DELIVERS CONTROL, CHOICE & FLEXIBILITY SERVICE LINE FLYER ACI ENHANCED SUPPORT PROGRAM FLEXIBLE PACKAGES DESIGNED TO MEET CUSTOMER REQUIREMENTS FOCUS ON FULL SOLUTION SUPPORT RATHER THAN STANDARD PRODUCT SUPPORT CREATION OF AN ACI MIRROR SYSTEM TO IMPROVE SUPPORT AND TESTING LEAD TIMES ACI s track record in providing quality product support to its customer base has long been recognized as one of the company s key strengths. Increasingly, as ACI s solutions develop and expand, ACI is looking at more innovative ways to provide this support to ensure that customers requirements are given closer attention and faster resolution. The ACI Enhanced Support Program (ESP) is a dynamic package, offering in-depth support and development for customer systems through the use of dedicated technical leads with extensive experience in the payments industry.
2 ACI S PROFESSIONAL SERVICES HAVE BEEN VERY HELPFUL FOR US IN MAKING SURE THAT OUR SYSTEM IS TUNED TO THE PEAK LOAD THAT WE CAN EXPECT DURING HOLIDAY SEASONS. ESP is ACI s premier support and development service. It is designed for customers that require a more direct and flexible service than that provided by the ACI help desk, HELP24. While the HELP24 service focuses on product support using skilled resources with knowledge on individual products, ESP revolves around customer-specific solution support using dedicated technical leads. ROLE DEFINITIONS In order to provide a more tailored service to customers, the ESP is split into three distinct areas: Core service Add-on support On-request service One of the key goals of ESP is to provide a flexible service. While the core service forms the basis of all ESP agreements, by adding the add-on and/or on-request services, customers have the option to select the services which best suit them. This makes each ESP package distinct and unique. CORE SERVICE Each ESP area has several offerings as standard; these form the core service which ensures that each customer benefits from the main goals of the ESP. DEDICATED TECHNICAL LEAD Within the core service, the use of dedicated technical leads with many years of industry and product experience provides a unique service for ACI customers. ACI s highly skilled technical leads are available to the customer for all support, testing and business requirements. MIRROR SYSTEM Having set up a mirror copy of the customer s system, the ESP service is able to provide direct support and testing methodology. With access to exact copies of customizations and configurations, any support issue can be replicated to provide a faster resolution for customers. In the same way, any testing can be undertaken against specific systems to ensure that results are exactly as customers would expect to find in their own environment. This will in turn reduce their time to market due to less in-house testing being required. 2
CORE ADD-ON ON-REQUEST Dedicated technical lead Performance and capacity reviews CSM development Mirror system Mandate compliance CSM uplift CSM* support Dedicated out-of-hours support Education Service reviews Migration services * Custom software modifications CSM SUPPORT A key offering of the ESP service is the support of customizations, ensuring that the ACI solution as a whole can be supported. The support service includes aspects such as fixing CSM-related problems and retrofitting CSMs to applicable product fixes produced by HELP24. This ensures that an ESP customer s CSM code is always up to current fix levels and fully compatible with standard code. SERVICE REVIEWS In order to support the continual monitoring of the program, the ESP team has regularly scheduled calls to discuss any outstanding issues as well as the broader technical solution. To complement these reviews, a monthly service meeting (in person) is provided to maintain the standards of the service and to work on future business requirements. ADD-ON SUPPORT MANDATE COMPLIANCE While the industry card schemes continue to make changes, there will always be requirements to update payments software. ACI customers are able to rely on the ESP service to test the mandate code against their mirror system (including any customizations) and make any necessary changes. This ensures that the mandated change is fully tested on the customer s code base before being implemented, thereby easing the process. DEDICATED OUT-OF-HOURS SUPPORT Through ACI s standard support service (HELP24), customers are provided with out-ofhours support (for critical production issues) from product experts. However, ESP customers have the additional benefit of being able to call upon technical leads who have a high-level understanding of their system and access to mirror copies. ACI s experience shows that these benefits ensure customers resolution times are vastly reduced. In turn, this enables them to provide a more stable and reliable system for their customers. Through ESP, customers are able to choose from several repeatable offerings that can be incorporated into the overall ESP package. These options allow customers to vary the service based on their individual requirements. PERFORMANCE AND CAPACITY REVIEWS Through the add-on service options, ACI s aim is to provide structured and repeatable offerings that match regular customer needs. For example, performance and capacity reviews are essential in order to avoid any major production system impacts. This add-on checkup service helps to protect against any potential disasters, such as bottlenecks in ACI systems, which could escalate into major production issues. 3
ON-REQUEST SERVICE Through the ESP, customers can draw upon ACI s full range of service options, which can be adapted to suit their business needs. The use of a dedicated technical lead (or team) with a highlevel understanding of the ACI solution enables these offerings to be both specific and authentic to customer requirements. The following are examples of such services. CUSTOMIZATION DEVELOPMENT Through our detailed knowledge of customer systems, the ESP is in a unique position to provide additional development capabilities to customers. In each instance, the technical lead s experience allows them to work from a business specification to develop relevant ACI modules to the customer s requirements. The customized modules can then be tested against the ESP mirror systems before being delivered and subsequently supported under the terms of the ESP agreement. CSM UPLIFT Once the customizations are in place, there will always be a requirement to ensure that they are fully functional with each subsequent code change. Whether that change is a full migration or simply the addition of mandates or minor fixes, the ESP team is able to ensure a seamless uplift is conducted. The table below outlines the main differences between HELP24 and ESP, showing the extra benefits of using ACI s premier support model. EDUCATION While all ACI customers have access to the benefits of ACI education services, ACI s ESP customers have the added advantage of their technical lead to aid with the adaptation of the course material. Thereby, on delivery of the training, more of the content is structured specifically on the customer s system as opposed to generic course material. ACI s ESP customers experience shows that this gives a more personal and specific service, which helps students gain a clearer understanding by being able to relate what they have learned to their working environment. MIGRATION SERVICES Whether uplifting ACI software to the latest release or fully integrating to a new ACI solution, ACI s ESP team has the experience and competence to help. With their in-depth knowledge of customer systems, the team has the ability to provide invaluable advice on methodologies for all migrations. Should the need arise, they also hold the technical skill sets to implement, migrate and test any new ACI products. ADDITIONAL BENEFITS OF THE ESP For many ACI customers, the standard support model of HELP24 is the ideal solution, as they receive product support from experts to match their business needs. However, some customers require more flexible, in-depth solution support from dedicated resources who understand their system (as opposed to just the ACI products). SERVICE HELP24 ESP Business hours support for product application issues Yes Yes (core) Out-of-hours priority 1 restoration service Root-cause analysis for priority 1 Yes Yes Yes (with specific designated out-of-hours support through add-on support) Yes, 24x7 if the fault is at risk of reoccurrence (on-request) Dedicated team of experts in customer-specific solution No Yes (core) ACI mirrored test environment including all customizations No Yes (core) Support and code fixes for customizations No Yes (core) New customization or functionality development No Yes, can integrate development days (on-request) 4
ACI s ESP technical leads have exceeded our expectations. Frost Bank has been very impressed with their skills, knowledge, dedication and professionalism. We have depended on their support during critical situations and every time they have been able to resolve the issue at hand. - Frost Bank Maria Oviedo-Noland I.T. Business Analyst II Business Support Group We have used ACI s ESP for years. We have had multiple technical leads over the years and they have all met or exceeded our performance expectations. Based on our experience, I would recommend the ESP service to companies who may not have the Tandem/BASE24 experience in house or who may need some additional help based on the number of active projects. - Wilmington Trust ACI s ESP team do a wonderful job and provide a valuable service to Zions operations. - Zions Warren Doi Through using ACI s ESP, ICA has been able to rely on a high level of customer-focused support, while having new developments worked on by the ESP team who have in-depth knowledge of the ICA OpeN/2 system. - ICA Banken AB Anders Carlsson BarclayCard has used the ESP service for 20+ years, during which time ACI and ourselves have benefited greatly from the strong day-to-day working relationship. - BarclayCard Keith Draper BTO Technical Architect ACI s ESP has always been an important part of our BASE24 and ACI Proactive Risk Manager systems. The ESP team are who we consider to be the subject matter experts and our port of call for new projects and mandates or when issues arise. 5
REVOLUTIONIZES PAYMENTS ACI Worldwide, the Universal Payments company, powers electronic payments and banking for more than 5,000 financial institutions, retailers, billers and processors around the world. ACI software processes $13 trillion in payments and securities transactions for more than 250 of the leading global retailers, and 21 of the world s 25 largest banks. Universal Payments is ACI s strategy to deliver the industry s broadest, most unified end-to-end enterprise payment solutions. Through our comprehensive suite of software products and hosted services, we deliver solutions for payments processing; card and merchant management; online banking; mobile, branch and voice banking; fraud detection; trade finance; and electronic bill presentment and payment. To learn more about ACI, please visit www.aciworldwide.com. You can also find us on Twitter @ACI_Worldwide. 6 www.aciworldwide.com Americas +1 402 390 7600 Asia Pacific +65 6334 4843 Europe, Middle East, Africa +44 (0) 1923 816393 Copyright ACI Worldwide, Inc. 2014 ACI, ACI Payment Systems, the ACI logo, ACI Universal Payments, UP, the UP logo and all ACI product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of ACI Worldwide, Inc., or one of its subsidiaries, in the United States, other countries or both. Other parties trademarks referenced are the property of their respective owners. AFL5483 08-14