Technology Service Level Policy

(Effective August 21, 2000)

With constant advancements in technology, the ever increasing use of technology in most every aspect of the learning environment, and the limited resources available for support services, Missouri State University-West Plains has established standards in software and hardware resources to afford a more effective and efficient means in which to provide quality and timely service to Missouri State University-West Plains’ students, faculty and staff. One method of standardization includes instituting scheduled hardware/software purchase/installation requests. Another method of standardization includes instituting service levels of support for software and hardware utilized by the campus community.

Hardware/Software Request Procedures

All hardware/software installations for servers, teaching stations, computer-equipped classrooms and computer labs must be coordinated with Information Services in order to ensure that previously installed hardware/software will continue to function after new installations.

To insure that all hardware/software necessary for instruction is installed and tested before classes begin for each semester, described hardware/software installation requests must be submitted using an Missouri State University-West Plains Hardware/Software Request form to Information Services as described below:

Hardware/software installation requests must be received by Information Services by Mid-Term during the fall and spring semesters.

Any hardware/software not submitted by the specified deadline date will be considered for an installation decision at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Missouri State University-West Plains Information Technology Committee (Missouri State University-West Plains IT) and it is highly probable that installation will not be completed by the desired date.

Information Services will review the request as submitted to determine whether the hardware/software requested will function on the current campus computing network. Timely decision making requires the form be submitted to Information Services prior to Mid-Term each semester. Information Services will verify that all of the components necessary for the hardware/software requested are available, then forward the request to the Missouri State University-West Plains IT Committee for a decision. Each request will be reviewed during the first Missouri State University-West Plains IT Committee meeting occurring after Mid-Term each fall or spring semester (April, November). The Missouri State University-West Plains IT Committee will approve or reject each request. If the request is approved, the Missouri State University-West Plains IT Committee will assign a service level to the decision. The requestor will be notified of the resulting decision for the request to permit an RFP to be initiated by the requestor. After Information Services receives all approved requests from the Missouri State University-West Plains IT Committee, an installation schedule will be prepared indicating expected completion dates. A copy of the schedule will be provided to the various requestors.

Any requests for hardware/software purchases/installations received after the submittal deadline will be reviewed and placed into a queue for processing at the next available Missouri State University-West Plains IT Committee meeting. These request may not be completed by the requested date.

Service Levels

Service levels will change as new technologies emerge. Some service levels will emerge or increase, while others will decrease or be eliminated. Updates will be provided to all users when service levels change. A current service level policy will be posted on the Web and updated semi-annually at the beginning of each fall semester and once at the beginning of each spring semester.

Service Level 3

Missouri State University-West Plains Information Services will:

• install software or products included in this category
• ascertain that the hardware/software is properly installed and functioning
• maintain limited knowledge of the functions of the specific hardware and software required
• provide technical support for the software and hardware
• maintain the software to the current service release/patch level
• notify users of service releases/patches and install all new releases and upgrade patches

Note: For Service Level 3 the user is responsible for learning/training how these products work and will be responsible for acquiring knowledge of advanced aspects of the software/hardware. Information Services will be able to provide support for approximately 85% of the user 's technical needs without referring to outside sources.

Service Level 2

Missouri State University-West Plains Information Services will:

• install software or products included in this category
• ascertain that the hardware/software is properly installed and functioning
• maintain limited knowledge of the functions of the specific hardware and software required

Note: For Service Level 2 the user is responsible for learning/training how these products work and will be responsible for acquiring knowledge of advanced aspects of the software/hardware.

Service Level 1

Missouri State University-West Plains Information Services will:

• install software or products included in this category
• ascertain that the hardware/software is properly installed and functioning

Note: For Service Level 1 the user is responsible for learning/training how these products work and for maintaining the software to the current service release/patch level. User Support will provide limited technical support for software or products in this category and within workload priorities, will load upgrades/service patches upon request by the user. User Support will not be responsible for acquiring knowledge of advanced aspects of the hardware/software under this service level.

Service Level 0

Missouri State University-West Plains Information Services does not provide any user support for software/hardware or products included into this category. The user is responsible for installing, operating and maintaining the software/hardware. User Support will not load software in this category nor be responsible for any hardware on which such software has been installed. If any software/hardware interferes in any way with the campus networking backbone or networking services, it cannot be loaded on any hardware connected to the campus network. Software under service level 0 will not be loaded on any computer in the computer labs or classrooms nor on any servers maintained by Information Services.