Support and SLA Policy¶

This document defines support tiers, SLA concepts, and escalation rules for platforms (Identity, Audit, Config, Bot), bespoke SaaS/Factory-built projects, and partner-delivered solutions. It is written for support teams, sales, customers, and partners evaluating ConnectSoft's support offerings.

ConnectSoft offers tiered support with clear SLAs: Basic (best effort), Standard (priority support with defined response times), and Premium (24/7 support with guaranteed uptime and response SLAs). This policy guides contract discussions and sets expectations.

Note

Customizable SLAs: Detailed SLAs may be customized in contracts. This document describes the default model and typical expectations. Actual SLAs are defined per customer agreement.

Objectives and Scope¶

Objectives¶

Set Clear Expectations - Set clear expectations for response and resolution
Distinguish Product Types - Distinguish between platform SaaS vs. custom projects vs. partner work
Define Escalation Paths - Define escalation paths and responsibilities
Support Quality - Ensure consistent support quality across all tiers

Scope¶

Included: - Platform SaaS support (Identity, Audit, Config, Bot) - Factory-built custom SaaS support - Partner-delivered solution support (co-support model) - Documentation and knowledge base access

Not Included: - Custom development (separate service) - Architecture consulting (separate service) - Training (separate service) - Integration development (separate service or professional services)

Support Channels and Hours¶

Conceptual Channels¶

Email/Tickets: - Standard support requests - Bug reports - Feature requests - Documentation questions

Chat (Slack/Teams): - Ongoing collaboration - Quick questions - Real-time support (higher tiers)

On-Call/Escalation: - Critical production incidents - Severity 1 issues - Emergency support (Premium tier)

Support Channels Table¶

Channel	Typical Use	Availability
Email/Tickets	Standard support requests	Business hours (Basic), Extended hours (Standard/Premium)
Chat (Slack)	Ongoing collaboration / questions	Extended hours (Standard), 24/7 (Premium)
On-Call	Critical production incidents	24/7 (Premium only)

Support Tiers¶

Basic / Starter¶

Channels: - Email/tickets - Documentation and knowledge base - Community forums (if available)

Availability: - Business hours only - Best effort response (no SLA)

Typical Use Case: - Small/custom projects - Non-critical workloads - Self-service preferred

Response Times: - Best effort (no SLA) - Typically 2-3 business days

Standard / Growth¶

Channels: - Email + limited chat - Documentation and knowledge base - Community forums

Availability: - Extended business hours - Priority support queue

Typical Use Case: - Most platform customers - Standard SaaS workloads - Regular support needs

Response Times: - Priority response (SLA defined) - Example: 4-hour response for critical issues - 1-business-day response for high priority

Premium / Enterprise¶

Channels: - Email + chat + on-call - Dedicated support contact - Direct access to engineering team (for critical issues)

Availability: - Extended or 24/7 (optional) - Dedicated support channel

Typical Use Case: - Critical workloads - Enterprise customers - High-availability requirements

Response Times: - 24/7 support for critical issues - SLA-defined response times: - Critical: 1-hour response - High: 4-hour response - Medium: 1-business-day response - Low: 2-business-day response

Important

Actual Coverage: Actual coverage (e.g., 24/7) is determined per agreement. This document describes typical tiers and expectations. Specific SLAs are negotiated per customer contract.

SLA Concepts by Product Type¶

Platforms (SaaS)¶

SLA Nature: - Defined uptime targets - Incident response SLAs - Performance SLAs

Who is Primary Support: - ConnectSoft (direct support)

Typical SLAs: - Uptime: 99.5% (Standard), 99.9% (Premium) - Response: 4-hour (Standard), 1-hour (Premium) for critical issues

See: SaaS Platforms Business Model for platform details.

Bespoke SaaS (Factory-Built)¶

SLA Nature: - Project-based SLAs - Usually lower than platforms unless otherwise agreed - Custom SLAs negotiable

Who is Primary Support: - ConnectSoft (project support)

Typical SLAs: - Uptime: Project-specific (typically 99.0-99.5%) - Response: Project-specific (typically 1-business-day)

See: Factory Business Model for Factory details.

Partner-Delivered Solutions¶

SLA Nature: - Joint / layered support - Partner first-line, ConnectSoft second-line - Shared responsibility

Who is Primary Support: - Partner (first-line) - ConnectSoft (second-line platform support)

Typical SLAs: - Uptime: Partner-defined (with ConnectSoft platform SLAs) - Response: Partner-defined (with ConnectSoft escalation SLAs)

See: Partner Program Overview for partner program details.

See: Delivery Standards and Quality Control for partner standards.

SLA by Product Type Table¶

Product Type	SLA Nature	Who is Primary Support?
Core Platforms (SaaS)	Stronger uptime goals	ConnectSoft
Factory-built custom SaaS	Project-based SLAs	ConnectSoft
Partner-delivered implementations	Joint / layered	Partner + ConnectSoft

Escalation Paths and Responsibilities¶

Severity Levels¶

Severity 1 (Critical): - Production system down - Critical security issue - Data loss or corruption - Complete service outage

Severity 2 (High): - Major feature broken - Significant performance degradation - Partial service outage - Security vulnerability (non-critical)

Severity 3 (Medium): - Feature issue - Minor performance issue - Non-critical bug - Configuration question

Severity 4 (Low): - General questions - Documentation requests - Feature requests - Non-urgent issues

Escalation Ladder¶

Level 1: Support Team - Initial triage and response - Email/portal support - Basic troubleshooting

Level 2: Senior Support Engineer - Complex issues - Technical deep-dive - Architecture questions

Level 3: Engineering Team - Critical bugs - Platform issues - Factory-related problems - Enterprise customers only

Level 4: CTO/Leadership - Critical incidents - Strategic issues - Business-critical problems - Enterprise customers only

Escalation Triggers¶

Escalate to Level 2: - Issue not resolved in initial response - Requires technical expertise - Architecture or design question

Escalate to Level 3: - Critical bug or platform issue - Factory-related problem - Requires engineering team involvement

Escalate to Level 4: - Critical production incident - Business-critical problem - Strategic issue requiring leadership

Warning

Critical Incidents: What qualifies as a critical/severe incident vs minor issue: - Critical: Production system down, data loss, security breach - High: Major feature broken, significant performance degradation - Medium/Low: Feature issues, questions, non-urgent requests Always escalate critical incidents immediately.

See: Incident Management for incident management process.

Partner Involvement and Co-Support¶

Partner First-Line Support¶

When Partner Leads Implementation: - Partner provides first-line support - Partner handles customer communication - Partner triages and resolves issues

Partner Responsibilities: - Customer-facing support - Issue triage and initial resolution - Escalation to ConnectSoft when needed - Documentation and knowledge transfer

ConnectSoft Second-Line Support¶

ConnectSoft Provides: - Second-line platform support - Factory-related troubleshooting - Platform bug fixes and updates - Architecture guidance

Escalation to ConnectSoft: - Platform bugs or issues - Factory-related problems - Architecture questions - Security issues

Co-Support Model¶

Shared Responsibility: - Partner handles customer-facing support - ConnectSoft handles platform/Factory support - Joint escalation for complex issues - Regular sync meetings