Service Level Agreement

1. Introduction and Scope

This Service Level Agreement (SLA) sets out the service standards and performance commitments provided by Drive Network Support Ltd (DNS) for Managed IT Services, CNC Support, Cybersecurity, Cloud Services and e-commerce fulfilment. It applies to all service tiers (Standard, Premium and Ultimate) and forms part of the contract between DNS and the Customer. Where services relate to training, apprenticeships or scholarships, the Scholarship Terms Addendum forms part of this SLA and, to the extent of any conflict, governs funding eligibility and scholarship-specific obligations.

 

2. Service Coverage and Tiers

Drive Network Support Ltd provides the following levels of service coverage:

• Standard – Business hours (Mon–Fri, 9am–5pm)

• Premium – Extended hours (Mon–Sat, 8am–8pm)

• Ultimate – 24/7/365 support, including bank holidays.

 

Each package includes access to remote support, system monitoring, and response tracking via our ticketing system.

 

3. Service Hours and Availability

We aim to provide maximum service continuity across all operational areas. Availability targets apply to in-scope, DNS-managed and monitored services and are measured monthly as follows:

• Standard – 98.0% monthly availability

• Premium – 99.0% monthly availability

• Ultimate – 99.5% monthly availability (monitored services)

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Availability is calculated as total minutes in the calendar month minus Unplanned Downtime, divided by total minutes in the month, expressed as a percentage. Excluded from Unplanned Downtime are: (a) scheduled maintenance notified under Section 6; (b) emergency maintenance undertaken to address security or stability risks; (c) outages attributable to third‑party networks, utilities, or suppliers outside DNS’s reasonable control; (d) Customer‑caused or requested changes; and (e) Force Majeure events (see Section 9). All clients receive monthly service performance reports detailing availability, ticket response times, and resolution rates.

 

 4. Response and Resolution Times

The following table defines our target response and resolution times for incidents based on severity and priority level:

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Service Credits and Remedies:

• Where DNS fails to meet the Target Resolution for a P1 or P2 incident in a calendar month for a monitored service under the Premium or Ultimate tiers, the Customer may request a service credit equal to 5% of the monthly recurring charge for the affected service per qualifying breach, capped at 25% per calendar month.

• Service credits are not available where the failure is caused by an Exclusion under Section 7.

• To receive a credit, the Customer must request it in writing within 10 business days following issuance of the relevant monthly report.

• Credits are applied to the next invoice and constitute the Customer’s sole and exclusive remedy for failure to meet response/availability targets, without prejudice to the Customer’s statutory rights.

 

5. Customer Responsibilities

• Provide DNS with timely access to systems, premises (where relevant), documentation, licences and named contacts with authority to approve changes.

• Log all incidents and requests via the ticketing portal, support email or phone to ensure accurate tracking and prioritisation.

• Maintain accurate and up-to-date asset and user information, and promptly notify DNS of any material changes to the environment.

• Ensure appropriate connectivity, power, environmental conditions and third‑party maintenance where equipment is not supplied or managed by DNS.

• Maintain adequate data backups unless a DNS backup service has been contracted; where DNS provides backup services, the Customer is responsible for validating restore points appropriate to their RPO/RTO objectives.

• Implement reasonable end‑user controls and comply with applicable laws, software licence terms and any Acceptable Use or security policies notified by DNS.

• For services funded or supported under the Scholarship Terms Addendum, ensure eligibility, participation and reporting obligations are met.

 

6. Maintenance, Monitoring & Reporting

• Planned maintenance: Standard changes will be carried out within scheduled windows with at least 48 hours’ notice; major changes will be notified at least 7 days in advance where practicable.

• Emergency maintenance: DNS may perform emergency work to address security, stability or safety risks and will provide as much notice as reasonably possible.

• Monitoring: Proactive monitoring is in place for in-scope services. 24/7 monitoring and alerting apply to Premium and Ultimate tiers; Standard tier monitoring is during business hours.

• Reporting: DNS provides monthly service reports covering availability, incident metrics and any service credits. Measurement methodology is as set out in Section 3.

• Security and Data Protection: DNS implements appropriate technical and organisational measures proportionate to risk and compliant with UK GDPR and applicable data protection laws. Where DNS acts as a data processor, the parties will enter into a Data Processing Addendum. Security incidents impacting Customer data will be notified without undue delay after confirmation and in accordance with applicable law.

 

7. Exclusions and Limitations

Exclusions: This SLA does not cover failures caused by factors outside DNS’s reasonable control, including third‑party internet or carrier outages, utilities or power failures, Customer networks or misconfigurations, third‑party vendor defects, or hardware not supplied and managed by DNS unless covered by a separate agreement.

 

Confidentiality: Each party will keep the other’s Confidential Information secure and not disclose it except to personnel and subcontractors who need to know it to deliver the services and are under confidentiality obligations. These obligations do not apply to information that is public, was already known, is independently developed, or is required to be disclosed by law or court order.

 

Limitation of Liability: Nothing in this SLA limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or any other liability that cannot lawfully be limited. Subject to the foregoing, DNS’s aggregate liability arising out of or in connection with this SLA in any 12‑month period is limited to the total fees paid or payable by the Customer for the affected services in that 12‑month period, and DNS will not be liable for any indirect, special or consequential loss, loss of profit, revenue, data, goodwill or business interruption. Service credits under Section 4 are the Customer’s sole and exclusive remedy for failure to meet a service level.

 

8. Escalation Procedure

In the event of unresolved issues, escalation follows this process:

• Level 1 – Service Desk Engineer

• Level 2 – Senior Engineer

• Level 3 – Operations Manager

• Level 4 – Director, Drive Network Support Ltd

 

Clients may request escalation at any time via the ticket portal or email.

 

9. Review and Termination

This SLA is reviewed at least annually or when major service changes occur. Either party may terminate with 30 days’ written notice where permitted by the underlying contract, or immediately for material breach not remedied within 14 days of notice. Upon termination, access will be revoked and Customer data and credentials returned or securely deleted in line with our Data Retention Policy and applicable law, within 30 days unless otherwise agreed. The following survive termination: confidentiality, data protection, limitation of liability, and governing law.

 

Force Majeure: Neither party is liable for delay or failure to perform due to events beyond its reasonable control, including acts of God, war, terrorism, civil disorder, strikes (excluding that party’s own workforce), failure of utilities or networks, or government action. The affected party will notify the other without undue delay and use reasonable endeavours to mitigate. If such an event continues for more than 30 days, either party may terminate the affected services on written notice.

 

10. Governing Law & Contact Information

This SLA and any related agreements are governed by the laws of England and Wales. Before commencing court proceedings, the parties will first attempt to resolve disputes through good-faith discussions between senior representatives and, if unresolved within 30 days, may agree to mediation in London. The courts of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction.

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Contact:

Drive Network Support Ltd

71–75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9JQ, United Kingdom

Email: support@dnsupport.co.uk | Website: www.dnsupport.co.uk | E‑commerce: www.dnsupport.net

Call to action: To discuss your SLA or request help now, open a ticket or email support@dnsupport.co.uk and our team will respond promptly.