Prior to the first installation of SCI software, one of our Implementation Managers will visit the Trust to discuss your exact requirements and will help you to complete a checklist to ensure that your Trust is ready to receive the software. The Implementation Manager will guide you through all the processes up to the point of going "Live".

SCI Support Services
Trust IT Help Desk / Superusers
Your Trust IT Help Desk will be the first point of contact for any issue that you wish to raise. The Trust IT Help Desk will log the incident and ensure that, when necessary, it is passed to the appropriate supplier or SCI for resolution. All SCI product related issues will be passed to the NISG Service Desk.

Some Trusts do not have an IT Help Desk. In this case your first point of contact will be the nominated 'Superusers', who have been trained in both the use and support of the SCI products.
Details of your particular Trust arrangements will be found on the Help Desk Register.

Your Trust IT Department will: -

NISG Service Desk Support
The NISG Service Desk provides the second level of support to SCI customers. All incidents, including requests for advice that are reported to the NISG Service Desk are logged and tracked. The operators will keep you fully informed of the progress of your calls through to final closure. Routine monthly reports will be available in the near future.

If you require further information on any of the SCI support services please contact the NISG Service Desk on 0141 282 2100 between 8.30 a.m. and 5.30 p.m. Monday to Friday.

NISG Product Support
The NISG Product Support team, have been trained in all the SCI products and the appropriate aspects of, SQLServer, Windows, networking and Transact SQL. They provide the technical back up to SCI customers, as well as providing additional support to the Service Desk.

The team have responsibility for a wide range of activities: -

Releases and Upgrades
The NISG Product Support team are responsible for issuing the SCI software and all subsequent upgrades. The upgrades will be issued in a form to allow the Trust IT staff to carry out the actual installation.

Healthcheck Procedures
The NISG Product Support team will supply the Healthcheck Procedures to ensure the SCI system performs to its full potential. Trust IT staff will be advised in the use of these Procedures to enable them to maintain their systems. Please contact the SCI Support Team to discuss Healthcheck Procedures

Data Investigation
In the event of suspected data corruption, the Trust Data Base Administrator should examine the data, in the first instance. If necessary, the NISG Product Support Team will undertake further investigations into data corruption and, where possible, endeavour to provide fixes or workarounds for these.

In these circumstances, it may be necessary for a backup of the Trust data to be sent to the SCI Team. Procedures will be provided by the Trust and SCI for this backup to ensure that the data will be in a format that is able to be restored by the SCI Team. At all times the SCI Team will comply with the security and confidentiality procedures detailed in the Service Level Agreement and also the Trust's own security policies.

Remote Support
Microsoft's System Management Server (SMS), part of the Microsoft toolset, is currently used for remote support to Trusts. This system will allow the Trust, SCI and other authorised suppliers to connect to each site for the purpose of investigating and resolving system problems without the need to make an on-site visit. This will significantly reduce the time needed to resolve problems.

On-Site Support Services
In the majority of situations, your Trust IT staff will provide on-site support supplemented, where necessary, by remote support from the NISG Product Support Team. It is expected that on-site support from the NISG Product Support Team will only be provided in very exceptional cases.