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Ratified: February 2003 Revised: May 2008
Policy & Procedures
Help Desk Service Level Agreement (SLA)
Department of Information Technology, Rossey Hall, Room
058, Ext. 4357
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Scope......................................................................................
......................1
Customer Service
Statement........................................................................1
Help Desk
Services..................................................................................
....2
Hours of Operation
......................................................................................2
Methods for Requesting
Assistance/Service................................................2
Setting Priority Levels for Requests
............................................................3
Remote Desktop Access & Management

....................................................3
Hardware & Software Standards
.................................................................4
Technology
Inventory................................................................................
..4
Customer Responsibilities
...........................................................................4
Feedback
...............................................................................................
.......5
SCOPE
Technology support services are provided through the
Department of Information
Technology Help Desk unit. This support unit is committed to
delivering quality customer
service and technical solutions in support of campus wide
technology. To ensure the best
possible support, the Help Desk provides NJCU Faculty and
Staff with this Service Level
Agreement outlining specific services, priorities, and
responsibilities related to the support of
technology.

This document represents a service agreement between the
Department of Information
Technology (IT) and all New Jersey City University (NJCU)
employees who use technology
and computing resources managed by IT.
Note: This service level agreement is subject to modifications
in response to changes in
technology services and support needs.
CUSTOMER SERVICE STATEMENT
The Help Desk unit of IT is committed to delivering quality
customer service by:
• Striving to ensure customer satisfaction
• Responding to requests for support within published time
frames
• Interacting with faculty and staff in a respectful and courteous
manner
• Requesting feedback for opportunities for improvement
New Jersey City University Department of Information
Technology
• Continuously working to improve the quality of service

• Regularly reviewing and monitoring established performance
indicators
HELP DESK SERVICES
The Help Desk provides support to all University faculty, staff,
and administrative personnel
who require assistance in the following areas, but not limited
to:
• Computer Disposal
• Data Network/Infrastructure
• Database Management
• Desktop Hardware/Software
• E-Mail Accounts and Access
• Hardware/Software Installation
• Hardware/Software Inventory
• Information Systems – Application
Development and Reporting
• Internet access
• Network Storage
• Printer Setup/Maintenance

• Remote Access (VPN)
• Scanning Services
• Security
• Smart Classrooms
• Technology Consultation
• Technology Replacement and
installations
• Telephone/PA System
• Web Development Services
HOURS OF OPERATION
Help Desk services are available during the following hours of
operation:
Monday to Thursday 8:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Hours of operation are subject to change. Any modifications to
this schedule will be
announced through the University STAFF email list ahead of
time. For issues that arise when
the Help Desk staff is unavailable or if all representatives are
busy assisting others, please

leave a request for service via voice mail at x4357 or send email
to [email protected]
Requests will be processed in the order in which they are
received.
METHODS FOR REQUESTING ASSISTANCE/SERVICE
Help Desk services can be accessed in the following ways:
• Phone: Call the Help Desk (�4357)
• Voice Mail: Leave a message on the Help Desk Voice Mail
(x4357)
• E-Mail: Send a message with a detailed description of the
request for service to
[email protected]
Information Systems Application Development and Reporting
Services
Technology
Please use the following specific email addresses for
Information System service requests, as
described:
• Send email to [email protected] for student administration
system support

• Send email to [email protected] for financial information
system support
• Submit e-mail to [email protected] for Faculty/Staff listings,
reports, labels
An official record is kept of all requests for assistance and
forwarded to the appropriate
Application Developer for completion with a copy sent to the
requestor.
SETTING PRIORITY LEVELS FOR REQUESTS
The Help Desk will make every effort to resolve issues at the
time of the service call. This will be
the initial method for resolving issues before assigning a
priority level. Help Desk staff will log and
assign priorities for all requests not resolved at the time of the
call, based on specific definitions.
Requests will be handled according to the priority assigned to
them.
The following table describes the priority levels assigned to
requests for hardware/software
problem resolution with associated response and completion
time commitments:
Priority* Definition
Response
Time

Completion
Time
V.High
A problem that affects the entire University community
or a group of users.
Within 1 hour
Within 4 hours
High
A problem with no known workaround that affects a
single user.
Within 2 hours
Within 1
working day
Medium
A general service request or problem with workaround

solution.
Within 8 hours
Within 2
working days
Low
A service request that doe not require immediate
attention or involves long range planning.
Within 3
working days
Within 5
working days
*
These priority levels were derived from staffing levels and an
average call volume per month.
The Help Desk will provide an estimate of the timing for the
provision of assistance and/or
services. Requests for Information Systems support will be
completed within one week of the
request.

REMOTE DESKTOP ACCESS & MANAGEMENT
Depending on the availability of the technical resources, Help
Desk staff will make every
effort to resolve issues at the time of the service call by using
remote access tools. This will
allow a Support Analyst to access the caller’s desktop remotely
for the purpose of expediting
the resolution of the call. The caller can view the activity on the
local monitor as it occurs.
The Support Analyst will request and receive the caller’s
consent before accessing the
machine remotely. If consent is not given, the call will be
assigned the appropriate level of
priority.
Periodically, software patches and security updates will be
installed remotely through an
automated system to all University supported desktop and
laptop computers to ensure the
integrity of campus computers. The update/patch may be
applied in the background during
Technology

the local computer’s boot process or at any time the computer is
running and connected to the
University network.
HARDWARE & SOFTWARE STANDARDS
The Help Desk will provide support for standardized, campus-
wide hardware and software.
The list of approved hardware and software is updated regularly
and can be found at the IT
website, Documents page at,
http://www.njcu.edu/dept/it/documents.html.
• To ensure software license compliance, the IT Help Desk will
not install any software
without proof of purchase or a copy of a license agreement.
• When purchasing computer hardware, please refer to the
current hardware standards
document and select from the pre-approved list whenever
possible.
• All non-standard hardware and software purchase requests
must be accompanied by a
letter of justification and must be approved by the Division
Steward.

• Limited support for non-standard equipment and software is
also available, depending
on the availability of technical resources.
• The Help Desk offers consultation and assistance with
hardware/software purchases.
TECHNOLOGY INVENTORY
The IT Help Desk is responsible for maintaining a current
technology inventory, including
the software loaded, on all University-owned computers. As a
result of this ongoing
inventory, you may be requested to provide a copy of a license
and/or proof of purchase for
software not covered under campus-wide agreements. If a
license or receipt cannot be
produced, the software should be removed from the computer
until a license is purchased to
ensure license compliance.
CUSTOMER RESPONSIBILITIES
In order to facilitate the support process, members of the
University Community are
requested to:
• Provide detailed information regarding service requests.

• Make every effort to be available to communicate with a
Support Analyst if required.
• Provide consent for a Support Analyst to access the computer
remotely when
requested.
• Leave the computer on for the time period specified when a
campus-wide remote
update is announced and follow instructions provided.
• Notify the Help Desk in advance of any pre-determined
required assistance.
• Check the IT website frequently for information and many
links to self-help
assistance.
Technology
• Exercise patience by understanding the volume of requests the
IT Help Desk receives
each day and the rationale for assessing service priorities.
FEEDBACK
The IT Help Desk will be proactive in seeking feedback through

follow-up calls after a
service request has been completed and through periodic online
surveys. The University
community is encouraged to provide feedback regarding the
Help Desk services at any time
by sending email to [email protected]
The IT Help Desk thanks you for the opportunity to be of
service.
Managing the
Level of IT Service
By Susan Miertschin
1
Service‐Level Management
• Encompasses multiple
processes
• Assures that the IT
function delivers value
• Assures that the
business value

delivered by IT is visible
• Helps users understand
what to expect
• Helps IT understand
what to deliver
2
3
Service Design
Service Level
Management
Goals of Service‐Level
Management
• Purpose: Ensure service delivery
is within defined and agreed
targets
• Keep service within boundaries
of a service-level agreement
• Identify and monitor Key
Performance Indicators and
target values for the KPIs
• Provide data and information

to service design team to fuel
cycles of continuous service
improvement
4
Ensure Service
Delivery is within
Agreed Limits
• This might not make all
users happy
• Not all users are
customers with respect to
service level
management
5
Key Performance Indicators
6
• Help define and
measure progress
toward goals
• Quantifiable
• Reflect critical success
factors

7
Service Level
Management
Service Design
Capture Service
Level
Requirements
(SLRs)
Successful Service
Utility Warranty
8
• Customers need to use
it
• Capacity
• Security
• Availability
• Service continuity
Warranty
Factors are
Addressed by
SLRs

Elements of SLM
• Define the services
• Document them in a service level agreement
• Assure that discussion and negotiation takes place
regarding requirements
• Ensure that targets are measured and met
• Take action to improve performance as needed
9
Service Level Agreement
• A written agreement between an IT service provider
and the IT customers that defines the key service
targets and responsibilities of both parties
• It is an agreement, a partnership, a contract
• One purpose of the agreement is to create a
blame-free environment that can focus on
improvement
• It describes the service and the quality measures by
which the service delivery will be judged
• It should be written in plain non-technical language
10

Elements of an SLA ‐ 1
1. Objective of the SLA
o What is the purpose and scope of the SLA document?
o Will a reader understand the intent of the document?
2. Time Period of the SLA
o For what period is the SLA in effect?
3. Services Covered by the SLA
o Description
o Hours available
o Description of support for a service
o Hours support is available
4. Level of Availability and Reliability Agreed To
5. Level of Throughput Agreed To
6. Service Continuity after a Disaster or Major Disruption
7. Security Aspects Agreed To
11
Elements of an SLA ‐ 2
8. Method for Setting Priorities for Incident Handling
9. Target Times for Incident Resolution
10. Agreed Maintenance Windows
11. Metrics/Methods by Which the Service Delivery will
Be Judged
12. SLA Reporting Periods
o When will the provider report metrics to the customer?

13. Validation triggers
o What starts and stops the monitoring clock?
14. Monitoring frequency
o When are measurements taken?
12
Monitor
Performance
Against SLA Stated
Requirements
• Can be a dynamic
process or static
• Requires basic statistics,
graphs, and charts
13
Three Pillars of
Service Quality
Measurement
• 7 Responsiveness
How quickly are the needs of the
customer addressed?
• 2 Availability
Is the service available when the

customer needs it?
• 1 Quality of Service
Customer satisfaction with various
aspects of the service
Non-subjective measures of
technical factors (e.g., % of time a
user does not take time to read a
pop-up warning)
• 7:2:1 is a typical relative
usage weighting for the
three categories
14
The Problem of
Over‐Achieving
• If you spend time over-
achieving by going
beyond the contractual
service level, the time
spent doing this is not
spent in other areas that
may be underperforming
15
Perception of
Service Quality –
the Danger of the

Sample of One
• One very disgruntled user
can be very vocal and
disparage all of IT – which
can be very damaging
• Find out who it is
• Go talk to them
• Be empathetic
• Make it right
• Educate them
• Include them in plans for
improvement
• Convert them to your side
– hopefully!
16
Sometimes Top‐
Level Managers
Want a Single
Indicator of How
Things are Going
• Aggregate all the results
of everything you are
measuring to see what
the current status is
• Difficult

17
in Place ‐ Warning
• People cheat
• Fear of retribution
• The service-level
performance monitoring
system should be used to
monitor and improve the
system
• The service-level
performance monitoring
system should not be
used to single out people
and punish them
18
Some Typical Problems with
• Over alerting
• Complex SLA
definitions/descriptions
that are difficult to
understand

• Over performance
• SLA metrics are not for
evaluating individuals
• Cheating against the
metrics
• Priorities change
• Too much overhead
associated with data
collection
19
• Sometimes service-level
agreement definitions
drive inefficient or
unproductive behavior
• Unrealistic SLAs
sometimes executed
without consulting people
responsible to deliver the
service
• No aggregated view of
overall performance
• Complicated definitions
may not be understood
Managing the

Level of IT Service
By Susan Miertschin
20
a) Now choose one particular specific service for which the
SLA you
evaluated applies (I’m evaluating Help Desk Service Level
Agreement).
(Some SLAs apply to a single IT service and some apply to a
group of IT
services. State what that service is; be as specific as possible.
b) For the one specific service you have identified, clearly
define a measure
that might be taken periodically to assess one aspect of quality
of the
service (the quality aspect should be mentioned in the Service
Level
Management).
c) State which of the three pillars of service quality
measurement, as defined
in the slides Service Level Management is the correct category
for your
metric.

d) Create a small amount of fake, time-based (probably), sample
data for your
metric in order to create a graph that might be used in a report
that
documents some aspect of service performance.
Note: The Underline words above is clickable and it will direct
you to a
page. If that doesn’t work, I will also upload and attached them
to this
assignment. Again, I’m evaluating Help Desk Service Level
Agreement.
Service Level Management is a lecture note from my professor
and it is
important that you read it and understand it in order to help you
answer the questions above.

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