Purpose
The purpose of this document is to represent the Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for eBITS customer-facing services (Ex: askUS Support, Sup Org creation, etc.). Each team within eBITS commits to a consistent service level with the following objectives.
- To be respectful, courteous, and jargon-free in our communication
- To be responsive in meeting the customer’s business needs
- Provide clarity to customers around service aspirations and requirements
- Outline a clear definition and measurement of servicing timeframes
- Create a shared understanding of service levels
Who We Serve – UT Community and Affiliates
eBITS serves the UT community:
- College, Schools, and Units (CSUs)
- Students, Faculty, Staff, and Administrators
- UT System
- Vendors & Non-UT Individuals
Service Scope and Requirements
Service Scope
Community support includes the askUS support team, operational support team, and business relationship managers.
The askUS support team provides “level 1” support for university financial and HR/Payroll applications through phone, email, and askUS knowledge base support. If the issue needs to be escalated to a “level 2 & 3” support, the askUS support team will reach out to internal team, central level offices and/or coordinate cross-functional coordination.
Operating Hours
The askUS support team is available from 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Hours may be extended to support the university during times of high volume. This includes both email and telephone support for the askUS support team.
UT Community and Affiliate Responsibilities
Responsibilities are:
- Submit a request by email, webform, or with a phone call.
- Provide all necessary and accurate information at the time of the initial service request.
- Reasonable timeliness in responding to clarifying questions from askUS support.
askUS Responsibilities
Responsibilities are:
- Respond to the UT community and affiliates within outlined timeframes.
- Document information provided by the UT community and affiliates in addition to asking clarifying questions to address the issue.
- Resolve the issue within outlined timeframes.
- Follow-up communication for incidents and requests
- Monitor transaction volume, time targets, and analyst performance.
askUS Support SLAs
Response Time
UT Community and affiliates receive an initial auto-generated response upon the service issues submission. Tickets received by askUS support are reviewed and initially responded to within 24 hours by an askUS support analyst during operating hours. Resolution on tickets will vary depending on complexity.
askUS Resolution Time
After the auto-generated response is sent, askUS issues received may be resolved anywhere from 1 business day to 3 weeks based on a variety of factors, including complexity, priority, information gathering needs, or other internal or external resource dependencies. At times, cross-functional partnership or escalation may need to take place, affecting resolution times. Ninety percent of tickets are resolved within 3-5 business days.
Note: The resolution time starts from the time askUS support responds to the incident with an initial assessment of the incident's priority level.
askUS Support Services
Average response times and resolution times for the askUS support team are listed in the SLA Table below.
Note: The resolution time starts from the time askUS support responds to the incident with an initial assessment of the incident's priority level.
Definitions
The following urgency and impact definitions are used by support teams when handling incident requests submitted. Support teams will evaluate the issue and assign a level of urgency to the incident, in combination with impact to define a priority level for the incident overall. Priority assignments are based on the services the support teams provide. The askUS Support and Operational Support teams are assigned by the analyst who is assigned and/or is actively working the incidents.
SLA Table
| Priority | Definitions | SLA response times | Example Customer Issues |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | This type of request is critical and directly impacts customer processes. This high impact/priority issue needs to be handled in a timely manner. | 30 Minute Initial Response Up to 2 Day Resolution |
|
| Moderate | This type of request is non-critical and does not directly impact customer processes. If this type of request is not handled in a timely manner, it could develop into a high urgency/impact issue. | 4 Hours Initial Response Up to 10 Day Resolution |
|
| Low | Normal, everyday operations can continue while the customer waits for an answer or additional information to assist them in enhancing operations or clarifying a process. | 1 Day Initial Response Up to 18 Day Resolution |
|
A Note on Peak Times* The resolution time starts from the time the team determines an initial assessment with a priority level. Resolution times may be dependent on priority, if the team is awaiting additional information, approvals, or other outside factors. There are some exceptional circumstances when the final resolution may take up to 30 days.
All SLA response and resolution times may increase during peak times throughout the year. For example, August, September, and January are our busiest months of year due to the start of the semesters and UT’s Fiscal Year-end.
Peak Times include:
- Semester starts (Fall, Spring, and Summer)
- Fiscal Year-end
- Service outages
- System updates
Contact Information
Email:
ebits@austin.utexas.edu
Campus Mail Code:
G9899
Other Resources
Workday.utexas.edu
The University of Texas at Austin's system for human capital management and payroll (HCM/Payroll)
askUS Knowledge Base
A repository of answers to frequently asked questions about university-wide systems and processes
Financial Resource Management System (FRMS)
A web-based system used to process cash prizes and departmental scholarships and fellowships