Ethiopian TVET-System

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
SUPPORT SERVICE
Level IV

LEARNING GUIDE # 1

Unit of Competence: Determine Maintenance Strategy

Module Title: Determine Maintenance Strategy
LG Code: ICT HNS4 04 1110
TLM Code: ICT ITHWIII TTLM 0511

LO 2: Identify and Analyze Maintenance Needs

 Ethiopian TVET-System

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
SUPPORT SERVICE
Level IV

Information Sheet # 1

Unit of Competence: Determine Maintenance Strategy

Module Title: Determine Maintenance Strategy
LG Code: ICT HNS4 04 1110
TLM Code: ICT ITHWIII TTLM 0511

LO 2: Develop Service Level Agreements

1. Develop service level agreements
Determining your organization’s maintenance requirements
We have so far discussed some broad areas of preventative maintenance. From the point of view
of an IT Support person, how do you determine exactly what maintenance should be done, and
how often it should be done? What information should you refer to?
To start with, your organisation will have specific procedures that deal with maintenance and
how it is scheduled. These procedures will be either as a result of, or in conjunction, with the
following:
 Organisational policies, for example, a particular procedure may be in place because of
your organisation’s policy on the management of risk.
 Equipment, in particular specialised equipment, is covered by warranties and
maintenance contracts. These will often involve an agreed level of support for the
equipment, also called a service level agreement (SLA).
 Both equipment and software are provided with documentation regarding their handling
and maintenance requirements.
 Support is also often provided by phone or website, and may even involve the provision
of training.
 If you work in IT Support within your own organisation, the service you provide to your
internal clients will also be governed by a service level agreement.

Organisational policies
The maintenance procedures in an organisation will be determined by a number of factors,
including:
 how critical the IT components and/or software are
 cost constraints
 the risk to business continuity
 pre-existing commitments
 expectations of service by the organisation’s business units.

External service level agreements

Maintenance agreements are a way of ensuring that the business is supported to an agreed level
at a known cost.
As a result, the business may enter into an agreement with an IT support organisation. All critical
hardware components and software should be covered by either a warranty or maintenance
agreement. There are a number of things to consider:
1 New purchases. A warranty agreement comes automatically with the purchase of hardware
components and software. You usually have the option of extending the warranty when you purchase
the item.
2 Extension of warranty. You can enter into a maintenance agreement when the initial warranty
expires rather than extending the warranty.
3 Type of cover. A maintenance agreement is an agreement negotiated between the organisation and
the supplier to maintain the hardware or software. Maintenance agreements can be on a fixed service
basis, eg 24 hours a day, 7 days per week (24/7); 8 hours a day, 5 days a week (8/5); 12 hours a day,
5 days a week (12/5) or on a per-call basis.

Fixed service versus per-call cover

The benefit of the fixed service type of maintenance agreement is that you receive a dedicated
and, typically, faster response. Depending on the terms of the agreement, your maintenance costs
are also likely to be covered.
A per-call basis means you receive maintenance services from the supplier as required. The
problem with this type of agreement is that you have to wait until a technician is available and
you are charged for labour and parts. A benefit is this cost can often be less expensive than a
maintenance contract.

Software warranties and maintenance agreements

Software should also be covered by a warranty or maintenance agreement. Software warranty
only lasts for a short period of time, so a maintenance agreement for critical software should be
in place. If customised software has been developed in-house, a maintenance agreement will not
be necessary because it will be maintained internally.
A software maintenance agreement may include, for example, a free or discounted upgrade of
packaged software.

Equipment documentation
Each item of IT equipment should be accompanied by documentation. This may be provided in
hard copy, as a manual, on CD, or on a support website. If original documentation provided as
hard copy is missing, it can usually also be downloaded from the manufacturer’s website. IT
Support staff need to be able to read and interpret all such technical documentation.
Documentation for a system should outline the manufacturer’s recommended maintenance
procedures for the unit. The procedures should state:
 how often maintenance procedures should be done
 any equipment/material/consumables that are required
 the actual steps to complete the maintenance task, including all relevant safety precautions
for the task.
The system’s documentation should also identify any components of a system that should not
have any preventative maintenance applied to it for safety reasons. Generally speaking, hardware
manufacturers will include instructions for:
 cleaning
 care
 consumables — handling, installing and disposing
 making adjustments
 Troubleshooting.
Apart from documentation, the supplier’s website will supply software patches and driver
updates as they become available.

Procedures for internal clients

Since your external suppliers and internal clients involve different service level agreements,
procedures for handling them are usually different, but one may depend on the other. Some of
these procedures detail:
 the way service requests are reported
 How fast you can respond to requests — how fast you respond to an internal client will
depend on the agreed response time with an external supplier. For example, let’s say a
workstation monitor needs replacing. If your external supplier says it will be done within
two days, then you can’t do it any faster for your client!
 How requests are escalated — an external supplier will have specific, agreed escalation
procedures, and these may be different from your own internal ones.