RICS Service Level Agreement
RICS is an acronym for the Research Information Computing Systems. RICS is a computer network and a set of support services focused specifically on the research community at the Brigham & Women's Hospital. It has been developed by a subcommittee composed predominately of BWH research investigators and Partners Healthcare Information Systems staff members.
The goal of RICS is to enhance productivity and communications within the BWH research community by providing computer support and a variety of services not available to those researchers using non Partners standard workstations. As such, RICS supports a wide ranging assortment of hardware and software that are not compatible on the clinical workstations such as Macs, OS X, and Windows XP.
RICS is a Partners IS group dedicated to providing infrastructure, connectivity, communications, services, and technical support to the research community at the BWH. Our goal is to support the technical diversity present in the BWH research community so as to provide the greatest good to the greatest number with the limited resources available. This involves a prioritization of problem solving efforts to recognize a set of research standard equipment.
The BWH research community working with IS has reached a consensus on priorities, acceptable service levels and a standard equipment list that are described below. Since fiscal year 1995, Partners IS has submitted budget requests to provide expanded funding for these efforts and we expect that both service levels and budgets will be reviewed together and revised annually to accommodate the expansion of the research community.
Staffing efforts for the RICS support group have been based on building the following set of core competencies:
- Configuration of desktop computers on the network
- E Mail access
- Internet/Intranet access
- Desktop hardware support
- Desktop software support
- Remote Access Services (RAS and VPN)
Special requests will be handled on a case by case basis. RICS collaborates with other IS groups such as Network Engineering as needed.
The RICS support group will be staffed with a group of field technicians to handle hardware and software problems/requests (PC, Macintosh and to a limited extent, UNIX). Two additional senior support staff are available for larger and more complex problems to develop solutions and to make recommendations on unique configurations in support of research. The RICS Site Lead coordinates the provision of RICS services and works with other IS groups as needed.
The RICS support team is available during normal business hours (8:00am - 4:30pm Monday through Friday excluding Partners Healthcare System observed holidays). The RICS support resources may be contacted via the following 3 methods:
| Web: | The Contact form found on our website. |
| Email: |
Email Address: support@rics.bwh.harvard.edu
Please provide your name, location, phone number, RICS Asset Tag number* and a description of the problem or request. Email requests are also entered into the RICS support group's work queue for tracking purposes as well. If received during normal business hours, you should expect to hear from a RICS support technician within 4 business hours after sending the email. |
| Telephone: |
If calling after hours, the PHS IS Helpdesk instead of the RICS number may be use (617.732.5927). You should identify yourself as a researcher to help facilitate the triage at the Central IS Help Desk to the RICS Group. Depending on the nature of the call, the user may receive immediate support. However, in most cases, their call will be placed into a work queue that the RICS support group uses to track and triage their work. Calls from the queue are picked up in the order that they are received and assigned to a RICS resource to perform the work (see prioritization, below). The user should expect to hear from a support technician within 24 hrs (8:00am to 4:30pm Monday - Friday, excluding Partners observed holidays). |
| Walk in: | We are located in the 221 Longwood Ave. Building, Room LMRC 609A. Users may stop by the RICS Data Center to report problems, seek purchasing advice or to drop of a laptop for service. The RICS is staffed during normal business hours.
(8:00am to 4:30pm Monday - Friday, excluding Partners observed holidays). |
* If the user does not have RICS Asset Tag number, one will be assigned. A RICS Technician will be dispatched to record information about the user's device and affix a RICS Asset Tag sticker to his/her machine.
Emergencies:
In case of emergency such as total loss of connectivity to large groups of users that occur after normal business hours, a call should be made to the PHS Help Desk (617-732-5927).
Corporate Team Lead:
Michael Lee
Sr. Network Administrator:
John Weng
RICS Field Technicians:
Wenyi Bian
Ronald Nickles
Robert Rogers
Steven Rogers
For the most part, calls will be processed in the order they are received. Problems with installed equipment are given higher priority than requests for new installations of software, devices or peripherals. Network problems affecting large numbers of users without a work around or solution are given the highest priority. In these situations, updates will be posted both to the RICS web pages and on the RICS support voice mailbox at 617-525-0848.
In all cases the RICS site lead will make the detailed decisions regarding deployment of staff to individual calls.
Examples of requests include, but are not limited to, new network connections, IP address requests and E-mail address requests. Allow up to 3 business days for E-mail and IP Address requests.
Requests for new network connections go though BWH Telecom and may take 10-20 business days or longer. Please note that RICS must work with other IS groups and can not guarantee the speed and accuracy of their work.
All problems or requests with the published RICS primary standard products (both hardware and software) will be worked on until resolved or a reasonable work around can be found. RICS staff will keep you informed of the status of your problem throughout the duration. Generally, problems with the standard products can be resolved within 2 business days of a RICS support staff taking the call.
RICS primary supported hardware includes two components: Partners standard devices and those devices listed in the Hardware section below. Inventories of parts are currently available in house only for Partners standard devices.
All problems related to RICS secondary supported products (both hardware and software) will be taken on a best-try-to-fix basis. If the technician cannot resolve the problem within a
reasonable amount of time (usually 4 hours of effort) -- they will do one of the following based upon the guidance of the senior RICS
staff.
- Continue to work on the problem at a reduced priority level and as time permits up to 2 additional business days
- Refer the user to other technical resources outside of Partners
- Stop work and close the call as problem unresolved
All problems related to non primary and non secondary supported products will be handled as outlined below. These calls will be prioritized in the same way as any other problem calls.
- Diagnose the problem and explain it to the user. Provide quick fixes if possible
- Refer the user to other technical resources outside of Partners, as available
- Stop work and close the call as problem unresolved
The RICS Site Lead works with other Partners IS groups and research staff to develop lists of outside resources with expertise in other IT areas. To ensure the smooth provision of services to RICS users,
the RICS group has direct access to the following key IS groups and personnel within the organization.
| Research Computing: | Diane Keogh | Corp. Director, Research Computing |
| Research Computing: | Brent Richter | Corp. Manager, Research Computing |
| Network Engineering: | Chuck Riley | Corp. Manager, Network Engineering West |
| Network Services: | Anders Wu | BWH Corp. Team Lead |
| Hardware: | Bob Daley | BWH Hardware site lead |
- First response to each call will be within 4 business hours
- Problem calls involving standard hardware/software (primary) will be resolved within 48-72 hours
- Problem calls involving non-standard hardware/software will be resolved as soon as possible with the available resources within the limits described above
- Requests for new services (PCs, wall jacks, etc) will be completed as soon as possible. Time frames are dependent upon the BWH Telecom wiring schedules. Note that we have no control or influence on how quickly BWH Telecom performs their job.
- Large requests are handled as projects which often requires the inclusion of other IS groups. Due to the busy schedules, some extra lead time may be required to coordinate the request. In the event your request becomes a project, RICS staff will contact you to provide details
We recommend that people who are planning to purchase new computer equipment contact us for advice before they place their order.
Partners Standard Workstation:
The Partners standard workstation is neither software or hardware but a specific combination of the two. Its design has been focused on the support of standard desktop that meets basic computing needs, connectivity with core Partners systems and ease of maintenance. This device can be supported when it is used without modification. Modifications to the standard build (i.e. creating a dual boot configuration)
will eliminate the benefits of support by Partners IS.
At the time of this revision (March 2009), the standard workstation is:
HP DC7900 SFF Core 2 Duo E8400 (3.0GHZ), 2GB RAM, 160GB, DVD +/- RW drive, Windows XP Pro.(NO FLOPPY).
The Price includes Express Shipping/Handling, Warranty Uplift, Asset Tag Installation and Tracking (Includes 3 Year Warranty). Specifications are subject to change without notice, so please check the standard price list before you place an order. A listing of the current Ergonomics price list can be found on the Ergonomics site.
It is the responsibility of the RICS customers to ensure that they have purchased legal copies of all software running on their workstations. Furthermore, it is the sole responsibility of the BWH Researchers to ensure that they are in full compliance with the licensing agreements of the various software products they use.
*** Under no circumstances will RICS knowingly violate any license agreement by installing or copying illegal software. ***
When reinstalling software, the researcher is responsible for supplying the original software on the software publishers installation disks. We will not load software that has been copied on to CD-Rs or CD-RW without proof of ownership. Adequate proofs of ownership include packing slips, POs, and possesion of the original box and CDs.
RICS Primary Support:
Operating Systems:
| Apple Computer: | Mac OS 10.4/10.5 |
| Microsoft: | Windows XP/Vista |
Office Productivity Suites:
| Microsoft: | Microsoft Office Suite (not including Access) |
E-mail Client Software:
| Apple: | Mail.app |
| Netscape: | Thunderbird 2.0 |
| Microsoft: | Outlook 2003, Outlook 2007, Entourage 2004, Entourage 2008 |
Web Browsers:
| Apple: | Safari |
| Firefox: | Firefox 3 |
| Microsoft: | Internet Explorer 6 and 7 |
| Adobe: | Acrobat Reader 8.x and above |
Anti-Virus:
| McAfee: | VirusScan 8.5+ for the PC and Mac |
RICS Secondary Support:
| Unix: | Network issues only |
RICS Primary Supported Hardware:
Computers:
| Apple Computer: | All Macs with an Intel Core Duo processor or better |
| HP: | HP DC7800 series hardware |
| Dell Computer: | Vostro and Optiplex machines. |
| Partners 95 Workstation: | See No longer supported. Partners Standard Workstation, above. |
Printers:
| Hewlett Packard: | HP LaserJet 4600, HP LaserJet 2500 and newer |
RICS Secondary Supported Hardware:
Computers:
| Apple Computer: | Macintoshes with a G5 processor running Mac OS 10.4 |
| PC Clones: | Currently, most models from the major manufacturers with a minumum of Intel Core Dual processor and at least 1GB of RAM. This list is subject to change over time. |
Printers:
| Hewlett Packard: | DeskJet 6xx/8xx/9xx |
Miscellaneous:
| Digital Cameras: | All USB or Firewire models |
Please note that we ONLY support the use of Adaptec SCSI Cards in PC's.
The RICS network is a 10/100Base-T switched ethernet network with a Gigabit (1000Mb/s) backbone designed to support PC, Mac and UNIX hosts. All new space is being wired with Category 5e/6 wiring and 10/100Base-T switched ethernet networking equipment.
To Request a move or a new connection:
Please submit a problem request on the RICS home page or contact the RICS support group via telephone or email with as much advanced
notice as possible. Please be prepared to provide the information listed below. As stated in the response time target section, time frames here will vary depending on the number of people requesting these services and on BWH Telecom.
- Name:
- Contact Phone Number:
- Partners Device Number:
- RICS Asset Tag: (begins with "RICS xxxxx")
- Location: (i.e. Thorn 1205a)
- Mac/PC/Other:
- Model of the computer (i.e. PowerMac G4/933)
- Type of action (is it new? or are you moving it to a new location?)
Currently, RICS can not provide support for graphical services. RICS has a couple scanners that can be used by individual investigators on a short term basis. Please note that there are scanners, computers and a slide maker available in the Clinical Trials Center in the patient care tower. There is also a graphic arts department in the lower pike next to the mail room. Many investigators use the graphics art department at Children's Hospital. There are a couple of local vendors that provide photographic services (Fronk Studios, Photo Repro). Other commercial vendors (e.g. Imagers.com) can be accessed via Internet and can provide 24 hour slide services from most major programs (use your BWH Fed Ex Account # to save on shipping and handling).
| Virtual Web Hosting | RICS provides web hosting services to the BWH Research community. The servers currently run on Linux and Windows servers and use the industry standard Apache Web Server daemon. You manage the content (via FTP), we manage the machine. Please see our Website Hosting Guidelines for more information. |
| POP3/IMAP email services (minimum 400MB mailbox size) |
RICS currently has over 1700 active email accounts running on HP/Compaq ProLiant hardware. The mail server package, CommuniGate Pro, supports industry standards such as POP3, IMAP4, LDAP, ACAP, PWD, etc. It is a highly scalable, fast and reliable server package and received Network Computing's 2001 Large-scale Mail System and Software product of the year. |
| Webmail access to RICS mail accounts | RICS mail account holders have access to a full featured open standards based HTML front end. The Webmail portal utilizes an off-line IMAP client that allows syncronization with the user's desktop mail client (must also be using IMAP) and supports address books, message highlighting and spell checking. |
| FTP Services for exchanging large files | FTP services are available for users who need temporary space to transfer large files that are often generated by their experiments. |
| Quicktime Streaming for content delivery over the web |
Researchers who are required to deliver animations across the web can now do so utilizing Mac OX Server's Quicktime streaming component. Currently hosted on Apple PowerMac G5 hardware with future plans to migrate to the Xserve 1U rack server. |
| Laptop support | RICS offers support for end-users' laptop computers (walk-in service only). Priority is given to laptops that are purchased under BWH/Harvard purchase orders. Services offered include replacing/upgrading hard drives, driver troubleshooting, memory upgrades and VPN/RAS configuration. Computers used strictly for home use are not included in this service. |
| Server Co-location | Small departments that need to have their own servers can have their servers connected to the hospital backbone in the RICS Data Center. By doing so, RICS assumes the responsibility of the server hardware and OS. Departments are still required to purchase software and hardware upgrades when necessary and are still considered the owners of the box. |
| Departmental Backup Services | RICS will setup and manage the small to medium scale backup requirements of individual labs. However, laboratories are responsible for purchasing the backup hardware and media. We currently manage the backup systems for the Hematology Division and Center for Neurologic Diseases. |
For hardware included on the Partners standard device list, an inventory of many common parts is maintained in house and 3 year warrantees are provided with the purchase. RICS users with standard Partners devices will have access to this inventory through the RICS support group. This should allow for rapid replacement of faulty components at no charge for the life of the warranty. While most replacements can occur within 48 hours, some components (such as logic boards) may take 7-10 days for a replacement part to arrive. There are limit replacements of these more costly components and replacements are handled on a first come first serve basis.
HP Laser printers newer than the HP LaserJet 4000 can be serviced by Ergonomics' technicians upon request by RICS. In most cases there will be no direct charge to the customers. However, in cases where the expense to fix the printer drastically out scales the price of a replacement printer,the end user will be required to purchase a new printer.
Primary and secondary standard hardware that are not Partners standard will be serviced by RICS technicians. While the RICS technician will remove the faulty part and aid in identifying replacement parts, procuring parts replacement will be the responsibility of the device owner. When the owner has received the new replacement part, the RICS technician will install and restore the machine.
Apple replacement parts for repairs are not currently available to the RICS technicians. We can act as a liason with Apple Computer to assist in in warranty items. Installation of new/additional peripherals such as RAM, CD burners and SCSI cards can be performed by the RICS technicians.
A monthly summary of RICS support calls are reported on various metrics. Major outages, issues and support calls greater than 14 days are highlighted separately on the report until resolved.
Quarterly reports summarizing volume of calls, response time and outstanding issues will be provided by the RICS Site Lead for review and discussion upon request.
On an annual basis timed to coincide with the budget submission process (or more often if needed), modifications to the service level agreement will be proposed by the RICS subcommittee and budget requests to support these changes will be submitted.
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