Pre-Planned WTS Computer Support Services Relationships

 Description

Technical assistance and consulting is available from WTS on a range of computer and network platforms.  WTS will provide a pre-defined level of staffing to help the customer manage their computing and networking facilities at a considerable discount to the "as needed" service offerings.  Through the Dedicated Support arrangement, WTS customizes the services provided to fit the customer's needs, according to the customer's priorities.  The customer gets added value through:

• the ability to arrange for a "portion" of a person's support time to meet their real needs on a cost-effective basis;
• the synergies of a broader team, utilizing the best practices developed through their considerable experience and leveraging areas of specialized expertise within WTS;
• training and support provided to the Dedicated Technical Support staff, as needed to get the job done; and
• backup staffing support provided to the customer, ensuring continued service during individual staff holidays, sickness or other absences from work.
• emergency staffing support provided to the customer on request, ensuring continued service during individual staff holidays, sickness, or absences from work

The Dedicated Support service (available at up to a 40% lower cost than our "Time and Materials" rate) is available to areas that require a significant amount of technical assistance.  WTS will dedicate a percentage of a technical support person's time to be working on-site in the client's area.  This committed amount will be evaluated on a regular basis to determine the correct level of support needed.  A minimum of 1 month commitment required. 

Pricing

• Internal:  $52.80 per hour for "one day per week" (20% FTE) support
  Note: Internal price will increase to $55/hr as of May 1 2025
• Affiliate:  $63.80 per hour for "one day per week" (20% FTE) support
  Note: Affiliate price will increase to $66/hr as of May 1 2025
• Billable On demand WTS Computer Support Services Rates
• Volume Discounting available:
  • If a Unit commits to larger volumes of contracted service, discounts applied to the standard hourly rates for Dedicated Technical Support services (above) are applied as follows:
    • 6% discount - for 17.5 hours per week (50% + FTE)
    • 12% discount - for 35 hours per week or more (100% + FTE)

Roles and Responsibilities

The WTS Dedicated Technical Support person will create and maintain supporting documentation that will describe the client environment and the work done so that others may quickly learn the necessary facts to troubleshoot and support the area.

The customer must provide a single point of contact who will be responsible for setting priorities for the WTS support person and to involve WTS in any IT planning undertaken by the Unit.  This way, the Dedicated Technical Support person may work closely with the Unit to offer guidance and keep the customer apprised of developments in technology on campus.

Terms and Conditions

WTS will work with the customer to establish a regular schedule for the Dedicated Technical Support person to support the client's needs and priorities.  There are some basic guidelines used to ensure the efficiency of the overall service provided:

• Dedicated Technical Support work is scheduled within the normal working hours of Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (excluding holidays observed by Western);
• The customer must contract for a minimum of 20% of a support person's time, i.e. at least 1 day a week, year round, to take advantage of the Dedicated Technical Support service (NOTE: customers who do not need a committed 1 day/week of service can take advantage of the "Time and Materials" services offered, described below in the "as needed" section);
• This time can be reserved in blocks throughout the work week, varying in size from 3 hours to a full 7-hour working day, to organize the contracted support time into a regular schedule that fits available resources to the customer's needs.

Emergency Service

Typically, a Dedicated Technical Support person will perform all non-critical work during the designated hours each week.  Should an emergency arise (e.g. server down or other critical service become unavailable) during regular working hours, but while the dedicated support person is not on site, a call should be made to the Support Centre and the Dedicated Technical Support person (or emergency backup) will attempt to contact the department within 2 working hours of the trouble call.  Calls outside the normal hours of the Dedicated Support arrangement will be charged at the normal WTS Time and Materials rates.  

Emergency (2-hour) response can be provided upon request, but will carry with it a charge for an extra hour.  See "Evening and Weekend Assistance" for support outside of the regular work week.

Provides network print sharing, personal and shared file storage (with automated daily backup)

NOTE: This fee does not include end-user workstation support.  See "Technical Assistance - Dedicated Support Person" or "Technical Assistance - Time and Materials"

Central File Storage (formerly Walter/WesternCloud)

Description

WTS can provide access to central server resources for secure, on premise data storage and sharing. 

For units with new central storage needs, a separate disk volume will be created that may be accessed remotley and shared among many users.  Setup, security, and management of the disk can be done entirely by departmental administrators or with WTS assistance.  Disk charges will be assessed on the amount of space consumed by live data and backup on the volume.  Amount of space consumed by backup is dependent upon the variability of the data (i.e.: static data will require less backup space than dynamic data).  Default schedule of backup of file changes is once per day with a retention of 28 days.

NOTE: existing spaces formerly referred to as Walter

Software licensing is no longer included in this service.  Disk space is managed as a combination of Home and Work directories.  Management of folder setup and security must be done by WTS staff and will normally be at no additional cost*.  Disk will be allocated in 250GB increments for charging purposes**.  Disk charges will be assessed on the basis of actual live data space used and a calculation of space occupied by backup of that data.  Default schedule of backup of file changes is once per day with a retention of 28 days.

*If a unit requires a reorganization of space that requires a significant amount of resources, Time and Materials charges may apply.

**Some existing customers formerly in the Walter model with very small disk requirements will be moved into the new model at a per GB rate as appropriate.

For users with special CPU or performance requirements, a different solution may be required.  If you are planning to use the disk space for databases or high performance computing, please contact WTS to discuss your specific needs.

Pricing

• Internal:   $15/250GB/month
• Afflilate:   $30/250GB/month

System Configuration

There are minimum configuration standards that users of this service must meet in order to fit application and support requirements.  Clients must have a minimum of:

• IBM-compatible, Intel-based computer
• Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1
• The currently approved campus virus protection software must be enabled and up-to-date on each PC.

Print Sharing Only

Description

Allows for the connection and sharing of printers on the network.  WTS sets up the print queue(s) and configures each workstation to point to the appropriate queue.  Can be used in concert with Central File Server Access services, or independently to provide printer-sharing capabilities to a group of workstations.

Pricing

• Internal:   $1/printer/month
• Affiliate:   $2/printer/month

Description

Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) is designed to host desktop operating systems within virtual machines that reside/run on a centralized server infrastructure.  Key points about VDI at Western:

• Our current offering is designed to be used in a lab environment.
• Our implementation is designed to use what are called zero client devices in the labs.  These devices cannot run independently as desktops but instead connect to central servers where the desktop's processing actually takes place.  WTS can assist in acquiring needed client devices.
• A customized image can be created for each lab including only the applications that lab requires with any security measures needed applied to the desktops.
• These desktops can be used by our undergrad and graduate student population as well as faculty and identified supporting staff members.  More granular restrictions can be applied if needed - for example if you want a lab restricted to graduate students for a particular faculty.
• 2 GB of central disk is provided for each student to store their assignments.  This disk is purged when the student leaves Western.
• USB keys can be used in these devices as they can with any PC.
• Management of individual lab images is delegated to the departments involved.  WTS will work with these administrators to gain an understanding of the tools and processes involved.

Pricing

Intial Purchases

• Zero Clients (approx.)                                     $500/client
  • NOTE: Zero Clients can be purchased from any manufacturer, though it is recommended that the client units have the teradici chipset to take advantage of the management console.  Compudata has been chosen as the preferred vendor for VDI Zero Clients.
• Microsoft VDA Licenses  (equivalent to)        $3.44/desktop/mth
  • NOTE: The VDA licenses are purchased under a subscription term contract and must be purchased in advance.  At the end of the contract, you will be required to renew licenses.  WTS will manage the purchase for you and pass the initial purchase and any subsequent renewal costs back to your department.

Monthly Fees

• Infrastructure (base 2CPU and 4GB RAM):                       $14/desktop/month
• Additional RAM:                                                                  $1.00/GB/month
• Additional Disk Space for storage of desktop images:        $0.06/GB
• Software (SPSS):                                                      $9.00/desktop/month

Description

The Western domain for authentication only option for stand-alone network users grants you access to the Central Western Active Directory.  Active Directory is the Windows authentication and authorization service.  Some advantages of this service are:

• It can provide a standard method to acquire central Microsoft patch management through the Windows System Update Service server.  This includes Microsoft Office products as well as operating systems.
• Taking advantage of Active Directory's GPO feature can increase security by applying policies to lock down machines. 
• Systems that authenticate to the Western domain can be accessed using Western userid and password, rather than requiring a local account.  This access can be controlled through the creation of permission groups.
• The Western domain for authentication only option provides lab administrators the opportunity to restrict stations to valid Western users only.  It also provides for better central management of security policies and Windows update distribution.

Pricing

• Internal and Affiliate customers:  As a result of the Western Microsoft Campus Agreement, there is no charge for connected workstations at this time.

Affiliate Network Access - FTEs

Description

WTS provides "core" backbone network services to Western as part of the infrastructure support component of its mission.  Affiliates using "core" backbone network services from WTS are subject to Western's network policies and guidelines.  This service is intended to provide you with basic network connectivity and limited internet services.  If your business requires additional network services or a more robust internet feed, WTS can assist you in identifying options.

If you subscribe to any other data networks services, these networks must be physically isolated from Western data networks.  Hosts connected to the Western data network cannot be directly connected to any network associated with an alternate ISP.  Hosts configured in this manner are a potential security risk to the Western network facilities.

For affiliated organizations, the core backbone network services and the ongoing Western support for them can be accessed for a network connectivity fee.  The actual infrastructure to connect the workstation to Western's backbone network is still the responsibility of the affiliated organization.

Pricing

• Affiliate:  $10.00 / Student/Staff/Faculty FTE / year

ConnectIT Student Room Connections

Descriptions

WTS will partner with Residence management organizations to provide appropriate network infrastructure and support services to facilitate the connectivity and amangement of direct Student Residence room access to the Western backbone network and services. 

These services include:

• Internet connectivity;
• Liaison services between support staff for backbone network connectivity troubleshooting and network management services;
• Collaborative security monitoring and management;
• Coordination of student identification and authorization services.

Pricing

Pricing for these services is dependent upon how the Residence management organization contracts for the service relationship and is negotiated directly with each client according to a standard framework.

Description

WTS offers central network backup/recovery services for many commonly used server and desktop operating systems.  This service provides unattended, overnight backups performed between 5pm and 7am, scheduled to accommodate client needs.  File recovery can be managed directly by the administrator of the client machine.

NOTE: Email notifications are sent by the system to inform system administrators of the completion of each backup.  It is the client's responsibility to check these emails on a daily basis to insure that the backup has completed properly and that the output appears reasonable.  Logs of all actions performed by Legato Networker are maintained centrally for at least 1 year.

The client subscribes to the backup protection service on a computer by computer basis.  For each computer, the monthly cost of the backup service depends upon the total volume of data backed up in that month.

The pricing for Backup / Recovery service is outlined below.

• Internal:  $0.15 / GB; Minimum $15.00 / month / computer
• Affiliate:  $0.25 / GB; Minimum $20.00 / month / computer

The cost of the basic backup service is dependent on the total volume of data backed up in a particular month, with a minimum monthly charge.  Backup copies are retained for 2 months.

Domain and DNS Hosting

Description

For customers that wish to establish a unique, non-"Western" web domain identifier (i.e. not *.uwo.ca) and the supporting name resolution services, WTS can setup and maintain this within the Western network, if appropriate.  WTS will setup and register the DNS to support a host name and provide appropriate email aliases.  WTS will maintain the information, at the client's direction.

There is no charge for WTS to setup and register the DNS to support a host name, but you must provide written permission from your Dean, Chair, or Budget Unit Head.

The customer is responsible for registering an approved name.  There is a fee payable to the Registry site for this registration.  WTS can assist the customer with the Domain Name approval and registration process based on our hourly rates (minimum 1 hour charge).

Web Site Hosting

Description

WTS can provide web services on Western's central web server or on a domain other than the standard www.uwo.ca domain.  Customers of the Domain and DNS Hosting service can take advantage of this service to use Western's web infrastructure and avoid the necessity to build their own.  The Domain name and DNS hosting must be setup first, see Domain and DNS Hosting above for details.

Pricing

• All customers:   $150.00 initial, one-time setup fee;
• All customers:   $100.00 annual, ongoing maintenance fee.

Hosting a Computer in the WTS Data Centre

Description

The WTS computer room is specifically designed for the support of computer equipment and networking.  For customers who would like to find a secure environment for a key networked server, WTS can offer the following services:

• UPS power supply
• Network connectivity
• Air conditioned environment
• Controlled access security environment
• Software monitoring and emergency call-out to a single designated phone number (software determines if the server has gone down or is not transmitting on the network - NOT whether your application is doing what it is supposed to do)
• Secure remote access to the server console via IP/KVM.  The required request form for this service can be found at Hosting Server Form

Pricing

• All customers:   $300.00 per server initial, one-time setup fee(*);

(*)NOTE: Each server must have a designated system adminisstrator and contact information for at least one person in the case of an emergency or noted hardware failure.

There may be special, one-time implementation costs, driven by the power or facilities requirements of the hosted machines or labour costs associated with initial configuration.  WTS will negotiate an appropriate cost-sharing arrangement with the client to accommodate this.

Additional charges may be incurred if access is required to the Data Center outside WTS staffed hours (7:30am to 10:00pm Monday to Friday). Please see "Evening and Weekend Assistance" for support costs of these hours.

Hosted Server System Administration

Description

For customers taking advantage of "computer hosting" in the WTS Data Centre but do not have arrangements to provide system administrative support for the hosted machine(s), there is a server maintenance fee.  This provides for standard maintenance of the operating system so that it is updated with the current security patches and bug fixes regularly.

Pricing

Pricing for this service is based on the applicable WTS Technical Assistance labour fees (see "Time and Materials" rates for this service).  This may vary over time, depending upon individual circumstances, but experience indicates that the typical amount of work involved will fit within our minimum support levels:

• For Unix/Linux servers, a minimum 4 hours of labour per month will be provided and billed;
• For Windows 2003/2008 servers, a minimum 2 hours of labour per month will be provided and billed.

Hosted Applications

Virtual Server:

Using a Virtual Server allows the application to live on a shared hardware platform, but it is configured to use an independent copy of the operating system.  It can be updated, restarted, and otherwise maintained without impacting the other applications on the same hardware.  A virtual server can run Windows or Linux operating systems.  Essentially, there is no functional difference between a virtual and a physical server.

A virtual server resides within an enterprise level infrastructure providing many advantages:

• Physical security benefits provided by the central data centers within WTS:
  • controlled physical access
  • UPS power supply
  • controlled air-conditioned environment
  • Software monitoring and emergency call-out
  • Secure remote access to the server console via SSH/RDP 

• Redundancy that you cannot achieve with a single physical server.
• Payment for only the hardware resources you need rather than buying an entire server.
• Abstraction of the server from the hardware which minimizes downtime if/when hardware needs to be taken down for update/replacement.
• Portability of the individual virtual servers which aids in restores or Disaster Recovery scenarios.
  Power, space, and cooling savings.
• Daily full backups that are maintained for 30 days.

The cost of a Virtual Server includes all required operating system licensing, backup of the OS and data, hardware considerations, environment costs, and staff resources to support the physical infrastructure.  Specific licensing for database and/or applications will be the responsibility of the department.  

WTS offers two versions of our Virtual Servers - Shared and Dedicated. In the Shared version the CPUs are shared between multiple Virtual Servers. In the Dedicated version the CPUs are assigned to only 1 Virtual server.

NOTE: WTS will provide system administration for the virtual server with support limited to the operating system. The requestor must identify a dedicated trained individual to act as the Application Administrator for each virtual server.  The Application Administrator is responsible for installation, configuration, and management of the application(s) running on the virtual server.  Please refer to the following link for further details on Administrator roles and responsibilities: https://wts.uwo.ca/administrator_responsibilities/

Installation and Image Hosting

Description

WTS offers a central service for hosting images for IP based security cameras.  These images are achieved for 25 days on our central server.  This service is available to Western departments and affiliates who choose to purchase and install cameras on the Western network.  Consultation with Campus Community Police must be done prior to purchase and/or installation of cameras.  For more information, please visit https://www.uwo.ca/campussafety/services.html

Pricing

• Internal and Affiliate customers:
  • Installation of Network connectivity to camera(s): Pricing is dependent on the number of lines to be installed.  See pricing information under "Installation and Setup of Voice and Data Communications" in the 'Billable WTS Telecommunications Services' section.
  • Client side configuration for viewing of images: charged at "Time and Materials" rates
• Affiliate/Ancillary customers:
  • Monthly charge for storage of camera images: $10/camera/month

NOTE: Client side configuration fees waived for Dedicated Support Departments

Camera Hardware Maintenance

WTS, in cooperation with Campus Community Police Services, is responsible to provide monitoring and maintenance support for Western's security camera network.  As the environment ages, challenges have been identified around budgeting for maintenance and replacement of cameras and the processes for confirmation and payment for support/replacement requests.

In response, WTS has developed a maintenance program to address these issues for security camera stakeholders.

Pricing

• $5.00/month/camera
• Note: Price to increase to $10.00/month/camera in May 1 2025. Some unique or large cameras may have a different ongoing price.

This cost assumes that the cameras will be refreshed on an 8 year cycle and includes all parts, labour, and licensing to maintain the existing camera or replace as needed.  Any net new camera installations would be funded by the requesting unit and be included in the maintenance program from the point of installation.

Confluence

WTS offers a wiki hosting service through https://westernu.atlassian.net/wiki.  This website is built using an application called Confluence from Atlassian.  It is described as "an enterprise wiki that makes it easy for your team to collaborate and share knowledge."

For each wiki space you can designate the following:

• User(s) who will administer the wiki space
• User(s) who have read/write access to the space
• User(s) who have read only access to the space

NOTE: Each user accessing the wiki space must have a valid Western Identity.

Supporting documentation is available to help novice wiki users learn to leverage the many features offered by this project including structuring of your space, use of attachments, exporting of content to PDF files, formatting macros, etc.

Pricing

• All customers:  $15.00 per wiki space per month

NOTE: This provides up to 2 GB of disk.  Disk space used in excess of 2 GB will be charged at:

• Internal:  $0.07 per GB/month
• Affiliate:  $0.13 per GB/month

For more information about the wiki service please go to https://wts.uwo.ca/atlassian/confluence/index.html

Jira: Refined Custom Site

Description

A unique Customer Portal for a Jira Service Management project with a personalized URL.

Pricing

• $15.00 per month per user

Jira: JSM Knowledge Base

Description

A single unique Confluence space designed to be used in Jira Service Management projects. Jira Agents without a Confluence license can view and edit pages via Jira and Customers without a license via the Customer Portal can view Confluence pages in this space.

Pricing

• $15.00 per month per user

Jira: Software

Description

A software application developed by the company Atlassian that allows teams to track issues, manage projects, and automate workflows.

Pricing

• $15.00 per month per project

Jira: Service Management

Description

A software application developed by the company Atlassian that allows teams to categorize service requests, incidents, problems, and changes by organizing and prioritizing these requests in a single place using queues, and includes a customer portal.

Pricing

• $15.00 per month per user

Note: As of May 1 2025 the monthly prices for each Atlassian service will be changing. Please visit https://wts.uwo.ca/atlassian/product_pricing/#https://wts.uwo.ca/atlassian/product_pricing/ for details. 

Western completed a review of antivirus protection products for campus desktops and servers in the spring of 2010.  This review confirmed that the product used at Western since 2001, Trend Officescan, is still the best choice for the Western computing environment.  The latest version of the product provides virus and malware protection for Windows, Macintosh, and Linus systems.  

Trend is purchased and maintained by Western's central administration and is available for use of faculty/departmental desktops at no cost to the user.  This software had also historically been available to some affiliated and ancillary users of the Western network at no cost.  With the latest renewl of Trend (effective May 1, 2010), all affiliate and ancillary units will be charged a nominal fee for the use for this software.

Pricing

• Internal: No cost
• Affiliate/Ancillary:  $6.60 per workstation per year

Description

WTS provides a Database environment capable of hosting multiple databases, including Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL (MariaDB), and Oracle.

Microsoft SQL & MySQL (MariaDB) Server

Microsoft SQL and MySQL (MariaDB) databases up to 2GB in size are hosted free of charge.  Additional database disk space is available.

Pricing

Additional database disk space:

• Internal:  $0.07 per GB/month
• Affiliate:  $0.13 per GB/month

Oracle

Requests for hosting Oracle databases can be discussed on an individual basis.  Please contact the Helpdesk for further information.

Description

The Papercut printing solution is a centrally managed application supported jointly by Western Libraries and WTS.  This solution is used to provide a chargeback mechanism for units that would like to provide printing, photocopy, and scanning services to students.

Papercut provides printing to students via a Papercut account that is linked with the student Western email address.  Funds can be added to this account on the web with a credit card or through the purchase of Papercut redemption cards available at designated locations.  Students can generate a document on any Papercut-attached workstation and print to any printer in the Papercut system.  This service can also be made available to visitors to Western using guest accounts.

Unit can choose to use standard printers with an attached release station to provide printing or use the Western standard Toshiba Multi-Function device for printing and other functions such as scan and copy.

Revenues generated by the Papercut printing solution are managed by WTS and will be reimbursed to each participating unit on a quarterly basis, based on the number of pages printed at each unit printer.

System Requirements:

• Printer Server: For units with more than one printer, a print server must be available within the unit to support the print queues that will attach to Papercut.  If you only have one printer, please contact the Helpdesk (x83800) for information on other options.
• Release solution: In order for the student to select and release print to a particular printer, a release station must be attached to the printer.  Minimum release station specs are:
  • Intel Core i5 Processor
  • 8GB RAM
  • Windows 7 Enterprise
  • Minimum 128 GB SSD (Recommended for Performance)

Pricing:

Cost to students:

Units are able to designate costs independently for each printing service managed (colour, black & white printing, photocopies)

Cost  to Department:

If required:

• One time purchase of Release Station license software: approximately $180/station for license and support to the end of the five year contact

OR

• One time purchase of embedded MFD software: approximately $800/MFD for license and support to the end of the five year contract

(NOTE: this software includes upgrade support for the term of the Western Papercut contract: to 2020.  Renewal of the support only will be required after this time and is expected to be approximately 20% of the original cost of the software/station)

Print queues that print directly do not require additional licensing.

Reimbursement of print revenue to department:

Reimbursement will be based on the amount per page paid by the student, less HST remittance and administrative fees based on an agreed upon formula.

Roles and Responsibilities

WTS is responsible to manage the central Papercut software and hardware and to assist new users with setup on the system.  WTS is also responsible to montior and audit funds flowing into the Papercut account and process quarterly reimbursements to participating units as per the agreed upon formula.  

Unit System administrators will be provided with access to the PaperCut Adminitrative portal in order to manage and monitor the use of departmental printers and will be responsible for supporting users with service delivery within the unit.