Service Level Agreement
Version 2.2
Updated September 27, 2013
 
 
  1. Availability of the Services.
    1. Except under those circumstances described elsewhere in this Agreement, including Section 3 below, NaviGate will be "functionally operational" for 99.5 % of every day.
    2. "Functionally operational" is defined as the systems being up and available, whereby Customer can enter and extract data in the usual manner. Lauren Innovations acknowledges that some aspects of NaviGate may be unavailable for short periods of time due to issues out of Lauren Innovations and its hosting provider's control. In the event that an unexpected system outage should occur, Lauren Innovations and its hosting provider are responsible for restoring service in the manner described in Section 9(2) below.
  2. The following events may render NaviGate as unavailable in such a way that Lauren Innovations is not in default of its obligations:
    1. Routine maintenance (further described below);
    2. Customer-caused outages due to Customer’s action or inaction on the server;
    3. Server over-utilization;
    4. Force majeure; or
    5. Any other events beyond Lauren Innovations reasonable control.
  3. Planned outages, for reasons of routine maintenance, including but not limited to hardware and software upgrades, will be announced to all users with at least 7 days' prior notice whenever possible. Lauren Innovations will make reasonable efforts to schedule the maintenance so as to minimize the impact on Customer’s access.
  4. The contact method for providing the notice referred to in Section 4 above will be by posting of a notice on the NaviGate web site for all users to see after login.
  5. Security Commitments.
    1. Only select individuals authorized by Lauren Innovations have access to NaviGate and its content. The datacenters at which NaviGate is located are only accessible to hosting provider system administrators who have the required security clearance.
    2. User authentication: Authentication is managed by NaviGate systems.
    3. Firewalls: Cisco or other similar industry-standard firewalls are used by the hosting provider to protect access to the NaviGate server.
    4. Intrusion prevention: Systems are in place to detect, stop, and report any intrusion, should it occur.
    5. Password resetting:  Users can reset their password using a built in function on the NaviGate login page.  Users can also email support from the email account matching the email information stored for that user in NaviGate and customer support can reset the password.  Lauren Innovations does not have the ability to see an existing password, only reset it to a new one.  If a user’s identity cannot be verified, the request can only come from the main customer contact known to Lauren Innovations.
    6. Any attempt by third parties to violate the integrity of NaviGate will be addressed to the full extent of the law, as appropriate on a case-by-case basis in the sole discretion of Lauren Innovations. 
  6. Performance benchmark targets.
    1. 85% of technical requests will answered/returned with times as defined below.
    2. 100% of “critical” problems will be acknowledged within the times as defined below.
  7. Data storage.
    1. Data is stored on industry standard RAID system. Additional servers can be brought on line to handle additional demand in under 24 hours.
    2. Database is replicated in real time to a secondary server at our secondary datacenter through an industry standard secure encrypted VPN connection protected by Cisco firewalls.
    3. File uploads are backed-up once an hour to a secondary server at our secondary datacenter through an industry standard secure encrypted VPN connection protected by Cisco firewalls.
    4. Full block level backup of each server is completed daily and retained for 7 days.
  8. Systems redundancy.
    1. NaviGate is hosted in two SAS70 Type II datacenters separated by seven hundred miles. Data replication between the servers in the datacenters occurs via a secure encrypted VPN. Our DNS provider provider pings the primary server every 30 seconds from severs throughout the world in the event of a failure in the primary datacenter, the user will automatically be redirected to the secondary location via automatic DNS redirection after 5 minutes. The back up server is read-only - no new data may be added but all critical data can be accessed. Once the primary site is back online, DNS redirection will automatically redirect the user back to the primary site.
    2. Lauren Innovations maintains backup components at the each site, ready to replace defective parts should the server ever become temporarily nonfunctional. Datacenter is staffed 7 days a week, 365 days a year.  Data will be maintained up to date, in real-time fashion as much as possible.
  9. Customer Support
    1. Lauren Innovations shall provide technical support to Customers, including but not necessarily limited to troubleshooting and resolving issues that may arise in regards to the NaviGate product and its use.
    2. Email: help@navigatemail.com.  Monitored and answered 8:00am to 4:30pm EST on weekdays, excluding holidays.
  10. Identification of problem severity.  For the purposes of Section 9 below the following descriptions apply:
    1. Severity 1 (Critical)– Both NaviGate primary and secondary servers are down or cannot be accessed.
    2. Severity 2 (High) – NaviGate primary server is down and all traffic is routed to secondary server in read only state.
    3. Severity 3 (Important)– Primary server is operating and accessible, but some functions or modules not working correctly on the server.
    4. Severity 4 (Normal)– Questions regarding use of NaviGate, fixing customer error such as deleting files or materials accidentally created.
  11. Response and resolution time.
    1. Guidelines for response.
      1. Email or help ticket issue: Answered or contacted back within 2 hours of receipt during normal business hours.
      2. Server and data center connectivity is monitored on site 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
    2. Resolution times:
      1. Severity 1 (Critical): 4 hours
      2. Severity 2 (High): 12 hours
      3. Severity 3 (Important): 3 business days
      4. Severity 4 (Normal): 5 business days
Lauren Innovations, at is sole discretion, may change, alter, or amend this document at any time.  Additionally, any dispute or controversy arising from performance related to this document shall be deposed of and closed in accordance with Lauren Innovations' final disposition.