INTRODUCTION
This agreement represents a Service Level Agreement ("SLA") between the Customer and QuickSilk for the delivery of support services to manage one or more QuickSilk products. This service is pursuant to the associated Subscription Service Agreement (SSA) and/or Order Schedule (OS) and is valid from the effective date of those agreements and will remain valid until termination. The objective of this SLA is to document the scope, priorities and policy used by QuickSilk for providing services to the Customer.
SERVICES
Technical Support Services
Technical Support is offered from Monday through Friday, 9am to 5pm (Eastern Time). After hours support can be arranged through the customer’s account manager, for an additional cost. Technical Support is only provided to named administrative contacts of customers as documented on the Order Schedule(s). The named contacts must first be formally trained on the QuickSilk Software in order to receive support.
Customers can access QuickSilk via our in-app support button, or by email to [email protected]. All support requests must initially be submitted to the QuickSilk help desk using either the in-app support button, or email address.
Technical Support Services covers the follow:
Issue Resolution
During standard business hours, support services are provided to assist with issues relating to a functional, data, operational or administrative nature encountered during use of QuickSilk CMS. Resolutions/troubleshooting are resolved with QuickSilk support using the in-app support button, email or at QuickSilk's discretion by telephone or Zoom conference call. Software issues (i.e., bugs, functionality, etc.) are resolved by first submitting a Support Ticket via email or our in-app support button. Support tickets will be responded to via email or at QuickSilk's discretion by telephone or Zoom conference call.
Issue priority and response levels are defined below.
Continuous Maintenance Updates
QuickSilk performs software updates approximately every 6-8 weeks to ensure product stability, adding new features and supporting proposed customer feature requests.
Product Enhancements
QuickSilk continually improves the product through perpetual development cycles and encourages all customers to submit product enhancement requests through regular communication with the QuickSilk Support team. QuickSilk reviews and prioritizes feature requests. Feature requests are provided at no additional charge to the Customer. Not all feature requests are accommodated.
Product Usage
QuickSilk will provide advice and explanations regarding the proper recommend use the QuickSilk CMS.
Success Coaching
QuickSilk prides itself on providing an additional level of support to our customers that we refer to as Success Coaching. Each customer is assigned a Success Coach familiar with your web site, your goals and how you can leverage the site to meet those goals. The Success Coach guides clients through site implementation, updates and maintenance. The Success Coach’s goal is to ensure you maximize the benefits of QuickSilk to meet your goals. The Success Coach provides advice and support via the help desk.
QuickSilk Success Coaching Includes:
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Notification and training on any new features
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Training of New Staff (one session, limited to 4 staff/year)
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General questions on functionality and site changes
Consulting Support
QuickSilk Technical Support provides assistance limited to questions pertaining to basic functional tasks included within the existing CMS feature set. In cases where issues are complex or require an understanding of a business problem, QuickSilk Technical Support reserves the right to charge “Consulting Support” as a billable service. QuickSilk will not bill the customer without first receiving written authorization.
ISSUE SEVERITY DEFINITION
To ensure a Customer’s reported issue receives the expected level of response, QuickSilk uses an Issue Severity classification system.
Issue Severity descriptions are defined below.
Priority Level | Severity Description | Definition | Process |
1 | Critical | Critical errors that materially affect and may severely impact the Customer’s ability to conduct business. This may mean that: - the Customer’s website is down or not functioning
- the product is functioning, but a major feature(s) are malfunctioning based on the original design goals
- the product is operating at an extremely unresponsive rate
| - The objective is to get the Customer online and either correct the problem or downgrade the problem severity.
- Targeted resolution time frames are hours and days.
- Work is continuous until a solution is deployed, or severity is downgraded.
- Develop an issue specific plan – diagnostics, communication, necessary resource and timeline for resolution.
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2 | Important | Impactful problem where the product is operating in a significantly impaired manner A circumvention may exist, but there is agreement that the Customer can only work in the impaired state for a short period of time. This may mean that: - the Customer’s website is accessible, but may be periodically unresponsive.
- a single, yet material, product feature is not functioning
| - The objective is to get the Customer back online and either correct the problem or downgrade the problem severity.
- Targeted time frames are days.
- Develop an issue specific plan – diagnostics, communication, necessary resource, communication update frequency.
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3 | Minor | Low impact problem involving a loss of non-critical functionality. The problem impairs some operations but allows the Customer to continue to function. | - The objective is to get the Customer a resolution to the issue within the most mutually convenient timeframe possible.
- Work can either be planned to coincide with existing development schedules or be continuous during standard business hours until a solution is deployed.
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4 | Supportive | General usage questions, recommendations for future product enhancements or modifications. There is no material impact on the quality, performance, or functionality of the existing system. | - QuickSilk will respond to all questions as part of the day-to-day product support service.
- All submissions for product enhancements will be acknowledge and logged for review by Product Management for future product plans.
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ISSUE RESPONSE TIME ESCALATION
Response times and escalation protocols are based on Issue severity level. The table below defines the response thresholds and communication frequency based on severity level. In all cases, action plans will be formulated and mutually agreed to by the Customer and QuickSilk for the given Issue. Those Issue specific plans may override the standards indicated below.
Event | Priority 1 | Priority 2 | Priority 3 | Priority 4 |
Severity | Critical | Important | Minor | Supportive |
Request Confirmation | 1 Hour | 4 Hours* | 1 Business Day | 1 Business Day |
Start of Resolution | 1 Hour | 1 Business Day | 5 Business Days | As Required |
Targeted Resolution | 24 Hours | 5 Business Days | Next Maintenance or Product Release | As Required |
QuickSilk Management Notification | 4 Hour | 8 Hours | N/A | N/A |
Escalation Trigger | 1 Business Day | 10 Business Days | 60 Business Days | N/A |
Progress Update Frequency ** | Hourly | 4 Hours | As Required | As Required |
* Or next business day, if reported after 2:00 PM EST
** Or as mutually agreed with the Customer
QuickSilk will use all reasonable means to ensure that issues are addressed within the specified time lines detailed in this section. Should the Customer determine that insufficient progress is being made on a given issue, they may at any time request a conference call with the QuickSilk Vice President Operations to discuss alternate arrangements for issue resolution.
Technical Support requests are available via email or through the InApp facility. Customer support requests will be managed as per the Issue Severity matrix. Customer requests will be processed as follows:
Issue Request Life Cycle
Requests for Technical Support maybe made via telephone, email or through the InApp facility. Upon receiving a request from the Customer, QuickSilk will respond to the request as per the Issue Severity matrix. Each Customer request will be processed as follows:
Issue Registration
All issues are registered in the QuickSilk help desk system and assigned a specific Severity. The customer is assigned a unique ticket number for reference during any subsequent communication or status inquiries. The Customer will provide the QuickSilk support help desk with the following details:
Diagnostic information deemed necessary to isolate the cause of the issue will be requested at this time. All subsequent communications between QuickSilk and the Customer (e.g., conversations, receipt of diagnostic or sample data, written correspondence, etc.) are noted against the open incident ticket.
Once the issue has been registered and any requested diagnostic information has been received, QuickSilk will attempt to reproduce and verify the problem as well as determine the cause. There are four possible classifications for any Issue reported.
Defect: The reported problem is determined to be caused by a defect in the QuickSilk licensed product.
Enhancement: The reported problem is determined to be a need for functionality, which does not presently exist in the QuickSilk licensed product.
Environment: The reported problem is attributed to data or one or more third party software, hardware or network products, which are beyond QuickSilk’s control.
Question: The Customer has a question pertaining to the use of the product.
By default, all new Issues reported to QuickSilk are deemed to have a classification of Defect, until proven otherwise.