IBM Power: Remote Technical Support (RTS) Hourly Billable Support for IBM i

Answer

Answer:

RTS Hourly Billable Support provides assistance beyond the scope of SWMA/HWMA that can be completed remotely by support representatives. (SWMA is intended for short‑duration questions and defect-related issues.) RTS Hourly Billable Support is available to external SWMA/HWMA clients worldwide.

The intent of RTS Hourly Billable Support is to fill the gap between SWMA/HWMA and an Expert Lab Services engagement, as RTS Hourly Billable Support can be scheduled quickly and performed remotely. It can also be used when the end user does not have the time or skills to perform the action plan provided during the course of a SWMA or HWMA case.

For complex, longer duration (40+ hours), and infrastructure wide assistance, clients will continue to be referred to IBM Expert Labs, IBM Consulting, or IBM Project Based Services.

A. Conditions for using RTS Billable Support :

Clients must have opened a standard IBM Support Case for their supported product. If during the execution of the case the support owner may determine that a request made is a beyond scope topic for standard IBM Support maintenance contracts and will recommend this as an option.

The tasks and scheduling are agreed upon by the client and the performing technical support representative. (This service is typically not available on weekends or holidays but can be scheduled during off‑hours if agreed upon by both the technical support representative and the client.)

Client to receive a quote for signature that is payable through a Purchase Order (PO) or credit card (where permitted by country). Higher hourly rates may apply for unscheduled and critical (urgent) situations.

If a defect is found during the contracted work, the engagement remains billable, and a separate case will be created for defect work if associated with IBM.

B. Process for IBM RTS Billable Support:

7. IBM Support will discuss the beyond scope and billable activity with the client. This includes the scope of work and estimated hours to complete the work. The details will be posted in the current support case.
8. The client provides a written update in the support case to accept or not accept the billable services.
9. When the billable services are accepted, a new case will be created and updated with a more detailed scope of work and the time estimate. This case will be sent for an official quote and signature back to the client within 24 hrs
10. If the quote is not accepted (signed) the new case will be closed and no further action will be taken. The client may discuss further options with their business partner
11. Once the quote has been accepted, the case will be reassigned to the technical owner, who will contact the client to schedule and perform the requested activities.
12. The billable activity will be considered complete once the agreed work is finished with the approved number of hours. Additional time can be requested, but is not guaranteed and is based on the availability of the technical owner assigned to the activity.
13. After case closure the processing /invoicing per the quote will be done within country (typically 10 to 30 days later).

During the billable service activity, the technical owner may contact additional technical resources or management to assist with questions or discussion for additional time.

C. References:

IBM Support : How Technical Questions are Handled by Support https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/796206

IBM Support: Guidelines and Limitations - https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/740855

IBM Power: What to expect when requesting or needing IBM Services assistance while working with IBM Support
https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/7029780

IBM Power Software (AIX, Virtual HMC, IBM i, PowerHA, PowerVM):
Why clients should keep their application, operating system, and firmware components updated to current release levels https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/node/6595041

Abbreviations:

RTS – Remote Technical Support
SWMA – Software Maintenance
HWMA – Hardware Maintenance