Billable services
Cloud Services offers several billable services that support organizations hosting their iMIS environments in the cloud. These services provide flexibility for testing, configuration, troubleshooting, performance improvements, and domain management.
While many infrastructure management activities are included as part of standard hosting, some requests require additional infrastructure resources or specialized environment management. In these cases, Cloud Services provides optional services that include either a one-time setup fee, an ongoing monthly fee, or both.
Organizations typically request these services when deploying new environments, maintaining testing environments, increasing system performance, or supporting upgrade and validation processes.
Note: If you wish to purchase any of the services, send an email to ASI Orders ([email protected]) or submit a support ticket.
Development sites (Dev/UAT/Sandbox)
Cloud Services offers dedicated development environments that allow organizations to test configuration changes, integrations, and upgrades outside of production.
A development site may also be referred to as a Dev, UAT, BPV, or Sandbox environment.
Clients may purchase a development site either during implementation or after going live. Multiple development sites may be purchased if additional testing environments are required.
Each development environment includes a one-time setup fee and an ongoing monthly fee for as long as the environment remains active.
Development environments follow a standard URL format: https://acronymDEV.imiscloud.com
Custom domains are not supported for development environments.
Database refresh
A database refresh copies the current production database and replaces the data in a development or non-production environment. This allows organizations to test changes using data that closely reflects their live system.
Each database refresh incurs a separate fee and cannot be purchased in bulk.
Database refreshes are commonly requested when:
- Preparing a test environment for an upgrade.
- Performing user training with realistic data.
- Validating configuration changes before applying them to production.
- Troubleshooting issues that need to be reproduced outside the live system.
Optional add-on items associated with the refresh process do not incur additional charges.
Dry-run upgrade environments
Organizations may request a dry-run upgrade during implementation to simulate the upgrade process before go-live.
A dry-run helps organizations test configuration changes, validate upgrade outcomes, and estimate upgrade timing in a controlled environment. These requests require approval from Cloud Services management.
Dry-run environments include a one-time setup fee and an ongoing monthly fee for as long as the environment remains active.
Standard cloud test instance or database
A Standard Cloud Test Instance provides a non-production environment that allows organizations to test configuration changes, train staff, or validate new functionality without affecting their live production system.
Test environments help organizations safely evaluate updates and new processes before deploying them to production.
Additional domains
Cloud Services will support two (2) custom domains that are included, at no additional cost to the client. These custom domains can be provided to Cloud Services by the client to have alternate URLs or support access to multiple environments. The two (2) included custom domains excludes the *imiscloud.com domain that Cloud Services provides and would not count towards the included custom domains. Clients can also purchase up to three (3) additional custom domains.
Additional domains are often used to separate production and testing environments or to provide branded URLs for system access.
Note: Adding “www” to a domain does not count as an additional domain. For example, example.imis.com is included with www.example.imiscloud.com.
Common billing scenarios
The following examples illustrate how Cloud Services billing may apply depending on the services requested:
| Scenario | Services included |
|---|---|
| New cloud environment | Standard VM + Setup Fee |
| Performance upgrade | Resize Standard → Advanced |
| Test environment setup | Cloud Test Instance |
| Test Environment with production data | Test Instance + Database Refresh |
| Multiple Access URLs | Additional Domain |
Actual billing will depend on the services requested, the quantity of environments or resources provisioned, and any applicable setup fees.
Client responsibilities and best practices
While Cloud Services manages the hosting infrastructure, organizations remain responsible for managing their use of the iMIS.
This includes the following tasks:
- Configuring application features
- Maintaining data quality
- Managing user access
- Coordinating application-level integrations or customizations.
Clients are also responsible for determining when additional environments, testing resources, or infrastructure upgrades may be necessary.
Using non-production environments for testing and validation before deploying changes to Production is strongly recommended. This approach helps minimize disruption and ensures system updates can be performed safely and efficiently.
By clearly separating infrastructure management from application administration, Cloud Services and client teams can work together to maintain a secure, stable, and reliable hosted environment.