Support contracts define the levels of support for hardware and software (and any other elements of service) that you require and that can be offered by ITS.
Their purpose is to:
- establish a two-way accountability for service
- create levels of services that are negotiated and standardised
- document service levels in writing
- clearly define criteria for service evaluation
- provide a basis for improving service levels
- provide a basis for obtaining resources for services
- provide transparency in pricing for services.
The particular services required and charges for support contracts are negotiated with the customer (on a departmental or divisional basis). Examples of support contracts include:
Departmental computing resource management - an agreement where ITS provides services for the management of a department's (or section's) computing resources, including backup, disaster recovery, desktop support, server management, training and liaison with external providers (as necessary).
University Desktop for students and staff - under this agreement a fully provisioned and managed desktop environment, with back-end file storage and print services, is provided for students or staff at minimal cost. It frees up departmental staff from basic and time-consuming infrastructure support work, allowing them to concentrate on users and departmental specific applications.
System/Server Management - an agreement where ITS takes care of all aspects of managing a server system for a department. The service includes operating system installation, configuration, monitoring and maintenance such as applying updates and security patches.
Support contracts can be designed to meet your needs.
Please contact ITS if you would like to discuss the possibility of a support contract for your department or section.