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In order to ensure that your experience with CCIT is as effective and efficient as possible, CCIT outlines in this policy its technical support process, request submission mechanisms, definitions for determining the priority or a request with respect to the severity of its actual or potential impact, and target service levels for acknowledgement, assessment, & resolution/mitigation of requests.

CCIT’s Technical Support Process

When a support request is submitted it enters the incoming request queue of CCIT’s Bugzilla Knowledge Management and Support System for review and prioritization. All support requests are given a unique ticket number which CCIT and the reporter use in referencing, tracking, and managing the request.

CCIT’s business hours are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. excluding University holidays. For purposes of determining response time with regard to target service levels, requests received outside of business days are treated as if they were received the next business day. Although you may receive a response from CCIT staff outside of defined business days and hours, this has no bearing on our meeting target service levels.

During business hours, a CCIT staff member is on-call as the “Officer of the Watch” or OOW. The Officer of the Watch is responsible for reviewing support requests, categorizing requests, determining their severity, and assigning tickets to the most appropriate functional team.

The category in which a request falls determines the mechanism used for determining severity and the service levels to be targeted. As such CCIT has defined the following support categories:

Desktop & Infrastructure Requests
Desktop and infrastructure support encompasses issues having to do with client workstations, desktop application software, network file storage, application servers, enterprise backups, remote access solutions, information technology procurement functions, and business processes dependent upon information technology.
Software Development Requests
Software development support encompass requests for new functionality, requests for enhancement to existing functionality, and requests for support regarding defects in delivered functionality within CCIT maintained custom software solutions.
Web Publishing & Design Requests
Web Publishing & Design support encompass requests for updates to existing Web site content, site-wide redesigns, site architecture reorganization, new functionality and graphics.

The priority of a support request is based upon its severity and impact to an individual, a functional unit, or the organization. Priority levels help to determine which requests require more immediate attention and assist in providing the best possible service as quickly as possible to our clients.

For each level of severity within a request category, CCIT has identified target service levels for the acknowledgement, assessment, and resolution/mitigation of requests:

Acknowledgement
Acknowledgement is defined as the communication by support personnel receiving assignment of a support issue to the reporter of the issue that they have begun the process of assessing the support request.
Assessment
Assessment consists of researching and understanding the scope of an issue, determining the issues potential or actual impact, and determining how best to mitigate or resolve the issue. Upon completion of assessment, determinations are communicated.
Resolution/Mitigation
Wherever possible, CCIT attempts to correct the problem so as to bring about a resolution. However, it is recognized that not all problems can be corrected fully and that partial solutions which moderate or alleviate a condition may sometimes provide more timely relief until such time as a more comprehensive solution can be implemented.

Target service levels are affected by prior commitments, volume of requests within a given period, availability of staff and material resources, the severity of requests received in parallel, coordination of external entities, and scheduling difficulties.

All support requests are maintained within a dynamic priority queue and are serviced in order of the priority assigned to them. This means that at any given moment, a higher priority request may displace a lower priority request. Reasonable attempts are made to achieve target service levels and communicate changes of schedule or circumstance to clients awaiting service.

As with any troubleshooting process, accurate and timely resolution depends on accurate and timely information. When submitting a support request:

  • Provide a detailed problem description.
  • Communicate the nature and severity of an issue so it is clearly understood by those reviewing and assessing the request.
  • Observe appropriate request submission interfaces for the submission of support requests.

The above considerations assist us in assessing, prioritizing, and routing requests to the most appropriate team members so as to service your requests and provide solutions expeditiously.

If you feel that a support request’s priority needs to be escalated, contact the staff member to which the support request is assigned.

Support requests are typically closed when the reporter confirms a resolution has been achieved or if there is no response to our attempts to contact the reporter of the support request. We may also close support requests if we cannot resolve an issue in the immediate or distant future.

Detailed Severity Determination Matrices

CCIT Technical Support Policy (67.8 KB)

CCIT Rate Card for Non-CC Business Units (26.4 KB)