This document describes the Issue and Escalation Process. The purpose of the process is to ensure unanticipated issues and action items are assigned to a specific person for action and are tracked to resolution. However, when a resolution cannot be reached, the item should be escalated to ensure a decision is made before it causes impact to the project. The escalation process documents how to raise an issue to a higher-level of management for resolution, particularly when resolution cannot be reached at the project level.
The Issue and Escalation Process identifies the procedures used to manage issues, action items, and escalation throughout the project life cycle. The process documents the approach to issue identification and analysis, the approach to escalation and how resolutions are documented.
For guidance on the management systems of SafePass, Inc. please contact Company President.
The current list and status of project issues are kept in an issues database.
The project uses Google Drive as their document repository for all project-specific documentation.
| Action Item | An assigned task (usually related to project management concerns) assigned to a person for resolution which can be completed and has a defined deadline for completion. Action items may be a subset of an issue or may be a stand-alone item (e.g., an assignment as a follow-up to a meeting discussion). |
| Escalation | An issue that is elevated to a higher level of authority. Escalation should only occur when all avenues to resolution have been exhausted at the lowest possible levels within the project. |
| Issue | A point or matter in question or in dispute, or a point or matter that is not settled and is under discussion or over which there are opposing views or disagreements. An issue is a statement of concern or need: |
(1) whose resolution is in question or lacking agreement among stakeholders
(2) that is highly visible or involves external stakeholders such as requests from control agencies
(3) which has critical deadlines or timeframes that cannot be missed
(4) that results in an important decision or resolution whose rationale and activities must be captured for historical purposes or
(5) with critical deadlines that may impede project progress.
This document will be reviewed annually and updated as needed, as the project proceeds through each phase of the system development life cycle.
This document contains a revision history log. When changes occur, the version number will be updated to the next increment and the date, person making the change, and change description will be recorded in the revision history log of the document.
The Project Director will participate in issue and action item resolutions. If an issue could not be resolved at the project level, the Project Director will escalate the issue to the Executive Steering Committee for resolution.
The Project Manager has overall responsibility for driving, participating, and managing the overall issue resolution and escalation process at the project level. The Project Manager will escalate the issue to the Project Director level for resolution when necessary.
The Issue Manager is responsible for overseeing the issue and action item management process and for periodic reporting on issue status and process metrics. The Issue Manager generates reports for weekly project team review meetings. The Issue Manager also monitors due dates and escalates issues and action items to the Project Manager, as appropriate.
Any staff member or stakeholder may generate an issue or action item. Typically, issues and actions are only assigned to project staff to ensure proper visibility and tracking. Other stakeholders may be asked to assist with analysis and review of proposed issue and/or action item resolutions, when appropriate.
The Executive Steering Committee is a governing organization that is comprised of members of executive level who will discuss status, issues and concerns related to the Customer project. The Executive Steering Committee will resolve escalated issues and provide direction to the Project Director. Refer to Customer Project – SafePass Governance Plan for list of Executive Steering Committee members.
The issue and action item management process consist of six steps.
Figure 1. Issue and Escalation Process Flow Chart
Figure 2. Response Time and Resolution Time Chart
| PRIORITY | RESPONSE TIME | RESOLUTION TIME | PRIORITY DEFINITION |
| 1. Critical | 30 Minutes | Four Hours | SafePass Hosted Service completely unavailable. |
Figure 3. Escalation Time Chart
| PRIORITY | ESCALATION TIME |
| 1. Critical | Every Eight Hours |
| 2. Urgent | Every 16 Hours |
| 3. Important | Every 4 Business Days |
| 4. Monitor | N/A |
| 5. Information | N/A |
The issue and escalation process is initiated by Customer via the SafePass support phone number or support email address. It is preferred that Customer contact SafePass via phone and speak to a live person in order to assist with the process flow and expedite the overall process.
Customer will call the 24-hour support hotline (888-559-0903 x 2) to speak with the On-Call Support Personnel and email [email protected] immediately upon discovery of an Issue.
During the initial support phone call with the On-Call Support Personnel, SafePass will confirm the validity of the Issue and determine the Priority Definition found on figure 2 above. This is a critical step in ensuring the appropriate controls are put in place for the remainder of the process.
During the initial discussion with Customer personnel the On-Call Support personnel will attempt to resolve the issue within ten minutes. If unresolved within this time frame, the On-Call Support personnel will proceed to the next step.
The On-call Support personnel enter the issue into the Issues and Resolutions Database.
If unable to resolve within 10 minutes, the following escalation criteria is followed:
The Escalation Process will be used to ensure critical issues are raised soon enough to prevent undesirable impacts to the Customer Project and to ensure the appropriate parties are informed and involved in critical decision-making.
The Customer Project Executive Steering Committee will be notified immediately after any Critical, Urgent or Important Issue has been resolved. All documented Issues will be reviewed by the Customer Project Executive Steering Committee on a monthly basis during the Quality Assurance review meeting. During this meeting, all issues will incorporate the following discussion and documentation.
Upon successful completion and documentation of Resolution, the Customer Issues and Resolutions Database will be updated accordingly, and date of closure submitted to Customer quality assurance teams or other designated Customer personnel.
APPENDIX A: SAMPLE FORMS
Customer Issues and Resolutions Database:
APPENDIX B: ISSUES AND RESOLUTIONS DATABASE INSTRUCTIONS
There are 6 primary fields required to be entered and kept updated.
It is the responsibility of the Issue Manager to enter and maintain this database.