Service Level Agreement

Introduction

This service level agreement (“SLA”) describes the levels of service that the Customer (“the Customer”) will receive from the Supplier (“Supplier”).

This SLA should be read alongside the terms of use (https://www.tpgarc.com/Home/Terms) between the Supplier and the Customer. Though this SLA covers the key areas of the Supplier’s provided services and support, other contracts may include areas not covered by this SLA.

Purpose

The Customer’s received service depends on IT software and services (together: “the Platform”) that the Supplier provides, maintains, and supports.

This service level agreement sets out the levels of availability and support that the Customer is guaranteed to receive from the Platform.

This SLA forms an important part of the contract between the Supplier and the Customer. It aims to help the two parties to work together effectively.

Responsibilities

Supplier Responsibilities

The Supplier will provide and maintain the Platform used by the Customer.

The Supplier will make the Platform available through means of access and proprietary Supplier applications.

The Supplier will also:

Respond to support requests within a reasonable time.
Take steps to escalate and resolve issues appropriately and quickly.
Maintain good communication with the Customer at all times.

Customer Responsibilities

The Customer will use the Supplier’s provided Platform as intended.

The Customer will also:

Notify the Supplier of any issues or problems in a timely manner.
Maintain good communication with the Supplier at all times.

Description of Software Maintenance

During the Term of this Agreement, the Supplier will provide the following maintenance, improvements, and technical support for the Platform. ARC is a SaaS (Software as a Service) solution, and maintenance covers all customers of the platform. Maintenance, bug fixes, and upgrades happen every two weeks with major updates being released each quarter. The Supplier doesn’t maintain multiple versions of the platform at a time.

Hours for Assistance

We provide technical assistance through the ARC HelpDesk. You can purchase HelpDesk tickets in advance or as needed. The Supplier’s staff will respond to those tickets within 1 business day, Monday to Friday, excluding the Supplier’s published holidays, between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Eastern time.

Submitting a Platform HelpDesk Ticket

Users may report technical support issues directly through the ARC HelpDesk or through the appointed TPGi technical support representative.
To submit a ticket, you need an active ARC Account and Platform Support HelpDesk subscription:
1. In ARC, select the “Support” tab to access Platform Support.
2. On the ARC Support page, select the “Platform Support” tab.
3. Select an active “Platform Support” subscription. Select “Add New Ticket,” and complete the fields about your issue or feature request. Then submit the ticket.
4. You’ll get an email from the system to confirm that your ticket was created. To reply to the ticket, you need to log in to ARC to communicate further about the ticket with ARC support staff.

Platform HelpDesk

Response Time: Here’s how the ARC Platform Support team will handle the triaging and escalation of support tickets during the above-referenced business hours:
- Low-priority issues: 5 business days
- High-priority issues: 1 business day
Resolution Time: Resolution Time depends on the complexity and severity of each request. We’ll share an estimated resolution time with the customer who reported the issue as soon as it’s available.
Issues submitted outside of business hours will be handled within the above-mentioned response times at the start of the next business day.

System-Down Email Notifications Available Around the Clock

A system-down email-notification service for after-hours emergencies is available seven (7) days a week, twenty-four (24) hours a day, three hundred sixty-five (365) days a year. The ARC system doesn’t provide automatic notifications for outages in its hosted infrastructure. But we maintain a monitoring system for our key servers and applications. We’ll forward notifications of server failures or service failures as needed.

Error Correction and Bug Fixes

For the purposes of the Agreement, an Error refers to a failure of the ARC platform to perform the features outlined in its Documentation. (In this context, Errors don’t refer to ARC’s hosted infrastructure.) And if Errors are found in the software’s program logic, the Supplier will correct those Errors with this approach:

Priority	Classification	Resolution Schedule
Significant Business Impact	Important existing features of the Software aren’t available, and the Supplier indicates there isn’t a workaround. Implementation or production use of the Software is continuing, but there’s a serious effect on productivity or service levels (or both).	The Supplier will begin work on the Software error within one (1) business day of notification of the Error from the Customer during normal business hours, and they’ll engage their development staff until they achieve an acceptable workaround. If the Supplier can’t provide such a workaround within two (2) business days of its receipt of the notification of such Errors, the Supplier agrees to escalate the issue to their appropriate executive for resolution. The Supplier shall use commercially reasonable efforts to provide a plan to resolve the Error and communicate with the Customer within two (2) days of receiving the notification.
Minimal Business Impact	The Customer requests information, an enhancement, or clarification for the Software, but there’s no effect on the Software’s operation. The implementation or production use of the Software is continuing and no work is being impeded.	The Supplier will provide clarification within two (2) business days of receiving the notification of the Error during its normal working hours, and they’ll consider enhancements to the Software for inclusion in a later Update.

System Availability

These definitions shall apply to this “System Availability” Section:

"Available" means that the Supplier’s Service is fully operational with all features and the ability to accurately receive, process, store, and transmit the Customer’s Data.

"Scheduled Available Time" means twenty-four (24) hours a day, seven (7) days a week.

"Downtime" means any period within the Scheduled Available Time when the Customer can’t access or use the Services because of an Error, excluding any period during any Scheduled Downtime (as defined below).

"Uptime Percentage" means the total number of minutes of Scheduled Available Time for a calendar month minus the number of minutes of Downtime in that calendar month, divided by the total number of minutes of Scheduled Available Time. That is: (Scheduled Available Time - Downtime) ÷ Scheduled Available Time.

"Error(s)" means any event happening within or caused by a part of the Service that causes a disruption or is likely to cause a disruption to the Service or any part of the Customer’s operations (including services provided to the Customer’s customers). Errors shall exclude any events caused by Customer’s unauthorized modification of the Software or improper operation by the Customer.

The Service Level for system availability is an Uptime Percentage of 99.9% per month. From time to time, the service will be taken offline to perform maintenance, usually for major releases. This offline period usually only lasts a few minutes, and the Supplier’s team will work to make sure that it only takes place outside business hours. The Supplier can notify the Customer in advance when maintenance work is scheduled. But the Supplier reserves the right to carry out this maintenance work at their discretion. This agreement doesn’t include service levels for ARC’s hosted infrastructure.

SLA Exclusions

The Service Commitment doesn’t apply to any Unavailability in these scenarios:

Unavailability that results from a suspension or Remedial Action;
Unavailability caused by factors outside of our reasonable control, including any force majeure event, Internet access, or problems beyond the demarcation point of the Customer’s network;
Unavailability because of any actions or inactions of you or any third party;
Unavailability because of the equipment, software, or other technology from you or from any third party (other than third-party equipment within our direct control);
Unavailability because of failures of the Customer to Deploy Containerized Services not attributable to Unavailability; or
Unavailability because of any Maintenance.

If availability is affected by factors other than those used in our Monthly Uptime Percentage calculation, then we may issue a Service Credit considering such factors at our discretion.

Right of Termination

The Supplier recognizes that it provides services that are important to the Customer’s business. If the Supplier consistently fails to meet the service levels described in this document, the Customer may terminate its entire contract with us with no penalty.

This right is available to the Customer if we fail to meet the above uptime or response time levels more than five times in any single calendar month.

Changes to SLA

The Supplier reserves the right, at its discretion, to change this SLA at any time based on prevailing market practices and the evolution of the Platform Service.

TPGi U.S. Holiday Schedule 2024

New Year's Day - Jan 1 Mon
Martin Luther King Day - Jan 15 Mon
Memorial Day - May 27 Mon
Independence Day - July 4 Thurs
Labor Day - Sept 2 Mon
Thanksgiving - Nov 28 Thurs
Day after Thanksgiving - Nov 29 Fri
Christmas Day - Dec 25 Weds