Version August 2021
The purpose of this Service Level Agreement (SLA) is to establish the levels of performance and availability of the hosting services by Fellow Digitals for Customer.
This SLA will go into effect on the date of delivery of the Products and Services and has a duration equal to that of the relevant agreement(s).
The General Conditions of Fellow Digitals are applicable to this SLA. The General Terms and Conditions of Fellow Digitals have been filed with the Chamber of Commerce in Amsterdam. The applicability of any purchase or other conditions of the Customer or of third parties is therefore explicitly rejected by Fellow Digitals. You expressly declare that you have received the General Conditions of Fellow Digitals, that you have read them and that you agree to the General Conditions of Fellow Digitals.
This SLA and the use of the Products and Services are governed by Dutch law. Disputes will be submitted to the competent Dutch court in Amsterdam.
Account Manager: Fixed contact person of Fellow Digitals who manages the services to Customer.
Agreement: Contract between Fellow Digitals and the Customer regarding Products and/or Services.
Application Software: The web (application) hosted by Fellow Digitals that is provided to Users by Customer. The Application Software is a Product.
Availability: The time during which the System Environment is connected to the Internet. Availability is measured over a calendar year, excluding planned and announced Dropout.
Back-up: Backups of digital data and/or files.
Business Day: Normal Dutch working hours (09:00 - 18:00 CET) and days (Monday through Friday) with the exception of public holidays.
Change: A change, performed on (parts of) the System Environment, with a (potential) impact that is of such nature that careful consideration is needed prior to implementing this change.
Contact Person: To be designated person at the Customer who functions as a contact for all relevant issues regarding the daily operations surrounding the use of the hosting services.
Customer: Anyone who requests and orders the delivery of Products and/or Services.
Database: Collection of interchangeable data provided by Customer and available through the Application Software.
Domain: Virtual environment where Users can co-operate, publish and/or learn. A Domain has, among others, the following properties: a) linked to a host name; b) has its own design and contents (optional); c) webmaster has access for administration and help desk; d) will be installed and configured by a systems administrator.
Dropout: The occurrence when the System Environment is unavailable to all Users. Unavailability caused by Maintenance is not considered as Dropout.
Emergency Number: The number reachable outside Office Hours for the purpose of reporting Interferences (+31 (0)20 305 76 60).
Equipment: The Equipment used to provide the hosting service, such as servers, PCs, network infrastructure and peripherals.
Fellow Digitals Products and Services: All performance provided by Fellow Digitals and the resulting provisions and related activities, which do not originate from third parties and whose intellectual property rights, industrial property rights and other rights are held by Fellow Digitals.
Interference: The unforeseen not (correctly) functioning of a business-critical part of the System Environment.
Maintenance: Planned activities performed with the purpose of preventing Interferences, resolving discovered flaws and improving or ensuring the quality of the System Environment. See paragraph 2.2 of the General Conditions for a further elaboration of this definition.
Office Hours: The time between 09:00 and 18:00 CET on Business Days.
Priority: Order in which Interferences are solved and Changes are introduced.
Process-data: Data entered within the Application Software by Customer and/or data entered by third parties.
Products and Services: All Fellow Digitals Products and Services and/or (in whole or in part) Third-Party Products and Services provided by Fellow Digitals, the resulting provisions and related activities.
Public Holiday: Generally recognized holidays: New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Liberation Day (every 5 years, starting from 1945), King's Day, Ascension Day, Pentecost Monday, First and Second Day of Christmas
Question: A support question from the functional administrator/web master of Customer to Fellow Digitals regarding the arrangement and/or usage of Application Software.
Reaction Time: The time period between a correct Report of an Interference by Customer and the start of activities relating to the solving of this Interference.
Recovery Point Objective (RPO): The time between two consecutive backups or replications. This is leading for the maximum amount of data loss.
Recovery Time Objective (RTO): The time between an Interference and the availability of the System Environment or a specific functionality.
Report: The reporting of an Interference or the request for a Change submitted to and recorded by Fellow Digitals.
Request for Change (RFC): A request to carry through a Change.
Security: Ensuring the confidentiality (against unauthorized access and use), integrity (correctness and completeness of the information) and availability (within the agreed upon period; requires continuity) within the information provision.
Service Window: The period of time within which a certain service is offered. The following Service Windows are defined in this SLA:
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Service Window 1 | Business Day: 09:00 - 18:00 CET |
| Service Window 2 | Business Day: 21:00 - 07:00 CET |
| Service Window 3 | Weekend and Holidays: 00:00 - 24:00 CET |
SLA: Service Level Agreement.
Solution: The action initiated in order to solve a Report, answering a Question, granting a Request or solving an Interference.
Solution Time: The time period (including Reaction Time) within which a detected or reported Interference (whether or not by means of a Workaround) is solved or repaired.
Support Desk: Fellow Digitals' Support Desk, that functions as the primary contact for the functional administrator/webmaster of Customer with respect to the Application Software and related services.
System Environment: The combined hosting services by which Customer is enabled to use the Application Software.
Third Party Products and Services: All performance provided by Fellow Digitals, the resulting provisions and related activities, which originate from third parties.
User: One named person (named user) or otherwise named in the Agreement, who is associated with the Domain.
Weekend: Saturday and Sunday.
Workaround: The solving of an Interference or Request for Change in such a way that the primary process can continue without significant loss of time.
This chapter provides a description of the System Environment as provided by Fellow Digitals to Customer.
Fellow Digitals will see to it that all necessary infrastructure for safe and reliable internet connectivity will be present. This consists, among others, of the following:
The following software, among others, is installed on the server arranged for Customer:
The responsibilities of Fellow Digitals include keeping the software up-to-date proactively. This will take place within the described Maintenance periods.
Process-data and system settings are safeguarded by means of a backup or replication system, such that the RPO and RTO time agreed in paragraph 4 can be realized. The Backup is exclusively intended to restore the service in the event of an Interference.
Fellow Digitals strives to keep the System Environment available at all times. If an Interference reduces Availability, Fellow Digitals strives to resolve the Interference within the periods agreed upon in this SLA. Fellow Digitals commits to regular control and thorough Maintenance of the System Environment it uses, and will see to it that enough capacity is available so that this doesn't cause Interferences during more than normal use.
Fellow Digitals delivers an Availability of 99,9% a month. This implies an RTO time of 43 minutes.
The Availability is calculated as follows:
Availability = (the amount of minutes of Dropout / total minutes per month) * 100%
Dropout occurs when the Application Software is unusable for all Users as a consequence of an unplanned event. If the Application Software is only unusable for a few Users, or does not function correctly, this is considered an Interference whereby the service itself is still considered Available. The responsibility of Fellow Digitals with respect to Solution Time does not apply when:
Fellow Digitals does not warrant ("guarantee") that communication through the internet or that a connection with the System Environment from a different server of workstation, is possible at all times.
In the event of a system environment Dropout associated with data loss, an RPO time of 24 hours applies.
During all Service Windows, the Service Window is automatically monitored by Fellow Digitals and/or its suppliers. In case of an Interference, the administrators will intervene proactively. During Interferences, engineers will be stand-by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
During preventive Maintenance activities, Fellow Digitals aims to keep any observable influence on the service for the User to the minimum. Nevertheless, it is possible that the Application Software will be unavailable to Users in whole or in part. To prevent this as much as possible, the following measures are employed:
Fellow Digitals will announce planned Maintenance outside of Service Window 2 at least 5 days in advance via email to Customer’s Contact Person and Twitter: @Support_FD (https://twitter.com/Support_FD).
Fellow Digitals will announce major releases of the Application Software at least 5 days in advance via email to Customer's Contact Person.
Emergency Maintenance may be necessary when circumstances require immediate intervention. If possible, the Customer will be informed as soon as possible. Emergency Maintenance is included in calculating the Availability.
Customer and Fellow Digitals will both appoint employees for the following rolls:
If Customer appoints more than one Contact person, these will use the same (sender) email address for Reporting Interferences and RFC's.
Fellow Digitals Account manager and the Support Desk are available during Service Window 1.
An Interference can be registered outside of Service Window 1 via:
Customer's Contact person shall report an Interference or RFC via email or telephone. This Report has to contain the following:
Fellow Digitals will handle the Reports according to the Incident and Change Management process (see below).
The purpose of Incident Management is to solve (imminent) Interferences in the System Environment as soon as possible. The aim is that Customer experiences as little hindrance as possible from Interferences and is enabled to continue normal activities as soon as possible. This is accomplished by the steps described in section 6.3.
After receiving a Report, Fellow Digitals will determine whether it qualifies as an Interference or as a RFC. In case of an Interference, a Priority is allotted in accordance to the table below. If a Workaround is available, the Priority may deviate pending a structural solution. In case of a RFC, the Report will be handled according to the Change Management process.
In Service Window 1, the following Priorities, Reaction Times and Solution Times apply:
| Priority | Description | Reaction Time | Solution Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | An Interference causing the Application Software to be entirely unusable. | 1 hour | 4 hours |
| Normal | An Interference causing the Application Software to have reduced performance and/or to be partly unusable. | 4 hour | 2 Business Days |
| None | Interferences outside of Fellow Digitals' responsibility (no SLA). | n/a | n/a |
Reports submitted outside of Service Window 1 are handled the next Business Day if necessary and possible.
| Process | Description | Result | Performing party |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reporting | Customer sends Report to Support Desk | Report submitted | Customer |
| Registration & Classification | Customer is heard, his Report is interpreted | Interpreted Report | Fellow Digitals |
| Research & Initiating | Customer is informed about the intended Solution Action | Solution Action is determined and set out | Fellow Digitals, third parties |
| Solving & Restoring | The action is performed in accordance with the procedure as customary at Fellow Digitals | Solved Interference | Fellow Digitals, third parties |
| Concluding | If the Interference is solved, Customer will be informed, and the Report will be concluded | Solved Interference | Fellow Digitals |
The purpose of Change Management is the systematic implementation of Changes in the System Environment or more specifically in the Application Software. The risks of disturbance and related quality reduction of the services will be as limited as possible.
In the interest of maintaining quality of the services, Fellow Digitals will assess and classify the RFCs. Fellow Digitals is not obliged to implement Changes in the Application Software. Performing Changes in the Applications Software may bring about extra costs. These activities will be delivered on the basis of either Subsequent Calculation or a separate invoice.
When taking on a RFC, Fellow Digitals will allot a Priority in accordance with the table below.
In Service Window 1, the following Priorities and Reaction Times apply:
| Priority | Description | Reaction Time |
|---|---|---|
| High | A Change for the purpose of solving an Interference that is causing considerable hindrance to Customer in the use of the Application Software, or an urgently desired adjustment to prevent an Interference. | 4 Business Hours |
| Normal | No great urgency or high impact present, but implementation of the Change may not be postponed. | 8 Business Hours |
| Low | A Change is desired, but can wait till an appropriate opportunity arrives. | n/a |
| None | Changes outside the responsibility of Fellow Digitals (no SLA). | n/a |
Requests submitted outside of Service Window 1 are handled the next Business Day.
| Process | Registration | Result | Performing party |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reporting | Customer sends a Report to Support Desk. Even though the report may initially concern an Interference, it can be qualified as RFC in the Incident Management process. | RFC submitted | Customer |
| Registration | The RFC is registered in the system. | Registered RFC | Fellow Digitals |
| Assessment, Classification & Planning | Fellow Digitals will assess whether RFCs fit with the product. If necessary, RFCs will be planned. | Implementation plan for the Change | Fellow Digitals, third parties |
| Execution | If possible, Changes with high Priority will be carried out and tested directly. Changes with normal and low priority will be carried out and tested on appointment. | Implemented Change | Fellow Digitals, third parties |
| Concluding | The Change is evaluated and concluded. | Concluded Change | Fellow Digitals, Customer |
Reports on the Availability of the System Environment can be made available by Fellow Digitals on a monthly basis, within one month after the end of the calendar month, at the Customer's request.
Fellow Digitals is entitled to amend and/or complement this SLA. The new SLA will apply after publication on the Fellow Digitals website. By using the Products and Services after publication of the new SLA, you will be agreeing to this new SLA.
The Customer may communicate any desired changes to this SLA by means of a written request, upon which Fellow Digitals will assess this request within a reasonable period of time and, if possible, implement it. If a desired change has financial consequences, Fellow Digitals will first issue a quotation.
Fellow Digitals is entitled to change and/or add features to Application Software, Equipment, software, supplier, location and other facilities relevant for the provision of the System Environment.
The Service Levels agreed upon in this SLA can only be performed if the agreements and procedures between Customer and Fellow Digitals are lived up to. If Products and Services are received from third parties, support will be delivered by these third parties, for which Customer and Fellow Digitals have to form a separate agreement.
Changes in IT Infrastructure of Customer must be reported to Fellow Digitals' Support Desk 10 days prior to these changes by means of a RFC. Failure to notify or not notify on time may have consequences for the services provided by Fellow Digitals.