Contacting IBM Software Support

You can contact IBM® Support through the IBM Support Site. You can also subscribe to notifications about IBM MQ fixes, troubleshooting and other news.

About this task

The IBM MQ Support pages within the IBM Support Site are:

To receive notifications about IBM MQ fixes, troubleshooting and other news, you can subscribe to notifications.

If you cannot resolve an issue yourself and need help from IBM Support, you can open a case. Follow the steps in this topic to fully describe the problem and contact IBM Software Support.

For more information about IBM Support, including how to register for support, see the IBM Support Guide.

Procedure

  1. Determine the business severity level for the problem.

    When you report a problem to IBM, you are asked to supply a severity level. Therefore, you need to understand and assess the effect on your business of the problem that you are reporting. Use the following criteria:

    Severity Effect on business
    Severity 1 Critical effect on business: You are unable to use the program, resulting in a critical effect on operations. This condition requires an immediate solution.
    Severity 2 Significant effect on business: The program is usable but is severely limited.
    Severity 3 Some effect on business: The program is usable with less significant features (not critical to operations) unavailable.
    Severity 4 Minimal effect on business: The problem has little effect on operations, or a reasonable workaround to the problem has been implemented.

    When deciding the severity of the problem, take care not to understate it, or to overstate it. The support center procedures depend on the severity level so that the most appropriate use can be made of the center's skills and resources. A severity level 1 problem is normally dealt with immediately.

  2. Describe the problem and gather background information.

    You might find the information you need in your own in-house tracking system for problems.

    Be as specific as possible. Include all relevant background information so that IBM Software Support specialists can help you to solve the problem efficiently. To save time, know the answers to these questions:
    • What was the source of the problem within your system software; that is, the program that seems to be the cause of the problem.
    • What software versions were you running when the problem occurred?
    • Do you have logs, traces, and messages that are related to the problem symptoms?
    • Can the problem be re-created? If so, what steps led to the failure?
    • Have any changes been made to the system? For example:
      • Hardware changes
      • Operating system upgrades
      • Networking software updates
      • Changes in the level of licensed programs
      • PTFs applied
      • Additional features used
      • Application programs changed
      • Unusual operator action
      • [z/OS]Regenerations
    • Are you currently using a workaround for this problem? If so, be prepared to explain it when you report the problem.
  3. Open a case with IBM Software Support ( https://www.ibm.com/mysupport/s/createrecord/NewCase).

What to do next

You might be asked to give values from a formatted dump or trace table, or to carry out some special activity, for example to set a trap, or to use trace with a specific type of selectivity, and then to report the results. You will be given guidance by the support center on how to obtain this information.

You can inquire any time at your support center on how your PMR is progressing, particularly if it is a problem of high severity.

How your problem is then progressed depends on its nature. The representative who handles the problem gives you guidance.