Learning Pool Support Services
Effective Date: (May 17, 2021)
By signing a Solution Agreement or other Services Agreement (“Agreement” or “Agreements”) that incorporates this Support Services Policy (this “Policy”) by reference Client agrees to comply with this Policy and to remain responsible for its users’ compliance with this Policy. Terms not defined herein shall have the meaning set forth in the applicable Master Agreement, Solutions Agreement, or Work Order (each an “Agreement” and collectively the “Agreements”).
1. Definitions. The following terms used in this Policy shall have the following meanings ascribed thereto:
1.1 “Support Case” means a report of a failure of the Software to perform in accordance with the performance features and specifications set forth in an Agreement or a policy. Any other submitted requests are not subject to the terms of this Policy.
1.2 “Normal Business Hours” means 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, excluding the following holidays: New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, President’s Day, Memorial Day, July 4, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and the day after Thanksgiving Day, and the period between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day (and, when any of these days falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the Friday before or the Monday after, respectively). LP only provides emergency support during the period between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. While coverage is available during this time, Normal case resolution may be delayed until after the holiday period at the discretion of the LP Support team.
1.3 Any day between Monday and Friday, inclusive, that does not fall on one of the holidays listed above shall be referred to herein as a “Business Day.”
1.4 “Platform Updates” means error corrections, modifications and enhancements released by the open-source licensor of the Software and which LP implements or incorporates into the Software.
1.5 “Support Period” means the period equal to the Term set forth in the applicable Solutions Agreement.
1.6 “Client Success Center” means any designated portal or mechanism that LP may provide as part of the Services which enables Client to electronically report Support Cases, request Support Services or request implementation or installation of additional software.
1.7 “Support Services” means the services provided by LP to Client described in Section 3 below.
1.8 “End of Life Schedule” means the timeline on which a key software release ages and eventually becomes unsupported.
1.9 “Levels of Support” means the staged-support Learning Pool provides a key software release consistent with the End of Life schedule.
1.10 “Major Release” means releases that introduce major new features and improvements, changes to core architecture and APIs (such as refactoring). Major releases are normally once per year.
1.11 “Minor Release” means releases that include bug fixes, security patches, and minor improvements to previous major releases. They are stable and minimise the business impact of keeping implementations up-to-date on a given major version. Minor releases occur more frequently than Major Releases.
2. Submitting Support Cases and Support Requests. Any communication concerning the Support Services covered by this Policy shall occur via the Client Success Center:
2.1 Communication concerning Support Services may be communicated by LP through the Client Success Center or by other means as determined by LP Support Services personnel from time to time.
2.2 LP will provide commercially reasonable on-call staff to receive and respond to Emergency Support Cases (defined below) outside of Normal Business Hours.
2.3 Client’s administrators may make technical support requests and report Support Cases 24 hours per day, 365 days a year by utilizing the Client Success Center.
3. Support Services. LP will provide Client with the following Support Services during the Support Period:
3.1 LP will respond to and seek to resolve Support Cases in accordance with the terms of the Support Case Classification and Resolution section, below.
3.2 LP will implement and make available to Client fixes, patches and releases relating to the Software that are generally released by RL to its Clients to correct Support Cases or to implement minor enhancements to functionality.
3.3 LP will periodically install Platform Updates as they become available and after any testing thereof that RL deems necessary or appropriate. RL may require additional Platform Updates for security, performance and ongoing Support Services purposes, at its sole discretion.
3.4 LP will automatically update sites to the latest Minor Release available for your Platform.
4. Term. Client shall be entitled to Support Services during the Support Period. All Support Services shall automatically terminate upon the termination of the applicable Agreement(s).
5. Support Case Classification and Resolution. Client and LP acknowledge and understand that Support Cases may be complex in nature, may involve several controllable and uncontrollable variables and may involve several different parties. Resolution may require information or action from various personnel at Client, LP or third parties to resolve, and that may adversely impact estimated resolution times. Client and LP acknowledge and understand that resolving Support Cases is a collaborative effort between all involved parties. While Client may suggest an initial Support Case Classification, LP reserves the right to modify such classification upon review of the Performance Issue. The following case type definitions will be used to classify support requests:
- “Emergency” — The Software or the URL is inaccessible to all Client Users.
- “Urgent” — A Support Case which
- causes one or more significant functions of the Software to be impaired although it still operates; or
- may delete, impair, damage or corrupt Client’s systems or data; or
- may have a material adverse impact on Client’s business.
- “Normal” —
- Problem – The Support Case causes only a minor impact on Client’s use of the Software, including, without limitation, partial loss of access or functionality.
- Noncritical —Although a Support Case exists, it does not impact the operation of the Software. The Support Case causes minor inconveniences such as cosmetic problems or documentation inaccuracies.
- Service Requests. Client initiates a request for one or more services that are covered by Client’s current Agreement(s) with LP. This includes normal operational maintenance requests such as a site upgrade or other operational support function.
These Support Cases classifications explicitly do not include new feature requests, Managed Services Hours, or Scoped Projects, all of which are addressed in the Learning Pool Services Policy.
6. Response and Resolution Times.
The foregoing final resolution targets are not guaranteed and actual resolution times will vary depending upon the nature of the Support Case and the causes thereof. LP does not and cannot ensure that all Support Cases will be resolved, or resolved within such timeframes. While a case is open, LP will provide reasonable updates to Client concerning the Support Case and the process that LP is undertaking to resolve such Support Case.
7. Limitations on Support Services. LP shall not be solely responsible for the resolution of the following types of Support Cases:
7.1 any error, malfunction or failure of the Software’s underlying open-source code (OSC) which requires the open-source licensor’s general release of a fix or update (“OSC Issue”); or
7.2 any error, malfunction or failure of the Software’s underlying platform which requires a fix or update (“Platform Issues”) or;any error, malfunction or failure of an add-on or plug-in or any third-party services or software utilized in connection with an add-on or plug-in (“Add-On Issue”); or
7.3 any error, malfunction or failure of any additional software or any hardware, server, software, or service of Client, including but not limited to: client ISP problems; client DNS routing problems; Client or end user use of incompatible hardware or software; or client network problems (“Client-Side Issue”); or
7.4 any error, malfunction or failure of the Software as a result of any modifications thereto made by Client that are not approved by LP (“Client Code and Theme Modification Issue”).
8. OSC Issues. In the event of an OSC Issue, LP’s sole obligation shall be to report any identified errors to maintainer and, where possible, to suggest a fix to maintainer.
9. Platform Issues. In the event of a Platform Issue, LP’s sole obligation shall be to install and implement the applicable Platform Update as soon as is reasonably practicable following the applicable open-source licensor’s release or authorization of such Platform Update and any testing thereof that LP, in its sole and exclusive discretion, deems necessary or appropriate.
10. Add-On Issues. LP shall have no obligation to provide any Support Services with respect to any add-on-related problems, or any problems caused by any hardware, software or services of Client or a third party. LP shall have no obligation to provide any Support Services with respect to any error, malfunction or failure in or of any additional software or problems caused by additional software. LP reserves the right to remove, uninstall or disable any additional software, in LP’s sole and exclusive discretion.
11. Client-Side Issues. In the event of a Client-Side Issue, LP shall verify that Client’s site can be accessed from the LP Support team’s computers, report whether there is traffic to the Client’s site and provide any other information available to assist the Client in the identification or resolution of Client-Side Issues.
12. Client Code and Theme Modification Issues. In the event of a Client Code and Theme Modification Issue, LP reserves the right to remove, uninstall or disable any hosted Client software, in LP’s sole and exclusive discretion. LP’s sole obligation shall be to notify Client of its obligation to repair the problematic modification.
13. End of Life Schedule. As the software a Client site is built on ages and is either replaced or retired, Learning Pool reserves the right to gradually reduce the support it offers accordingly up to and including no longer supporting the site. The End of Life Schedule defines Learning Pool’s Levels of Support as well as the timeline on which key software releases enter into each level. The only exception to this schedule are Archive Sites, defined as Read-Only Sites with access for 10 or fewer users, which are only ever eligible for Level 1 support. The End of Life Schedule will be updated twice a year.
When the site becomes unsupported, standard services provided as detailed in the Learning Pool in this Support Services policy as well as the Hosting Policy are simultaneously amended and limited as noted in the End of Life Policy, including, but not limited to, the loss of application support, training services and Managed Services unless Client specifically contracts with Learning Pool to provide those services for the unsupported site. The unsupported site shall be deemed insecure and Learning Pool will be unable to take precautions to protect Client and its users against unauthorized access to or deletion of data from the site. Client acknowledges and agrees that it automatically assumes all risks associated with the use of an unsupported site when Client chooses to make the site available to the public in this condition.
To avoid a site becoming unsupported and unsecure, Learning Pool encourages regular upgrades of site software to guarantee the ongoing operation, support and security of a site. If a site becomes unsupported, and Client then elects to upgrade the site to a supported version, such upgrade will result in the restoration of services and support as detailed in the Hosting and Support Services policies.
Summary of changes: Policy now includes an updated naming convention for Learning Pool (LP) (was Remote Learner and RL). Changes also include updated contact information to include the Learning Pool Client Success Center, updated links to related Learning Pool policies, updates terms and definitionsand simple formatting and editorial updates that have no legal implications.