Proactive I.T. Service
1. Service Description
The Proactive Managed Service is a comprehensive, best of breed IT support offering to deliver proactive, real-time monitoring, and optimisation of Customer I.T. infrastructure. This service goes beyond reactive support by actively monitoring all supported systems and taking proactive measures to ensure optimal performance, security, and reliability.
The service includes unlimited access to the Galtec Service Desk however does not include time to plan and deploy changes which are billed and deducted from pre-purchased Change Control time.
2. Service Features
2.1 Remote Monitoring and NOC Updates: The Proactive Managed Service includes continuous remote monitoring of all supported systems. Our Network Operations Center (NOC) receives real-time updates every 5 minutes, enabling our team to promptly detect and respond to any potential issues or performance anomalies. Breaches to monitored thresholds are automatically raised with the Service Desk team with a predetermined priority level and responded to within the SLA defined in the Statement of Services. The NCentral service relies on MIBs being available for monitoring and some hardware may not be possible to monitor. In these small cases, we will make Customer aware.
2.2 Advanced Performance Optimisation and Reporting: Our enterprise monitoring tools provide in-depth performance monitoring and reporting for critical infrastructure components. This allows us to identify trends, pinpoint bottlenecks, and optimise system performance for enhanced efficiency.
2.3 Customer Access to Service Data: As part of the Proactive Managed Service, customers receive monthly Heart Beat Reports which detail key performance data about the environment. This data is shared with Customer and Galtec Service and Account Managers to proactively manage the device estate. This empowers customers to co-monitor the I.T. environment alongside our team, fostering transparency and collaboration.
2.4 Configuration Management and Real-Time Proactive Server Optimisation: Our skilled engineers will actively manage the configurations of servers and devices in real-time, optimising settings to ensure peak performance and reliability.
2.5 Automation: Scheduled Maintenance: We will implement scheduled maintenance tasks to streamline routine processes, reducing downtime and enhancing system stability.
2.6 Automation: Software Distribution Services: Automated software distribution services will ensure that critical software is efficiently deployed across the IT environment, bolstering security and performance.
2.7 Scheduled Preventative Maintenance Windows: To maintain a secure and smoothly operating IT environment, we will conduct scheduled preventative maintenance windows for essential tasks such as patching, antivirus updates, and other maintenance activities.
2.8 Self Healing and Automated Fixes: Our proactive monitoring setup includes self-healing mechanisms that automatically trigger fixes based on predefined monitoring thresholds. This enables swift resolution of potential issues before they escalate. A ticket is generated and subsequently closed when self healing takes place for auditing.
2.9 Proactive System Monitoring: In addition to basic reactive support, our team actively monitors the customer's systems proactively. This means we will actively look for potential issues, even if they have not been reported by the customer.
2.10 Direct Remote Control using MSP Connect: Our team will have direct remote control access to the supported devices using MSP Connect. This allows for quick troubleshooting and issue resolution without delay. Additional tooling is available for engineers to access processes, services, registry, file system and much more via the monitoring platform which allow tasks to be carried out invisibly to users, preventing remote sessions which would otherwise impact user productivity.
2.11 Remote Control Available for Customer Users: As an added benefit, customer users will also have access to Take Control, empowering them to initiate remote control sessions for their devices when necessary.
2.12 Daily Backup Monitoring: To make best endeavours for a stable backup service, the Service Desk will monitor the success and failure of daily backups and resolve issues when identified. Customer will be notified of any issues which cannot be resolved before the next backup commences.
2.13 I.T. Service Expiry Monitoring and Documentation: Galtec’s platforms monitor renewable I.T. services and will alert the team to contact Customer to ensure a timely renewal.
2.14 Access to Strategy Guidance: Customer has unrestricted access to a team of experienced senior architects. These experts provide valuable strategic technical and business guidance to the organisation. The customer can tap into their wealth of knowledge to plan detailed strategies that align IT initiatives with business goals, paving the way for optimised operations and enhanced productivity with a spread cost over time. The benefit ensures that the customer can make informed decisions, proactively adapt to technological advancements, and stay ahead of the competition without incurring additional consultation costs for strategic planning.
2.15 Service Desk Tools: ConnectWise Manage will be used by Galtec for the logging of incidents, change management and project management as part of the service. Incidents reported to the Service Desk are logged and regularly updated within ConnectWise Manage by the assigned Service Desk engineer(s) from initially being opened through to being marked as complete. These updates are shared via email to the reporting user or can also be used for reference by another member of the Service Desk team when the reporting user requests an update with progress of the incident being investigated. ConnectWise Manage can also utilised by IT staff at Customer (where applicable) to allow for direct visibility of Customer incidents. In addition to incident visibility and tracking, this will allow the IT staff of Customer to log incidents directly within ConnectWise Manage.
2.16 Third Party Escalations: Where practical, Galtec will take responsibility and ownership of resolving faults with third party service providers. These external vendors are not affiliated with Galtec and have commercial and service relationships in place directly with Customer. It may be a requirement for the third party to be notified of Galtec’s relationship with Customer and approval may be required before Galtec can escalate cases on your behalf. Galtec are unfortunately unable to take responsibility for any delays caused by this. In some cases, it may be suitable for Galtec to lead the full engagement with the third party provider where the issue is of a technical nature (for example, if Single Sign On to an application has failed). In other scenarios, Galtec may require the assistance of Customer’s internal application champion to lead the engagement, with Galtec supporting from a technical standpoint (for example, if a Sage application has an issue launching, Galtec engineers will work with users and Sage support to ensure the application dependencies are met from a platform perspective). This scenario may be a necessity if intricate knowledge of how the application is used day to day is required. Where this is required, Galtec engineers will work closely with Customer to clearly define what is needed.
2.17 Minor Changes: The service includes unlimited Minor Changes, which are categorised as low complexity, low risk of downtime and under 1 hour to complete. If a change request doesn’t meet those criteria, Change Management Time will be required to complete the requested change. The classification of changes in an IT Managed Service is at Galtec’s discretion and our team will advise in each scenario the determined classification. Further details on Change Management Time can be found here.
2.18 Joiners, Movers and Leavers (JML): Galtec will take full ownership and operational responsibility for Joiners, Movers and Leavers (JML) processes which have been defined in line with ISO27001 security standard compliance. Galtec Service Managers define and implement the procedures during service start and oversee JML procedures to ensure compliance. Any modifications to JML procedures require approval in writing from an Authoriser once implemented to ensure changes are carefully reviewed for consistency and security.
3. Service Availability
The Proactive I.T. Service will be available as listed in the Statement of Services. Response times for support tickets will adhere to the SLA commitments for this service listed in the same document.
Critical monitoring and essential support elements may run around the clock to ensure continuous vigilance over the customer's IT environment.
4. Customer Responsibilities
4.1 Monitoring System Maintenance: To fully leverage the benefits of the Proactive Managed Service, customers are required to power on all supported devices at least once per week for a minimum of 2 hours to allow for critical updates for the platform and ensure Galtec can effectively monitor services and promptly resolve issues.
4.2 Co-Monitoring with Heart Beat Reports: Customers can actively participate in monitoring their IT environment through the monthly Heart Beat Reports and are encouraged to utilise this feature for enhanced transparency. Additional dynamic dashboards can be made available for specific reporting as requested by Customer.
5. Service Limitations
5.1 Hardware Support: Hardware support will be provided on a labour only basis. We will only provide hardware support without charge if the hardware is listed within the Customer Devices field within a Statement of Services and where the hardware is covered by a current vendor parts warranty.
5.2 On Site Warranty Fix: On site hardware repair may be charged at the rates listed within the Charge Matrix of Appendix 3 in the Statement of Services. Unlimited on-site days are not available for hardware repair. Galtec will make reasonable efforts to repair hardware which is outside of manufacturer’s warranty and reserve the right to deem a piece of hardware beyond economic repair. In such a case we will recommend a suitable replacement.
5.2 Changes: The service only includes unlimited access to the Service Desk to resolve issues. In a scenario where a change is required to the system this is dealt with using a separate agreement for a bank of time purchased against an SLA with the specific purpose of managing Change carefully in your environment. The following classifications apply:
Minor Changes are included in the service. A minor change is categorised as low technical complexity, under 1 hour to complete or high risk of downtime.
Major Changes are excluded from the service and require the purchase of additional Change Time purchased up front on an SLA to manage change carefully. A Major Change is categorised as high technical complexity, over 1 hour to complete or a high risk of downtime.
Classification of changes is at Galtec’s discretion. Further details regarding Change Time can be found here.