Customer Support Handbook
Shinydocs Customer Support is aligned with industry-leading best practices to ensure our customers achieve strategic outcomes for their business and derive value from our solutions. Through empathy and technical expertise, Shinydocs Customer Support’s mission is to provide a world class experience to every customer, every time.
Who We Are
The Shinydocs Customer Support team is made up of skilled and customer focused Technical Support Specialists who offer a highly personalized white glove support experience. Support team members have many years experience with enterprise and non-enterprise level customers alike and our diverse team brings a variety of strengths in supporting our customers.
Customer Portal
The Shinydocs Customer Portal is your one stop for Knowledge Articles, Administrator and User Guides, the Learning Library, and Release Notes.
Visit the Customer Portal at: https://help.shinydocs.com.
Help Desk
The Help Desk the primary method for creating a request for the Shinydocs Support team and tracking ticket status.
Visit the Help Desk at: https://shinydocs.atlassian.net/servicedesk/
For more information on how to interact with Customer Support, including submitting Requests, see Interacting with Customer Support.
Availability
Shinydocs Customer Support is available during the following business hours:
Monday-Friday 8:00am – 5:00pm UTC -4 (Eastern US)
Requests submitted after these hours will be actioned the next business day. Support can be made available outside of these hours through an extended support plan.
Shinydocs Customer Support observes the following Canadian statutory holidays in 2023:
New Year’s Day: January 2
Family Day: February 22
Good Friday: April 7
Victoria Day: May 22
Canada Day: July 3
Civic Holiday: August 7
Labour Day: September 4
Thanksgiving: October 9
Christmas Day: December 25
Boxing Day: December 26
During an observed holiday Shinydocs maintains a reduced staff level to respond to Emergency requests (see Incident Management section below). Any Non-emergency requests will be actioned the following business day. We will notify customers of any upcoming holidays through an announcement message on the Customer Portal.
Incident Management
Requests are triaged and actioned based on Severity Levels, this applies to production environments and is not applicable during a pre-live project implementation phase.
Severity |
Description | Target Response Time |
|---|---|---|
Emergency (1) | The entire solution is down or unavailable. Users cannot access the solution and/or the performance of the solution has rendered it fully unusable. |
Within 1 business hour |
Major (2) | A major component of the solution or feature is non-functional for users and no known workaround or hotfix exists. | Within 6 business hours |
Standard (3) | A component or feature of the solution is non-functional for users but a workaround, hotfix, or upgrade is available to address the issue. Most major components remain functional. |
Within 1 business day |
Minor / Enhancement Requests (4) | A component or feature of the solution is not functioning as expected or desired but a change to the solution to address the issue is not planned or scheduled. |
Within 1 business day |
Escalation Process
Requests at Shinydocs are continuously reviewed to ensure a timely response and resolution. We employ several reporting methods, dashboards, and regular ticket reviews to reduce the potential for escalations. In addition, customers can escalate tickets directly by the following process:
Step 1: Via the Ticket
Customers can flag a ticket for escalation via a direct ticket update. This is a required first step for an escalation.
Upon resolution of escalated emergency and major severity tickets, a retrospective (retro), including future preventative measures will be created and shared with the customer if applicable.
Step 2: Via Shinydocs Management
If the ticket has been escalated but a satisfactory solution has not been provided, the issue can be escalated to the Customer Support Manager.
The Support Manager will develop an action plan for resolution and engage internal stakeholders as necessary, ensuring timely customer updates.
Upon resolution of escalated emergency and major severity tickets, a retrospective (retro), including future preventative measures will be created and shared with the customer if applicable.
Step 3: Shinydocs Senior Leadership
If the ticket has been escalated via the ticket and through the Support Manager and no satisfactory resolution has occurred, the issue may be escalated to the VP of Customer Success.
How We Measure Success
Shinydocs Customer Support employs a variety of methods to measure our success including the following:
Service Level Objectives (SLOs) achieved
Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) at or above 80%
Minimal escalations
Customer Responsibilities
Shinydocs customers are required to staff both software operators (customer stakeholders with in-depth knowledge of their data and operations) and technical operators (IT resources with sufficient knowledge, access, and expertise) as appropriate for the Shinydocs solutions. Operators are expected to be fully trained in the Shinydocs solution and will remain custodians of their data throughout the journey.
Product Releases
Shinydocs generally follows a quarterly release schedule with 3 to 4 major releases annually. These quarterly releases may include new product features, enhancements, and fixes for product defects.
Additionally, hotfixes can be delivered for Emergency or Major issues when deemed necessary (between quarterly releases) and they may address one or a small number of issues. Hot fixes are not applicable for enhancement requests or standard severity issues.
Upgrade Procedures
Upgrades can be performed with Shinydocs participation with “over the shoulder” support, if needed, by submitting a ticket request via the Customer Portal.
Customers can plan upgrades according to their needs and change management processes.
If off-hours work is required, it would need to be scheduled in advance and additional support charges may apply.
Supported Versions
Shinydocs provides support for the current version or the most recent previous version of our solutions. If a customer is using an older version, Customer Support will help facilitate an upgrade to the most recent version. Shinydocs will not release fixes and new features for unsupported versions.
The Release Notes section of the customer portal has further information.
Discontinued Software
Shinydocs reserves the right to discontinue Shinydocs software products and solutions. Shinydocs will provide written notice if a Shinydocs solution or software is discontinued and will continue to provide support for six months following notification.
License Keys
All Shinydocs solutions and software require a license key. A license key or key renewal can be obtained by submitting a Request via the Help Desk.
Exclusions
Shinydocs shall have no obligation to provide maintenance and Support Services if an error is caused by any of the following:
Relocation, movement, improper operation, neglect, or misuse by customer
Failure of customer to provide proper site or operating environmental conditions (hardware, network, etc.)
Failure to implement and employ Shinydocs features, hotfixes, updates, or upgrades
Failure or interruption of electrical power, telephone/internet or communication line, or like cause