SLA

[Edu-IT]

Has anyone put together a list of how long things can be expected to take etc?

 

For example, all hardware faults will be diagnosed within XYZ but may take up to XYZ to actually be repaired.

 

I'm just wondering what other schools have in place for this? Obviously we would all like to do things there and then but in this current climate that's not always possible or practical so how long is reasonable to keep people waiting if there is no alternative?

[GrumbleDook]

It really varies from school to school and depends on how you set up the support there.

 

I'll give a few scenarios which might be easier.

 

School A has a policy on staff laptops that there will have something working by the end of the week, School B by the end of the day and School C will do it within an hour. All the above are dependent on availability of parts.

 

School A does this by having a next day on-site support warranty with the laptop supplier, so they know that it will get sorted. In the meantime staff have to make do with using a machine in the classroom, and perhaps the school has teacher desktops in each room so there is no real push.

 

School B has a stock of parts for the laptops they purchase and so are able to do most of teh work in house and staff just get on with things for a day ... possibly having to use an OMR sheet for attendance but since it is one day there is no hassle.

 

School C give the member of staff another laptop and, since they using roaming profiles and a standard image for software, a teacher can log in and pick up exactly as before.

 

It is sometimes easier to work on prioritisations for the first 6 months and then write your SLA afterwards. The old SLA I used is up on the wiki if you want a look.

[Edu-IT]

I understand, I was thinking about your SLA actually. I knew I had seen it somewhere.

 

Just wondering how other schools do it really, how many staff they have, what they support etc.

[gotenks1321]

I've been thinking about SLAs recently but it's slightly harder for me as I roam around to 5 different schools on a set timetable. Does anyone do anything similiar and could lend some advice? Is it even possible to have a SLA for somewhere that you only support for half a day a week or even half a day a fortnight

[Edu-IT]

Just had a look at the sample SLA and Lodge Park SLA and they're spot on, thanks.

 

I think the priority/impact rating system is very good. Can you explain response target/resolution target?

Edited December 13, 2009 by Edu-IT

[GrumbleDook]

Response target is how quickly you get back to someone. Usually, even if you have a single point of contact servicedesk, this is based on the time when an engineer / technician is assigned the work to be done.

 

It looks somethings like this.

 

User raises incident / request via the appropriate methods (*1) and this is logged on your servicedesk / log sheet.

There is a set timescale for someone to look at this incident / request and to make contact with the user. Depending on the priority of the call type the response time may change. This can bring problems as sometimes the prioritisation is not always consistent. The idea of prioritisation by impact rather than fault type can help this. EG, a call comes in about a projector fault ... you are not interested that the fault is to do with a projector, but rather that this means that a lesson to a complete class is disrupted.

 

Resolution target is more about the time taken to get things working again ... notice I say working again and not fixed. Generally a resolution will be taken as the incident has been dealt with and the user is getting on with things. It may be that it is a workaround and you have to look at a larger issue (ie problem management) and deal with it afterwards. Again, impact is usually more important in deciding resolution targets.

 

An example would be the one I gave about laptops. Your resolution target could be 1 day, by which point the member of staff has a working laptop. It may not be the original one but you have resolved their issue ... which is that they do not have a laptop to use, not generally that you have to fix that specific machine (though it may be the case for certain things)

 

(*1) - I say about raising it via the appropriate methods ... this is also helps to stop people catching you in the corridor or on the way to the toilet.