Disruption to online FOI service

Summary

The request sought details regarding a disruption to the Isle of Man Government's online FOI service, including the cause, timeline, and relevant Service Level Agreements. The authority disclosed the timeline of the outage, noted that the underlying cause was still being investigated with a workaround in place, and published SLA targets for both GTS and the supplier Civica.

Key Facts

• The FOI service disruption began on 13 July 2020 when a ticket was raised regarding incorrect departmental listings.
• By 16 July 2020, the issue escalated to all FOI responses appearing 'wiped-out' with strange dates.
• On 17 July 2020, search functionality was temporarily removed and a disruption message was displayed.
• As of the response date, GTS was still working with the supplier to determine the underlying cause and full resolution.
• The response included specific SLA targets for GTS (ranging from 4 hours to 3 days) and Civica (99% annual uptime).

Data Disclosed

• 13 July 2020
• 16 July 2020
• 17 July 2020
• 13:39
• 16:39
• 12:32
• 15:00
• 5 August 2020
• 6 August 2020
• 27 August 2020
• 481290
• 1405759
• 4 hours
• 8 hours
• 3 days
• 95%
• 99%
• two working hours
• six to eight working hours
• 24 working hours

Original Request

As of 05/08/2020, the Isle of Man Government's FOI responses website (https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information) is unavailable and displays a 'Temporary disruption to service' message. 1) When did this service become unavailable? 2) When did GTS become aware that the service was unavailable? 3) What was the cause of the disruption? 4) How long did it take to fix the underlying problem and make the service available again? 5) Can you publish any Service-Level Agreements (SLAs), Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) or such like, relating to required uptime and expected problem resolution time?

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Government Office Douglas Isle of Man IM1 3PN Telephone: (+44) 01624 686244 Website: www.gov.im/co

Our ref: 1405759 27 August 2020

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on 5 August 2020 which states:

"As of 05/08/2020, the Isle of Man Government's FOI responses website (https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information) is unavailable and displays a 'Temporary disruption to service' message. 1) When did this service become unavailable? 2) When did GTS become aware that the service was unavailable? 3) What was the cause of the disruption? 4) How long did it take to fix the underlying problem and make the service available again? 5) Can you publish any Service-Level Agreements (SLAs), Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) or such like, relating to required uptime and expected problem resolution time?"

Please find below the answers to your questions. 1) When did this service become unavailable? On 13th July 2020 at 13:39 a ticket was raised with GTS Servicedesk (ticket number 481290) stating that a couple FOI Disclosures were appearing under the wrong department. This was allocated to a developer at 16:39. At 12:32 on 16th July 2020 the ticket was updated to say that all FOI responses appeared to be ‘wiped-out’ and showing strange dates. On 17th July 15:00 the search functionality on the Disclosure Log was temporarily removed and a message added to the page. 2) When did GTS become aware that the service was unavailable? On 13th July 2020 at 13:39 a ticket was raised with GTS Servicedesk (ticket number 481290) stating that a couple of FOI Disclosures were appearing under the wrong department. This was allocated to a developer at 16:39. 2 3) What was the cause of the disruption? A work around has been implemented to ensure that the disclosure log is available. GTS is currently still working with the supplier to determine the underlying cause and a full resolution. 4) How long did it take to fix the underlying problem and make the service available again? As advised to you by email on 6 August 2020, under Section 10(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 'A request for information is taken to relate to information held at the time when the request is received'. As you noted at the start of the request the relevant webpage was not working when the request was made. 5) Can you publish any Service-Level Agreements (SLAs), Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) or such like, relating to required uptime and expected problem resolution time? " GTS provides and supports the public interface between IOM Government Online Services and the FOI system, which is a cloud-based system provided by Civica. For the GTS components the Service Level Agreement is as follows:- Priority Description Service Target KPI KPI Target 1 System down - business operation or service unavailable, multiple users affected. 4 hours Y 95% 2 Fault - service impaired for small number of users or unavailable for individual user. 8 hours Y 95% 3 Fault - number of users affected but work around available and business critical function(s) not affected. 3 days Y 95% 4 Requests for help or chargeable work items Response within 3 days N The Civica Service Level Agreement is as follows 1 OPERATIONAL HOURS / SYSTEM AVAILABILITY Civica will use commercially reasonable efforts to make the iCasework system available with an annual uptime percentage of at least 99% during each service year. 1.1 Critical Issues 3 When there is a complete loss of service or total system failure, Civica will aim to address and whenever possible, resolve the problem within two working hours. 1.1.1 Impaired Service Civica will aim to address and where possible resolve the problem within six to eight working hours. 1.1.2 Minimal Impact Civica will address and where possible resolve the problem within 24 working hours. Please quote the reference number 1405759 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded.

If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi. 4

I will now close your request as of this date.

Yours sincerely