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SIPAIT Technical Support Policy
Outlined below is the 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 and resolution/mitigation of requests by SIPAIT.
Technical Support Process
When a support request is submitted it enters the incoming request queue of SIPAIT’s Help Desk System for review and prioritization. All support requests are given a unique ticket number which SIPAIT uses in referencing, tracking, and managing the request.
SIPAIT’s business hours are Monday through Saturday from 9 am to 8 pm, excluding University holidays. Support for student labs is varies (see lab schedule and laptop support group schedule). 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 SIPAIT staff outside of defined business days and hours, this has no bearing on our meeting target service levels.
During business hours, a SIPAIT staff member is on-call and is responsible for reviewing support requests, categorizing requests, determining their severity, and assigning tickets to the most appropriate member of the team.
The category in which a request falls determines the mechanism used for determining severity and the service levels to be targeted. As such SIPAIT 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, backup/restore remote access solutions, information technology procurement functions, and business processes dependent upon information technology.
Software Requests: Software support encompasses requests for new functionality, requests for enhancement to existing functionality, and requests for support regarding new projects at SIPA.
Faculty IT Support: SIPA full-time faculty have the option of being on the SIPA Network or administering their own system. SIPAIT will work with them to advise and purchase the equipment. By default, all faculty are setup on the SIPA Network. This includes space on the network drive, active monitoring of the system for viruses and cleanup, patching the system for new virus definition, operating system and all applications installed. The service also includes support for the printer, and limited backup of desktop to the CUIT Connected DataProtector and monitoring to ensure backups are running regularly. The system is configured and setup for a fee @$75 per hour for actual labor time. Rate is subject to review by SIPA Administration. Only CUIT and SIPAIT supported programs are supported. Remote access to the network drives can be setup on request at this time.If the faculty choose to administer their own system, SIPAIT will work with them to advise and purchase the equipment. SIPAIT can configure and setup a Windows or Mac system for a fee @$75 per hour for actual labor time. Rate is subject to review by SIPA Administration. Limited backup of desktop to the CUIT Connected DataProtector can be made available. The user is responsible for managing all aspects of their system, printer, viruses and updates. They can contact SIPAIT for support for the fee mentioned above. Only CUIT or SIPAIT programs are supported.
For each level of severity within a request category, SIPAIT 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, SIPAIT 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. To submit a service request, please call the SIPA Help Desk at 212-854-0112. Requests for special services should be sent to sipait@columbia.edu.
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 information assists us in assessing, prioritizing, and routing requests to the most appropriate team members so as to service your request 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.
In general, high priority requests are responded to within 1 hour, requests identified as medium are in general responded to within 4-24 hours and low level requests are scheduled, as soon as possible. If the user is off-site, response is generally next day unless it is a critical problem. A network outage is generally considered critical. An issue is considered high priority if it affects a large number of users, or affects the organization. Medium priority is assigned to issues that affect users in an area but not the whole organization. Low priority is assigned to an issue that is does not affect a user's work in a significant manner. The response time may increase during certain times of the year when all of SIPAIT is involved with school-wide-upgrades, network upgrades and beginning of the new Academic Year in fall. All computer moves are considered a low priority request and need at least a one weeks' notice to be scheduled.
Support requests are typically closed when the SIPAIT staff confirms a resolution has been achieved. We may also close support requests if we cannot resolve an issue in the immediate or distant future. In such situations, SIPAIT staff will inform the client before closing the ticket.