure agreement enforceable in Vermont. Nothing in this paragraph is intended to prevent either Party from compliance with any order issued by a Vermont state or federal court.

2.11          Ownership and Custody of Data

All data or other records held or stored by DII as a result of this SLA shall be considered the property of, and in the custody of, the Customer. In the event of a request made to DII for access to Customer records pursuant to the Vermont Public Records Act or by other legal process, DII will decline such requests and indicate to the requestor that DII is not the custodian of such records. DII will refer the requestor to the Customer and will notify the Customer of such request as soon as is reasonable under the circumstances, in order to provide the Customer with an opportunity to state or otherwise argue its own position concerning such request.