IBM Selected Support
IBM has a long-standing commitment to the open source community. And as part of that commitment, IBM is pleased to offer the option to purchase Selected Support.
- IBM has implemented a tiered approach for the Selected Support offering. Support is delivered remotely via IBM's support teams. On a product by product basis, up to 3 tiers may be made available (see table below for feature comparison):
- IBM Entry Support
- IBM Enhanced Support
- IBM Elite Support
- Provides technical support for select non-IBM products by 3rd party vendors or the open-source community
- Provides technical support for select non-warranted IBM products
- IBM will make available Selected Program defect corrections, if any, that IBM develops and non-IBM product fixes, if any, provided by the third party or open-source providers
- Remote Technical Support
- Developer Assistance
For all tiers of support, there is no limit to the number of technical support incidents that can be reported through remote assistance.
The Selected Support offerings are purchased via an annual subscription and are available for purchase through Passport Advantage or Passport Advantage Express.
- Answer routine, short duration installation and usage questions
- Answer code related questions
- Assistance with application design and development (based on subscription level)
- 24x7 remote support access (based on location and subscription level)
- Such assistance is provided only to your information systems (IS) technical support personnel
- Access to fixes, updates, and case severity assignments
- Developer incidents (optional)
IBM Selected Support offerings may also include remote Developer Assistance Incidents. This assistance goes beyond the support provided through traditional remote technical support. Under this feature, developers may receive assistance with finding answers to specific programming questions, best practice usage of the product (such as the Application Programming Interface). Developer Assistance Incidents are intended to cover specific and short duration questions. Professional services offerings should be used for questions that are best resolved with an extended program design review.
Developer Assistance Incident coverage includes:
- Expert Development Assistance
- Application Design and Architecture Assistance
- Configuration Assistance
- Performance & Tuning Assistance
Unlike traditional remote technical support where the number of requests is unlimited, the number of Developer Assistance incidents that can be reported to IBM is fixed, determined by the Selected Support offering purchased and varies by supported product. Developer Assistance Incidents are reported to IBM in the same way as general product usage questions or problems: by phone or by opening a case. Each time you use one of your Developer Assistance Incidents, your available incident count will be decremented.
To gain maximum benefit from your Developer Assistance Incidents:
- Developer Assistance Incidents must be specifically requested during the initial call or online case
- If you access IBM Support via the phone, advise the IBM Representative that Developer Assistance is being requested
- If open a case, ensure that the Developer Assistance Incident component is selected
- Your technical contact should understand that available Developer Assistance Incidents will be decremented by one incident
- Program for which IBM Selected Support applies
- Contact your IBM Sales Representative or Business Partner
Selected Support – Feature Comparison
| Support-Only Offerings | IBM Entry Support | IBM Enhanced Support | IBM Elite Support |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open cases | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Voice Problem Submission | No access | Yes | Yes |
| Support Hours * | 8am-5pm Mon-Fri |
8am-5pm Mon-Fri |
8am-5pm Mon-Fri (24x7x365 for Sev 1) |
| Response target ** | 8 business hours | 4 business hours | 2 business hours |
| Technical Contacts *** | 1 | 2 | Unlimited |
| Developer Assistance Incidents **** | Not Available | Variable | Variable |
| Availability | Worldwide | Worldwide | Worldwide |
* Times listed are for the customer’s time zone. Support is not available on public holidays for IBM Entry Support and IBM Enhanced Support. Severity 1 support is available on public holidays for Elite Support.
** Response target is IBM's objective to respond to your high severity support request. In some cases the initial response could result in a resolution of your request, or it will form the basis for determining what additional actions are required to achieve technical resolution of your request
*** The Technical Contact is the individual designated by the client as the person to contact IBM for support. All communication with IBM related to the IBM Selected Support offering must be performed by the authorized Technical contact. The number of Technical contacts permitted depends on the specific Selected Support offering purchased.
**** The number of Developer Assistance Incidents will vary by supported product. Refer to the announcement letter for the number of Developer Assistant Incidents included. (on a product-by-product basis, IBM Enhanced Support will offer 0, 1, 2, 3 or 5 Developer Assistance Incidents and IBM Elite Support will offer 0, 1, 2, 3, 5 or 10 incidents)