GFI MailEssentials Online™ service level agreement

This GFI MailEssentials Online Service Level Agreement ("SLA") is a policy governing the use of the GFI MailEssentials Online service and shall be incorporated by reference into the GFI MAX Mail Service Agreement. This SLA shall apply separately to each customer ("Customer") using the GFI MailEssentials Online service. Unless specified otherwise herein, this SLA is subject to the terms of the GFI MAX Mail Service Agreement.

Service commitment

GFI understands the critical nature of Internet email. In providing the GFI MailEssentials Online Service, GFI shall take reasonable steps to ensure that incoming and outgoing email messages are delivered to the destination server, that spam and viruses are identified as such, and that its message processing shall not cause delays with message deliveries. GFI commits to the following service levels ("Committed Service Levels"):

The committed service levels shall be defined in more detail and interpreted in accordance with the "Service Commitment Levels - Definitions and Measurements" section herein.

Remedy

In the event that the GFI MailEssentials Online service does not meet one or more of the Committed Service Levels in a given month, and Customer has fulfilled all its obligations under the GFI MAX Mail Service Agreement, GFI, upon Customer's request within seven (7) days of such event, will credit Customer's account the pro-rated charges for one (1) day of the contracted GFI MailEssentials Online Service fees. Credits will not apply to charges other than the fees for the affected GFI MailEssentials Online Service, and Customer's account shall not be credited more than once per month for each Committed Service Level.

Service credits are calculated as a percentage of the total charges paid for the GFI MailEssentials Online service for the billing cycle in which the Committed Service Level was not met. GFI will apply any service credits against future payments, or at GFI's discretion GFI may credit Customer's credit card. The service credit shall not otherwise create an entitlement to any refund or other payment from GFI, and may not be transferred or applied to any other balance due, unless specifically approved by GFI. The service credit will be applicable issued only if the credit amount is greater than 1 U.S. Dollar. 

It is understood that the sole and exclusive remedy for any unavailability or non-performance of the GFI MailEssentials Online service shall be the receipt of this service credit, or termination of the GFI MailEssentials Online service in accordance with the terms of the GFI MAX Mail Service Agreement.

To receive a service credit, Customer must send a request by email to GFIMAXMP_SLA@GFI.com. The credit request must include the affected domain name(s), a detailed explanation of the errors or non-performance experienced, and any accompanying documentation. If the non-performance is confirmed by GFI, the service credit will be issued on the subsequent billing cycle. Credits are exclusive of any applicable taxes charged to Customer or collected by GFI or its agents.

Exclusions

The Committed Service Levels shall not apply to any non-performance of the GFI services resulting from factors outside of GFI's reasonable control, including but not limited to Internet connectivity problems outside of GFI's network; errors with hardware or software used by Customer or by third parties; misconfiguration of DNS or mail server settings by Customer or its agents; or any Force Majeure events as defined in the GFI MAX Mail service agreement.

If a dispute arises about whether or not a Committed Service Level was achieved, GFI shall make a determination in good faith based on any data provided by Customer, as well as data from GFI's system logs and monitoring systems. In its sole discretion, GFI may use records from its logs and monitoring systems as the basis for all service availability calculations and determinations.

From time to time, GFI performs scheduled maintenance, including maintenance at the third-party datacenters at which the GFI MailEssentials Online Services are hosted. GFI's architecture is designed to enable such scheduled maintenance without interrupting Customer's use of the GFI MailEssentials Online service. Should it be necessary for GFI to schedule maintenance that does affect the availability of the service, GFI will make all reasonable attempts to provide advance warning to Customers and to schedule such maintenance at non-peak times. The SLA shall not apply during times of scheduled maintenance.

Service commitment levels - Definitions and measurements

Reliability is defined as the availability of the GFI MailEssentials Online service's message handling capabilities, specifically the receipt, spam and virus filtering, and delivery of email messages.

Viruses are defined as malicious executable files attached to incoming emails.

Spam capture rate shall be measured as the number of incoming junk mail messages detected or blocked by the GFI MailEssentials Online service , divided by the total number of actual incoming junk mail messages received, for a given Customer domain during a given calendar month. Messages that are blocked through recipient validation, IP reputation, and other non-content related techniques shall be included as captured messages in the analysis.  Customers must use a Medium, High or Very High filtering aggressiveness (i.e. not a "Low" or "Very Low" aggressiveness) to receive the guaranteed 99% or better spam capture rate.

False positives shall be measured as the number of legitimate incoming mail messages that were errantly detected as junk mail by the GFI MailEssentials Online service, divided by the total number of total email messages received, for a given Customer domain during a given calendar month. Messages sent in bulk (including marketing mailings and other high-volume email messages) shall not be counted as false positives. Customers using a "High" or "Very High" filtering aggressiveness will see a higher percentage of false positives and this Service Level Commitment shall not apply. 

Message latency shall be measured as the average length of time that the GFI MailEssentials Online systems require to analyze a message after accepting it, for a given Customer domain during a given calendar month. Latency shall not include deferral times due to use of greylisting, nor network transit time.