IBM Support

What can I do to help progress PMRs (Problem Management Records) with IBM Support faster?

Technical Blog Post


Abstract

What can I do to help progress PMRs (Problem Management Records) with IBM Support faster?

Body

As L2 Support Manager for Maximo (and TRIRIGA and IBM MessageSight) I frequently get asked by clients and fellow IBMers "What can I do to help get my / my customers PMR (Problem Management Record) addressed and resolved as soon as possible"?

Nobody wants to wait for a long time for an answer or solution and our teams are working diligently to resolve any issue as soon as possible.

So - is there anything you can do to help? Absolutely!

Here are a few suggestions on information to provide / things to do that can help to reduce time to problem determination and resolution:

 

  1. Gather and provide us with us much information as possible before you log a PMR - this can aid in reducing problem determination and resolution! Hence - before you log a PMR, go to the IBM Support portal (which is - by the way - a fantastic resource / starting point for all your product related questions) and search for our 'Maximo mustGather' documents. You can also go directly to the Collecting Data: Read first for Maximo Asset Management document, which does not only provide a general list of information to provide to Support, but also has a whole list linking you to other, more specific, mustgather documents, such as IBM Maximo Anywhere MustGather or Collecting Data: Maximo Purchase Orders.
  2. Include your complete environment information, such as your Webserver, Database and OS information, Maximo version and fixpack level, IFIXes, LA fixes and Industry Solutions installed.
  3. Have a basic, out of the box Maximo environment installed - at the same patch / fix level as your production. If you have been able to reproduce an issue in a 'vanilla' Maximo, then it can cut down problem determination time quite a bit, as this will generally exclude configurations / customisations as the root cause.
  4. Business Impact of the issue - this is an important one as it helps us understand exactly what impact an issue has on the end users or the business. What might appear like a relatively small issue may have an impact on your business that cannot be fully understood by us - unless you let us know.
  5. In line with the above, ensure that you set the right Severity when you open the PMR - one that reflects the impact on your business. Information on Severity setting can be found in the IBM Support Handbook.
  6. Are you doing an upgrade or going through a new deployment? Please let us know when you're upgrading, who is doing the work, what exactly are you doing etc - the more we know, the better we can be prepared - also in the case where any out of hours support may be required. In addition it helps us with prioritisation if we know your deadlines.
  7. Have a look at the IBM Software Support Handbook - especially if you're new to IBM Support. It provides a great introduction to IBM support, what you can expect from us, how to contact us, how to prevent problems and much more.

 

I hope this is useful - please feel free to comment below!

 

 

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ibm11132401