Inuvika Support Policy

INUVIKA SUPPORT POLICY
STANDARD SERVICE LEVEL
Version 2.5
Revised September 27, 2024

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1.   Definitions

“Business Hours” refer to INUVIKA’s business hours as posted on the INUVIKA website. In North, Central and South America, this is between 3:00 am and 7:00 pm Eastern Standard Time and does not include Saturday, Sunday or statutory holidays in Ontario, Canada. In Europe, this is between 9:00 am and 11:00 pm Central European Time and does not include Saturday, Sunday or statutory holidays in France. The End User, Hosting Partner or Support Partner will be assigned to one of these time zones for resolving Support Incidents.  If the End User, Hosting Partner or Support Partner requires resolution of Support Incidents at other times, it will need to be separately arranged as premium support at additional costs.

“Certified Release” refers to any release of Software issued by INUVIKA.  Certified Releases include:

(a) “Major Release” which is any update identified by a version number of “X.Y”; and

(b) “Maintenance Release” which is any update identified by a version number of “X.Y.Z”

“Defect” means a Software failure or fault causing critical problems reported by the Support Partner, Hosting Partner or End User that is actual, reproducible and identifiable by INUVIKA and not otherwise fixable without the intervention of support provided by INUVIKA.

“End User” refers to the entity that has installed and is using the Software.

“Hosting Partner” refers to an entity that delivers a service to End Users using Inuvika Products as part of a “desktop as a service” or other service arrangement where Inuvika Products are bundled with the Hosting Partner’s services.

"INUVIKA Product” means the binary-code version of the Software, as applicable, including associated application programming interfaces, for which an Order has been received and which is installed by End User or End User’s agent at End User’s premises or at an End User-controlled space within a third-party data center or at a Hosting Partner as the case may be.

“Level 1 Support” shall include, but not be limited to:

1. basic support and troubleshooting, such as password resets, printer configurations, break/fix instructions, ticket routing, collection of relevant problem determination information and escalation to Level 2 support provision.
2. general “how to” product information (pre-sales and post-sales) about the Inuvika Product and processes relating to configuration, installation, updates and feature set support;
3. regular problem resolution status reports to End User(s);
4. resolution of problems previously identified and addressed through documentation available on Inuvika’s website.
5. basic support on the standard protocols and features of the Inuvika Product; and
6. collection of relevant problem determination information for escalation to Level 2;

“Level 2 Support” means the support made available to End-User by support personnel of Inuvika, Support Partner or Hosting Partner (where delivered as a bundled service to End Users).  Level 2 Technical Support includes:

1. identifying the source of the problem as other than a Level 1 Support issue;
2. use all knowledge resources to expertly address installation and break/fix issues;
3. in the event an issue requires simulation steps for resolution, doing the initial problem isolation and recreation to determine if the apparent problem resides with the Inuvika Product;
4. performing interoperability testing;
5. developing a reproducible test case for any issue and documenting the details of such issue for escalation to Level 3 Support; and
6. developing and implementing workarounds where reasonably possible to resolve problems directly or, for those problems that have not been resolved by Level 2 support personnel, escalating the problems to Level 3 support personnel for assistance. Escalations shall include all knowledge base searches attempted as well as a transferable zip file containing all applicable logs and steps used to recreate the problem.

The Level 2 Support activities shall include, but not be limited to:

1. managing configuration problems through trouble-shooting;
2. identification of problems unrelated to the Inuvika Product;
3. defining an action plan for problem troubleshooting/resolution;
4. providing advanced support on all Inuvika Product protocols and features;
5. installing patches provided by Inuvika for known Inuvika Product problems;
6. having the ability to analyze and diagnose problems remotely to the extent possible using available tools;
7. obtaining known End User environment variables for assistance in parallel reproduction of a Problem; and
8. in the case of a Hosting Partner, working with Level 3 Support at Inuvika to resolve all problems escalated by Level 2 Support.

“Level 3 Support” shall be delivered by Inuvika and means the problems not resolved by Level 1 Support or Level 2 Support and generally identified as a Defect where:

• no documentation or patches exist within Inuvika’s knowledgebase, websites or other format; or
• documentation does exist, but does not resolve the problem;

“Maintenance Service Agreement” means the agreement pursuant to an Order under INUVIKA’s General Terms and Conditions.

“Order” refers to all the contractual documents pertaining to Software governing the relationship between INUVIKA and Support Partner, End User or Hosting Partner, as the case may be.

“Portal” a secure website owned by INUVIKA and used to manage and track Tickets. Support Partner, Hosting Partner or End User as the case may be, use the Portal to report Tickets directly to INUVIKA. The Portal is used to track Support Incidents and to maintain a record of Tickets.

“Service” means any support service provided by Inuvika or support purchased directly from Inuvika.

“Software” means all or any part of the Inuvika OVD Enterprise software subscribed to and identified in the Order and used pursuant to Inuvika’s General Terms and Conditions.

“Support Incident” is defined as a request for INUVIKA support to fix a Defect in the INUVIKA Software Product whereby the Software Product has either broken and/or is missing functionality previously understood by both parties to be available.

“Support Partner” shall mean only those partners authorized by INUVIKA to deliver Level 2 Support who, pursuant to an agreement with INUVIKA, also sell INUVIKA’s Products and Services and who enter into resale transactions with the End Users on its own account for installation of Inuvika Products in the End User’s chosen environment.

“Ticket” is the identification used by INUVIKA support to track each Support Incident in its Portal.

2.   Introduction

The purpose of this document is to clearly define the services provided by INUVIKA to a Hosting Partner or End User for the technical support for INUVIKA Software.  This document describes how Support Incident requests are created and prioritized as well as INUVIKA’s target response times.  It also outlines the definitions and responsibilities for both INUVIKA and the Hosting Partner or End User regarding support requests.

3.   Support Services

This section details the process for requesting support as well as INUVIKA’s standard service level target timelines for responding to every Support Incident.  The target response times vary depending on the designated severity of the Support Incident as determined using the criteria defined in Section 3.4.  INUVIKA will respond to all Support Incidents in accordance with this section.

3.1    INUVIKA PROVIDED Support Services

INUVIKA provides support for INUVIKA Software only.   INUVIKA Support provides engineering level technical support to identify and resolve technical issues related to INUVIKA Software that could not be resolved by the Support Partner, Hosting Partner or End User. The purpose of support provided by INUVIKA is to register and classify received user incidents and to undertake remedial efforts based on severity as set out in section 3.4 below in order restore service as quickly as possible.

3.1.1 SUPPORT PROVIDED BY INUVIKA: Inuvika provides in-depth and advanced technical support services to troubleshoot technical issues. For End Users, who are under a Maintenance Service Agreement pursuant to an Order with Inuvika, Inuvika will deliver Level 2 Support and Level 3 except in cases where a local Support Partner or Hosting Partner may provide Level 2 Support, in which case, Inuvika would only deliver Level 3 Support to the End User.  For Hosting Partners and Support Partners, Inuvika will only deliver Level 3 Support.

Any support services provide by INUVIKA are strictly for issues related to INUVIKA software. INUVIKA will not, under any circumstance, assist with issues outside of the INUVIKA ecosystem.

INUVIKA offers the following as part of its standard support:

(a)      Access to the Portal;

(b)      Availability during Business Hours for initial response and ongoing related responses;

(c)      Initial response times as defined in Section 3.5 based on severity;

(d)     Allowing two (2) Support Partner, Hosting Partner or End User contacts with direct access to the Portal.

3.1.2 SUPPORT NOT PROVIDED BY INUVIKA: Standard Support services do not include Level 1 Support or issues that are unrelated to INUVIKA Software, including, but not limited to network issues, hardware, operating system and hypervisor issues (infrastructure).

3.1.3 ADDITIONAL SUPPORT SERVICES: INUVIKA may, at its discretion, provide additional support services outside of the scope standard support services provided by INUVIKA.

These services will be charged at INUVIKA’s hourly rate at the time of the service request and will be charged in 15 minute increments.   The types of additional support services may include network issues, hardware, operating system and hypervisor issues (infrastructure).

Additional support services will not include design or installation of INUVIKA software. This is available as consultancy service and must be separately quoted by INUVIKA.

3.2    Prerequisites for using INUVIKA Support Services

In order to use INUVIKA Support, there must be a current Maintenance Service Agreement in place.

The individual contacting INUVIKA must have an internet connection and an email address, either directly or through an internet service provider.

End Users are required to upgrade to the most current Maintenance Release version in order to receive Support Services on a Major Release version. No Support Services will be supplied for any version of INUVIKA Software that is end of life.  Version history, including currently supported versions can be found at https://www.inuvika.com/support/#history.

The Support Partner, Hosting Partner or End User who wishe to obtain INUVIKA Support must have personnel who are sufficiently skilled and trained in the use of the INUVIKA Software, to communicate Support Incidents and to carry out instructions for any required solutions.

In order to maintain the most efficient level of communication, it is required that individuals reporting incidents on behalf of the Support Partner, Hosting Partner or End User be pre-designated product experts. The names and emails of these resources are to be provided to the INUVIKA Support Team and they must be registered in the Portal. This process will ensure that only issues that require INUVIKA’s resources are submitted and that communication remains streamlined between the INUVIKA support team and the designated contacts. If someone, other than these individuals, reports a Support Incident, the Portal will not log the incident. It is therefore recommended that careful thought be given to names and e-mail of the persons responsible for communication with the INUVIKA Support Team.

3.3    Support Incident Process

Initial trouble shooting must be performed by the End User, Hosting Partner or Support Partner to determine if the incident identified is related to INUVIKA Software and to determine if the incident is reproducible.  If no resolution can be found and the incident is related to INUVIKA Software, the Support Partner, Hosting Partner or End User will report the incident to INUVIKA Support as defined below.

INUVIKA’s standard support service allows Support Partners, Hosting Partners or End Users to log a Support Incident in the Portal. Support Incidents may be reported via the following two (2) methods 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year:

3.4    INUVIKA Support Incident Severity Levels

The following factors should be used to assess the priority of a Support Incident:

Business and financial impact

Workaround

It is not necessary (nor is it likely) to have a perfect match of each factor to determine the severity level for a Support Incident.  A given incident must be judged against each of the factors and then an overall assessment must be made to determine which severity level best applies to the incident as outlined below.

Severity Levels

3.5    INUVIKA Support Incident Response Time Targets

The Standard Level Support coverage provides response time targets for the three severity levels. INUVIKA will make reasonable commercial efforts to provide an initial response for recorded Support Incidents in accordance with the assigned severity, defined as follows:

In the event that any third-party software is sold by Inuvika along with an Inuvika Product, the support policy of the third-party software will take precedence over the Inuvika support policy and response times for any incident involving the functionality of that software.  Inuvika will only support the third-party software on a best-efforts basis.

4.   Support Process

The individual reporting the Support Incident on behalf of the Support Partner, Hosting Partner or End User, acting reasonably and in good faith, will make an initial evaluation of the severity level based on the factors identified in Section 3.4.  Once the Support Incident is reported, and further investigated, INUVIKA will make final determination of the severity level based on the Support Partner’s, Hosting Partner’s or End User’s initial evaluation and following further consultation with them.

INUVIKA will then assign the support issue to a support analyst or an INUVIKA technical resource, depending on the nature and severity of the issue.

Severity 1 issues will always be prioritized over any other issues.  If, after conducting an initial assessment, INUVIKA considers it appropriate to adjust the severity, INUVIKA will notify the Support Partner, Hosting Partner or End User of the adjustment.

4.1    Resolution of Support Incidents

INUVIKA will consider a Support Incident resolved when the issue has been adequately addressed under one of the following criteria:

• The End User can, with a workaround procedure or other means, use the INUVIKA Product in an effective manner and reasonable plans and dates required to execute permanent fixes that may be required to completely solve the root cause of the issue have been communicated; or
• INUVIKA has a Certified Release of the Software Product that resolves the problem originally reported in the Support Incident; or
• INUVIKA has provided and agreed with the Hosting Partner or End User on a projected release date and time by which the software remedy will be delivered.

4.2    Initial Response Time Calculation

All Support Incidents are logged into the Portal and assigned a unique support Ticket. This is the case whether the incident was reported using the online method or by email. The Portal will send an email response with details of the Ticket number to the email of the individual reporting the Support Incident when the incident has been recorded in the Portal.

After investigating the incident, the INUVIKA Support Analyst will log his or her response in the Portal. The Portal will automatically send an email containing that information to the email address associated with the person that created the Support Incident. The Portal automatically notes the associated response date and time stamp when the INUVIKA Support Analyst creates the response. For Support Incidents, the initial response time is measured from date/time stamp associated with the creation of the support Ticket in the Portal, to the time that INUVIKA Support Analyst creates the response in the Portal.

From time to time, a particular Support Incident will require further input from the initiating party in order to proceed.  The INUVIKA Support Analyst will log the request for further information in the Portal and the initiating party will be notified of the request for more information by an email generated by the Portal.

4.3    Closing of Support Requests

When a resolution is available for a Support Incident (either through an existing Certified Release, a program upload or other corrective means), the Support Partner, Hosting Partner or End User will have the opportunity to confirm the resolution of the issue.  INUVIKA will resolve the Support Incident upon the earlier of: (a) notification of successful resolution by the Support Partner, Hosting Partner or End User, or (b) five (5) business days following the designated Support Partner, Hosting Partner or End User being provided the existing Certified Release, a program upload, or other corrective means.

Where a Support Incident requires further work to resolve a root cause, the INUVIKA Support Analyst will communicate the proposed timeline of this resolution.

4.4    Support Service Exclusion

INUVIKA will not provide Support Incident services in the following cases and may not be held liable due to:

(a)   failure by the End User to install any upgrades, new releases or patches provided by INUVIKA;

(b)   use of the Software in a way that does not comply with the documentation available on INUVIKA’s website at www.inuvika.com;

(c)    the use of any software enhancements that were not developed by INUVIKA or software enhancements not incorporated in a stable and certified release of the INUVIKA Product. The support and maintenance of any software enhancements developed by INUVIKA, but not incorporated in a certified release of the INUVIKA Product, must be the subject of a separate service agreement.

The following remedies are excluded from the corrective and upgrade maintenance provided by INUVIKA:

(a)   recovery of End User’s files in case of accidental destruction;

(b)   the operating system and specifically any and all kind of backups;

(c)    upgrading Software onsite at the End User’s premises;

(d)   telecommunications expenses.

(e)   travel expenses for support related issues

(f)    costs relating to the creation of or access to technical environments for the purposes of replicating incidents, investigating, remedy, or quality assurance for End User fixes.

(g)   Any query related, but not limited to validation, provision, backup or restore of licensing for third-party software installed within the INUVIKA platform

Therefore, INUVIKA strongly recommends that the Hosting Partner or End User backup its IT systems daily and weekly and to maintain and keep each backup separately in line with industry standards. 

4.5    Inuvika Responsibility

On notification of a Support Incident, Inuvika will pursue a resolution of the incident to restore the Software product function as quickly as possible. This includes doing an initial assessment based on the reported information, assigning resources to correct the problem, and liaising with appropriate contacts to report status and progress.

Once the Defect has been verified and the severity agreed, Inuvika will use its best efforts to provide a workaround, software remedy or proposal to the Support Partner, Hosting Partner or End User for agreement on a projected release date and time by which the software remedy will be delivered. INUVIKA reserves the right to provide a patch if a workaround solution is not available. The patch, thereby provided, will be supported within the Maintenance Service Agreement until a new release of the Software Product is published. The End User or Hosting Partner is obligated to migrate to this new release. INUVIKA reserves the right to suspend support and maintenance of the patch following delivery of a software release fixing the incident.

It is understood that INUVIKA is only under a duty to use commercially reasonable efforts only and, INUVIKA may not be held liable for any persistent malfunction of the Software that may be due to factors beyond INUVIKA’s control or that cannot be fixed in a commercially reasonable or timely manner.  Inuvika’s limitations on liability are contained in the general terms and conditions at https://www.inuvika.com/licenses/terms-and-conditions/

4.6    Support Partner, HOSTING PARTNER OR END USER Responsibility

Before reporting a Support Incident, the Support Partner, Hosting Partner or End User must have researched and attempted to resolve the incident using its internal support team. The Support Partner, Hosting Partner or End User shall direct to INUVIKA any Support Incidents and shall assist INUVIKA in resolving any issue including translation and timeliness of communications.

The Support Partner, Hosting Partner or End User will make a best effort to provide the necessary details for INUVIKA support to identify and replicate reported incidents. Any log files or screenshots should be attached to the incident in the Portal.

It is the responsibility of the Support Partner, Hosting Partner or End User to ensure that the necessary staff members required to facilitate resolution of the issue are available in order to assist INUVIKA in resolving the issue as expeditiously as possible. Persons possessing knowledge of the problem history, access passwords, keys to locked system areas and any other Support Partner, End User or Hosting Partner controlled components will be called upon as required while INUVIKA is addressing the problem.

INUVIKA will not be responsible for delays in problem resolution due to unavailability of key personnel or resources of the Support partner, End User or Hosting Partner