DeKalb County Schools Apex SOS - June 9, 2025 - DCSD Board Meeting Archive

Scope of Service:
Apex
DeKalb County Schools

5/8/2025
Account Executive:
Rob Huff
rhuff@stepcg.com
Contents
Statement of Confidentiality ................................................................................................. 2
Limitation of Liability ................................................................................................................. 2
General: ............................................................................................................................................. 2
STEP Executive Summary ....................................................................................................... 3
STEP................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Our Mission .................................................................................................................................................. 3
OUR VALUES: .............................................................................................................................................. 3
VISION: ............................................................................................................................................................. 3
STEP Apex Service Overview: ................................................................................................ 4
Included Service Feature Definitions ....................................................................................... 4
Apex Service Descriptions....................................................................................................... 6
Service Onboarding: ..............................................................................................................................6
24/7/365 Monitoring ............................................................................................................................... 6
Customer Dashboards & Alerts...................................................................................................... 6
STEP CCC Support: ................................................................................................................................. 7
Vendor Management: .......................................................................................................................... 7
Network Audit: ........................................................................................................................................... 7
Release Management: .........................................................................................................................8
MACD: ..............................................................................................................................................................9
Customer Success Manager: ........................................................................................................... 9
Quarterly Business Reviews: ............................................................................................................ 9
A Compelling Solution ............................................................................................................ 10
Customer Care Center – People, Process, Tools ........................................................... 11
Customer Care Center (CCC) Description ............................................................................. 11
Root Cause Analysis .............................................................................................................................. 11
CCC Workflow .......................................................................................................................................... 12
Customer Access.................................................................................................................................... 12
Detailed Service Level Agreement .................................................................................... 13
Priority Level Definitions................................................................................................................... 14
General Responsibilities, Assumptions, & Terms ........................................................ 15
Customer Responsibilities............................................................................................................... 15
STEP Responsibilities .......................................................................................................................... 16
Terms .............................................................................................................................................................. 16
Contract Dates & Billing ..........................................................................................................19
Pricing Summary ........................................................................................................................19
Additional Services ............................................................................................................................... 19
Payment ....................................................................................................................................................... 19
Scope .............................................................................................................................................................. 19
Proposal Acceptance ...............................................................................................................20
Appendix A: Quoted Details .................................................................................................. 21
Statement of Conﬁdentiality

This document contains proprietary and confidential information. All data submitted is
provided in reliance upon the recipient’s agreement not to use or disclose except in
connection with its business dealings with STEP. The recipient of this document agrees to
inform its present and future employees who receive or have access to the information
contained in this document of its confidential nature, and to instruct each employee that he
or she must not disclose any information concerning this document to others except to the
extent that such matters are generally known to, and are available for use by, the public. The
recipient of this document agrees that it will not duplicate or permit others to duplicate any
material contained herein except for its own internal use.

By acceptance of this document, the recipient agrees to be bound by the foregoing
statement.

Limitation of Liability

In performance of the services offering outlined in this Agreement, except for damages
resulting from its fraud or gross negligence, STEP will in no event be liable for: (I) Any
indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages, however caused and whether or not
advised in advance of the possibility of such damages; or (II) Damages for the lost profits or
lost data; or (III) cost of procurement of substitute goods technology or services. Except for
liability resulting from its fraud or gross negligence, STEP entire liability arising from or
relating to the subject matter of this Agreement shall be limited to the amount received by
STEP under this Agreement.

General:

This document (this “Scope of Service”) describes the Service elements, features, and
deliverables related to the Managed Services offered by STEP.

Provision of this Service is governed by and subject to the terms and conditions set forth in
the applicable agreement to which this Scope of Service is attached. In the event of a conflict
between the terms of this Scope of Service and an understanding and/or an exclusion, the
terms of this Scope of Service shall prevail.

The specific quantity and type of Service purchased by Customer will be documented in the
applicable quotation and Scope of Service document issued to Customer is accepted by
Customer’s placement of a purchase order.
STEP Executive Summary

STEP
STEP is a highly innovative, award winning,
nationwide IT services engineering firm
headquartered in Northern Kentucky/Greater Our Mission
Cincinnati. STEP solutions are powered by strategic
At STEP, our WHY is to explore
experts and best of breed technologies solving our
what is possible, helping our
customers’ most complex IT challenges. STEP’s team
customers use technology to
and expert engineers provide customers with
solve business problems and
solutions for cloud, security, collaboration, core achieve real business
infrastructure, and managed services. We are about
outcomes.
doing what’s right and sharing in our customers’
successes. We have a culture that empowers talent
and passion allowing employees to be innovative and
execute. STEP is where innovation meets execution.

OUR VALUES:
Teamwork | Gratitude | Integrity | Passion
We are passionate.
We care about each other and our customers.
We empower our employees and customers.
We treat everybody with respect.
Weare easy to do business with.
Weare committed to innovation.
We have fun.

VISION:
To constantly innovate and be the leading IT Solution Provider in the markets we serve.
STEP Apex Service Overview:

A proactive service with 24x7x365 monitoring and troubleshooting by the CCC for incidents
reported by our monitoring platform, Navigator, as well as responsibility for completing
MACD changes requested by the customer. This service is for customers who are looking for
a provider who can watch the network and make intelligent decisions about what happened,
figure out what caused it, and how to fix it. Once the root cause has been identified, our staff
will either resolve the problem or work with the customer to implement the
recommendation to resolve the issue. With the Apex service level, the provider’s
responsibility is to monitor the environment, troubleshoot any anomalies, resolve the issue if
that is remotely possible for configured metrics, and complete MACD requests.

Services Included:

Service Onboarding

Service Desk

24/7/365 Monitoring

Device Configuration Backups

Dynamic Mapping

Customer Dashboards & Alerts*

CCC Support for incident
response
Proactive CCC Engagement

Vendor Management

Network Audit

Release Management

MACD

Customer Success Manager

Please refer to the Pricing Summary for any Additional Services included in this Proposal
*Alerts to automated via ticket notification

Included Service Feature Definitions
Service Onboarding: Upon purchase of a STEP managed service offering, Transition Services
to STEP support.

Service Desk: The single point of contact between the STEP and the users. The service desk
manages incidents and service requests, and also handles communication with the users.
24/7/365 Monitoring: provides real time alerting to issues as reported by Navigator as either
down/unreachable or in the case of a threshold violation.

Device Configuration Backups: Navigator also serves as a resource to automatically backup
network device configurations. These backups assist with rapid systems recovery in the event
of a catastrophic failure or ransomware. These config backups will be available to the
customer via the Navigator web portal.

Dynamic Mapping: Allows for dynamically updated maps in Navigator to be generated.
Discovery protocols need to be properly configured for this feature to work. This only applies
to devices in Navigator.

Customer Dashboards & Alerts: STEP will provide standard dashboards and reports with the
Navigator for additional insight into the customer’s network. Alerts generated by the
Navigator will result in a ticket being automatically created in the CCC Service Desk for
investigation.

CCC Support for incident response: The Customer Care Center (CCC) will provide Tier 1 - 3
level support. The escalation process progresses from the lower tier to the higher tier.
Engineers will troubleshoot, isolate issues, assess logs, and remediate issues utilizing incident
management.

Vendor Management: STEP has direct access to the vendors for support and assistance as
needed. The CCC will provide Tier 1 – 3 support and facilitate escalations to manufacturers as
needed for additional Tier 3 – 4 support. The CCC will coordinate the engagement with the
manufacturers.

Network Audit: STEP will provide a one-time Network Audit during the onboarding process
to review the current state of the network, provide an action plan to remediate issues found,
and provide corrective action for qualifying items.

Release Management: STEP will provide both Reactive and Proactive system patching for
systems covered under this agreement. STEP will coordinate with the customer to schedule
a maintenance window to perform patching activities.

MACD: Moves, Adds, Changes, & Deletes - MACD work is any request for changes to devices
that falls outside of incident response, and will be performed remotely by STEP for systems
covered under this service agreement.

Customer Success Manager: STEP will appoint a Customer Success Manager (CSM) to be a
customer’s business advocate. The CSM will partner with the customer to review business
objectives, review customer concerns, review changes in the customer’s environment and
assist in providing alignment with customer initiatives. The Customer Success Manager
(CSM) offers support for service level management, general STEP customer advocacy, and
service escalation support from a designated service contact.

Quarterly Business Reviews: STEP will host a remote service review meeting on a quarterly
basis and review operational data including incident tickets and historical trends in
accordance with the agreed upon agenda. The review may include business outcomes from
the previous review period and confirm alignment of the contracted services with customer’s
business priorities, new requirements, and needs. STEP may review historical data, trends,
delivery performance, operational risks and provide recommendations for improving service
delivery. In addition, STEP may highlight modern technologies and services industry
tools/capabilities.

Apex Service Descriptions

Service Onboarding:
Upon receipt of purchase order for a managed service, the Client will be contacted to set up
a kickoff call to initiate the service onboarding. Transition Services will be assigned to collect
customer and device specific information and add that to STEP’s toolset. Transition Services
will review the service with the customer, identify critical needs for the customer and
configure alert priorities (as needed/applicable). They will verify the product support list,
review the quote, and verify any limitations to coverage.

It is the customer’s responsibility to provide accurate equipment information, IP address and
credential information. STEP is not responsible for inaccurate information. If credential
information is unknown, STEP will work with the manufacturer to reset passwords (if
possible) which may be billable. STEP will add covered devices to Navigator, configure
alerting and notification, create the standard Dashboard views for the customer, and provide
user access to Navigator for the customer.

24/7/365 Monitoring
Data network monitoring provides real time alerting to issues as reported by STEP’s
monitoring tool, Navigator, as either down/unreachable or in the case of the threshold
violation. Navigator utilizes either onsite or remote based data collectors, depending on the
customer’s environment. Protocols used for monitoring are described below:
SNMPv2 & SNMPv3 Monitoring: At this time, both protocols are supported by
Navigator.
API Monitoring: Some products are monitored via the manufacturer supported API
rather than SNMP.

Monitoring Development:
STEP may develop and/or collaborate with vendors to add additional monitoring features as
necessary for new products. This may be due to roadmap or customer request. In the case
of customer request this may be a billable event. Any customer requests can be submitted in
the Service Desk. Each individual request will be assessed, and updates will be shared with
the customer through the Service Desk.

Customer Dashboards & Alerts
STEP will provide standard Dashboard views in Navigator to provide insight into the health of
your network infrastructure. There are multiple network overview dashboards as well as
device-specific views. Notification of alerts will be shared with the customer via automated
ticket creation, and the CCC will proactively investigate any alerts received.

Feature Threshold Alerting
Basic threshold alerting allows for alerting triggers to be set on any monitored data source
metric such as CPU utilization, memory utilization, port state (up/down) and port bandwidth
utilization.

Multiple data sources may be used to monitor each asset. These will usually include OS
specific data sources for the device which may include metrics such as:

 CPU/memory/disk utilization
 Host Uptime
 Status of port response (IE HTTP, HTTPS, DNS, etc.)
 TCP/UDP statistics such as segments, datagrams, drops, etc.
 ICMP Ping response time

Additional data sources may be applied to devices depending on vendor specific OIDs or
APIs.

STEP CCC Support:
Tier 1-3 Support: STEP will provide Tier 1 - 2 level support with escalation to internal Tier 3 to
respond to incidents reported by either Navigator or the customer and will provide fault
management which will minimize the negative impact of incidents by restoring normal
service of operation as quickly as possible. The escalation process progresses from the lower
tier to the higher tier.

Vendor Management:
STEP will provide Technical Assistance Center (TAC) support to network OEM customers by
coordinating/managing OEM support for hardware (including RMA coordination), firmware
and software fixes to resolve incidents and provide fault management which will minimize
the negative impact of incidents by restoring normal service of operation as quickly as
possible. The CCC will escalate issues for assets under contract with the manufacturer for
additional Tier 3 – 4 support as needed. This includes issue assessment, data collection, and
manufacturer collaboration support.

Contract Support: As part of the Apex managed service, the customer is required to
maintain all vendor maintenance agreements and subscriptions on covered devices. STEP is
responsible for notifying and facilitating the renewal of vendor maintenance and
subscription services purchased through STEP. The customer will be responsible for
renewing all services not purchased through STEP.

Network Audit:
STEP will provide a one-time Network Audit during the onboarding process to review the
health of the system and current system patches installed. A synopsis of the findings will be
provided to the customer. After the assessment is complete, an action plan will be assembled
to devise next steps.
Corrective Action:
STEP will complete corrective action for items meeting the following criteria:

 Proper configuration of DNS
 Proper configuration of NTP
 Syslog configuration to point devices to Navigator
 Configure CLI Audit
 Proper Loop Prevention configuration
 System Patching:
o System patching is deemed as any installation of a firmware update that
keeps the system on its current major supported release to resolve feature
functionality / system stability issues.
o System Upgrades are defined as software and or firmware upgrades that
require a transition from one major release to another. If the dot release
patching path requires upgrade to a new release, then the patching event
must be treated as an upgrade event. System Upgrades are not covered under
the Apex service agreement and would not be included in the Network Audit
corrective action. STEP can be contracted to perform system upgrades as part
of a project.

Additional changes that do not meet the requirements for included corrective action will be
billable and treated as a project by STEP.

Release Management:
STEP will provide both Reactive and Proactive Release Management for covered devices
under the Apex agreement. Release Management Is comprised of system patching within
the device’s current major release. System upgrades, as defined below, are not included in
the Apex service agreement and would be considered billable. All patching will be performed
during a maintenance window agreed upon by both STEP and the customer.

System Patching: System patching is deemed as any installation of a firmware update that
keeps the system on its current major supported release.
System Upgrades: System Upgrades are defined as software and or firmware upgrades that
require a transition from one major release to another. If the dot release patching path
requires upgrade to a new release, then the patching event must be treated as an upgrade
event.

Reactive Release Management: Provides reactive patching for mission critical systems
under contract that are experiencing service impacting issues. Reactive security patching is
also included. Security patching is completed upon customer request and will be based on
the manufacturer’s recommendations and service impact.
Proactive Release Management: Allows for systems to be updated to the latest or preferred
firmware/software release. Proactive patching is done at the customer’s request and is
limited to once per year.
MACD:
MACD worked is deemed as remote modifications to any existing supported systems listed in
the service agreement that includes this service entitlement.

 Moves add and changes are limited to:
o Changes that can be performed remotely for existing configured features or
protocols.
o Changes that do not require engineering or modifications to current
architecture.
 STEP is only responsible for changes to systems that are under contract. Any 3rd party
or uncontracted system that is not covered, a project shall be opened.
 MAC work does not include onsite modification or hardware support.
 The customer agrees to provide assistance with system access, if applicable.

MACD work is available as outlined below. Changes will be scheduled within 72 hours / 3
business days of the request, provided all the information has been received to make the
change.

MACD is limited to 20 hours’ worth of work per month with no carry-over of unused hours.

Customer Success Manager:
A Customer Success Manager is a customer’s business advocate and will partner with the
customer to review business objectives, review customer concerns, review changes in the
customers environment and assist in providing alignment with customer initiatives.

The Customer Success Manager (CSM) offers support for service level management, general
STEP customer advocacy and service escalation support from a designated service contact.
This “trusted advisor” works to ensure that every customer service contact with STEP, no
matter the solution, receives an exceptional customer experience. This builds customer
loyalty and peace of mind, allowing the customer to increase focus on their core business.
This position aims to provide a more personal level of service that enables STEP to gain and
retain stronger customer relationships, leverage its strengths as a solutions provider, and
distinguish itself from the break/fix services approach that is prevalent in the marketplace.

The CSM acts on the customer’s behalf to bring visibility of issues and concerns to the
appropriate groups within STEP. Additionally, the CSM will be asked to manage the
customer’s service experience across all STEP solutions and supporting the customer’s
service model evolution. In short, the CSM is a “virtual” extension of the customer’s team
within STEP.

Quarterly Business Reviews:
The CSM will provide business reviews of a customer’s environment. The business review
provides direct insights into the customer’s environment and STEP engagements
throughout the course of the quarter. The detailed report often covers but is not limited to:
incidents created, data analytics showing trends to help customers understand problematic
areas, alarm distribution by site, incident arrival method, incident durations, and aged
incident review.
A Compelling Solution

Our solution is a market driven, innovative service management offer that enables the
customer to take charge of their network while retaining the experience and expertise that
STEP has to offer.

The STEP Apex Service is built upon the industry-recognized best-practice IT Service
Management framework, Information Technology Infrastructure Library – ITIL. ITIL is globally
recognized as a best-practice framework for the delivery of IT Services for all types of
organizations, particularly in the large enterprise and government sectors.

The STEP Apex Service is designed to provide 24/7/365 Service Desk, delivering the following
benefits:
 STEP’s industry leading networking expertise
 24/7/365 CCC Support
 Direct Vendor Escalation Paths
 Remote incident response and management
 Core services include:
o Service Onboarding
o Service Desk
o Tier 1-3 Support
o OEM Direct Support (Vendor Support)
Customer Care Center – People, Process, Tools

Customer Care Center (CCC) Description
The STEP Customer Care Center provides a full suite of monitoring and STEP maintenance
services to our customers. STEP Customer Care Center has the capabilities to provide a high
level of confidence and customer satisfaction knowing that STEP is there; 24x7x365
monitoring, maintaining and supporting our customer’s network. STEP’s CCC solutions are
flexible enough to conform to customer requirements and integrate into their processes for
seamless operational flow. The CCC is a geographically diverse organization, utilizing multi-
layer secured cloud-based applications. We offer both on-prem data collectors, as well as
remote options. Remote collectors are located in a secured access facility, and fully
redundant with battery backup for operational stability.

Our CCC has a large number of both vendor and industry certifications to provide Tier 1 – 3
support directly to our customers. We are certified with all vendor partners with certs
ranging from basic config to architectural design, including expert-level certifications. STEP
has received numerous awards from our vendors for our technical expertise.

 Detailed incidents shall be created with the CCC once an issue has been reported.
 Customers who open tickets with the CCC are responsible for providing an accurate
description, the severity of the issue, the impact, and the correct location that the
issue is occurring.
 The client will assign a point/point(s) of contact who will engage directly with the CCC
(as needed). In addition, the customer will provide contact information for any 3rd
party relationships that STEP is responsible for working with under this contact /
service.
 If alternative unsupported connectivity methods are utilized and/or no direct
connectivity is available, the Time to Service and STEP response may be limited and/or
delayed.
 The CCC will escalate issues within the tiered structure once that tier has exhausted
all resources. A Subject Matter Expert (SME) may be needed to troubleshoot across
platforms. That SME will cross collaborate, if needed and will provide the necessary
guidance to help bring the issue to remediation.
 STEP will record and manage service requests for information.
 STEP will provide advice, standard troubleshooting and/or support.

Root Cause Analysis
A root cause analysis is performed at an infrastructure level. An OEM manufacturer root
cause analysis may be subject to additional charges based on customer’s contract.

A Root Cause Analysis (RCA) will be provided per a customer’s official request with the CCC
for critical outages only and will be done in collaboration with the manufacturer.

The level of detail provided for a root cause analysis is dependent on the customer’s level of
service and is highlighted below per service agreement:

 Apex – Full Write-up including supporting data and recommendations
Log availability and system access will determine the level of detail included in the system
analysis.

If data is not available, an RCA may not be possible.

The RCA will become best effort, if the customer is not running supported software and / or
firmware. The timeline for delivery of an RCA may vary depending on the amount of analysis
required and manufacture engagement, if required. The minimum turnaround time is 72
hours/3 business days.

CCC Workflow
Our CCC utilizes a web-based portal to facilitate incident reporting, management, escalation
and remediation. Once an incident is reported to the CCC by a customer, an incident ticket is
created in our portal.

Since many different parties, systems and processes are involved in the ultimate resolution of
an incident, an incident management process is followed to facilitate and provide a single
point of contact to ensure the smooth flow between various parties within the required time
frames and under the appropriate circumstances. In implementing this process, it ensures
proper resource management, prioritization, timely communications, and correct escalation
management takes place.

Escalation activities provide for several escalation levels for critical incidents based on the
length of time the service incident has been ongoing, less periods where both the customer
and STEP agree that the escalation timer should be stopped for any reason.

Customer Access
Flexibility in getting access to the support you need when you need it is a priority to STEP.
The Service Desk customer portal is your online resource for incident reporting and
management. Our platform allows customer visibility into all their current incidents and the
current status of any given incident. Customers may use our portal to report new incidents
or to update the status of existing incident tickets. Alternatively, customers may also call or
email the CCC to report an incident. We are continuing to enhance our customer access with
new features and functionality to ensure that customers have access to the CCC 24x7x365
regardless of their device or location.
Detailed Service Level Agreement

Priority Level Response Time

Priority 1 – Critical 15 minutes

Priority 2 – High 30 minutes

Priority 3 – Important 4 hours

Priority 4 – Normal 8 hours

The customer sets the initial priority for a ticket if they call the CCC to report an incident or
the customer selects the priority when they create the incident via the web portal. If the
incident is created via our automated monitoring systems, the priority is set using a pre-
defined set of rules created by STEP following the industry’s best practices. However, at any
time the customer can call into the CCC and request a change in the incident priority
(upgraded or downgraded).

.
Customer Initiated Support Requests:
All customer-initiated support requests must be done using one of the following methods.
Any other method of communication is not supported for incident response.
 Critical issues should always be raised via the toll-free number: 888-234-0045
 Customers can open a ticket with the CCC utilizing the web portal:
stepcg.myportallogin.com
o The customer is responsible for setting the initial incident priority when
reporting an incident. If a priority is not selected, it will be opened as a Priority
3.
o Tickets submitted for questions or change requests will be set with a default of
Priority 4.
 Customers can also open a ticket via email to our ticketing system:
customersupport@stepcg.com
o All emailed requests will be opened as a Priority 3.

STEP Initiated Incidents
 The automated alarming will adhere to the recommended manufacturer best
practices.
 The designated priorities are defined using STEP’s best practices; however, the
customer can change the severity of any automated incidents by contacting the CCC.
Priority Level Definitions
Priority 1 - Critical: the problem results in extremely serious interruptions to a production
system. It has affected, or could affect, the entire user community resulting in a total service
outage. Tasks that should be executed immediately cannot be executed because of a
complete crash of the system or interruptions in main functions of the production system.
Data integrity is compromised, and the service request requires immediate processing as the
issue can result in financial losses.

Priority 2 - High: the problem results in serious interruptions to normal operations, will
negatively impact an enterprise-wide installation, urgent deadlines or at risk. In a
production system, important tasks cannot be performed, but the error does not impair
essential operations. Processing can still continue in a restricted manner, and data integrity
may be at risk. The service request requires timely processing, because the malfunction
could cause serious interruptions to critical processes or negatively impact business.

Priority 3 - Important: the problem causes interruptions in normal operations. It does not
prevent operation of a production system, or there could be minor degradation in
performance. The error is attributed to malfunctioning or incorrect behavior of software or
hardware. The issue will affect users by degradation to performance with no interruption to
service.

Priority 4 - Normal: the problem results in minimal or no interruptions to normal
operations (no business impact). The issue consists of "how to" questions or end user
requests including issues related to operational awareness, installation and configuration
inquiries, enhancement requests, MACD requests, or documentation questions.
General Responsibilities, Assumptions, & Terms

Customer Responsibilities

Remote Support Access
 Customer is responsible for providing appropriate remote network access
(including VPN access/credentials) as appropriate/if applicable.
 Customer is responsible for providing usernames and passwords for all covered
devices.
 Customer is responsible for providing a point of contact with physical
network/security access onsite while STEP provides remote support as
appropriate/if applicable.
Onsite Support Access
 In the event that travel to any of the sites within the Service Contract is required,
the customer will provide access to the physical locations including access to local
equipment and office space. Onsite travel is not included in this service offering
and will be billable.
Vendor Software & Hardware Support
 STEP requires the customer to continue renewing the necessary
software/hardware support to allow for the systems to remain on current release
as recommended by the manufacturers except where STEP has been contracted
to provide replacement hardware or hardware/software has reached
manufacturer end-of-support. Customer acknowledges that STEP is not liable for
software defects and may not be able to provide software patches for those
systems not entitled to manufacturer software distribution.
 If no manufacturer support contract is available for an End of Life (EOL) or End of
Support (EOS) device, STEP will provide best effort CCC support for those
products.
 The customer is responsible for maintaining supported software releases on
covered equipment as recommended by the manufacturer.
Hardware & Software Licensing
The customer will be responsible for procuring all applicable
hardware/software/licenses (not being provided by STEP) and have all equipment
ready and prepared for the Support Services as outlined in this contract.
Points of Contact
The customer will assign a point/s of contact who will engage directly with the STEP
CCC. In addition, the customer will provide contact information for any 3rd party
relationships that STEP is responsible for working with under this contract.
Documentation
Customer will provide the following documentation which will aid the STEP technical
consultants in ensuring a meticulous review of the network infrastructure and
ecosystem:
 Network architecture illustrations/drawings/Visio delineating all devices, if
applicable
 Network documentation showing IP addresses, VLANs, subnets for devices, if
applicable
Communication Channels
The customer must utilize proper communication channels when reporting an
incident to STEP (as defined in this document). Any other method of communication
is not a supported means for ticket creation/incident reporting.
Other
Customer will provide access and assume financial responsibility for certificates
issued from an external Trusted Root Authority as required for the operation of the
service.

STEP Responsibilities

 Provide Transition Services to guide and lead the onboarding process
 Inform the customer of any concerns identified during the onboarding process
 Provide escalation contacts within STEP
 Create and maintain customer portal access
 Maintain & support Navigator
 Provide timely support for incidents and service requests as defined in this document
 Minimize Risk of Service Impact

Terms
Customer-Supplied Hardware & Software:
Unless specified in this proposal STEP is responsible only for the monitoring
hardware/software provided by STEP. Any additional customer hardware or software
is not covered under this contract including but not limited to customer-supplied
UPS, virtual machine hosts, physical servers, network devices and associated cabling
as well as any licensing. If STEP is supporting Virtual Machines on a customer-
supplied Virtual Host customer must notify and work with the STEP CCC to ensure
that platform updates will not cause any unnecessary downtime or conflicts with the
supported Virtual Machines.

Pre-Existing Conditions:
Pre-Existing Conditions that are classified as project work meet the following criteria:

 The issue is pre-existing and unknown to STEP prior to Managed Services
onboarding
 The amount of time to explore, design or remediate exceeds 3 hours.
 The issue impacts functionality, system stability, user experience, and/or any
condition that has a negative impact on the system or installed applications.

STEP will provide the following information for conditions that meet project work
criteria.

 An explanation of the pre-existing condition
 The recommended options for remediation

Password Management:
 Customer acknowledges and agrees that STEP disclaims all liability for
password management that for any reason a system is compromised,
passwords expire or become non-functional.
 STEP will comply with manufacturer best practices.
 STEP is solely responsible for STEP managed passwords.
 STEP passwords will not be shared.
 STEP passwords will comply with its password policy.
 All exchanges of sensitive information will be only shared in an encrypted
format.
 Privileged access may be required to remediate password issues which could
incur additional charges.
 Customers are responsible for customer user credentials and passwords.
 Bulk and/or reoccurring password changes would be considered a project and
would incur T & M charges.

Certificate Management:

 Certificate Management and Renewal is the responsibility of the customer if
the certificate audit and implementation are not managed by STEP.
 Alarms related to certificate expiration events will be forwarded to the
customer and will be held by Managed Services until certificates are renewed
if the customer is responsible for certificate audit and installation.
 Third party certificates are the responsibility of the customer to provide in the
event certificates are required.
 Customer will provide access and assume financial responsibility for
certificates issued from an external Trusted Root Authority as required for the
operation of the service.
 Certificate Renewals completed by STEP will be billed at the rate of the
resource doing the work through T & M or will be scoped as a project.

Best Effort:
The following products have been identified as best effort support. Best effort applies
to customer systems that meet the following criteria:

 Customer does not have an active manufacturer support contract, or the
system is beyond End of Manufacturer Support (EOS) or End of Life (EOL)
 Systems that contain legacy hardware parts that are hard to acquire
 Software and updates are no longer available.
 Require a specialized skillset to support
 STEP will provide best effort support for the legacy systems that are no longer
supported by the manufacturer. The customer understands that due to the
above circumstances not all events may be recoverable, which may lead to
down time or unconventional workarounds. Systems that are unpatched may
be at risk to security vulnerabilities. STEP is released from liability for all
impacts from legacy equipment. STEP reserves the right to discontinue
support on renewal if a product is found to be unsupportable. Customer
understands that investment in the latest technology is the only way to ensure
both manufacturer support and access to patches. The customer also
acknowledges that due to the limited parts available that not all parts
acquired may work and that multiple parts may need to be sourced. Sourcing
of parts may take extended periods of time to acquire. If parts cannot be
acquired, customers may need to look at alternative solutions.

Product Coverage
STEP reserves the right to discontinue support of product platforms based on factors
such as product demand, manufacturer support, manufacturer road maps,
certification requirements and tools support.

Third Party Tools Monitoring and Potential Conflicts:
If STEP is the services incumbent providing managed and monitoring services, its
tools will supersede any third-party monitoring solutions on the supported systems as
originally proposed. Through discovery, STEP can assist the customer in identifying
conflicts and provide a solution to remediate. This will be completed on a Time and
Material basis. SLO and SLA adherence may be impacted by the implementation of
the third-party tool or processes. Scope of Service modifications will require review.
Individual site and/or location monitoring may not be excluded from monitoring
and/or support when registered to a supported core system.

Customization:
STEP catalogs and scope of service documents define the features that we have
proposed and provided. Customers may require customizations to meet specific
requirements. STEP services are predefined and configured based on STEP’s offer,
best practices and tools. Customization of services, tools and processes are subject to
a mutual collaboration approach that includes defining customization requirements,
exploration of the enhancement request with appropriate parties, understanding
additional costs, and establishing a timeline for deliverables. Deviation from the
current offer may impact deliverables, service, cost and may require project
collaboration between STEP and the customer. After onboarding, in-service additional
customization may be required to obtain the service level objectives agreed upon.
Contract Dates & Billing

This contract is valid for 1 year, beginning at the service start date, with upfront billing.

Pricing Summary

Please see the provided Proposal for pricing breakdown of all Support Contracts.

Additional Services
There are no additional services included in the contract.

Payment
This quote is subject to the STEP payment terms and conditions.

Scope
This Scope of Service identifies the purchasable services available under the STEP Apex
Service offer. The price reflects the services selected by the customer. Additional services can
be priced and scoped as required. Additional notes can be found on pg. 3 of this Scope of
Service.
Proposal Acceptance

By signing this agreement, the parties agree to the terms and conditions as stated in this
document. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have executed this Agreement as of
the date written below. This Document is governed by the STEP Terms and Conditions
Agreement between STEP.

DeKalb County Schools: STEP:

____________________________ _____________________________
Signature Signature

____________________________ _____________________________
Printed Name Printed Name

____________________________ _____________________________
Title Title

____________________________ _____________________________
Date Date
Appendix A: Quoted Details

The Support Contract will include the following equipment, which will be considered “In
Scope” for the duration of this contract:

SCG-MediumFW-Apex-1Y – QTY: 2
 Palo Alto Firewalls
SCG-Switch-Apex-1Y – QTY: 160
 Ruckus/Brocade
 Juniper/Mist
SCG-Controller-Apex-1Y – QTY: 16
 Aruba WLAN Controllers
SCG-AP-Apex-1Y – QTY: 10
 Aruba APs

Agenda Item