This Annex forms part of the IT Master Services Agreement. It defines the Service Desk support model, incident priorities, and target service levels for triage, first meaningful response, and periodic updates.
Not every Service described in the Schedules to the Agreement will apply to you. This Annex applies only to Services included in your Order.
1. Purpose and scope
The purpose of this SLA is to provide a clear, shared understanding of:
- how incidents are categorised and prioritised;
- when the Service Desk is available;
- target times for triage, first meaningful response, and periodic updates; and
- what is and is not included in SLA measurements.
SLA targets are service objectives and not strict guarantees. They apply only to in-scope Services, systems and devices managed by Cultrix under your Order.
2. Service hours and SLA clock
Unless otherwise stated in your Order:
- Business Hours are Monday to Friday, 09:30-17:30 UK time, excluding English bank holidays.
- SLA timers run during Business Hours only.
- Tickets raised outside Business Hours are treated as received at the start of the next Business Day, unless Out-of-Hours cover applies under your package.
- SLA timers pause when a ticket is set to Pending or On-hold.
- SLA timers resume when the ticket returns to an active queue.
3. Incident priorities
Priorities are assigned by impact and urgency, acting reasonably on the information available:
- P1 - Critical: complete loss of a mission-critical service with no acceptable workaround.
- P2 - High: significant degradation of a major service, or serious user/business impact.
- P3 - Medium: issue with moderate impact where a workaround may exist.
- P4 - Low: minor issue, low-impact fault, advice, or routine request.
Cultrix may adjust priority where appropriate. Issues caused by unauthorised or unsupported customer-side changes are not automatically classified as urgent incidents.
4. SLA definitions
- Triage: initial review, categorisation, prioritisation and assignment of a newly received incident.
- First meaningful response: substantive engineer communication or action that progresses the incident.
- Periodic update: subsequent meaningful customer-facing update or progress confirmation at the target interval while the ticket remains active.
Automated acknowledgement emails do not count as first meaningful response. Non-substantive messages (for example, "Thanks") may be excluded from SLA event calculations where reasonable.
5. Target service levels
Targets are measured in Business Hours.
5.1 Triage target
| Priority | Triage target |
|---|---|
| P1 - Critical | 30 minutes |
| P2 - High | 30 minutes |
| P3 - Medium | 30 minutes |
| P4 - Low | 30 minutes |
5.2 First meaningful response targets
| Priority | First meaningful response target |
|---|---|
| P1 - Critical | 30 minutes |
| P2 - High | 60 minutes |
| P3 - Medium | 120 minutes |
| P4 - Low | 240 minutes |
5.3 Periodic update targets (active tickets)
| Priority | Periodic update target |
|---|---|
| P1 - Critical | 60 minutes |
| P2 - High | 120 minutes |
| P3 - Medium | 240 minutes |
| P4 - Low | 480 minutes |
Resolution times may be monitored internally for service quality and planning but are not, unless expressly stated in your Order, contractual SLA commitments under this Annex.
6. Reopened incidents
If a ticket is reopened, Cultrix records reopen events for service reporting. Reopened tickets re-enter active SLA management, including periodic update requirements, and may be re-triaged where the scope or impact has materially changed.
7. How to contact the Service Desk
- Service portal (where provided);
- email to the support address provided during onboarding; or
- telephone to the Service Desk number provided during onboarding.
Telephone updates may be recorded on tickets as call notes to maintain an auditable service timeline.
8. Out-of-Hours support
Out-of-Hours support is available only where included in your Order. Where included, it is intended for genuine urgent incidents and follows the entitlement and process defined for your package.
Where Out-of-Hours support is not included, incidents raised outside Business Hours are handled from the next Business Day.
9. Dependencies and exclusions
Meeting SLA targets depends on:
- accurate and timely information from customer contacts;
- timely access to systems, users, and decision-makers;
- cooperation with troubleshooting and change controls; and
- availability of relevant third-party services and vendors.
The SLA does not apply to:
- projects, consultancy, migrations, and major change work;
- issues caused by unsupported or unauthorised customer/third-party changes;
- assets or software outside support or not under management by Cultrix;
- service impact caused by third-party outages, internet/carrier issues, or force majeure events; and
- work waiting on customer instruction, access, approval, or third-party response (while ticket status is paused).
10. Major incidents
For major incidents affecting multiple customers or shared platforms, Cultrix may invoke a major incident process. During this process, communication may be provided via coordinated updates rather than per-ticket responses. Cultrix will use reasonable efforts to restore service quickly and keep customers informed.
11. Changes to this Annex
Cultrix may update this Annex to reflect service improvements, operational changes, or legal requirements. Material changes will be published with reasonable notice.