This Service Level Agreement (SLA) forms the basis of the agreement between you as the client and FairGrow. This SLA defines the minimum level of FairGrow’s service in terms of tasks, responsibilities, service levels, procedures and arrangements. The SLA also applies to parties engaged by FairGrow to deliver the service.

Before this SLA takes effect, you have tested your FairGrow environment and confirmed that it works properly: your devices deliver data, the dashboard shows your measurements and notifications work as agreed. Custom work, such as a specific integration or a tailored view, is set up for your environment in consultation with you.

By default, FairGrow does not provide a separate test environment. You get one environment that goes live whenever you choose. If you want separate test and production environments, for example to keep your live growing data away from trial setups, we can set that up at your expense.

This SLA covers the service FairGrow offers as standard and for which the platform is configured by default. A custom service, by contrast, is not part of the standard offering and is arranged specifically for you. This standard SLA is included in the service; custom services are charged extra on reasonable commercial terms.

This SLA can only be changed after a written change request and written agreement from both parties. The request goes to FairGrow or to you as the client and is then processed.

The SLA sets out the qualitative and quantitative agreements on the service. It consists of indicators (the service levels) that matter to you for the quality of the service. These indicators are measurable and within FairGrow’s control.

FairGrow provides cloud services for connected growing. Your sensors, dataloggers, gateways and satellites deliver real-time measurements, which we show together with weather and satellite data in one clear dashboard. On top of that we offer charts, thresholds and alerts, an irrigation workflow and forecasts from open data, among other things.

It is built on our own algorithms and open data sources, configured for your crops according to your needs and your plan.

FairGrow always keeps ample buffer capacity available to process, store and visualise millions of sensor readings a day. This keeps your dashboard running smoothly even with large numbers of devices and high measurement frequencies.

This section describes the general arrangements and performance standards for the service.

In principle, the platform is available 24/7. We only carry out innovative or adaptive maintenance in consultation or at your request. We schedule maintenance together with you. For changes that pose a risk to the service and involve several parties, we give at least 5 business days’ notice.

The standard for average platform availability is 95% over a one-month period, excluding downtime caused by improper use on your side. Support is provided remotely; on-site support or training is arranged separately.

Below are the standard response and resolution times the service is set up for. Depending on your needs and budget, we can tighten the priorities, response times and resolution times.

If you contact us by phone or from a different email address, your support request may take longer. We first check that the requester is who they say they are, for example with the registered user. This stops anyone without the right permissions from gaining access to your environment or data.

FairGrow always does its best to provide a temporary solution, for example during a nationwide internet outage. This could be a local view or another workaround for the issue at hand. We only apply a workaround once you have given written consent.

To keep communication and decisions about the service efficient, we meet at strategic, tactical and operational level. These meetings aim to improve our collaboration and the quality of the service. Together we agree their purpose, frequency and level, and record this in the quote or order confirmation.

If we disagree on which priority applies, the matter can be escalated. At FairGrow, a senior staff member is the point of contact for this; on your side, a fixed contact person handles the escalation. If the resolution time is exceeded, or is about to be, the matter is escalated as well.

FairGrow’s management services cover all actions needed to manage the servers and the platform. They are tailored to each client and can include:

• Monitoring and reporting of the platform, servers and the status of your devices.
• Backup and restore of the platform and your measurement data.
• Dynamic capacity management that scales with the number of devices and measurements.
• Security and the timely installation of patches and updates.
• Data storage: your sensor and measurement data are retained, so you keep your history, charts and trends. That is the very core of the service.

The platform runs on Linux and uses proven open-source components for time-series storage of sensor data, communication with your dataloggers, gateways and satellites and visualisation in the dashboard. During preventive maintenance, our own specialists install and test the updates.

FairGrow runs on our own servers in a Dutch data centre, so your data falls under European law (GDPR). The systems are accessible only to FairGrow staff who have signed our internal IT code of conduct. The environments are shielded and can only be reached from specific trusted addresses.

FairGrow’s security is designed around the ISO/IEC 27001 framework. You can find more details on the about us page and in our security documentation.

Where possible, FairGrow takes measures to keep security at a high level, including:

FairGrow’s mail servers connect securely using STARTTLS and DANE. Client environments are hardened in line with the current CIS Benchmarks. An external penetration test can be carried out once a year.

A security incident is any event that compromises, or may compromise, the confidentiality, integrity or availability of information or information systems. Examples include infections with viruses or malware and attempts to gain unauthorised access to information or systems (hacking).

A data breach includes the loss of a storage medium containing sensitive information, theft of data or hardware, a compromised mailbox, documents left in a public place and any other situation in which personal data could end up outside the protected environment. Where required, we report these incidents to the data protection authority and to the client concerned.

When personal data is processed, a data processing agreement applies. FairGrow provides one that complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and sets out how data is processed, secured and how long it is kept.

FairGrow makes daily backups on a fixed schedule and keeps them for the agreed period. Unlike data that is only processed temporarily, your measurement data is kept on purpose, because history, charts and trends are the core of the service. The databases your process depends on are protected against failure.

On request, we carry out spot checks on data integrity and test restores. The commitment to do so, the procedure and how often they run fall outside the standard SLA and are agreed separately. As the client, you remain responsible for your raw data, your processed content and the supporting databases.

Alongside this SLA, we can sign a confidentiality agreement with you. As a rule, client information is never made public or shared with third parties.

Log files are important for analysing incidents, such as security breaches and service errors, and for monitoring day-to-day use. We can make separate arrangements with you about this.

When the agreement ends, the exit plan takes effect. You get an agreed period to secure your data, such as an export of your measurement and reference data, before the environment is wiped. The same applies to backups, for which a different timeline may be agreed. FairGrow guarantees the transfer and deletion of all data that exists and is accessible.