UBC Network Service Level Agreement

1) Service Description

UBC Network Connectivity Services is a set of services that allow the customer to use network technology to access information and services available at the University of British Columbia and the Internet. It furthers the academic mission of the University by providing timely and immediate access to University resources, other institutions, organizations, and individuals providing networked services/information. Loss of service would significantly hinder and prevent Students and the University from efficiently accessing resources available at campus and on the Internet. In addition, this would significantly impact the University from achieving its goals.

2) Service Hours

Network services are generally expected to be available to customers 7 days a week, 24-hour basis other than scheduled maintenance hours and subject to service availability.

3) Maintenance

Routine maintenance of the network is required to ensure it sufficiently supports the University. Maintenance and changes to the service are facilitated through the UBC IT Change Approval Board. Maintenance is scheduled in advance and a notice is posted on the IT Bulletins page. Emergency maintenance may be required at times and is also approved by the Change Approval Board.

4) Incident Handling

  1. Incident Reporting
    Service issues may be reported through the IT Service Centre Help Desk at 604-822-2008 or via their online contact form at https://it.ubc.ca/support.
    All reported incidents are logged, assigned a number for reference, and tracked for resolution. Incidents are assigned an impact level and receive technical and management attention according to the priority level assigned.
  2. Incident Escalation and Resolution
    Incidents are addressed as per the Incident severity grid below and the target response or resolution times. All times are in business hours/days.

    Impact Level
    Target Response Time
    Target Resolution Time Example
    Critical 1 Hour 1 Hour Entire Campus Down
    High 4 Hours 4 Hours Multiple Buildings/Departments
    Medium 1 Day 3 Days Several Clients Affected
    Low 2 Days
    5 Days Single Client Affected
  3. Escalations are handled through standard UBC IT procedures. Please check with the IT Service Centre or ITSM for guidelines.
  4. Monitoring
    The IT Service Centre employs network monitoring data collection tools. The IT Service Centre responds to alerts raised through the monitoring tools and creates incidents for handling and escalation as required.

5) Communications

The IT Service Centre maintains current Network Connectivity Service Bulletins. This is available at 604.822.4115 and status.it.ubc.ca.

Information on networking and connectivity options at UBC are available on our online UBC IT Service Catalogue.

Each network or department connected to the UBC campus network must delegate a department Network Manager. UBC IT provides information to the Network Manager concerning the status of their connection, maintenance windows, and interruptions to services where appropriate. The Network Manager is expected to disseminate this information as appropriate to his/her department or unit.

6) Network Manager Tools

The department or unit Network Manager is given access to various tools to assist in managing their own network. These include managing their own portion of assigned IP addresses, assigning ports to VLANs, turning ports on and off, and obtaining statistics on a per port basis.