Stison Service Level Agreement

STISON

Publishing Software & Services

Service Level Agreement

Support & Maintenance Services

Version	1.2
Effective Date	1 June 2026
Issued by	Stison Ltd
Review Cycle	Annual
Contact	[e-mail]

1       Purpose and Scope

This Service Level Agreement (SLA) sets out the service standards that Stison Ltd (Stison) commits to providing in connection with support services for its software products. It applies to all Stison customers, regardless of how they have contracted with Stison — whether via the Stison Terms and Conditions (online signup), a Stison SaaS Agreement, a Stison Software License and Hosting Services Agreement, or a Stison Support and Maintenance Agreement.

Support is included as standard in all Stison subscription plans. This SLA applies in addition to, and should be read alongside, your Governing Agreement (defined in Section 2 below) and the following Stison policies:

• The Stison Acceptable Use Policy
• The Stison Privacy Notice

Where any conflict exists between this SLA and your Governing Agreement, the terms of the Governing Agreement shall take precedence.

2       Definitions

In this document the following terms have the meanings given below:

Governing Agreement	The primary contract between Stison and the Customer, which will be one of the following depending on how the Customer contracted with Stison: (a) the Stison Terms and Conditions (for customers who signed up online); (b) a Stison SaaS Agreement; (c) a Stison Software Licence and Hosting Services Agreement; or (d) a Stison Support and Maintenance Agreement. Where a customer has both a signed agreement and online Terms, the signed agreement takes precedence.
Business Day	Monday to Friday, excluding UK public holidays.
Business Hours	09:00 to 17:00 UK time on each Business Day.
Error	A verifiable failure of the Supported Software to materially conform with the Software Specification, for which a documented example has been provided by the Customer and which is reproducible by Stison.
Error Report Form	A support request submitted by the Customer to the Helpdesk via email or the web portal, containing sufficient information to enable Stison to investigate the issue (see Section 4.2).
Helpdesk	Stison’s technical support service, accessible via the channels set out in Section 4.
Priority Level	The classification applied to an Error upon receipt of a support request, as described in Section 5.
Supported Software	The current version of the Stison software product(s) licensed to the Customer under the applicable agreement. Support obligations do not extend to earlier or superseded versions.
Target Resolution Time	The time within which Stison aims to resolve or substantially address an Error, measured from receipt of a support request during Business Hours. Time is not of the essence.
Update	A minor release or patch to the Software that corrects Errors or improves performance.
Upgrade	A major new version of the Software that introduces significant new functionality.

3       Support Hours

Stison provides support during the following hours:

Standard Support Hours	Monday to Friday, 09:00–17:00 UK time, excluding UK public holidays.
Out-of-Hours (P1 only)	Issues reported outside Business Hours by email or via the web portal will be reviewed at the start of the next Business Day. Stison does not operate a 24-hour on-call service. Where possible, Stison will use reasonable endeavours to assist with urgent matters, but no response or resolution times are guaranteed outside Business Hours.
Planned Maintenance	Planned maintenance is typically carried out between 21:00 and 02:00 UK time. Stison will give reasonable advance notice of planned maintenance that may affect service availability.

4       Helpdesk Contact Details

All support requests must be submitted via one of the two channels below. To enable Stison to investigate and respond efficiently, customers should include as much relevant detail as possible when logging a request (see guidance in Section 4.2 below).

Email	[e-mail]
Web Portal	stison.zendesk.com
Support Hours	Monday to Friday, 09:00–17:00 UK time (excluding UK public holidays)
Out of Hours	Issues logged outside Business Hours by email or web portal will be reviewed at the start of the next Business Day. No out-of-hours on-call service is available.

Note: Stison reserves the right to update Helpdesk contact details from time to time. The current details will always be published at stison.zendesk.com.

5       Priority Levels and Target Resolution Times

Upon receipt of a support request, Stison will classify the reported Error into one of three Priority Levels. The classification determines the applicable Target Response Time and Target Resolution Time. Target times are measured from receipt of the support request during Business Hours.

Priority	Definition	Target Response	Target Resolution
P1 — Critical	The Software is entirely non-functional for which there is no known workaround, preventing the Customer from conducting normal business operations.	2 Business Hours	1 Business Day
P2 — Severe	A major feature or function is unusable and either: (a) there is no practical workaround; or (b) the available workaround would have a severe impact on the Customer's operations in the medium to long term.	4 Business Hours	3 Business Days
P3 — Minor	Any other Error, including cosmetic issues and Errors with a practical workaround that does not materially affect normal operations.	1 Business Day	As determined by Stison; typically addressed in the next scheduled Update.

Important: Target Resolution Times are targets, not guarantees. Time is not of the essence in relation to resolution. Stison will use reasonable endeavours to meet these targets but cannot guarantee resolution within the stated timeframes in all cases. Target times apply during Business Hours only and are measured from Stison’s receipt of a support request submitted via email or the web portal.

If an Error is resolved such that it moves to a lower Priority Level, progress against Target Resolution Times for the resulting lower Priority Level Error is measured separately from the time that a support request for the lower Priority Level Error is received during Business Hours.

6       Escalation

If a Customer considers that an Error is not being addressed within a reasonable time, or if the Priority Level classification appears incorrect, the Customer may request escalation by emailing [e-mail] and marking the subject line “ESCALATION REQUEST”, including the original ticket reference number.

Stison will acknowledge escalation requests within 4 Business Hours and provide an updated status and revised action plan within 1 Business Day.

7       Scope of Support Services

7.1      What is Included

The Support Services include:

• Technical advice and assistance via the Helpdesk during Business Hours regarding the operation of the Supported Software.
• Investigation and diagnosis of Errors reported via email or the web portal.
• Remote support for diagnosis and resolution of Errors, subject to the Customer providing appropriate remote access.
• Provision of Updates (patches and minor releases) to correct Errors or improve performance.
• Guidance on the use of the Supported Software to the extent not covered by the Documentation.

7.2      What is Not Included

The following are outside the scope of the Support Services and, where Stison agrees to assist, may be charged as Additional Services at Stison’s then-current rates:

• On-site support (available by separate arrangement on a time-and-materials basis).
• Training or re-training of the Customer’s staff.
• Support for third-party software, hardware, or integrations not supplied by Stison.
• Development of bespoke functionality or customisations.
• Data migration, data recovery, or data re-entry.
• Support for versions of the Software that are no longer Supported Software (see Section 8).

Fair Usage: All Support Services are subject to fair and reasonable usage limits as determined by Stison. Stison is not obliged to provide repeated responses to substantially identical requests.

7.3      Software Development and Roadmap

The Supported Software has been developed over many years to reflect the practical needs of the publishing industry. Where functionality exists in part — for example where a feature applies to some but not all use cases — or where industry standards such as ONIX evolve to introduce fields or requirements not currently implemented, Stison will consider such gaps as part of its ongoing development roadmap.

Customers may raise development requests through Stison’s feature request process. Stison will review all requests and, where a gap represents a reasonable and broadly applicable requirement, will use reasonable endeavours to address it in a future release. Stison does not guarantee the development of any particular feature or the timescale within which any roadmap item will be delivered.

Where a Customer has an urgent or specific requirement that falls outside the standard roadmap, this may be scoped and delivered as a bespoke development under a separate arrangement. Customers wishing to explore this option should contact Stison via the Helpdesk at [e-mail].

8       Software Version Support Policy

Stison's obligations under this SLA apply only to the current version of the Supported Software. How Updates and Upgrades reach you depends on your deployment model:

Deployment	Who applies updates?	What the Customer needs to do
Shared SaaS (standard)	Stison — automatically, as part of the service	Nothing. Stison handles everything.
Licensed, Stison-hosted	Stison — via the Support and Maintenance Agreement	Nothing. Stison handles everything.
Licensed, customer-provided server	Stison provides and applies	Keep server OS compatible with the Supported Software.

Where a Customer runs the Software on their own server infrastructure, it is important to keep the Software current by applying Updates and Upgrades as they are made available. Failure to do so may limit Stison's ability to investigate or resolve reported Errors. Where an Update or Upgrade depends on the underlying server OS being at a compatible version, Stison will flag this as early as possible and work with the Customer to agree a suitable schedule. If the server OS falls out of compatibility and is not updated within a reasonable agreed timeframe, this may engage the exclusions in Section 9.

Stison may, on not less than 6 months' prior written notice, designate any version of the Software as no longer supported, provided that the notice period is at least 6 months and the version in question has been available to the market for at least 12 months.

9       Exclusions

Stison’s obligations under this SLA do not apply where an Error or issue is caused by or arises from any of the following:

1	Errors caused by modifications to the Software made by or on behalf of the Customer without Stison's prior written consent.
2	Errors caused by use of the Software in combination with hardware, software or services not approved or specified by Stison.
3	Errors arising from the Customer's failure to implement Updates or Upgrades made available by Stison.
4	Errors caused by the Customer's failure to maintain secure back-ups or by accidental or deliberate corruption of data.
5	Issues arising from third-party services, integrations, or infrastructure outside Stison's control.
6	Issues arising from the Customer's failure to maintain adequate hardware, connectivity or operating environments as specified by Stison.
7	Support requests that are outside the scope of the Supported Software or relate to general IT, user training, or non-Stison systems.
8	Repeated requests for information or support that have been substantially addressed previously (subject to fair usage limits).

Where Stison investigates an issue and determines it falls outside the scope of the Support Services, the Customer may be charged for Stison’s time, costs and materials in connection with that investigation.

10   Customer Obligations

To enable Stison to deliver Support Services effectively, the Customer must:

• Submit all support requests to the Helpdesk via email ([e-mail]) or the web portal (stison.zendesk.com), providing sufficient detail to enable investigation.
• Provide all information, materials and reasonable co-operation requested by Stison for investigation and resolution of Errors.
• Ensure that authorised remote access is in place as specified by Stison from time to time.
• Notify the Helpdesk promptly upon becoming aware of any Error or any proposed material change to the Customer’s operating environment.
• Maintain secure back-ups of all data.
• Ensure that the Supported Software is used only by competent, trained personnel in accordance with the User Manual.
• Not permit any third party (other than Stison or Stison’s approved contractors) to provide support or maintenance in respect of the Supported Software.
• Comply at all times with the terms of the applicable licence agreement and these Support Services terms.

Failure to comply with Customer Obligations may result in suspension of Support Services and/or Stison charging for time spent investigating issues attributable to such failure.

11   Additional Services

Stison is under no obligation to provide services outside the scope of the Support Services. Where Additional Services are agreed, they will be subject to the terms of your Governing Agreement and charged at Stison’s then-current rates, or as otherwise agreed in writing.

Additional Services may include (without limitation): on-site support, bespoke development, consultancy, training, data migration, and support for out-of-scope software or environments.

12   Service Credits

Where Stison fails to meet the Target Resolution Times set out in Section 5 for a P1 Critical Error and this failure is not attributable to an exclusion listed in Section 9 or a Customer Obligation failure under Section 10, the Customer may request a review of the incident.

Any service credits or remedies available in respect of such failures are as set out in your Governing Agreement. This SLA does not itself create any entitlement to financial compensation or service credits unless expressly stated in the applicable Governing Agreement.

13   Review and Amendments

Stison will review this SLA at least annually. Stison reserves the right to amend this SLA at any time, provided that:

• Customers will be given not less than 20 Business Days’ prior written notice of any material reduction in the level of service or Target Resolution Times.
• Minor administrative updates (such as contact details or format changes) may be made at any time without notice.

The current version of this SLA is always available at stison.zendesk.com.

14   Schedule 1 — Logging a Support Request

All support requests must be submitted via one of the two channels below. There is no formal error report form — simply email or use the web portal, and include as much of the information listed below as possible. The more detail you provide, the faster Stison can investigate and respond.

Channel	Details
Email	[e-mail]
Web Portal	stison.zendesk.com

14.1.1   4.2  Information to Include

To help Stison classify and resolve your request as quickly as possible, please include the following information in your email or web portal submission:

• Your name and organisation.
• The software module or area affected.
• A clear description of the issue — what you were doing, what you expected to happen, and what actually happened.
• Steps to reproduce the issue (if known).
• Any error messages displayed on screen.
• Your assessment of the impact and urgency (this helps Stison assign the correct Priority Level).
• Screenshots or attachments where relevant (email only).

Note: A ticket reference will be issued by Stison upon receipt of your request. You do not need to fill in a form — simply email or use the portal and include the information above. The more detail you provide, the faster Stison can investigate and respond.

15   Schedule 1 — Escalation Matrix

If a support issue is not progressing as expected, use the following escalation path:

Level	Who to Contact	Contact Method	When to Use
1	Helpdesk	[e-mail] / stison.zendesk.com	All initial support requests
2	Escalation Request	Email [e-mail] — subject: “ESCALATION REQUEST” + ticket ref	Issue not progressing; Priority Level appears incorrect
3	Account Manager	Via Helpdesk, requesting Account Manager involvement	Ongoing dissatisfaction; commercial or contractual concerns