Contacting IBM Support

IBM Support provides assistance with product defects and helps users resolve problems with the product.

About this task

Before you contact IBM Support, your company or organization must have an active IBM software subscription and support contract, and you must be authorized to submit problems to IBM. For information about the types of available support, see the Support portfolio topic in the Software Support Handbook.

Procedure

To contact IBM® Support about a problem:
  1. Define the problem, gather background information, and determine the severity of the problem.

    For more information, see the Getting IBM support topic in the Software Support Handbook.

  2. Submit the problem to IBM Support in one of the following ways:
    • Online through the IBM Support Portal: You can open, update, and view all of your service requests from the Service Request portlet on the Service Request page.
    • By phone: For the phone number to call in your region, see the Directory of worldwide contacts web page.

Results

If the problem that you submit is for a software defect or for missing or inaccurate documentation, IBM Support creates an Authorized Program Analysis Report (APAR). The APAR describes the problem in detail. Whenever possible, IBM Support provides a workaround that you can implement until the APAR is resolved and a fix is delivered. IBM publishes resolved APARs on the IBM Support website daily, so that other users who experience the same problem can benefit from the same resolution.

What to do next

If IBM Assist On-Site is standard for your product, include the following paragraph. If it is not standard for your product, delete the paragraph.

Be prepared to work with the IBM technical-support representative by using IBM Assist On-Site, which is a remote-assistance plug-in that you can download to your computer. The IBM technical-support representative can use IBM Assist On-Site to view your desktop and share control of your mouse and keyboard. This tool can shorten the time that it takes to identify the problem, collect the necessary data, and solve the problem. For more information, see IBM Assist On-Site.