QAD Customer Support Guide

Transcription

1 QAD Customer Support Guide Printed: September 17, 2014

2 WELCOME Thank you for investing in QAD solutions. We are pleased to have you as a part of the QAD family. The content in this guide applies to QAD Customer Support. This will help ensure you have the right connections no matter where in the world your base of operations might be located. Each section is designed to provide answers to the most common questions you may have regarding QAD Customer Support, which include: Our world-wide customer support capabilities Descriptions of your customer support services and tools Tips on finding information through the QAD Online Support Center at Incident reporting steps Incident escalation process and much more In the Appendix you will find: Additional contact information for all of our major global customer support centers Instructions on how to contact an authorized QAD Alliance Partner A blank Incident Checklist Form A glossary of terms For additional copies of this QAD Customer Support Guide, contact the QAD Customer Support center nearest you. QAD: CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY PAGE 2 OF 29 LAST REVISED APRIL 2013

3 Table of Contents QAD Global Customer Support... 4 QAD Customer Support Mission... 4 QAD Customer Support Delivery Capabilities... 5 QAD Global Customer Support Model... 6 QAD Customer Support Services and Tools... 7 QAD Customer Support Overview... 7 QAD Customer Support Value and Benefits... 8 QAD Issue Resolution Getting the Answers You Need When You Need Them Contacting QAD Customer Support How to Report an Incident Incident Escalation Process Incident Resolution Process Closing Incidents Product Lifecycle Policy Lifecycle Support Phases Appendix A QAD Regional Customer Support Centers Appendix B QAD Alliance Support Partners How to Contact Authorized QAD Alliance Support Partners Appendix C Maintenance Matrix Appendix D Glossary of Terms QAD: CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY PAGE 3 OF 29 LAST REVISED APRIL 2013

4 QAD GLOBAL CUSTOMER SUPPORT QAD Customer Support Mission For 30 years, QAD and our customers have been growing and changing together. As markets have changed and manufacturing has evolved, our customers have come to rely on QAD to consistently deliver innovative, strategic enterprise manufacturing solutions that meet their changing needs, sustain competitive advantage and create tangible returns. As times have changed, so have our customers and their support and maintenance requirements. We strive to ensure that our customers know how to reap the benefits of investing in maintenance and support and that QAD is providing the level and type of support desired. As a result, we have developed our support services based on what our customers tell us is most important to them: Optimal protection against downtime Responsiveness Ability to fully leverage their investment in QAD applications To deliver on this, QAD Customer Support is focused on these three priorities: Investing in the future through continuous R&D Providing support services focused on fast response and resolution Delivering continuous, tangible value throughout the customer relationship At QAD, we view the Global Customer Support team as active members of your workforce. Our job is to make sure your system achieves full potential. When you choose a QAD product, you are investing in a completely integrated solution. This is why our customer support staff, partners, products, tools, services, processes, and programs have a single focus total customer satisfaction. QAD's comprehensive global support capabilities ensure that you are always able to communicate your needs and receive accurate, timely information in a form that is most usable for your environment. With a network of Regional Customer Support Centers, a host of authorized Alliance Support Partners, an automatic call distribution network, web monitoring, and product expertise; world-class support is a reality that our customers have come to expect. QAD: CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY PAGE 4 OF 29 LAST REVISED APRIL 2013

5 QAD Customer Support Delivery Capabilities The QAD Customer Support organization truly provides support and services to customers around the clock and around the world. Through our network of Regional Customer Support Centers and authorized Alliance Support Partners, QAD is able to offer world-class support and maintenance. QAD Regional Customer Support Centers Wherever customers choose to deploy their QAD solutions, chances are there is a QAD Regional Customer Support Center or an authorized QAD Alliance Support Partner nearby. QAD Regional Customer Support Centers are located in the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. Please see Appendix A for a list of our major QAD Customer Support Centers. For a complete list, visit the QAD Contact Directory online. Highly Skilled Support Specialists QAD s support staff is comprised of highly skilled experts in the areas of application support and technical systems support. Application Support Experts In addition to their in-depth industry experience, the applications support staff is thoroughly trained and skilled in the full range of QAD applications. All staff members hold, or are pursuing, certifications in each of the QAD Enterprise Application modules and American Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS). Other QAD product issues are directed to and solved by our product specialist teams for those areas. Technical Support Experts The technical support staff is thoroughly familiar with the implementation of QAD applications on the many diverse system configurations available in the Open Systems arena. Our technical professionals have comprehensive training and experience in Oracle, Progress, UNIX, client/server, desktop systems, 4th GL application development, and performance tuning and testing. Multi-level Support Escalation To ensure that customer issues are not only rapidly responded to, but also resolved in a timely manner, we have deployed a powerful multi-disciplined teaming capability. In the unlikely event that an issue is not resolved at the Regional level, the issue is promoted to the global escalation team. The team is comprised of senior management from customer support, consulting services, and research and development, who meet weekly to review escalated incidents. Incidents are assigned to the best resource or team, regardless of department or region, to resolve the issue. The incidents maintain visibility to the escalation team until they are resolved to the customer s satisfaction. QAD: CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY PAGE 5 OF 29 LAST REVISED APRIL 2013

6 QAD Global Customer Support Model QAD S Global Customer Support Model delivers high quality service and customer support around the globe, through a network of QAD Regional Customer Support Centers and authorized QAD Alliance Support Partners. Initial Problem Reporting The QAD Customer Support model starts with the customer. Should you not find the resolution to an issue in our documentation, or by browsing the QAD Knowledgebase you may report an incident to your primary support provider. Depending on your service location, the service provider may be a QAD Regional Customer Support Center, or an authorized QAD Alliance Support Partner. Please note that methods for reporting incident requests (phone, online, chat) may vary, depending on whether the support provider is QAD Customer Support or an authorized QAD Alliance Support Partner, and depending on the customer support location (see Appendix A for more information). Multi-level Support Ensures Resolution Once the issue is reported to a QAD Regional Support Center or authorized alliance partner, it is logged, tracked and worked by local customer support according to priority and age of report. Our customer support structure is purposely designed and staffed to provide resolution to as many issues and to as many customers on first contact as possible before they are reported through our QAD Knowledgebase Web facility. Should the issue not be resolved during your first contact with a local customer support representative, the incident will be researched and tested by an appropriate analyst. Depending on the product, the incident may be reassigned to a specialist or a dedicated product team. Should a software correction be necessary, customer support will specify the needed product change to the product-specific maintenance engineering team. The maintenance group will develop a fix to the code, and test it. The correction will then be provided to customer support to resolve the issue. Product changes may also be made available for re-use via QAD Online Support Center, as well as folded into a future maintenance or software update release. QAD: CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY PAGE 6 OF 29 LAST REVISED APRIL 2013

7 QAD CUSTOMER SUPPORT SERVICES AND TOOLS QAD Customer Support Overview Key Services and Tools Key services and tools provided through QAD Customer Support are summarized below. Detailed definitions are provided below. For full details, please refer to your company s QAD Maintenance and Support Agreement. Access and Response Phone, web, chat access 24x7 critical down system support Global access to live support Remote access diagnostics Established incident response times based on severity Online Self Service Incident creation and tracking QAD Knowledgebase QAD Learning Center QAD License Usage Tool Product Documentation QAD Download Center Support Webinar Series QAD Forums New Releases and Product Updates Major and minor releases/upgrades Product Changes Information System Proactive Advisories Platform compatibility guide QAD: CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY PAGE 7 OF 29 LAST REVISED APRIL 2013

8 QAD Customer Support Value and Benefits All of the QAD Customer Support services and tools described below are included to help you receive maximum value from your QAD investment. QAD s veteran support resources are available globally to our customers via phone, web, and chat during normal business hours. We re ready around-the-clock to take action on new incidents, even if your local QAD Customer Support Center is closed for the day. We do that through the QAD Online Support Center and by strategically locating QAD Regional Customer Support Centers around the world, so that day or night, someone is working on resolving your issues. QAD Online Support Center QAD Online Support Center is your convenient online support web site. Simply by registering for a QAD web account, you gain direct access to a vast network of information, including self-paced training developed by QAD product experts and analytical tools to research your questions. QAD: CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY PAGE 8 OF 29 LAST REVISED APRIL 2013

9 Online Incident Management The Incident Management functions of QAD Online Support Center at are a direct interface to QAD Customer Support, and provide you the ability to submit, view, and update incidents online. The Incident Management functions are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for your convenience. QAD Customer Support Centers continually monitor for new and updated incidents to ensure you receive timely responses from the appropriate subject experts. The Incident Status Report provides instantaneous reporting of all incidents for your site, in a variety of formats. The Incident Status Definitions key helps you see where any incident is in the resolution process. If an incident is open, you may choose to update it directly from the Status Report. Incident Update allows you to participate in the resolution process by providing details, information, or any helpful comments at any time. This also provides continued access to the file attachment features. QAD can also provide full incident management capabilities for customers with multiple sites. This allows QAD customers responsible for multiple sites to manage and report on their complete incident activity easily, without requiring separate web accounts. To request this feature for your company, fill out a Multi-Site Incident Management Request at specifying each site's End User number. QAD: CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY PAGE 9 OF 29 LAST REVISED APRIL 2013

10 QAD Knowledgebase The QAD Knowledgebase is your first step in finding expert answers to your questions. It provides the power to enable you to find the right solutions quickly and easily. Rather than restricting you to keywords, the search engine lets you describe your issue just as if you were speaking to someone on the phone. The QAD Knowledgebase is comprised of thousands of re-usable articles written by global experts within QAD. These articles cover core QAD Enterprise Application manufacturing, distribution, and financial modules as well as MFGX, EPM, Trade Management, and more. The QAD Knowledgebase is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Not only are new articles added daily based on new, unique topics that are resolved, we also continually update existing articles as well. QAD customers consistently find their answers in the knowledgebase over 80% of the time. Remote Access Diagnostics QAD Customer Support uses a remote screen-sharing application to provide an exceptional means of communication and immediate service delivery to our valued customers. This allows us the ability to identify and solve problems in real time. QAD agents can remotely access a customer's computer to accelerate the problem resolution and knowledge sharing process. While QAD can take control of a user's screen, mouse and keyboard, access is fully controlled by the customer at all times. Within each screen-sharing session there is also the ability to use real-time chat, both send and receive files, reverse-view the QAD agent's screen, and whiteboard on top of the shared applications. Throughout the entire session, the customer is able to watch and actively participate with QAD in the screen-sharing process. Since this process is entirely web-based, a dial-up connection between companies is not necessary. All that is required from the customer's side is access to the Internet and a web browser. No software needs to be pre-installed in order to receive assistance. A thin applet, active only for one session, is automatically delivered each time. As each connection is unique, once a session is completed, the applet is disabled. In addition to its time and cost-saving advantages, the technology is also extremely flexible, secure, reliable and easy to use. It always facilitates a firewall-friendly connection, which means it does not compromise the integrity of your data or system. Use of remote access diagnostics must be coordinated with a QAD Customer Support Agent, who will then provide instructions and arrange for a screen-sharing session. QAD Live Chat QAD Live Chat provides you real-time support at your fingertips, without having to pick up the telephone. QAD Live Chat is an easy and convenient way to connect with QAD Customer Support Consultant, to assist you with your questions. When you use QAD Live Chat, a world of experience is at your disposal. QAD Customer Support Consultants around the globe are connected and available to you in six languages, giving you access to more product expertise than ever before. On-Demand Learning In the QAD Learning Center, you will find online training on core QAD application functionality in the areas of manufacturing, distribution, finance and system installations. You can access the Learning Center through the Online Support Center. QAD: CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY PAGE 10 OF 29 LAST REVISED APRIL 2013

11 Support Webinars: Sign up for live webinars covering a variety of topics ranging from new QAD products to industry best practices. The Support Webinars are led by QAD support consultants, product managers, software developers, and business analysts. Because these events are interactive, you can ask these experts questions and benefit from hearing the questions that others ask. You ll gain new information and insights on the capabilities of QAD enterprise applications and the many tools available to you through QAD Customer Support, to help you leverage the full value of your QAD investment. Course Management: As a student, you can control many aspects of your online training experience on the QAD Learning Center by using such features as the course catalog, online resources including self-service lab environments, role-based training recommendations, transcript reports and the My Learning page. Assessment Testing: Almost all of the courses on the QAD Learning Center include mastery tests, which check a learners s understanding of course topics and allows them to demonstrate mastery of product functionality and concepts. Customer Advisories Customer Advisories are proactive notifications of critical product issues, including full descriptions of each scenario, potential system effects, and corrective steps for customers to follow. You may sign up to automatically be notified by when a new advisory is posted, or view all customer advisories any time on the QAD Online Support Center at Major and Minor Full Product Releases/Upgrades With your QAD Customer Support Contract you may order product updates as soon as they become available and take advantage of the new or enhanced functionality. Product Releases Product releases are QAD's method of providing customers with regular maintenance updates for QAD Enterprise Applications. The maintenance and support contract for your site entitles you to QAD: CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY PAGE 11 OF 29 LAST REVISED APRIL 2013

12 the product releases for your QAD Enterprise Applications, which can be ordered online through the Software Update Request form, or by contacting your local QAD office or distributor. Product releases include product changes, code updates, system administration tools, and components. They provide the latest fixes and code corrections to keep your QAD applications and system stable, and to help you avoid any potential or previously reported problems. QAD Download Center The QAD Download Center has been designed to help QAD customers effectively manage their QAD software through a secure web site in lieu of media shipments. The Download Center includes features such as proactive notification, current and previous versions of QAD software, and tracking of all download activity for your site. The Download Center also provides immediate and automatic access to new maintenance releases, such as QAD Enterprise Applications Service Packs and QAD Desktop 2 Builds, as soon as they are released. A QAD Web Account does not grant access to the QAD Download Center. The QAD Download Center is available upon request for certain products and maintenance releases. User Communities/Discussion Forums QAD Forums are discussion forums where you can pose questions and share your knowledge with the QAD Community on a variety of topics. Through the QAD Forums you are able to: Share your unique knowledge and experience with other QAD users Post product and business related questions to the QAD community Search for solutions that others may have already discovered Platform Compatibility Guide The Platform Compatibility Guide shows QAD releases and add-on products, and shows which are supported, by operating system platform and Progress or Oracle databases. License Usage Tool QAD Support offers the QAD License Usage Tool for active-on-maintenance customers. This tool is similar to the software used by QAD s User Count Assessment Group, and it helps to measure compliancy with QAD applications. The License Usage Tool: Tells you how many licenses are consumed over a given period Provides the number of IDs accessing the system Can help you avoid surprises prior to an audit Costs nothing if you are an active-on-maintenance QAD customer To request the commercialized QAD License Usage Tool, the QAD License Assessment Services team at [email protected] or call at (New Jersey, USA). After-Hours Critical Event Coverage QAD also recognizes that after-hours emergencies do occur, and has implemented emergency support for Severity 0 or critical system down situations. If you are in a down condition over a QAD: CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY PAGE 12 OF 29 LAST REVISED APRIL 2013

13 weekend, weekday or weeknight, we ll be there to help you get your system back up and running. Guidelines for use of emergency after-hours support are as follows: Intended for critical down system emergencies, cannot be pre-scheduled Available 24 hours a days, 7 days a week The telephone number to call is: , regardless of customer region Follow the phone prompts for a down system Be prepared to provide detailed information, including the best way to contact you After-hours critical support is only available in the English language A support representative will be paged and will respond as fast as possible Special Customer Support Coverage Service QAD recognizes in today s global environment there may be occasions when you will require special support outside the normal QAD business hours. To accommodate these occasions, QAD has implemented an optional QAD Special Customer Support Coverage service. This customer support coverage is offered for planned events and is not intended to be used for emergency customer support. This special coverage is offered under the following guidelines: Must be arranged a minimum of 2 weeks in advance Provides for coverage on weekends or after hours for a limited time period Intended to be used during conversion, pilots, go-live situations or other critical phases of an implementation Provided in a remote manner only Additional charges for this service are based on type and length of support service(s) requested Please contact your QAD Regional Customer Support Center Manager for details concerning the availability and costs of QAD Special Customer Support Coverage service in your region. Customer Success Organization Within QAD Customer Support a team exists that focuses on customer engagement and success. The Customer Success Organization is dedicated to enhancing our customers overall QAD experience. The team is responsible for proactively notifying customers of QAD events such as webinars, user groups and reviewing customers incident activity and working with them to ensure they are using QAD Enterprise Applications to its fullest. The Customer Success Organization is here to keep you informed and satisfied with QAD working as your trusted advisor and partner. QAD Global Services Provides an End-to-End Solution QAD Global Services encompasses more than just customer support it includes consulting and learning services, for a complete, end-to-end solution. QAD Consulting Services experts are ready to assist you in every phase of your business applications lifecycle helping you to plan, design, implement and manage your enterprise applications for maximum operational performance. QAD: CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY PAGE 13 OF 29 LAST REVISED APRIL 2013

14 For more information on what QAD Consulting Services can do for you, visit our web site at or contact your local Sales Representative. QAD: CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY PAGE 14 OF 29 LAST REVISED APRIL 2013

15 Where to Find More Information For more information on QAD Global Services, QAD Customer Support, QAD Consulting and QAD Learning or other QAD or authorized QAD Alliance Support Partner services, please visit our web site at Product Support QAD Online Support Center ( QAD Web Site ( Product Announcements Online Documentation Dependency Information Education Information Technical & Application Support FAQs Knowledgebase Incident Management Incident Status Reporting Technical Notes & Advisories Engineering Change Order Alliance Partner Information Partner Directory Partner Product Information General Information QAD Global Services Overview Enhancement Requests Support Center Contact Info Web Site Account Info QAD: CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY PAGE 15 OF 29 LAST REVISED APRIL 2013

16 QAD Issue Resolution Getting the Answers You Need When You Need Them Step 1: Define the Problem or Question When you first encounter a problem, take the opportunity to ask plenty of questions and fully document all the symptoms and events surrounding the issue you can use the Incident Checklist Form to help with this (see Appendix C). Describe the exact error message(s) displayed and/or printed What screen is this issue occurring on? Write a one sentence description of the problem be accurate and concise Describe the symptoms of the problem What was the sequence of events leading up to the error? What were the expected results of your processing? What were the actual results of this process? Be very specific; prepare screen print images if possible Describe the business impact and any work-around that was implemented Documenting the issue, and the events leading up to it and surrounding it, can help expedite the resolution process. Step 2: Determine the Type of Problem Once you have defined the scope of the issue, ascertain if the problem is an operational issue that can be corrected, or if the report needs to be directed to a party other than QAD. Operational issues are usually resolved by reviewing the documentation and re-trying the operation. If you still have the problem, don t worry we re here to help. Continue with reporting the problem as outlined below. Hardware problems: Issues relating to your hardware should be directed to your platform vendor. Third-party application issues: Problems with customized programs may need to be directed to the party responsible for such development. If the issue appears to be related to QAD s application programs, proceed to Step 3. Step 3: Check Your Documentation for Help Once you have defined the issue, eliminated other possible sources of the problem, and confirmed the issue is QAD related, please do the following: Proceed to check your QAD User Documentation for information on the operation If you do not have it handy, you can log-on to QAD Online Support Center and find all our user documentation and training guides online. QAD: CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY PAGE 16 OF 29 LAST REVISED APRIL 2013

17 Step 4: Access QAD s Online Knowledgebase Visit the QAD Knowledgebase at QAD Online Support Center at If you are unable to find the resolution in our documentation, our online customer support center, QAD Online Support Center, has a wealth of valuable information available at your fingertips, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Just follow the simple steps below: 1. Go to QAD Online Support Center at 2. Select QAD Knowledgebase to access our database of the most common support issues and solutions 3. Log-on using your QAD web account 4. Here you will be presented with a series of interactive screens that will prompt you to describe the problem. You will be asked to type a brief description of the problem, after which the system will present you with a list of possible articles, sorted in order of relevance. If an item on the list seems to match the issue you are reporting, select that item and the system will display the complete knowledgebase entry the usual symptom, cause, and recommended course of action to resolve the problem. Depending on the problem, the resolution presented may instruct you to perform an operational workaround, download and install a patch, upgrade your version level, or perform some other action. If you feel the entry matches the issue you are experiencing, and you feel confident about performing the recommended action, there is no need to place a support call to QAD we encourage you to carefully apply the solution presented and resolve the issue as quickly as possible. Of course, if you are unsure, or would like a QAD Customer Support analyst to review the situation with you, please do not hesitate to call, engage Support through Live Chat or file an electronic incident through QAD Online Support Center. Reporting the Issue If after following the preceding steps you still have not resolved the issue, proceed to log an incident with QAD Customer Support. Depending on your service provider, you may do this in one of two ways: 1. If you are a QAD customer whose customer support service is provided by a QAD Regional Customer Support Center, you may enter an incident through QAD Online Support Center at or by telephoning the customer support line at your local QAD Regional Customer Support Center. 2. If you are a customer whose customer support service is provided by an authorized QAD Alliance Support Partner, please contact your alliance partner s support desk using the numbers provided to you. Prior to contacting us, we recommend that you complete an Incident Checklist Form to document the issue so you will have it available at the time of your call (see Appendix C). This will also serve as a record for tracking purposes. Continue with the next section to log your incident. QAD: CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY PAGE 17 OF 29 LAST REVISED APRIL 2013

18 CONTACTING QAD CUSTOMER SUPPORT How to Report an Incident If you were not successful finding a resolution to the issue using our QAD Knowledgebase, you should have completed an incident form and are now ready to report the issue to QAD. By being well prepared, your problem will be better understood, and can help expedite your resolution to the issue. Step 1: Preparing Your Incident In preparation for submitting the issue to any of the QAD Regional or authorized Alliance Partner Customer Support Centers, you should always have some basic data in hand, as well as specific data to explain in detail the issue you are reporting. Before you report your incident, gather the following information (hint: use the incident checklist form in Appendix C to document the Incident). Basic Contact Information: Your Customer ID, assigned by QAD or your alliance partner Your current QAD software release and version number The type of hardware and operating system you are running on A description of the database you are using and its version number Your contact information Telephone, Fax, , or Internet address Problem-Specific Information: Exact error message(s) What screen is this occurring on Brief description of the problem Symptom of the problem Sequence of events leading up to the error Expected results of this process Actual results of this process Be very specific; prepare screen images What is the business impact Explanation of research already performed Accuracy is critical to determining the problem. QAD: CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY PAGE 18 OF 29 LAST REVISED APRIL 2013

19 Step 2: Report Issue to Your QAD Service Provider Depending on the support service area, customers should report their issues either to a QAD Regional Customer Support Center, or their authorized QAD Alliance Support Partner. Customers Supported by a QAD Regional Customer Support Center Customers may report their incidents to QAD via telephone, or by logging on to QAD Online Support Center at Either way, your incident is routed directly to QAD technical support specialists for prompt attention (see Appendix A). Customers Supported by an authorized QAD Alliance Support Partner Customers who have operations in locations supported by QAD authorized Alliance Support Partners report their incidents directly to an authorized QAD Alliance Support Partner. Like QAD Customer Support, our authorized Alliance Support Partners are equipped with the same tools available to QAD Customer Support, such as in-depth training for our analysts, global knowledgebase access, and a variety of remote diagnostics capabilities. Please consult with your authorized QAD Alliance Support Partner for support center locations and access numbers nearest you. QAD Customer Support Response Response time is the time it takes between when your call is received and registered, to the time an analyst responds and begins working the issue. We make every effort to service your request as quickly as possible, based on the urgency of the call we appreciate your cooperation in being fair and accurate when stating priority. Below are QAD target response times, based on the priority assigned to the issue when registered. QAD Customer Support shall use reasonable efforts to respond to incidents in accordance with the response times listed below. The definition of a response, as QAD has identified it, must meet one of the following criteria: Solution exists Need more information to analyze the incident Understand the incident is being worked on How to Check Your Incident Status Severity Support Response 0 less than 2 hour 1 less than 4 hours 2 24 hours 3 48 hours Support customers serviced by a QAD Regional Customer Support Center may check the status of their incident by logging on to QAD Online Support Center at and following these simple steps: 1. Under the Incident Management heading, select Incident Status 2. Log-on using your QAD web account QAD: CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY PAGE 19 OF 29 LAST REVISED APRIL 2013

20 3. To receive an updated report on your account s open incidents complete the necessary fields and click submit This report uses the subscriber's account information to determine key criteria for generating the report. Real-time incident status reports are delivered from the QAD Incident Tracking System database directly to the client s Web browser. Customers with multiple sites can request full incident management capabilities. This allows QAD customers responsible for multiple sites to manage and report on their complete incident activity easily, without requiring separate web accounts. To request this feature for your company, fill out a Multi-Site Incident Management Request at specifying each site's End User number. Incident Escalation Process Incidents are escalated to higher levels of technical and management resource in accordance with the priority assigned to them and time of report. It is therefore critically important that the customer clearly describe the situation and business impact to the support analyst so that an accurate priority may be assigned to the incident at the outset (see previous section). And since defining a problem is often 9/10ths of the resolution process, it is critically important that customers provide accurate and complete information on the issue. First Contact Reported incidents are received at the QAD Regional or authorized Alliance Partner Support Center, logged, and responded to by highly qualified team of Support consultants. In most cases, the QAD Customer Support analyst will be able to resolve the issue on the first contact with the customer. In some cases, however, either more information or more analysis is required in order to make further progress. In the case where more information is required, the customer may be asked to provide more detailed information in order to enable further progress. Further Analysis If the incident is not resolved after first contact, the customer support analyst will research the issue. They will perform a thorough analysis of the issues and determine if there is truly an error in the code, a process failure, a procedural issue, a misunderstanding or a design characteristic. If it is determined that an error does exist, QAD Customer Support will then develop the specification for corrective action. Corrective Action as Needed In cases where the incident has been identified as a defect, the incident is moved to QAD s maintenance group. The software engineers and developers at this level respond with definitive answers through the development of Engineering Change Orders (ECOs). An ECO may contain code patches, file and table changes, documentation changes or design changes to QAD Enterprise Applications. Once an ECO has passed rigorous testing, it is made available to the customer. Product fixes and their delivery mechanism may vary depending on the product or how that product s maintenance releases are managed. QAD: CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY PAGE 20 OF 29 LAST REVISED APRIL 2013

21 ECO overviews, descriptions, and files impacted are posted on Online Support Center at for customer reference. Customers or partners may browse the ECO database on the support web site, but should be aware that individual ECOs often have strict requirements in terms of release environment and dependency files. When in doubt, customers are encouraged to consult with a QAD Customer Support analyst before installing a given ECO. Incident Resolution Process Factors Affecting the Speed of Resolution Customers should be aware that there are a number of factors that affect the speed of resolution: Problem severity The priority assigned to the issue when reported must be accurately assigned and justifiable, based on QAD guidelines. QAD Customer Support uses four severities to help identify priority. o Severity 0 Production system is down o Severity 1 Critical problem with no work around o Severity 2 Software or production problem with a work around o Severity 3 Minor problem, basic usage or functionality question Accuracy and completeness Problem reports should be accurate, complete, and provide all the information necessary to investigate the issue. Scenarios and steps leading up to the issue are especially helpful. Other useful items are sample printouts, screen dumps, or other supporting files. Ability to reproduce Problems that are easily reproducible are almost always quickly resolved. Complexity Complex problems that are intermittent, difficult to define, and hard to reproduce are usually the most challenging. These require the most time, resources and expert analysis. Whether the issue becomes a defect report There are issues that require an ECO for resolution. Generating ECOs typically requires additional time and steps in the resolution process. Please also note that customers must be on a release level that is classified as Generally Available (GA) to receive full ECO support. Issues that are not classified as urgent may be resolved in the next available release. Third party Issues Third-party software, or platform issues beyond QAD s control may affect the speed of resolution. Closing Incidents An incident may be closed only when one of the following criteria is met: The question has been answered and confirmed as closed by the customer contact. The customer confirms that an acceptable work-around has been implemented, or that the problem is no longer an issue. The customer and QAD Customer Support analyst agree that the issue reported is the result of an application design or coding issue, and requires either QAD Applications Consulting Services support, or other programming services for resolution. QAD: CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY PAGE 21 OF 29 LAST REVISED APRIL 2013

22 The customer receives the operational solution, patch, or configuration change, and confirms the issue has been resolved. The customer has implemented an acceptable work-around. The customer can then enter an Enhancement Request for QAD to handle the issue as an enhancement to be addressed in a future release. Product Lifecycle Policy QAD s Product Lifecycle Policy has been created to meet customers needs and to continue to invest in QAD applications and technology. In order to maintain competitiveness and reap the most benefit from their investment in QAD technology and applications, customers are encouraged to keep pace with the latest QAD releases. As a technology vendor, QAD must also manage its product offerings and support services so that it can: Continue to invest its resources in developing new technology and functionality demanded by customers Focus its support on the current set of software releases, so it can continue to deliver high quality support By managing the phases of products, versions, and supported platforms in a logical and open fashion, QAD is able to provide a framework within which customers can form their own technology and migration plans. You can access the Product Lifecycle Policy under the General References section of Online Support Center at Customers are kept advised of QAD applications and their phases through our quarterly Excellence Newsletter, and the QAD web site at Product Naming Conventions The following is a definition of QAD s current naming practice. While we use the term "product" in a general sense, we are actually referring to a combination of a particular product and version, or version and release level. Products Major Versions are used to introduce major new functionality or technical and architectural changes. These new versions normally introduce significant new functionality or a new technology or user interface (which may require customer or supplier training), and/or require a migration from one hosted version to another. For QAD Enterprise Applications, QAD s target release cycle is to introduce one new Major Version into General Availability every months. Any given Major Version may be enhanced or maintained over time through a series of Enhancement Releases and/or Service Packs. Enhancement Releases are provided to introduce enhancements and/or new feature sets to the Major Version, as well as roll up all accumulated software corrections. Customers are encouraged to update to the latest Enhancement Release of a given version to obtain enhanced functionality and increased stability. Enhancement Release will be deployed to customers via the QAD Download Center. Service Packs are QAD s primary vehicle for delivering regular maintenance updates and software corrections to customers, although individual patches will still be made available to address urgent customer situations. Service Packs may also include minor functionality changes QAD: CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY PAGE 22 OF 29 LAST REVISED APRIL 2013

23 as appropriate. Generally, a Service Pack is a collection of all the patches and file updates for a given version/release up to a specific point in time. All dependencies and previous patches are included, as well as other supporting files, scripts, tools and documentation. Customers should install the latest Service Pack to obtain the maximum level of support available. Which Releases Receive Full Support QAD s products evolve through a series of phases: first from a Limited Release, then on to General Availability (GA), to Functional Stability, and finally to a Maturity phase. Although QAD endeavors to provide support to customers on older releases, the full spectrum of QAD Customer Support is only available to customers running the GA releases. By incorporating the regular software upgrades that Support provides to them, customers running GA releases can also take advantage of the latest QAD product functionality and enhancements. The following table summarizes the level of technical support available at each phase. Lifecycle Support Phases The following table demonstrates the phasing of Software Releases through their lifecycle: Phase Sales Enhancements and Translation General Availability Functional Stability Maturity Selling is unrestricted in QAD s target markets. Carrier for new technology introductions. Limited to existing customers requiring system uniformity. Sales are suspended. Available through additional release updates; further translations (other than standard) are based on demand; certification available based on demand. No enhancement releases, and no new language translations; certification available based on demand. No product enhancements or translations or certification. Technical Support Full benefits of Support. Includes new letter release and/or Service Packs. Limited Support. Only severity 1 bug fixing; includes Service Packs. Limited support. Only general assistance; includes existing Service Packs. QAD Global Services All aspects of QAD Global Services available: Learning, Technical, Implementation, Support and Development. All aspects of QAD Global Services available: Learning, Technical, Implementation, Support and Development. QAD Global Services offerings may be limited in availability. Phase Transition Triggers Version enters General Availability based on QAD s measure of completeness and quality. When a numbered version transitions into General Availability. When a numbered version transitions into Functional Stability. QAD: CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY PAGE 23 OF 29 LAST REVISED APRIL 2013

24 Retirement Sales are suspended. No product enhancements or translations or certification. Support for specified time period only; support surcharge may apply. QAD Global Services are limited and may be costly. When a numbered version transitions into Maturity. Archived Code and documentation are archived to backup systems. Not available. Available only at QAD s discretion on a quote basis. Available only at QAD s discretion on a quote basis. Not applicable General Availability Phase For most QAD products there is normally one, or at most two Major Versions in this phase at any given time. Sales to new customers are restricted to Generally Available (GA) versions to ensure that customers receive the latest technology and functionality, and that the need to apply migrations in the near future is minimized. Since versions in GA are also subject to one or more enhancement releases, customers also benefit by receiving additional functionality as time progresses. Customers using a version in GA enjoy the entire spectrum of support. This means that under the terms of a support agreement, QAD provides the full breadth and depth of support, including application and technical support, Service Pack maintenance updates, and major/minor software upgrades. It also means that because of the natural transition of expertise and resources to newer technologies and their application, the effectiveness of support is at its highest for products in GA. Standard language translations are typically made during the GA stage. Due to the need to localize and translate a product to meet international requirements, certain products provide for a longer GA phase than for other products. For example, the GA Phase for QAD Enterprise Applications usually spans months, while follow-on phases typically last approximately one year each. See the attached matrix for a projection of Product Life Cycle phases by product line. As underlying technologies like operating systems, Progress and Oracle, advance QAD will certify releases in GA on the new technologies with a justified business need. All branches of Global Services and Support are normally available to provide assistance for products in GA. Functional Stability Phase A version in this phase is no longer sold to new customers. It may still be sold to existing customers to support additional sites or implementations across their enterprise. No new Enhancement Releases are available for versions in this phase, and no further translations are made. Technical support is limited in availability (and typically lower in need) because of increasing stability. Under the terms of a software support agreement, customers still have access to Support resources for assistance and information. However, no new fixes are developed, with the exception of Severity 1 issues that have not already been identified and fixed in previous releases. Should circumstances prevail which preclude a customer from upgrading in order to obtain a fix, QAD will provide a fix or acceptable workarounds to the Severity 1 issue in the QAD: CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY PAGE 24 OF 29 LAST REVISED APRIL 2013

25 release reported. Fixes may be supplied individually, or in the form of Service Pack updates as required. As underlying technologies like operating systems, Progress and Oracle, advance QAD may certify releases in Functional Stability on the new technologies with a justified business need. All branches of Global Services are normally available to provide assistance for products in Functional Stability. Maturity Phase Products that have reached the Maturity Phase are no longer sold. Technical support is very limited in availability. Under the terms of a standard software support agreement, customers still have access to support resources for assistance and information. Although no new enhancement releases, fixes or Service Packs are developed for mature products, customers still have access to any existing Service Packs available for these releases. Due to the advanced age of software in Maturity Phase, and limited support delivery capabilities, QAD strongly recommends that customers migrate to newer versions as soon as possible in order to maintain the highest level of support for their applications and systems. Products in Maturity will not be certified on new or updated operating systems or newer versions of Progress or Oracle. Global Services may have limited ability to provide services for products in Maturity. Retirement Phase As with products in Maturity Phase, products in Retirement Phase are no longer sold and no new enhancements, fixes or Service Packs are released for these versions. QAD may only provide support for a limited time period after a product reaches the Retirement Phase. Due to potentially higher costs of support, QAD also reserves the right to adjust support pricing for retired products upon support contract renewal. Support during Retirement Phase is provided on a best effort basis. To assist migration to current, fully supported versions of QAD products, the company may also endeavor to make special migration services available. Products in Retirement will not be certified on new or updated operating systems or newer versions of Progress or Oracle. All branches of Global Services have very limited availability to support products in Retirement. Archived Once a product completes the Retirement Phase it effectively reaches its "end of life" and is archived for legal purposes. Support may not be available except on a quote basis. Third-Party Software Issues Customers should also be aware that in order to run properly and be supportable, QAD software requires that customers maintain minimum compatible release levels of operating system and database software. It is important that customers maintain the release level of such third-party software in order for QAD to be effective in supporting the customer s QAD applications. QAD: CONFIDENTIAL AND PROPRIETARY PAGE 25 OF 29 LAST REVISED APRIL 2013

26 APPENDIX A QAD REGIONAL CUSTOMER SUPPORT CENTERS Location New Jersey, USA California, USA Local Hours of Operation Telephone Address AMERICAS 8am to 8pm QAD Inc. 10,000 Midlantic Drive, Suite 100 West Mt Laurel, NJ 08054, U.S.A. 8am to 5pm Brazil 8am to 6pm Mexico 9am to 6pm ASIA/PACIFIC Australia 8:30am to 5:30pm QAD Inc. 100 Innovation Place Santa Barbara, California 93108, USA QAD Software e Aplicativos Ltda. Av. Luis Carlos Berrini conj. 92 Brooklin Novo Sao Paulo BRAZIL QAD Mexicana S.A. de C.V. Newton 27, Col. Polanco, Mexico, D.F, MÉXICO QAD Australia Pty Limited Level 3, Building B, Pinnacle Office Park 4 Drake Avenue, Macquarie Park NSW 2113, Australia China 9am to 6pm QAD China 3/F North Tower, No. 9 Building, No. 20, Lane 91, Lu Jia Zui Software Park, E'Shan Road, Pudong New Area, Shanghai , P.R. CHINA India 6:30am to 9:30 pm QAD India Pvt. Ltd. 301, 3rd Floor, Techniplex - I, Techniplex Complex Off Veer Savarkar Flyover, Goregaon (West) Mumbai , INDIA Japan 9am to 5pm QAD Japan NP Onarimon bldg. 7F, Nishi-Shinbashi Minato-ku, Tokyo , JAPAN Thailand 8:30am to 5:30pm QAD (Thailand) Limited Cyberworld Tower A, 23rd Floor, Unit 2301, 90 Ratchadapisek Road, Huaykwang, Bangkok THAILAND EMEA Netherlands 9am to 6pm QAD Netherlands B.V. Boeingavenue 56, 1119 PE Schiphol Rijk. THE NETHERLANDS Poland 9am to 5pm QAD Polska SP. z o.o. ul. Legnicka 55 F, Wrocław, POLAND Spain 9am to 6pm QAD Spain C/. Constitucion 3 - Planta 5 Edificio Diagonal 2 E Sant Just Desvern, Barcelona, SPAIN United Kingdom Italy South Africa 9am to 5:30pm 9am to 5:30pm QAD United Kingdom Sir Stanley Clarke House, 7 Ridgeway, Quinton Business Park, Birmingham, B32 1AF, ENGLAND QAD Italy Via Carducci, 125/A Sesto San Giovanni (MI), ITALY 8am to 5pm QAD Software South Africa (Pty) Ltd. First Floor, IBM House, 54 Norfolk Terrace, Westville, 3630, SOUTH AFRICA

27 APPENDIX B QAD ALLIANCE SUPPORT PARTNERS How to Contact Authorized QAD Alliance Support Partners QAD Alliance Support Partners provide certified QAD product support throughout geographies not covered by QAD Regional Customer Support Centers. QAD Alliance Support Partners attend the same training and certification programs as QAD regional support analysts, so you can be sure you re getting the same exemplary support from an authorized Alliance Support Partner. In areas serviced by our authorized QAD Alliance Support Partners, the authorized alliance partner will complete a service agreement with the customer. In these instances, first line technical phone support is provided by the alliance partner support analysts, with QAD escalation support acting as a resource to the alliance partner. Alliance support partners also enlist customers in the QAD software upgrade subscription service to ensure they receive all software upgrades on a regular basis. For up-to-date contact information (company name, address, phone number, and address for the authorized QAD Alliance Support Partners nearest you), please contact your QAD Regional Customer Support Center, using the QAD Regional Customer Support Center location and contacts information in Appendix A. Please also note that many authorized QAD Alliance Support Partners are available to provide other types of implementation and consulting services, no matter where your system is located. For complete information on all of our authorized QAD Alliance Partners and their services, please visit the Alliance Partner section of our web site at Additional Consulting Services from QAD Alliance Partners QAD and its customers enjoy the benefits of an extensive network of authorized QAD Alliance Partners who can provide implementation assistance, application design and development consulting services, and a variety of other value-added services. For more information on what QAD Alliance Partners have to offer, visit our web site at or contact your Sales Representative.

28 APPENDIX C MAINTENANCE MATRIX Full Maintenance No Maintenance QAD Regional Support Centers Live Chat* Online Incident Entry Telephone Support *Live Chat is available in 6 languages Online Support Center Customer Advisories Development Standards Download Center Engineering Change Orders Enhancement Request Incident Management Knowledgebase Learning Center License Usage Tool Online Forum Operational Metrics Platform Availability Guide Product Documentation Remote Diagnostics Screen Share Webinars

29 APPENDIX D GLOSSARY OF TERMS Critical Down System Term to describe the status of a customer production environment that is in a non-working condition that is impacting product production. Engineering Change Order (ECO) A change to QAD software code, either to resolve a reported issue, or incorporate an enhancement. Incident A problem report that is submitted from the customer to a QAD Regional Support Center office, or to an Alliance Partner, for resolution. Knowledgebase A database of knowledge on previously reported issues. It may be searched in order to find a resolution to an issue encountered. Response Time The amount of time it takes to reply to the customer s initial request for assistance. Resolution Time The amount of time it takes to solve an issue and provide an answer to the customer. Online Support Center The online, self-service support web site ( where customers can research questions, take training, and enter incidents.