TeamWorks Service Level Objective
The Following information is an extract from the TeamWorks System Customer Service Support Service Level Objective (SLO) distributed to all PS Supported State of GA Agency CFOs in May of 2013. For a complete copy of this document please contact your agency CFO.
Topics Include:
Statement of Intent, Business Overview, Details of Services Covered, Communication of TeamWorks Availability, Performance, and Other Matters, Agency User Meetings, Roles and Responsibilities
Statement of Intent
The purpose of the TeamWorks Service Level Objective (SLO) is to serve as a service contract between the State of Georgia Agencies who utilize TeamWorks (user agencies) and the State Accounting Office (SAO). TeamWorks is the name of the State of Georgia TeamWorks instance and includes the following two pillars: Financials and Human Capital Management (HCM). The SLO is based upon industry best practices presented in Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) and Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology (COBIT). This document details the characteristics of the support services supplied to sustain quality operations of TeamWorks.
Business Overview
Per the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (OCGA) Section 50 Chapter 5b, SAO TeamWorks Operations responsibility includes the prescription, development, operation, maintenance of uniformity and management of the state’s accounting, payroll and human capital systems. SAO follows all applicable enterprise and regulatory policies, standards and procedures related to the administration of TeamWorks. Per OCGA Section 50 Chapter 25, the application hardware is maintained by Georgia Technology Authority (GTA) or authorized delegate.
TeamWorks was purchased and implemented from 1997 to 1999 to the majority of the state Agencies. TeamWorks is currently implemented to 87 Financials user agencies and 115 HCM user agencies. The operational modules within TeamWorks include:
| TEAMWORKS FINANCIALS | TEAMWORKS HCM |
|---|---|
| Asset Management (AM) | Payroll |
| Accounts Payable (AP) | Labor Distribution (LD) |
| Accounts Receivable (AR) |
Human Resources (HR) |
| Commitment Control (KK) |
ePerformance: includes |
| General Ledger (GL) | Time & Labor (TL)* |
| Project Costing (PC) | Absence Management* |
| Purchasing (PO) * | |
| Strategic Sourcing (SS)* | |
| Supplier Contracts (SC)* | |
| eProcurement (ePro)* | |
| eSupplier (ES)* | |
| Contract Management (CM) | |
| Procurement Card (CC) | |
| Grants Management (GM) |
*These modules are supported by the SAO Customer Service Center (CSC). As an exception these modules are serviced jointly between SAO and Department of Administrative Services (DOAS) Team Georgia MarketPlace™ and Human Resource Administration (DOAS TGM™/HRA).
Details of Services Covered
Availability
TeamWorks Availability
TeamWorks is available 24 X 7, with the exception of the bounce schedule of TeamWorks HCM due to payroll run kick-offs, and the TeamWorks Financials weekly bounce.
The TeamWorks Customer Service Center (CSC) is available Monday – Friday from 8 am to 5 pm, with the exception of named state holidays and furlough days.
Dependency on Availability for Network, Infrastructure, and Servers
The system targets expressed above are not impacted solely by those aspects of the TeamWorks IT architecture managed by SAO. SAO’s technology infrastructure is managed under the Georgia Enterprise Technology Services (GETS) program. All infrastructure and network service delivery is managed by GTA. Infrastructure services are delivered by IBM and Network Services are delivered by AT&T. AT&T further supports the SAO CSC ticketing automated call tree and ticket tool. SAO will engage GTA, IBM and AT&T, on behalf of the user agencies (as required) to meet service level objectives described in this document. For example, if the online network or internet access to TeamWorks is down due to network outages at the North Atlanta Data Center (NADC) which hosts TeamWorks, the SAO TeamWorks Support team (TeamWorks Support) will log a ticket with IBM and work with them to get resolution.
Security
Requests for new TeamWorks IDs must be made by the agency user’s Manager using the Online Security Request form and reviewed by the user’s Agency Security Officer. Once the Agency Security Officer approves the request, the request is submitted to CSC.
Password Resets
Password resets may be done by any user on the TeamWorks authentication page, using the ‘Forgot your Password?’ link.
TeamWorks Maintenance Support
SAO provides the following functional, operational and technical services:
Upgrade and Maintenance
TeamWorks application upgrades and maintenance releases are intended to address defects, performance enhancements, regulatory changes or security issues. Application fixes and changes are delivered in a variety of ways. These include:
- Bundles updates – periodic accumulations of fixes resolved in a time period and applied to the application as a group
- Service Packs – service packs are aggregate bundles
- Upgrades – upgrades to a new version of the software. This is normally a complex project that involves both technical and functional expertise, as well as, middle and executive management sponsorship
- SPRC Approved Customizations – specific software code modifications that are performed to the delivered TeamWorks application software. These modifications or customizations to the application functionality are performed to meet stakeholder requirements and are kept to a minimum, as the TeamWorks vendor no longer supports customized portions of TeamWorks. See section 4.10 in the SLO for further details on SPRC.
- Maintenance – TeamWorks software maintenance items are identified by the TeamWorks Support Team. These items will not be presented to SPRC. Software maintenance is the modification of a software product after delivery, to:
- Correct design flaws that have resulted in recurring tickets
- Improve performance
- Enhance support capability by preventing demand rise with multiple production support tickets related to the same issue
- Redesign attributes not accounted for during the initial design/go-live that result in production support issues and tickets
Per GTA Enterprise Application Policy, published May 2013, future implementation of TeamWorks modules is recommended to be managed from an enterprise standpoint, instead of agency by agency implementations. This is in an effort to ensure the most economical use of resources and realize cost efficiencies of a multi-agency approach for the state.
Archiving
The policy for archiving TeamWorks Financials and HCM data will be defined in future fiscal years.
To date, SAO has archived the following:
| Agency | Years Archived | Modules/Tables Archived |
|---|---|---|
| All Agencies except GDOT | Fiscal Years 2009 and prior | All – except SRM |
| GDOT | Fiscal Years 2007 and prior | Fiscal Years 2007 and prior |
| GDOT | Fiscal Years 2005 and prior | PROJ RESOURCE table |
Note1: All Agency data up to and including 2003 has been permanently deleted from TeamWorks.
Note2: Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) modules include: Strategic Sourcing, Supplier Contracts, eProcurement, eSupplier
Reports and Queries
SAO provides user access to standard delivered, as well as developed, reports and queries in support of business operations. A full list of the reports and queries can be found under each module on the TeamWorks website:
- Financials - https://sao.georgia.gov/financials
- HCM - https://sao.georgia.gov/human-capital-management
User Agency Service Tickets
Tiered Support
TeamWorks Support provides services for TeamWorks in a three tier approach. Where Tier 1 addresses basic questions/ issues and Tier 3 addresses the most complex.
Auto Email Distribution
The Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool is used to manage and monitor TeamWorks tickets to resolution. Additionally SAO uses an automated email system to provide customers with information regarding the issue status. The table below defines what a user agency can expect within the automated emails generated from CRM:
| Triggering Event | Information in the EMail |
|---|---|
| Initial email upon creation of Ticket |
|
|
Escalation to Tier 2 (This email is not received if the ticket is resolved by Tier 1) |
|
| Ticket Closure |
|
Service Level Objective Ticket Time Requirements
The first point of contact for all tickets is the SAO Customer Service Center (CSC).
| Name | Contact Information |
|---|---|
| CSC Telephone |
404-657-3956 888-896-7771 |
| CSC Mailboxes |
TeamWorks Financials: [email protected] TeamWorks HCM: [email protected] TeamWorks Security: [email protected] |
The CSC handles all TeamWorks phone calls, inquiries/issues that come through SAO. SAO provides an initial response of acknowledgement within 2 business hours of the original contact. If no response or auto email is received after 2 business hours of the original contact, an escalation form may be submitted by the user to SAO via the SAO TeamWorks Escalation Form.
The table below documents how SAO determines a ticket severity and the applicable ticket durations. When setting a severity level, one or all the factors in the table may be present.
| Severity Level | Business and Financial Exposure | Number of Clients Affected | Workaround | HCM/Financials Closed Time SLO | Security Closed Time SLO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emergency | Issue/Application failure creates serious business and financial exposure with statewide impact | Issue has an effect statewide | There are no acceptable workaround to the problem (i.e. the job cannot be performed in any other way) | 3 Business days or less* | 2-4 Business hours or less* |
| High | Issue creates serious business and financial exposure with multi-agency impact | Issue affects a large number of clients | There is an acceptable and implemented workaround to the problem (i.e. the job can be performed in some other way) but it may not be time/cost efficient or results do not fully meet needs | 5 Business days or less* | |
| Medium | Issue creates more than minimal business and financial exposure | Issue may affect only one or two clients | 10 Business days or less* | ||
| Low | Issue creates minimal business and financial exposure | Issue may affect only one or two clients | There is an acceptable workaround to the problem | 15 Business days or less* | 14 Business days or less* |
*SAO will resolve 95% of tickets within the timeframes defined above.
Closed Time – Measures the time taken to close the ticket, and is measured from the time the ticket is opened.
Note1: The times noted in the table above do not include lapsed time waiting for client response or TeamWorks Case delays.
Note2: If a ticket is designated as an Emergency, SAO will contact the user every 60 minutes with an update, until resolution of the issue is reached.
Project Support Services
Support the planning, design, development and migration of changes or additional functionality that are considered by SAO in the SAO Project Review Committee (SPRC) Process. The purpose of SPRC is to have a central governing committee to review all TeamWorks project requests received from user agencies.
The benefits include:
- Streamlined project request process for Agency Users
- Increased visibility and communication of TeamWorks project requests to both the agency user and the TeamWorks support team
- Alignment of IT services to business requirements
- Improved clarity in project priority
- Improved assessment of cost to the state per project and potential enterprise project approach
- Decreased scope or requirement inaccuracy or the need to back-out changes from production
- Increased productivity and efficiency of project completion
The table below identifies what does or does not require SPRC review/approval.
|
Requests Requiring SPRC Review (Handled as a Project/Maintenance) |
Requests Not Requiring SPRC Review - but, do require a call/email to TeamWorks CSC (Handled as a CRM Ticket) |
|---|---|
| Customization/ De-Customization | System Issue/Break-Fix Issue |
| Configurations (multiple agencies affected) | Configuration (one agency affected) |
| New/ Modified Query | Opens Records Request |
| New/ Modified Report | Operational Update (Example: signature change) |
| Legal Mandate/ Executive Order (Note: These projects are approved by default- but, SPRC will still review to understand level of work effort) | |
| New TeamWorks Functionality/ Enhancements | |
| Business Unit Creation/ Merge/ Separation (Note: These projects are approved by default- but, SPRC will still review to understand level of work effort) |
Tips
for Submitting an SPRC Request
The person/agency wishing to initiate a project, should complete an SAO Project Request form.
Once the requester submits the online form, it is automatically sent to the SAO Project Management Office mailbox, and a confirmation email is sent to the requester.
Communication of TeamWorks Availability, Performance, and Other Matters
SAO provides timely communication of regularly scheduled and unscheduled TeamWorks events that affect usage, availability and performance of production. The communications are posted to TeamWorks Financials and/or HCM News and Announcements, the SAO website (where appropriate for security reasons), distributed to users that register with the SAO communication tool, and the TeamWorks Support team - including the extended support team within DOAS TGM™/HRA. Also depending on the level of communication, the user agency Commissioner, Agency Head or CFO will be copied on the distribution and requested to disburse within their agency as appropriate.
Notice will be given to the user agency as noted above, 3-5 days prior to planned TeamWorks down time. This includes down time related to GETS and TeamWorks application maintenance/support. For unplanned or emergency TeamWorks down times, the user agency will be notified as soon as possible, with status communications continuing until TeamWorks is available again.
Agency User Meetings
TeamWorks' support team participates in various customer meetings, such as the Chief Financial Officers, Fiscal Management Committee, and TeamWorks user group and partnership meetings.
Roles and Responsibilities
All services provided, require the following roles and responsibilities by TeamWorks Support and the TeamWorks user agencies.
TeamWorks Service Provider
As the TeamWorks Service Provider, SAO will be responsible for all items as defined in the TeamWorks SLO.
TeamWorks User Agency
The User Agency will be responsible for:
- Reading and training Users on the associated TeamWorks Online Training documents (previously called TeamWorks UPKs) prior to contacting CSC.
- Utilizing CSC for all questions regarding TeamWorks.
- Using the escalation path outlined in the SLO.
- Notifying SAO of any special event that may impact the TeamWorks applications (examples of these activities include: special jobs with a high volume of transactions, agency system upgrades that interface with TeamWorks, new interfaces with TeamWorks) thus providing SAO with information in a timely manner to enable capacity planning and change management to be undertaken. Advance notice is necessary for SAO to provide the appropriate planning, resources and co-ordination.
- Each agency should follow the workstation and browser requirements as posted on the SAO website:
or have workstations set up through Georgia Enterprise Technology Services (GETS) program where appropriate.
- Read all communications and requests issued by SAO, by signing up for receipt of SAO Communications on the SAO website:
- http://sao.georgia.gov/communications
- Having an internal TeamWorks Agency Security Officer (or specified GTA contact for all network, technical infrastructure and workstation issues.
- Requesting the appropriate IDs to be create to access the TeamWorks applications through the Agency Security Officer.
- Participating in User Acceptance Testing (UAT) when requested by SAO. Ensuring the necessary business case and approvals are obtained for TeamWorks project SPRC requests.
- Taking ownership of all data entered into the TeamWorks Financials and HCM systems by their individual agencies. Verify that the correct data classification procedures have been followed to ensure integrity of data on the databases.
- Participating in the appropriate meetings to discuss and review TeamWorks (e.g. HCM User Group, TGM User Group, etc.)
Service Pricing
The TeamWorks cost model pricing percentage per agency, is determined by two factors; headcount (HCM) or number of transactions (Financials) from the previous fiscal year. The pricing break-down specific to each user agency will be communicated through the annual cost model email distributions via SAO’s CFO.
Other Helpful Links
- CSC Menu Options - https://sao.georgia.gov/customer-service-center-0
- GTA website: https://gta.georgia.gov/
- TGM website: http://doas.ga.gov/state-purchasing/team-georgia-marketplace