Cloud Services FAQ
This FAQ answers common questions about ASI Cloud Services, including hosting, responsibilities, billable services, and environment management.
Hosting and infrastructure
Who manages my hosted environment?
The Cloud Services team manages the infrastructure, performance, security, and availability of your hosted iMIS environment.
Where is my environment hosted?
Your shared environment runs within a managed cloud platform built on Microsoft Azure.
Roles and responsibilities
Who handles iMIS configuration or changes?
Your internal team, AiSP partners, or other ASI service teams handle application configuration, workflows, and data changes.
Can Cloud Services help with custom development or integrations?
No. Custom code and integrations are outside the scope of Cloud Services.
Are there limits to what Cloud Services can support?
Yes. Requests involving application configuration, extensive manual work, or non-standard services may be declined or redirected.
Environment management and upgrading
How are upgrades handled?
Cloud Services manages upgrades using a phased rollout to ensure stability before changes reach all production environments.
Can I request when or how often our iMIS instances are updated?
No. All iMIS updates and releases are set by ASI Development, so we don’t accommodate client-requested upgrade dates or times. Cloud Services will conduct upgrades outside of regular business hours.
How do I test changes before going live?
You can use a Development or Test environment to safely validate changes before applying them to Production.
Can a starter database be created for new iMIS implementations?
Yes. A new site can be provisioned using the Quick Start database as a baseline. Once created, Cloud Services will update the Staff site and provide encrypted login credentials so the team can configure any additional sites or customizations as needed.
Domains, traffic, and access
How do I change the primary domain for an iMIS site?
Prior to changing your primary domain, notify Cloud Services to ensure that there are no issues with the site while changing the primary domain. Coordinate a date and timeframe with Cloud Services prior to the domain change so that the process is as seamless as possible. Since Cloud Services is available 24/7, you can select a time that works best for your organization. We recommend selecting a timeframe that falls outside of regular business hours.
To change the primary domain, update your domain’s DNS records to point to the IP address provided by ASI. Once DNS changes are complete, notify Cloud Services so the domain can be configured in iMIS and Cloudflare. Afterward, update the domain settings in the iMIS Staff site.
I am expecting a large amount of traffic on our site at a specific time and day. Can someone monitor the service during this time for issues?
Yes. Cloud Services will make sure there is plenty of resource usage available and will monitor it on that day and time.
Can ASI Cloud hosted sites be accessed from all countries?
Access is restricted in certain regions for security reasons. ASI geo-blocks specific countries identified as cybersecurity risks (including China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, and Vietnam).
If access from one of these regions is required, the client must submit a support ticket, enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) for staff users, and have their environment moved to a designated server that supports geo-blocked access.
Backups and data protection
Where are database backups stored for cloud clients?
ASI uses Microsoft Azure SQL Database, where each operating region has its own dedicated instance. This ensures client data and backups remain within the same geographic region to comply with applicable data privacy and residency regulations.
What are the backup and retention practices for ASI-hosted iMIS EMS environments?
Production databases use Azure SQL backups with 30-day point-in-time recovery (PITR). Application servers are backed up using Azure Recovery Services, with daily backups retained for seven days, weekly backups for four weeks, and monthly backups for three months.
Backups are replicated to a secondary datacenter within the same Azure region and are intended for operational recovery, not long-term archival storage.
Can you provide a copy of our database if needed?
Yes. Cloud Services will send you an encrypted email containing a secure cloud-based file sharing link to download the database as well as a password to access it.
Billing and service requests
What requests may result in additional charges?
Requests for additional environments, adding additional custom domains, dev database refreshes, or other non-standard services may be billable.
Licensing and compliance
How do I renew a license or certificate for my enabled features?
Contact ASI Orders to renew your license or certificate.
Does Cloud Services provide SOC-1 Reports and Bridge Letters to clients for accounting purposes?
No, but Cloud Services does have an ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certification. Go to Coalfire Certification to obtain this certification. Additional information is available in the ASI Trust Center.
Support and contact
What should I do if my system is running slowly?
Your site is in a shared environment, which Cloud Services monitors for performance issues 24/7. Further investigation and troubleshooting will need to be conducted by Cloud Services to determine the potential root cause and solution implementation to improve performance. Submit a support ticket to review performance.
How do I contact Cloud Services?
Common reasons for contacting Cloud Services may include requesting an additional custom domain, questions about your site security, or assistance with certificates or licensing expiring or needing renewal.
Submit a support ticket with details for your request.