1. Overview

The annual license for Stack Overflow for Teams Business includes ongoing coverage and technical support for the software application and its performance. This document documents the response that Stack Overflow will make to reported issues with the software, along with a categorization of issue severity.

All issues should be reported to Stack Overflow by opening a ticket on our support portal. Once a case has been opened, Stack Overflow will provide support communication via e-mail or phone to address and resolve the issue including providing updates as appropriate until the issue is resolved. Cases opened via other means are not subject to the support SLAs below.

2. Covered Systems

Stack Overflow for Teams Business Support Services cover the performance and support of the Stack Overflow for Teams Business application only. Additionally, the Managed Cloud versions also include hosting for the software application and data.

Covered services do not include any of the associated systems or infrastructures for which the Client is responsible for operating or managing: including, but not limited to, VPN endpoint or concentrators, Identity or Authentication Providers, local networks, or ISP connections.

Credits are not available to customers using proof of concept service.

3. Severity Levels

Severity Level	Issue Description	Response & Commencement Time
Severity 1 - Inoperative	The software is inaccessible to users or at least one Core Function is not operational	Acknowledged and work commenced within 1 business hour
Severity 2 - Major	The software is accessible to users and all Core Functions are operational, but at least one Major Function is not operational	Acknowledged within 4 business hours and work commenced within 1 business day
Severity 3 - Minor	All core and major functions are operational but at least one minor function is not working properly	Acknowledged within 4 business hours and work commenced within 1 business day
Severity 4 - Low	A Cosmetic Function issue with the site is identified or an issue is identified with a Core, Major, or Minor Function that does not impair its general usage or ability to perform core task	Acknowledged within 1 business days
Severity 5 - General Inquiry	No functionality issue - general questions regarding site usage, functionality, community development, or other questions.	Acknowledged within 1 business day

4. Service Level Guarantees

The Client's Stack Overflow for Teams Business site will maintain a Quarterly Uptime of at least 99.5%

In the event that Quarterly Uptime is less than 99.5% but greater than 99%, Client will receive a pro-rated credit of their license fee, equal to 5% of that quarter's portion of the annual fee.

In the event that Quarterly Uptime is less than 99%, Client will receive a pro-rated credit of their license fee, equal to 10% of that quarter's portion of the annual fee.

The Quarterly Uptime Guarantee does not apply to downtime that is due to the direct result of an issue that affects the Microsoft Geographic Region that the service is hosted in unless the client has opted for a multi geographic region redundant setup.

While we take steps to minimize downtime, occasionally there will be service interruptions that are beyond our control and do not constitute Downtime for the purposes of this SLA, including:

Slowness or faults with a specific feature (such as search, voting, etc)
Delays with uploading or processing files
External network problems outside of our control, such as bad routing tables between your internet service provider (ISP) and our servers
"Scheduled Downtime" for maintenance
Other Acts of God or Force Majeure events

5. Maintenance Windows

While most of our work on Stack Overflow happens silently, occasionally we will need to perform maintenance that requires scheduled downtime. If scheduled downtime for maintenance is necessary, we'll give your Team Admins at least 24 hours advance notice via on-site notices or emails. Generally speaking, scheduled downtime won't exceed 12 hours each calendar year.

6. Definitions

"Available/Availability": The ability of end-users to reach and display at least one page of the Client's Stack Overflow for Teams Business site.

"Business Day/Hours": Customer Support is available for tickets of all severity between the hours of 12 am Monday and 11:59 pm Friday, eastern standard time, not including US Holidays, office closures. and staff availability. After-hours support is available for Severity 1 and Severity 2 tickets by opening a ticket on our support portal.

"Cosmetic Functions": User interface issues, all static site content (such as documentation, help pages, or error messages)

"Core Functions": Asking questions, answering questions, searching content, viewing content

"Downtime": A time period that the service is not Available

"Major Functions": Creating/editing users, tags, or other end-user facing organization related functionality

"Minor Functions": Moderator tools and other site functionality not included in Core or Major functionality

"Quarterly Portion": The quarterly portion of a license fee shall be defined as equal to 1/4th of the Annual License Fee as listed in the Order Form

"Quarterly Uptime": Quarterly Uptime % = (Maximum Available Minutes-Downtime) / Maximum Available Minutes

Need help? Submit an issue or question through our support portal.