Website Hosting & Maintenance Service Level Agreement (SLA)

 

Website Hosting & Maintenance Service Level Agreement (“SLA”)

Perfect Circle Design (“we, us, our”) are committed to providing a reliable, predictable website experience for our customers for a flat monthly fee through website hosting and maintenance which covers:

CMS Updates – We will run regular checks and update the CMS with any minor updates completed.

CMS Plugin Updates – We will ensure plugins are always up to date and fix any bugs as a result of the update. Please note that premium plugins will require an active subscription or annual license in order to receive new releases or security updates.

404 Errors – We will review all pages and files that are flagged as having a 404 error.

Bug Fixes – We will fix any reported bugs within a 90 day standard warranty period after a site has gone live on our servers.

Hosting and platform updates – Redundant hosting environment with 24/7 monitoring, daily backups, ongoing feature development, cutting edge update process, and security updates ensure website stability.

Email support –We offer the flexibility to create, modify, and delete email addresses based on your needs. We provide both phone and remote assistance for your convenience.

What’s included vs what costs extra – certain services, such as regular checks and update of the CMS and its plugins, redesign / redevelopment services, post-launch domain or DNS issues, custom or third-party integrations, and new feature development are not included in our monthly web hosting package and are quoted separately.

Requesting Support

We offer quick response times during business hours: 9am – 5pm, Mon-Fri (Excluding Public Holidays).

Whenever you have an issue, you can submit a support request via email to your account manager and our support team at support@perfectcircle.co.za. Should the matter be urgent please follow up your email with a phone call to +27 41 5862886.

We will promptly acknowledge and prioritise all support requests within 3 business hours of receipt. The resolution time for your requests depends on the priority level our team assigns to them. We strive to resolve requests within the specified timeframes outlined below:
PRIORITY SET TO REVIEW WITHIN RESOLUTION WITHIN*
Low 2 days 10 business days
Medium 1 day 5 business days
High 2 hours ASAP
Examples of priorities
  • Low: Text/Imagery misalignment
  • Medium: Contact form not working. Broken links, Error 500, Malware removal
  • High: Website not loading, SSL certificate down
Please note: We cannot guarantee to respond to and resolve support requests within the SLA Timeframes if they are not received via one of the above methods. Resolution times will only be met if the fix is possible within the time window and we will keep you informed throughout the process. Some fixes may require additional development time and could incur an additional expense.

Hosting and Platform Updates

Perfect Circle Design works directly with a number of hosting providers, Xneelo, 1-Grid, Heroku and Hetzner-Cloud to host our customers’ websites. These suppliers are committed to providing fast, reliable and secure hosting solutions.

99.9% Uptime: We guarantee that our hosting providers will be available 99.9% of the time in any given month, excluding scheduled maintenance.

Security Patches: We are committed to updating all software to the latest stable versions within 7 days of their release, and within 24 hours for critical software updates.

Please note: We take no responsibility for any of our customers’ websites that are hosted with another provider and contracted through the customer directly.

What’s Included and What Costs Extra

The table below sets out examples of the services that are included in the SLA and also the services that may be performed at an additional charge. The below are examples only and we will let you know if the service you have requested is not covered by the SLA and what our costs will be for completing your request.
Update / Category Examples of what’s included in SLA Examples of things that may cost extra
CMS updates & Plugin updates Security updates for the CMS and contributed modules

Incremental CMS version updates (minor or major)

CMS plugin updates

Bugs associated with the CMS setup or configuration

Fixing display issues with existing templates or content modules

Responsiveness issues with existing templates or content modules

Issues relating to website accessibility

Manual monthly full site backup

Monthly malware scans and threat database updates
Migration of your site to another CMS

Installing new plugins or adding functionality to the site
Bug fixes and technical support Bug fixes within warrenty period

DNS and domain assistance – for example, setting up additional domains to point to your site, or helping to configure DNS settings to take your site live

Server configuration for email sending

Review of server log files to identify any internal server issues

Review of pages / files reported as 404 errors

Restoration of site after malicious activity
Underlying middleware or third party updates required

New feature development

Code updates required to meet new language versions, or server requirements. For example, code changes required to move from PHP 7.4 to PHP 8.2
Content / platform use support and training Support tickets with specific questions related to the use of the CMS platform

Helpful guides for key features of the CMS
CMS training or additional training manuals

Training at your location

Additional training sessions

Full CMS user documentation
Website performance reporting and tracking Google Analytics setup and help

Google Tag Manager setup and help
Custom report configuration and/or review

Additional data sources

Additional in-depth Analytics training or setup third party applications
Site reviews and content quality control Site / page speed performance monitoring SEO performance review

Content audit

Landing page optimisation

Significant site code changes resulting from site / page speed issues

Invoicing and Payment

We will invoice you quarterly (unless agreed otherwise) in advance for providing the services under the SLA. The invoice will also include any additional costs for extra services we have performed upon your request.

Our invoice is payable within 30 days of the date of the invoice. Without limiting any other right we may have, if you fail to make any payment due to us by the due date for payment (Due Date), we have the right to suspend your service until payment has been received, or updated payment terms have been agreed to in writing.

Your Responsibilities

You are responsible for the content you publish on your website and agree to monitor the site to ensure its content is appropriate and does not pose a risk to either of us.

In order for us to perform the services under the SLA, you need to provide us with full, safe and uninterrupted access to your website as may reasonably be required.

When we request it, you need to give us your cooperation and assistance during our performance of the services and promptly provide us with any information we may require.

You may wish to perform penetration tests upon the hosting platform. If you wish to do this, you must notify us in writing and you must have written permission from us to undertake this testing. Any testing done without permission that results in negative performance on the hosting platform will be seen as malicious traffic and may be blocked.

Our Responsibilities

We will be responsible for maintaining your website infrastructure and will take reasonable measures to ensure that installed software is kept current relative to the operation system installed, that security patches are applied in a timely manner, and that any problems with the website infrastructure are quickly resolved.

We cannot however accept any responsibility in the event of a security breach of your website.

Liability

We shall under no circumstances be liable to you, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, for any loss of profit, loss of sales or business, loss of agreements or contracts, loss of anticipated savings, loss of or damages to goodwill, or any indirect or consequential loss arising under or in connection with our obligations under the SLA.

Our total liability to you under the SLA shall in no circumstances exceed 100% of the price to be paid by the Customer under this SLA during the previous 3 months, or if you have enrolled for a shorter period, the total charges paid to us under the SLA.

Nothing in this SLA shall limit any liability which cannot legally be limited, including but not limited to liability for:
  • Death or personal injury caused by negligence.
  • Fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation.

Termination and Reinstatement of SLA

Either of us may terminate this SLA at any time, with a calendar month notice period. No cancellation fee outside of the notice period will apply if you cancel this SLA. During the termination period we will only provide website hosting services while arrangements to transfer your site to a new hosting provider are made. Please note that your site will not receive security updates or be regularly backed up, and may not be recoverable if compromised.

SLA Changes

The terms of our SLA are subject to change and Perfect Circle Design will notify you of any changes within a timely manner.