Service Level Agreement (SLA)

Severity Codes and Response Times

Severity Code Explanation

Severity 1 – “Critical” – Impacts multiple users and/or halts or severely impacts critical operations.

For Example:

1. Entire office is unable to access data from server.
2. Entire office is unable to conduct critical office functions on the Internet (research, on-line order processing, e-mail).
3. Multiple users unable to log in to the server.
4. Multiple users report virus-infected files.

Severity 2 – “High” – Impacts an individual or a small group. Normal operations impaired, but can continue.

For example:

1. Client can access software/Internet from another computer.
2. Malfunctioning application is not critical to productivity.
3. Viable work-around exists for non-functioning application.

Severity 3 – “Medium” – Minor impact to an individual or a small group. Service may be delayed until a mutually established future time.

For example:

1. Intermittent lockup’s for an application or web browser.
2. Software patches for required features or greater stability.
3. Small changes to the computer network such as installing an application or adding a printer.

Severity 4 –”Low” – No impact to performance or functionality. Routine tasks or general information requests.