SafePoint IT – Service Level Agreement (SLA)

At SafePoint IT, we understand that responsive and effective IT support is essential to your business. This Service Level Agreement (SLA) defines our commitment to service standards, ticket prioritization, response and resolution times, and the terms of service coverage.

Purpose

This SLA ensures consistent service delivery and client satisfaction by defining expectations for ticket handling, issue resolution, and escalation procedures.

Scope

This agreement applies to all SafePoint IT clients with an active service contract. It covers support services provided by our technical team and does not apply to project-based work unless otherwise specified.

Priority Classification Matrix

We classify support issues based on urgency and impact using the following matrix:

Definitions:

• Urgency: How quickly the issue needs to be resolved
• Impact: How many users or business functions are affected

Severity Examples:

• Critical (P1) Major business processes are stopped
• High (P2) Business is degraded with no reasonable workaround
• Medium (P3) Departmental impact with a workaround
• Low (P4) Irritation or small-impact issue

Response & Resolution Times

Priority	Business Hours Response	After-Hours Response	Target Resolution Time
P1 Critical	30 minutes	1 hour	4 hours
P2 High	1 hour	2 hours	8 hours
P3 Medium	2 hours	Next Business Day	1-2 business days
P4 Low	24 hours	Next Business Day	3-5 business days

Business Hours: Monday to Friday, 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM CST
After-Hours: Emergency support available for P1 & P2 via designated contact procedures. Additional fees may apply.

Definitions:

• Response Time: Time from ticket submission to initial contact by a SafePoint IT technician
• Resolution Time: Time from initial response to full resolution or verified workaround

Client Responsibilities

To help us deliver effective support, clients are expected to:

• Provide accurate issue descriptions, documentation, or screenshots
• Designate a primary point of contact for all communications
• Maintain up-to-date contact and escalation information
• Grant timely access to affected systems when needed

Issue Types & Coverage

Issue Type	Resolution Guarantee	Notes
Service Outage (P1)	Yes	Network/server down or business-critical system failure. Target: 4 hours or less
User Productivity Issues (P2/P3)	Yes	Issues like email failure, app crashes, printer errors
How-To or Training Requests	No	Handled on a best-effort basis or billable if outside support scope
Third-Party Software Issues	No	SafePoint IT will act as a facilitator but is not responsible for external vendor resolution times
Projects / Installations	No	Covered under separate scopes. Not subject to SLA timelines
Low-Priority Change Requests	Yes	Examples: user creation, printer install – typically resolved within 1–3 business days
Security Incidents	Yes	Examples: phishing, malware, unauthorized access. May require escalation to a cybersecurity partner
Recurring (Chronic) Issues	No	May require root cause analysis or a separate scoped remediation project

What Happens When SLA Resolution Targets Are Missed

We have a structured escalation and accountability process:

1. Internal Escalation – The issue is escalated to senior engineers or management
2. Client Notification – You’ll receive an update explaining the delay and new resolution estimate
3. SLA Breach Logging – Incidents are documented and reported to our Service Manager
4. Root Cause Analysis – For critical or repeated breaches, a formal RCA may be performed and shared with you
5. Service Credit – May be issued based on the criteria below

Service Credit Policy

You may qualify for a 5% credit on your next monthly invoice if SafePoint IT fails to meet resolution times under these conditions:

• SLA breach involves P1 or P2 priority tickets
• More than 3 resolution SLA breaches occurred in a calendar month
• Tickets were submitted through approved channels
• Delay was not caused by:
  • Client-side inaction (e.g., failure to provide access)
  • Force majeure (natural disaster, power outage)
  • Third-party vendor delays (e.g., Microsoft, Comcast)

Request Process:

Credit requests must be submitted in writing within 30 days of the affected incident(s).

Exemptions – No Service Credit or SLA Breach Count If:

• The root cause is a third-party vendor or provider
• Client-side delays (e.g., failure to respond or grant access)
• Force majeure events including weather, power grid failure, or similar regional disruptions