Hosting Service Level Agreement (SLA)

Client satisfaction is US Cloud’s number one priority.  Within this SLA are the parameters under which US Cloud strives to provide maximum client satisfaction.

*Although US Cloud will use commercially reasonable efforts to notify CLIENTs of outages and to repair US Cloud system and network related incidents within the time periods specified or referred to above, such time periods are not guaranteed.  US Cloud’s failure to meet such time periods will not give rise to any additional liability on the part of US Cloud as unavailability due to US Cloud system and network related incidents is already taken into account through the server availability and uptime SLA.

Schedule A – Availability Measurement

This measurement determines whether the CLIENT’s server is available via US Cloud controlled facilities.  Availability is measured monthly through the following method:  the number of successful responses to monitoring checks within US Cloud controlled facilities in a given month is divided by the number of monitoring checks performed in that month.  The percentage result is the presented uptime metric.  For example, if there are 20,000 monitoring checks performed in a month and 19,990 successful responses, the uptime for that month would be 99.95%.  This measurement does not include the scheduled system and network maintenance window (currently 11:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., Central Standard Time), (CLIENT will be notified of scheduled maintenance at least one business day in advance), CLIENT actions or omissions, or events beyond the reasonable control of US Cloud.

The standard monitoring interval is two minutes.  The standard service level period is one calendar month.  If uptime in any month is less than 99.90%, the CLIENT will receive a credit equal to a percentage of the monthly hosting service fee in accordance with the table below.  Credits will be issued within 60 days after the end of the month in which US Cloud did not meet or exceed 99.90% availability SLA.

Service Availability Credit Schedule

**If US Cloud does not meet 97.00% uptime for three (3) consecutive months, the CLIENT has the right to terminate its contract with US Cloud.  If the CLIENT has pre-paid for the term of the contract, the CLIENT shall be entitled to a pro-rata refund or, if the CLIENT is responsible for any additional monthly payments, no further payments are due to US Cloud for periods after contract termination. 

The credits and the right of termination described above are the CLIENT’s sole and exclusive remedies, and US Cloud’s sole obligations, for US Cloud’s failure to achieve the server availability and uptime objective. 

Schedule B – US Cloud Support

US Cloud will use commercially reasonable efforts to resolve US Cloud system and network related issues through one of the three Incident Levels set forth below, depending on the severity of the problem, but US Cloud does not guarantee that such issues will be resolved within any particular time. If the issue is not addressed to the CLIENT’s satisfaction, the CLIENT may follow the current escalation path as shown on US Cloud’s website.

The time to repair is measured from the time the support ticket is created to the time the issue is resolved.  US Cloud’s network support is available to CLIENT 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.  For other CLIENT support issues, US Cloud’s regular business hours are Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., Central Time.

Incident Classifications and Procedures

Incident Level I
Level I is for non-urgent issues, which do not significantly hinder CLIENT’s hosted system performance or functionality.  For Level I incidents, US Cloud will use commercially reasonable efforts to commit business resources during regular business hours as available to handle these issues after the support ticket has been created.

Incident Level II
Level II is for situations where difficulties have occurred, and the system performance or functionality have been or will be degraded or limited.  For Level II incidents, US Cloud will use commercially reasonable efforts to commit resources during regular business hours as required to rectify the issue.  US Cloud will attempt to resolve the issue within eight (8) business hours after the support ticket has been created, but as stated above, US Cloud does not guarantee that the problem will be resolved within this time frame.

Incident Level III
Level III is for critical service outages, where the service is severely degraded and where there is a significant adverse impact on CLIENT’s hosted system performance or functionality.  For Level III incidents, US Cloud will use commercially reasonable efforts to commit substantial resources to resolve the issue.  US Cloud will attempt to resolve the issue within four (4) hours after the support ticket has been created, but as stated above, US Cloud does not guarantee that the problem will be resolved within this time frame.

Hosting Services

With US Cloud’s services, CLIENT maintains ownership of software applications and content, while US Cloud provides:

• A high-speed dedicated or virtual server
• All server hardware and maintenance; any hardware failures are US Cloud’s responsibility
• Rack space in one of US Cloud’s data centers (climate controlled with secured entry)
• Uninterruptible power supply with backup generators on standby
• HTTP availability monitoring · Server hardware monitoring
• Toll free support number and 24/7 online ticket system

Technical Support

US Cloud’s Technical Support representatives will always be willing to diagnose problems related to server connectivity, User ID, and passwords but US Cloud cannot diagnose or correct problems with CLIENT Content or CLIENT’s unsupported third-party software or scripts.  If CLIENT is experiencing problems that are a result of CLIENT’s unsupported third-party software applications, US Cloud recommends that CLIENT either contact the manufacturer directly, or contact one of US Cloud’s Consulting Service representatives, who are billed-out at a reasonable hourly rate.  Regardless of method of payment for initial service, CLIENT may be asked to supply a credit card number for incidentals such as technical consulting services.

Examples of the level of technical support included at no additional charge are:

• Toll free CLIENT service number
• Any hardware failures are the responsibility of US Cloud. US Cloud will replace failed hardware but, except for and to the extent of the Service Availability Credit, is not liable for downtime or loss of data that results from hardware failure.
• Server Monitoring: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year- US Cloud monitor CLIENT’s server.
  CLIENT maintains complete control of CLIENT’s server but US Cloud will help CLIENT remotely by:
  • Pushing a button
  • Switching a toggle
  • Setting a dip switch
  • Power cycling (turning on and off) equipment and making certain that equipment came back up and notifying CLIENT that the power cycle is complete.
  • Securing cabling to connections
  • Observing, describing or reporting on indicator lights or display information on machines or consoles
• Site security, uninterruptible power, as well as, environment control.
• Cable organization, ties, or labeling
• Modifying basic cable layout, such as Ethernet or FDDI connections
• Re-labeling equipment

US Cloud application support hours

7AM – 7PM (CST) Monday – Friday (not including standard US holidays)
9AM – 3PM (CST) Saturday – Sunday (not including standard US holidays)

• Application, Business Process layers

US Cloud network support hours

24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year for the following:

• Data center, Network, Device, Operating System layers

US Cloud will not support anything outside our network such as mail clients, web browsers or in-house 3^rd party tools without a separate services agreement.

If CLIENT needs additional help not covered by the included technical support, ask to speak with one of US Cloud’s CLIENT Care representatives to discuss a support plan or managed service to meet your needs. Call or email [email protected] and one of US Cloud’s representatives will contact CLIENT.

For Technical Support services on issues that are not within the parameters of US Cloud’s hosting support, additional technical support can be obtained through US Cloud’s Professional Services, which allows CLIENT to offload the server management to US Cloud on an ongoing or one-time basis at US Cloud’s current hourly rates.

CLIENT is responsible for all software installed upon the server including the operating system of choice unless CLIENT has subscribed to the Total Care managed service. CLIENT is responsible for backup of the server unless CLIENT has subscribed to the Managed Backup service.  US Cloud’s technical support is only responsible for keeping the server running from the physical point of view.  US Cloud makes certain that the hosted server has connectivity to the Internet and that the server is operating.

CLIENT Contact Information

It is the responsibility of CLIENT to ensure that the contact information supplied to US Cloud for all of CLIENTs’ system administrators is correct, accurate, and kept up-to-date at all times.  Contact information includes name, phone number, e-mail address and mailing address.  This information will be used to notify CLIENT of any service-related issue.  Inaccurate contact information may result in delay or failure of notification.  Any issues arising from such delay or failure of notification will be the responsibility of CLIENT.