Global Customer Support and Policy Guide December, 2012

Transcription

1 Global Customer Support and Policy Guide December, 2012 Ventyx Customer Portal Support Mail Boxes Asset Suite/eSOMS Customer Suite EMPAC/InSite EPM Analytics EPM EMEA / APAC [email protected] EPM Enterprise Products [email protected] EPM Custom Solutions [email protected] ER Suite [email protected] FocalPoint [email protected] Legacy Service Suite [email protected] nmarket Suite [email protected] Service Suite [email protected] Ventyx Global Headquarters: 400 Perimeter Center Terrace Suite 500 Atlanta, GA United States S e r v i c e S u i t e S e r v i c e S u i t

2 Revision History Revision Number Date Author Notes 1 February 2012 Kim Rivera Original version 2 September 2012 Kim Rivera Updated Atlanta office address 3 December 2012 Kim Rivera Various updates for better policy definitions. 2

3 Introduction This document details the maintenance services you have contracted from Ventyx. It features valuable information on Global Customer Support, including global assistance, remote diagnostics, service levels, hours of operation and other topics. This document, available online at the Ventyx Customer Web Portal highlights the tools and methods used by Global Customer Support to provide consistent and high quality service that will help you get the most out of your Ventyx solutions, and enhance your competitive advantage. Our Mission Ventyx solutions are a vital part of your business. Our solutions allow you to reap significant bottomline benefits and meet the changing needs of your business. Ventyx understands that the success of our customers depends not only on the strength of the software, but also on superior and timely service and support. Ventyx Global Customer Support is here to provide ongoing technical and functional support, and help keep your Ventyx solutions running at peak efficiency. You can depend on Global Customer Support s experienced, customer-focused professionals to understand your business and quickly resolve your problems or concerns. We Are Here To Serve You Ventyx Customer Service Centers are strategically located in North America, the United Kingdom, and Australia. The majority of these support centers operate within Ventyx s Centers of Excellence for major enterprise software solutions to combine product development and support functions and to bring key experts and functions together. Many of the Ventyx Global Customer Support professionals come from production environments where they were programmers, system administrators, project managers, business analysts, or database administrators. All of our professionals understand your business needs and the importance of a quick, accurate response. In addition, we provide ongoing training to ensure these professionals are fully qualified to support Ventyx software products. Advanced customer support tools make our job as straightforward as possible. We use the most sophisticated incident tracking software available, ensuring efficient resolution of your support requests. This software captures detailed incident reports and questions in the form of cases, tracks them through to completion, and records the resolution to assist other customers using the same product. In addition, users are allowed access (via the Ventyx Customer Portal) to check the progress and enter updates related to the case that was reported. All activities, decisions, trace results, screenshots, and communications are recorded against the case for historical purposes. Because we use a global customer service database, you always have access to the most up-to date technical information and fast, consistent responses to customer issues around the clock, from anywhere in the world. Customer Support Plans Global Customer Support offers two service plans to meet your business needs. These plans are 3

4 Silver (support hours 5x8, M-F) and Platinum (support hours 7x24). Silver support hours are based in the Center of Excellence time zone. See appendix 3 for more details. Support services are provided in English. Each plan contains specific response targets, hours of service, scheduled event services, and migration planning offerings. These plans can be tailored to deliver the service you need, when you need it, so you can keep pace with your business and budget today and in the future. Your Account Manager can help you select and sign up for the plan that is right for you. Regardless of the service plan, all of our customers receive the following: Access & Response: Telephone, Access to Ventyx Customer Support Ventyx Customer Portal* Unlimited Number of Reported Cases Included per Month Remote Diagnostics Monthly Case Activity Reports Foundational, Major, Minor and Responsive /Emergency Releases Defect Reporting, Tracking and Correction Proactive Services: Customer Advocate Solutions Database Technical Support Bulletin Alerts *Number of Customer Portal Licenses may depend on Service Plan. Please contact your Customer Advocate for details on how to get access to the Customer Portal. Personalized Service Our highest priority is to ensure your continuing satisfaction with your Ventyx solutions, so we have made it easy for you to communicate with us. Each Ventyx customer is assigned a Customer Advocate., who oversees, facilitates, and escalates issues, and will proactively notify you of any relevant issues to help guard against potential system interruptions. The Customer Advocate meets regularly with you to understand your issues and your business and is your first point of escalation to Ventyx. Accessible Support Ventyx provides several ways for you to resolve product and technical issues. Expert technical support engineers are always available, ready to help. There is also a wealth of information available for you to access right from your desktop. 1. The primary and most effective way for you to access support is through the Ventyx Customer Portal. This portal offers you access to our global customer support system through a secured, web-enabled interface. The web portal is designed to help you easily report problems and questions as cases, find answers you need, or download software 4

5 updates. We highly encourage you to take advantage of the portal and its rich functionality, and recommend this your initial point-of-contact. Features available on the Customer Portal allow you to: Access 24 x 7 to electronic support Create initial cases including emergency service issues Attach supporting documentation or files to the case View real time progress made on your open cases Update your open cases, including case closure View details of any cases reported by your organization Resolve Issues or find workarounds through use of the Solutions Database which is a knowledge base of common issues and their solution Submit Customer/Company satisfaction surveys Review Support and Satisfaction metrics Review defect corrections (Change Requests). Ventyx makes available a list of known corrections through the Customer Portal. Review product delivery schedules, product roadmaps, technical service bulletins, and important documentation Download available product code Submit cases to receive software shipments, where applicable Update production version numbers, where applicable Update personal information Update environment information, platform, operating system, etc. You can access the Ventyx Customer Portal at For more information or a demonstration, contact your customer advocate. 2. Telephone access is the second way you can contact support through our global toll-free telephone system, which automatically routes calls quickly to the nearest open Customer Service Center. You can speak with a Customer Support representative to open, monitor, review, and update cases by calling one of our toll free numbers listed in Appendix 2 of this guide. Note: While using the Ventyx Customer Portal is the most efficient way for you to interact with support, we encourage customers to confirm Priority 1 issues via phone. 3. is the third, but least preferred option, of accessing Global Customer Support. You may send your request to the mailbox designated to your product line listed on page one of this guide. Customer Cases All defects, issues, incidents and problems reported to Ventyx Global Customer Support will be recorded as a customer case. Cases are reviewed and assigned accordingly dependent on priority. Once you verify a problem and report a case, we do our best to satisfy your request in a timely manner. 5

6 Verification: If you suspect a problem, we ask that you consider the following prior to contacting Global Customer Support: Configuration: Review system configuration and setup files, including message logs, job schedulers, job histories, log files, application services, file locations, directories, paths, and setup parameters. The root cause of the issue may be related to a simple configuration or setup problem or may be easily diagnosed in an existing system message. You should also try to isolate when the problem started and whether any changes have been made to the configuration or system. This information will help identify a list of potential causes for the current situation. Documentation: Review all relevant documentation including any release notes or Read Me files as well as the manuals and online help. This documentation may help you quickly identify the source of the issue. Online Solutions: Log into the web portal to review your company s cases, as well as the full database of solutions and customer-reported change requests. The solution to your issue may already be documented within the online service. This will help you save time and effort. Product Updates: Verify the installation by ensuring that all appropriate product updates have been applied correctly and in the appropriate sequence. Access the web portal for the most current product update information. Reporting: Many of our customers find it helpful to centralize the management of questions, especially during the implementation phase. We recommend each customer consolidate case reporting through two primary contacts, one technical and one business contact. Utilizing these two resources to manage your communications with Ventyx support reduces opportunities for miscommunication and replication of effort. If you have a confirmed problem within your Ventyx solution, have your primary contact(s) submit a case. The Ventyx Customer Portal will require most of this information before creation, helping guide you through the process, decreasing additional requests for information. Providing complete, detailed information in a timely manner will help us to determine quickly an answer: 1. Organization name and contact information 2. Product and release number and/or system information 3. Product implementation status (e.g. testing or production system) 4. Detailed description of the problem including: A description of the activity or business process performed when the problem occurred Specific steps to reproduce Frequency of occurrence When the issue began occurring How the system was being used when the issue/error was encountered 6

7 Whether this functionality had worked in the past or not and if so, when it last functioned as expected Whether the error occurred after a recent system upgrade. If so, indicate the versions from and to Describe any other environment changes (Oracle configuration errors, migrations, hardware changes, operating system upgrades, etc ) Whether you able to recreate this issue in another environment. If so, which one? (please include associated release/version information) Your expected outcome/desired result(s) The business impact of the issue. Include dollar values if applicable. 5. Error messages and system trace information. If appropriate, include screen shots or associated files necessary to illustrate the problem. Please use JPG format for screen shots and zip all data files. 6. Case priority level Customer Case Priority Definitions Priority Level 1 Critical 2 Urgent 3 Medium 4 Low Priority Definition The Ventyx Software is non-operational or users cannot access the system, or the functionality is significantly decreased or back up or other security of data can no longer be performed. The defect affects missioncritical functions or information in the production environment and may include, but not be limited to, data loss or corruption, system crash or missing major functionality. This may include any defect related to Licensee or personal safety, system availability, overall data integrity, or ability to serve the Licensee. The Ventyx Software is operational with functional limitations or restrictions but there is minimal business impact. Under a Priority 2, the defect will have a large impact on the functionality of the application, but does not require immediate release into the production environment. This defect allows continued use of the application, but there is a known compatibility or operability disruptions with no known Licensee acceptable work-around or missing minor functionality. The Ventyx Software is operational with functional limitations or restrictions that are not critical to the overall system operation, and the defect has a moderate impact on the functionality of the application. However, the application remains usable by all groups. A functional error exists for which there is a Licensee acceptable workaround. Failures assigned this priority level cause no delays in production. The Ventyx Software is operational with problems or errors, which have little impact on system operations. Priority 4 shall include, but are not be limited to, documentation errors. Priority 4 defects have a minor or cosmetic error in the functionality of the application in a production environment. Defect has no impact on the ability to execute a production application however. Failures assigned this priority level cause no delays in production. Note: Phone calls are the best method to assure immediate response to Priority 1 issues. Cases which relate only to the Customer s test system can be designated as priorities 2, 3 or 4 only. 7

8 Installation or Upgrade Support: There is a distinction between support and services. Generally, services are performed prior to a go-live by Ventyx Consulting Organization. Global Customer Support ( GCS ) is trained to support the installed software should issues arise after implementation. The skills and talents within each group are geared to support the different efforts. While GCS consists of business analysts, DBAs and other technical staff, they typically have not been trained to install software. Conversely, the Consulting group is not able to handle base defects and related issues and, in fact, report these to GCS for resolution. Installation, version upgrade or migration is a service typically delivered by Ventyx Consulting on a billable basis. Similarly, training for new customer hires that will use the software or (re)configuration of the software to respond to new business needs or market conditions fall within Ventyx Consulting Group s expertise. These services are typically not covered by maintenance. GCS will be happy to engage Consulting resources on customers behalf. Note: Under limited circumstances, some support teams can provide a moderate level of this support as an included service, given the frequency of software releases and the nature of the product. Please contact your Customer Advocate or Account Executive for additional information. If customers choose to self-migrate, upgrade, or configure the software for new business needs, they do so at their own risk. If during the course of issue resolution, GCS discovers the case was due to a self-migration, time spent working on the issue will become billable. Because of the complexity of many new releases with changing database structures and new web functionality, etc., we strongly recommend Consulting engagement to ensure an effective upgrade effort. With major upgrades, Ventyx also recommends contacting Consulting to arrange for any training needs prior to the event, fully preparing your customers for new functionality and software changes. Processing: Each case is assigned to a Global Customer Support professional, who will work with you to jointly determine the priority of the case. We will also attempt to validate the defect by reproducing the problem on the most current version of the reported release in a supported configuration. Customer assistance may be required to provide additional background information. Once the problem has been validated, appropriate action can be taken. In order to enable Customer Support to be provided as efficiently as possible, the Customer must provide Ventyx with access to trained and competent staff to work with. Access to Customer Designated System and Site: In order to enable Customer Support to be provided as efficiently as possible, the Customer must work with Ventyx to establish the best access to their environments for issue resolution. Remote access can include providing access to environments through the web, FTP, WebEx or screenshots. Under normal circumstances remote access will be sufficient; however, at Ventyx s discretion and with the Customer s permission onsite support may be provided and require local access to the Customer Site. 8

9 The minimum access requirements enable authorized Ventyx personnel to review the exact Customer environment and significantly improve problem analysis and resolution. Only those Ventyx personnel who are specifically authorized by the Customer will be permitted access. Ventyx will, where requested by the Customer, comply with all reasonable security requirements in able to obtain such access. Response Targets: Our targeted response times are based upon the urgency of your case. The more critical the business impact, the higher the priority. Ventyx will respond in line with our internal response targets. These response targets, although not guaranteed, identify the time in business hours in which Global Customer Support communicates with customers electronically upon case assignment. (See Appendix 3 for details on access and response per plan) For verified Priority 1 base defects, Global Customer Support will continuously work the issue in order to reach the most rapid resolution. Note: A customer representative must be available for a Priority 1 case to facilitate gathering additional information, testing, and applying the solution. Escalation: If necessary, a case may be escalated. Automatic escalation may occur when a case has not been resolved within the target resolution time set by Global Customer Support. A case may also be escalated by a customer with a call to the Customer Service Center. We constantly monitor cases to ensure a quick resolution. If a case is approaching the resolution target, Ventyx will get others in the organization involved to resolve the case quickly. We strongly encourage customers to use their Customer Advocates as the first point-of-escalation, given their in-depth understanding of your environment and issues. Closure: Global Customer Support will close a case when a resolution is available either in the form of an Emergency Patch or in a patch, service pack, cumulative patch or new release. For non-defect cases, GCS uses a two-stage closure process. The first stage moves the case to a status of Resolution Delivered/Confirm Pending or Pending Root Cause Analysis. This is applicable when a solution, such as a workaround, answer, or requested information has been provided. The next stage is to confirm the intended closure with the customer based on one of the conditions listed below, and physically close the case. Conditions for case closure include: Both GCS and the customer agree the case has been resolved. Within 30 days of receipt of the GCS proposed solution, the customer either has not tested or has not communicated to GCS the results of testing the solution. 9

10 After repeated attempts to obtain additional information, the customer does not or is unable to provide the requested information within 30 days of the original request. GCS along with product development has identified the case as a request for additional functionality. The case will be converted to a product enhancement request (PER), and this will be communicated to the customer who reported the issue. The case occurs in an unsupported configuration and cannot be reproduced by GCS in a supported configuration. The case occurs in an unsupported configuration, has been reproduced in a supported configuration, and GCS has supplied a solution or patch that resolves the case in the supported configuration in the most current base product version. A case requires a program code change that is not technically feasible for delivery in an emergency or cumulative patch, or the risk of making the code change in a patch is too high. GCS closes the case when it is resolved in the most current release of the product. A Priority 4 case triggers a change request. The change request will exist as part of Development s backlog, and customers will be able to track its progress through the customer web portal. A third-party product not supported by Ventyx causes the problem. When the root cause of the problem is found and presented to the customer. For higher priority cases, root cause analyses are valuable in minimizing future occurrences and expediting resolution should the problem recur. Once a case has been closed, it will not be re-opened. A new case can be open and linked to the previous one in the event that a customer needs to revisit an issue. Proactive Product Notifications Multiple channels are used to proactively notify our customers of product-related updates. Major and minor product releases, enhancements, and system upgrades for licensed software products are communicated by our customer advocates, product marketing, and account executives. Major product releases are also announced on the customer web portal login page. Depending on the product, new releases may be requested by submitting a new case with a type of Product Shipment Request. They can also be requested by phone. Some updates may be downloaded through the web portal. Technical Support Bulletins (TSB) alerts you to potentially critical issues in order to minimize any impact to you. Each new TSB is announced on the login page of the customer web portal and detailed under the Documents Tab for the corresponding product. Depending on your service plan, your customer advocate may proactively discuss the bulletins with you. To enable Customer Support to be provided in an effective manner, it is essential that the Customer accept and implement all issued fixes as soon as possible after these are made available by Ventyx and in the order distributed. 10

11 Ventyx Support Announcements Ventyx Customer Support shall publish from time-to-time announcements and communications on its website. The Customer should visit the Ventyx website ( regularly to ensure it has received all communications around Support Services. Where applicable those announcements will be deemed to be notice of changes to the Ventyx policy documents pursuant to this Global Customer Support & Policy Guide. Customer's Role Ventyx encourages its customers to maintain a stable, secured, supported system environment. Ventyx also encourages customers to recommend product enhancements that they believe will benefit a larger audience. Data Protection Measures Implementing data backup and recovery procedures Conducting vendor-recommended equipment maintenance Applying firewall, antivirus, and related security measures Supported Application Environment Distributing and installing product updates Updating supported software components Applying emergency updates as recommended Maintaining both a production and test system, and refreshing the test system with production data at least on a monthly basis Maintaining stability and operating capacity Following documentation processes Maintaining environments that meet or exceed minimum hardware and software requirements System Performance Tuning Providing ongoing performance tuning Notifying Global Customer Support if help is needed to detect the root cause of performance problems and identify the proper course of action Product Enhancement Requests (PER) Using the customer web portal to submit suggestions for base product enhancements Apply all Ventyx recommendations as appropriate Support of Case Recreation Provide all necessary data to recreate the case immediately upon submission or thereafter upon request, including at times requests for database exports Verify Production Performance issues in a lower environment prior to escalation Knowledge Sharing Ventyx customers have a lot in common besides software. Their business objectives, problems, and practices are very similar. For this reason, Ventyx provides many opportunities for our customers to share their experiences and learn from each other. 11

12 All Ventyx customers have access to the solutions database, as well as all customerreported change requests, for their products. Both repositories are accessible from the customer portal. Ventyx relies heavily on customer participation in the Customer Advisory Board, Product Advisory Committees (PAC), and Focus Groups. This collaborative customer governance model addresses business issues and provides functional and technical recommendations for Ventyx solutions based on common business needs. The Ventyx annual international user event has customers from around the world, representing every industry and solution suite, converge to learn and share their knowledge with peers. Continuous Improvement Your Ventyx solutions represent a significant strategic investment. To help you achieve the greatest return on investment (ROI) in the quickest possible timeframe, turn to Ventyx Consulting. The Ventyx product and industry experts are available to help you develop ROI strategies and continuous process improvement programs. Post-implementation optimization assessments help to ensure you get all the benefits you expect from your Ventyx implementation, and identify opportunities for further improvement. Finely tuned business and system processes and resultsdriven optimization are just a phone call away. Contact Ventyx Consulting for more information. Customer Surveys Another very important part of continuous improvement for Ventyx is our opportunities to get feedback from customers to drive our process and service changes. Global Customer Support uses On Demand and Event-Driven (Case Closure) surveys to turn our eyes outward and allow customers to direct change. Customer satisfaction surveys can be created or updated directly through the Ventyx Customer Portal. Whenever a case is closed, the system will send an with a link to a new survey form. These can be associated to a specific case or stand-alone. These surveys measure GCS, our products, and Ventyx as a whole. Global Customer Support takes these surveys very seriously, using them as input for improvement in Support, Development, and our company. Results from the surveys are aggregated and placed on the portal on a monthly basis, and they are used in performance evaluations of our staff. Please take the time to respond. We want your feedback. 12

13 Appendix 1 Terms and Definitions Ventyx wants to ensure clear communication, and we know that our industry uses acronyms too often. Therefore, the below defines some of the more common terms used regularly. Case Each request or question received by Global Customer Support for resolution. The number assigned to track it is the case number. Case Number The Ventyx assigned number assigned to track the case Change Request A request to correct a reported software defect. Change requests are associated to cases. All customer-reported change requests are visible on the customer web portal. Cumulative Patch ( CP ) A packaged distribution of defect corrections. Also known as service pack, rolling patch, scheduled maintenance fix or patch release. Emergency Patch ( EP ) Defect correction to address an emergency situation supplied before it is made available as part of a CP. Correction only receives unit and first level of Quality Assurance ( QA ) testing. No system or regression testing is performed. EPs are generic rather than customer specific. Also known has Hot Fix or Scheduled Hot Fix. Global Customer Support ( GCS ) The organization that provides customer support for all Ventyx products. Maintenance Agreement Contractual obligations between the customer and Ventyx. This document defines the fees that the customer will pay and the service that will be provided by Ventyx. Migration Planning High level discussion by phone or videoconference of topics to consider before migrating to a new release or version. Checklist includes system configuration, operating system, and database requirements. Scheduled Event Services Provides access to Global Customer Support representatives after normal business hours for assistance during scheduled events such as planned outages. Extended coverage must be scheduled at least 14 days in advance. Technical Support Bulletin ( TSB ) A notification to customers regarding potential critical issues, which may require immediate response. These are published on the Ventyx Customer Portal as needed. Ventyx Customer Portal The external web access available to maintenance-paying customers. An application used to generate, assign, and track cases and their priorities. Within the customer web portal, the entire lifecycle of a case is monitored, and each subsequent status is recorded. The customer web portal is located at 13

14 Appendix 2 Global Customer Support Toll Free Numbers Americas, Caribbean from Canada, Caribbean, and U.S from Brazil from Argentina Europe, Middle East, Africa from Belgium from Bahrain from Czech Republic then from Denmark from Egypt inside Cairo then from Egypt outside Cairo then from France from Germany from Greece from Hungary from Ireland from Italy from Kuwait then from Netherlands from Norway from Panama from Poland from South Africa from Spain from Sweden from United Kingdom Asia / Pacific from Australia from Hong Kong from Japan from Korea from New Zealand from Philippines from Singapore from Thailand

15 Appendix 3 ACCESS & RESPONSE SILVER PLATINUM Telephone Access to Ventyx Customer Support 5x8 (M-F) 7x24 Response Targets (hours) Priority Priority Priority Priority Customer Portal website X X Number of Issues Included per Month Unlimited Unlimited Number of Customer Portal IDs X X Monthly Case Activity Reports Limited Unlimited Scheduled Event Services (weekends/holidays) 2/Year Purchase Option 2/Year Included SILVER SUPPORT COE ACCESS TIME ZONE Asset Suite/eSOMS Customer Suite EMPAC/InSite EPM Analytics EPM Enterprise Products EPM Custom Solutions ER Suite FocalPoint Legacy Service Suite EST - Eastern Standard Time (UTC/GMT -5 hours) EST - Eastern Standard Time (UTC/GMT -5 hours) EST - Eastern Standard Time (UTC/GMT -5 hours) EST - Eastern Standard Time (UTC/GMT -5 hours) CST - Central Standard Time (UTC/GMT -6 hours) CST - Central Standard Time (UTC/GMT -6 hours) EST - Eastern Standard Time (UTC/GMT -5 hours) EST - Eastern Standard Time (UTC/GMT -5 hours) EST - Eastern Standard Time (UTC/GMT -5 hours) nmarket Suite CST - Central Standard Time (UTC/GMT -6 hours) Service Suite PST - Pacific Standard Time (UTC/GMT -8 hours) IMS AEST Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC/GMT +10) Ellipse AEST Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC/GMT +10) **Customers can also be supported by the Regional Support Centers: Santiago (UTC/GMT -3 hours), Moscow (UTC/GMT +4 hours), Johannesburg (UTC/GMT +2), Denver (UTC/GMT -7 hours) 15