Salesforce

The Platform Support service offering includes the following: 

Hardware

• Salesforce is a Software as a Service (SaaS) cloud-based provider. MNIT provides the state hosting infrastructure to gain access to the Salesforce cloud-based platform.
• The Salesforce platform includes a base amount of storage for users and for solutions built on the platform. 
  • Once the included base storage limits are reached, additional storage is available. Actual costs for additional storage are charged to the agency.

Software 

• Procurement and tracking for Salesforce user licenses. Actual costs for licenses for agency staff using the agency’s custom Salesforce solution are charged to the agency.
• Licenses for optional Salesforce applications, such as Salesforce Maps, are available, and are charged to the agency. 

Support

• Development, support and management of the Salesforce platform. This includes testing new releases of Salesforce deployed annually, reviewing and updating versions of any applications when new Salesforce releases occur, enhancing application components that are used by all applications, such as payment processing, etc.
• For incident resolution, 24/7 support is available from the MNIT Enterprise Service Desk.
• Operational support for Software Application Development services is only available during normal business hours 7 a.m. - 4 p.m. CST Monday through Friday (excluding state holidays). After hours support is not available.

Using either MNIT staff or contractors, MNIT will develop, implement, maintain, and/or support projects and applications. This work effort will be charged separately at hourly professional services rates.

• Salesforce is a subscription service delivered by the vendor through a cloud infrastructure. Overall service up time is expected to be 99.9%.
• For required maintenance, SADS applications are occasionally unavailable or read-only for short periods of time during non-business hours. Customers will be notified of downtime in advance if longer than a few minutes during business hours.
• See MNIT’s Service Level Matrix for service level objectives related to incident resolution. 
• Operational support for Software Application Development services is only available during normal business hours 7 a.m. - 4 p.m. CST Monday through Friday (excluding state holidays). After hours support is not available

• All development and implementation activities are handled as projects. The requesting agency will be provided with a project cost estimate before MNIT begins work. Labor hours logged for the project will be charged using the professional services hourly rates.
• Custom developed applications are unique implementations of customer requirements. As such, MNIT does not provide direct end user support of the delivered solutions. Each agency partner will work with the development team to define their requirements and include plans for how the custom application will be supported. In most cases, the agency’s own staff will respond to end user support requests and then escalate issues to the MNIT development team as necessary.
• Supplemental programming such as Java or ASP.net will be provided by the agency partner. MNIT does not provide non-Salesforce programming services.
• MNIT uses an Agile application development process to develop custom solutions. All application development work is project-based, with associated management, documentation, and professional services requirements.
• Agency partners can work with MNIT to define specific change management and service termination requirements as part of the agreed upon professional services.
• Platform costs are prorated to subscribing agencies based on application complexity and size factors. These attributes are used to determine a platform charge to each agency. 

• The agency partner must plan for application development time. Services are subject to MNIT staff availability. If required staff support is not available in a timely manner, MNIT may work with agency partners to find vendors capable of following team development guidelines.
• Salesforce is a platform with many capabilities. MNIT attempts to define the “core” and “non-core” capabilities of these products as a reasonable boundary for determining Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced professional service levels. The boundary is not always clear and may change over time as software vendors frequently adjust their cloud product features and capabilities.
• The use of non-core Salesforce capabilities increases the level of effort and knowledge required for MNIT to support Salesforce-based applications. Agency partners are expected to maintain design, management, and governance documentation related to use of non-core capabilities and to provide this information and documentation to MNIT.
• As vendor features change, there may be upgrades and changes that necessitate rework and/or changes to the professional services work product provided by MNIT. This work may require additional professional services charges.