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Policy Effective 7/1/2002
Revised Effective 7/1/2005

 

Statement: Information technology is a rapidly changing area. In order to provide better service to the Marshall University computer user community this policy sets the standard for providing customer support in a computing environment.

 

Public Notification of Supported Information Technologies Posting

A document is to be posted on the Marshall University Computing Services web page that clearly defines which information technologies are being supported and the level of support. The posting is at http://www.marshall.edu/ucs/cs/ucs-policy.asp
 

 

Change In Support

Any time a supported information technology is to be changed the date and level of support associated with the service will be posted by the first of April for a change to be made in the fall, the first of September for a change to be made in the spring and by the first of January for a change to be made in the summer.  These dates shall be followed unless a change is deemed immediately necessary or an emergency by the Vice President of Information Technology or the designee of the Marshall University Information Technology Committee (MUITC). The MUITC or their designated representatives must approve any change in the level of support of an information technology.

 

Additions to the list of supported products and services

Notification of new items that will be supported will be made as appropriate prior to the support date. To assure stability of the University Computing Services (UCS) “lab image” any new software to be placed in the University Computing Facilities for the availability of student use or designated as necessary for academic use must be presented to University Computing Services or its designee no later than four weeks prior to the beginning of each semester.  If software is submitted after that period, an effort will be made to install it however; there will be no guarantee of operability. Only those products and programs that are consistent with policies and procedures as approved by the MUITC will be accepted.


 

Defined Levels of Support

 

Full Support

Full Support is to be defined as those information technology products that are currently in use at Marshall University and constitute the current minimum recommended standard for hardware, operating systems and applications software. Full support includes assistance via telephone, remote control network software (i.e. SMS), e-mail, and in-person consultation. Other services may include access to manuals, access to University licensed software and frequently asked questions (FAQ) help sheets.

Please reference the Customer Support Products and Services detail Information at http://www.marshall.edu/ucs/cs/cspdetail.htm for a complete listing of those products and services receiving Full Support.

 

Transitional Support

Transitional support is defined as any information technology that was previously recommended and fully supported.  Hardware, operating systems or applications software that is in the process of being upgraded, changed or terminated is in the transitional phase. Assistance converting files to a fully supported hardware platform or software application is included, otherwise support fees may apply.

 

Please reference the Customer Support Products and Services detail Information at http://www.marshall.edu/ucs/cs/cspdetail.htm for a complete listing of those products and services receiving Transitional Support.

 

Legacy Support

Legacy support is defined as information technology products that have moved through full and transitional support but are no longer officially supported by Marshall University Computing Services.  Full and Transitional support requests have priority over Legacy support requests. Legacy support consists of attempting to research and solve the problem devoting a reasonable amount of time to finding a fix for the problem.  For a fee, Computing Services can devote a technician to researching a legacy support request.

 

Please reference the Customer Support Products and Services detail Information at http://www.marshall.edu/ucs/cs/cspdetail.htm for a complete listing of those products and services receiving Legacy Support and their associated costs.

 


 Custom Support

Custom Support is characterized as support for computer-based hardware and software applications that are specific to a limited group of users or software that is discipline-specific. Examples are: software from a text book, discipline specific software and software for specialized hardware or other equipment.

 

In this capacity, Computing Services will offer limited support, in that it will act as a technical liaison between the vendor and person who is responsible for the hardware or software. Support may be limited to assistance in installation of the hardware or software package, with reliance on the hardware or software vendor to answer questions concerning the correct operation and function of the technology.  As with Legacy Support, there is a fee associated with Custom Support.

 

Please reference the Customer Support Products and Services detail Information at http://www.marshall.edu/ucs/cs/cspdetail.htm for a complete listing of those products and services receiving Custom Support and their associated costs.

 

 

Support Response Time

 

Business Hours

Full Computing Services Help Desk support is offered during University business hours.  Additional telephone support hours are available for evening and weekends. Please reference the current University Computing Services Help Desk hours at http://www.marshall.edu/ucs/cs/helpdesk.asp for a complete listing of our current business hours.

 

Acknowledgement

All support requests submitted to the UCS HelpDesk will be acknowledged either verbally or by e-mail within 4 business hours during the University workweek. Acknowledgement takes place when the support request has been entered into the Computing Services Help Desk call tracking system. The customer will be issued an incident number to aid the tracking and resolution of their support request. Calls received after business hours, during weekends and University holidays will be acknowledged on the next University business day.

  • Full Support calls will be acknowledged within 4 business hours from the time of entry into the call tracking system. An attempt will be made to research and to solve the problem within one (1) business day.

  • Transitional Support calls will be acknowledged within 4 business hours from the time of entry into call tracking system. An attempt will be made to research and to solve the problem within three (3) business days.

  • Legacy Support calls will be acknowledged within 4 business hours from the time of entry into call tracking system. An attempt will be made to research and to solve the problem within five (5) business days.

  • Custom Support  calls will be acknowledged within 4 business hours from the time of entry into call tracking system. An attempt will be made to research and to solve the problem within five (5) business days.

Ranking of Support Requests

All support requests are assigned a priority, and processed based upon their priority and order in which the problem was received.
 

  • Normal Priority  - A support request will be considered of normal importance if the problem reported is deemed to be of an inconvenience to the user. This type of ranking is also associated with support requests that can and will be resolved in the course of the assigned response time for the level of support requested.

  • Elevated Priority - A support request will be considered of medium importance if the problem reported is deemed to cause moderate disruption of the users work, study or academic mission. This type of ranking is also associated with support requests that cannot be resolved within the designated support response time associated with a particular level of support.

  • Critical Priority - A support request will be considered of critical importance if the problem reported is deemed to cause complete and critical disruption of the work, study or academic mission of the University or significant number of end users. This type of ranking is also associated with support requests that can not be resolved within the designated support response time associated with a particular level of support and has exceeded a reasonable time period.

Escalation Procedure

All levels of support will have an escalation procedure.

  • Full Support - The support request will be escalated to Tier II support in the following manner: a) The Help Desk personnel determine the support request to be unfixable at the Help Desk or Tier I level, or b) The request is determined to be a Critical Priority support request that has been unresolved for 60 minutes from the time it was reported and logged  into the Help Desk call tracking system. Tier II shall escalate the support request to Senior Management if the support request is unresolved within 2 hours of being reported to Tier II.

  • Transitional Support and Legacy Support – Unresolved support requests will be escalated to Tier II in the following manner: a) the request is determined to be unfixable at the Help Desk or Tier I level, or b) the expiration of the maximum time established for resolution of the request. Tier II shall escalate the support request to Senior Management if the support request is unresolved within 5 business days of being escalated to Tier II. Normal Priority and Elevated Priority support requests will fall in this category.

 


 
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