IBM Technology Zone Reservation Duration Policies

Table of Contents

• Overview

• Who Duration and Quotas Applies To

• Duration Policies and Where to Find Them

• Quota Policies and Where to Find Them

• Workshop Manager Policies

• Policy Changes After Reservation Creation

Overview

IBM Technology Zone reservation duration and quota policies are designed to ensure fair, reliable access to shared resources while supporting a wide range of engagement types. Policies vary depending on the infrastructure of an environment and the purpose for which it is being reserved.

This document outlines:

• How long environments can be reserved and extended
• How quotas are applied and enforced
• How workshop‑based reservations are managed
• What to do when policies change or exceptions are required

Note: These policies are visible directly within the reservation form experience to help users plan accordingly.

Who Duration and Quotas Applies To

Reservation duration and quota policies apply to all users that can request environments through IBM Technology Zone, including:

• IBM Go‑to‑Market teams: Technical Sales, Client Engineering, Customer Success, Technology Enablement, and Expert Labs
  • IBM Go‑to‑Market teams follow the standard reservation duration and quota policies.
• IBM Business Partners registered through Partner Plus
  • IBM Business Partners have the same reservation durations and quota limits as IBMers. 
  • Note: As environments are enabled for partner access, they are made available under standard duration policies. Catalog availability may differ; however, IBM Technology Zone maintains a core standard to provide consistent materials, experiences, and quality for partners and IBMers alike.
• IBM Champions (clients and partners) participating in the IBM Champion program.
  • IBM Champions who are also IBM Business Partners follow the same reservation duration and quota policies as general partners onboarded to IBM Partner Plus (per above), with access to the full partner‑eligible catalog in IBM Technology Zone and duration limits aligned with those applied to IBMers.
  • IBM Champion clients have access to a limited subset of Certified environments, with reservation durations and quota limits that differ from those available to standard IBM Technology Zone users (IBMers and IBM Business Partners). These policies are defined, governed, and monitored by the IBM Champion program to ensure usage aligns with the program’s focus on enablement, advocacy, and thought leadership. Access and usage are managed under Champion‑specific guidelines to maintain appropriate support and oversight.
    • Duration Policy: Reservations may be requested for up to one week initially, with one additional 7‑day extension available. This allows for a maximum total duration of 14 days per request for Demo, Pilot, Education, and Test purposes.
    • Quota Policy: Each user may hold one active reservation at a time. If you reach this limit, you can delete an existing reservation to free up capacity and submit a new request.

Policies help ensure availability across self‑education, demos, pilots, workshops, and client engagements.

Request duration policies define how long an environment can be reserved when submitting a request, including the default request length and the extension options available.

Specifically, these policies outline:

• The initial request duration
• The number of extensions allowed
• The maximum total time an environment can be reserved
   

• Use Case
  The purpose selected on the request form (for example: self‑education, demo, pilot, or test). This determines which policies apply. Notice Client‑facing requests (Demos and Pilots) typically have extended duration policies to provide more time to better support customer engagements.
• Default Request Days
  The pre‑selected reservation duration shown on the reservation form.
• Extension Days
  The number of days added when using the self‑service extension option.
• Max Extensions
  The total number of extensions allowed for a reservation.
• Max Days
  The maximum total time an environment can be reserved if all extensions are used.
• Vendor Provided
  Self‑education resources that are accessed and managed through the respective third‑party vendor platform, outside of IBM Technology Zone and in some cases outside of IBM entirely.

Policies as of April 6th	Policies as of April 7th

Where to Find Duration Policies in Technology Zone

You can find reservation duration policies in the following places:

• Legacy Reservation From Experience
  Duration policies are displayed on every Legacy TechZone environment reservation form, directly below the end date field. The helper text beneath the date picker outlines the default recommended reservation length, the amount of time allowed per extension, and the total number of extensions available. If all extensions are used, the helper text also indicates the maximum total duration for which the environment can be reserved.

• New Request Form Experience (Introduced 26.1 Major Release, April 1st 2026)
  Duration policies are displayed directly on the request form during Step 4: Scheduling. Guidance appears above the Start Date field and clearly outlines. This information helps you understand reservation limits and plan your request accordingly before submitting.
  • The default reservation length, shown as “You can request up to:”
  • The number of extensions allowed and their length, shown as “After it’s deployed: You can extend it X time(s) for up to X days”
  • The maximum total time the environment can be reserved if all extensions are used, shown in the “Total time you could have it:” section

 

• AskTZ
  AskTZ can provide details on duration policies and help validate reservation limits for specific environments or use cases. You can also use AskTZ to request extensions or ask general questions. Additionally, you can learn what AskTZ is, where to find it, who has access, and which features you can leverage to request and manage your reservations in TechZone. It’s not just for basic L1 support—AskTZ can do much more and is here to help.

 

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Quota Policies

Reservation quota policies define predefined limits that apply to users making requests in IBM Technology Zone. These policies are designed to ensure fair and appropriate allocation of shared resources and to prevent over-utilization.

Quota policies typically limit the number of simultaneous active requests a user may hold at any given time depending on purpose. The information below outlines the current reservation quota policies in effect and explains how the reservation experience will notify you if a request exceeds an allowed quota.

 

Current Quota Policies

• Self‑Education: Maximum of one active requests per user
• Test: Maximum of three active requests per user
• GPU Resources:
  • One GPU request per user
  • Client‑facing purpose use only (Demo, Pilot)
  • Manually reviewed and approved (goes through approval workflow)
  • Recommended submission at least two weeks in advance

 

Where to Find Quota Violation Policies in Technology Zone

If a reservation violates a quota policy:

• A notification appears on the request form

• The violated policy and related request IDs are displayed

  

Important Notes

• Failed requests do not count toward request quota
• Advance scheduling is blocked if quota limits are reached
• There are no exceptions to quota policies at this time
• A net new education request can NOT be scheduled in advance if you have two existing education requests. You can delete one or wait for one to expire before making your next education request.

 

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Workshop Manager Policies

Workshop‑based reservations follow additional guidelines to ensure proper planning and resource availability.

 

 

Submission Requirements

• Requests must be submitted at least 5 business days before the workshop start date.
• Submitting requests earlier than the minimum lead time is strongly encouraged.
• Capacity is not guaranteed until the request has been reviewed and approved.

 

Best Practices

• Request preferred dates as early as possible to secure capacity.
• Do not advertise, commit, or finalize workshop details until approval is granted.

 

Workshop Purpose Types

External Workshop

An External Workshop is a workshop conducted in direct support of an active or planned engagement with an IBM customer or prospect. These workshops are customer‑facing and tied to specific sales, technical validation, or solution enablement activities.

Requirements:

• The workshop must be associated with a valid customer engagement.
• A valid IBM Sales Cloud opportunity code is required at the time of request to validate the engagement and business purpose.

Internal Workshop

An Internal Workshop is a workshop conducted solely for IBM internal purposes, such as education, enablement, or go‑to‑market activities. These workshops are not customer‑facing and are intended to support IBM teams.

Requirements:

• The workshop must support internal IBM enablement or go‑to‑market initiatives.
• The IBM group or team name requesting the workshop must be provided to clearly identify ownership and purpose.

 

Exception Requests

An exception request is required if a workshop:

• Exceeds 5 working days in duration
• Requires more than 30 environments
• Has less than 5 business days of lead time

Exception Request Process

To request an exception:

1. Schedule the workshop with the requested duration and total number of environments.
2. Open a TechZone support case with the following details:
   • Subject: Workshop Manager extension exception request
   • Workshop name and URL
   • Workshop type: external or internal
     • External workshops must include a valid IBM Sales Cloud opportunity code
     • Internal workshops must include the associated IBM team or group name
   • Business justification explaining the need for the exception

 

Reservation duration and quota policies may change over time based on resource planning and availability.

• If duration or quota limits increase

  • Existing requests are automatically updated with the updated limits.
  • Additional extensions or expanded usage are applied where applicable.
  • No support case is required.

• If duration or quota limits decrease

  • The IBM Technology Zone team honors duration and quota policies based on the policy that was in effect at the time the original request was booked.
  • Reservation end dates and currently approved usage do not change automatically when policies are updated. Even if extension limits or quota allowances are reduced, existing reservation end dates remain unchanged.