global customer support guide

8/2/2019 Global Customer Support Guide

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Global Customer Support GuideFebruary, 2012

Introduction

This document details the maintenance services you have contracted from Ventyx. It featuresvaluable 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 http://www.ventyx.com/en/customers/support, 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.

North America:

3301 Windy Ridge Rd, Suite 201

Atlanta, GA 30339

United States 1 800 634 4357

Europe, Middle East Africa:

Britannia Wharf

Monument Road

Woking, Surrey GU21 5LW

United Kingdom

0 800 328 0743

Asia Pacific:

135 Wickham Terrace

Firhall-Ground HallSpring Hill, QLD 4000

Australia

1 800 501 341

Ventyx Customer Portal

http://www.ventyx.com/en/customers/support

Support Mail BoxesAsset Suite/eSOMS [email protected]

Customer Suite [email protected]

EMPAC/InSite [email protected]

EPM Analytics [email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

EPM EMEA / APAC [email protected]

EPM 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]


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Global Customer Support Guide | February, 2012

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Our MissionVentyx solutions are a vital part of your business. Our solutions allow you to reap significant bottom-

line 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 dependon Global Customer Supports experienced, customer-focused professionals to understand your

business and quickly resolve your problems or concerns.

We Are Here To Serve YouVentyx Customer Service Centers are strategically located in North America, the United Kingdom,

and Australia. The majority of these support centers operate within Ventyxs 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 environmentswhere 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, traceresults, 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 PlansGlobal Customer Support offers various service plans to meet your business needs. 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.


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Regardless of the service plan, all of our customers receive the following:

Access & Response:

Telephone, Email 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

Personalized ServiceOur 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 SupportVentyx 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

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


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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

Submit Customer/Company satisfaction surveys

Review Support and Satisfaction metrics

Review defect corrections (Change Requests) Review Solutions

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 http://www.ventyx.com/en/customers/support. 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 on the last page 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. E-mail is the third option, but least effective means, for accessing Global CustomerSupport. You may send your request to the mailbox designated to your product line listed

on page one of this guide.

Customer CasesOnce you verify a problem and report a case, we do our best to satisfy your request in a timely

manner.

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.


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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 companys 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 onlineservice. 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 manageyour 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. 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

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 versionsfrom 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)


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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. 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

Note: Phone calls are the best method to assure immediate response to Priority 1 issues.

The Ventyx Customer Portal will require most of this information before creation, helping guide you

through the process, decreasing additional requests for information.

Installation or Upgrade Support:

There is a distinction between support and services. Generally, services are performed prior to a

go-live by Ventyx Professional Services Organization (PSO). 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 PSO 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 PSO 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 PSO Groups

expertise. These services are typically not covered by maintenance. GCS will be happy to engage

PSO 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 PSO engagement to ensure an effective upgrade effort.

With major upgrades, Ventyx also recommends contacting PSO 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. The four case priority levels are defined as follows:


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Priority 1 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 mission-

critical 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 toLicensee or personal safety, system availability, overall data integrity, or

ability to serve the Licensee.

Priority 2 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.

Priority 3 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.

Priority 4 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 productionenvironment. Defect has no impact on the ability to execute a production

application however. Failures assigned this priority level cause no delays in

production.

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 a Global Customer Support professional shall communicate with customers, either by

telephone or electronically.

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.


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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.

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 additionalfunctionality. 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

Developments 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


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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 NotificationsMultiple 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.

Customer's RoleVentyx 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 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)


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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 SharingVentyx 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.

All Ventyx customers have access to the solutions database, as well as all customer-

reported 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.

Mindshare is the Ventyx international user event. Customers from around the world,

representing every industry and solution suite, converge to learn and share their

knowledge with peers.

Continuous ImprovementYour 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 Professional Services.

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 results-

driven optimization are just a phone call away. Contact Ventyx Professional Services for more

information.

Customer SurveysAnother 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.


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Customer satisfaction surveys can be created or updated directly through the Ventyx Customer

Portal. Whenever a case is closed, the system will send an email 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 inperformance evaluations of our staff.

Please take the time to respond. We want your feedback.


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Terms and DefinitionsVentyx 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 aregeneric 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 athttp://www.ventyx.com/en/customers/support.


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Global Customer Support Toll Free Numbers

Americas, Caribbean

from Canada, Caribbean, and U.S. 800 634 4357from Brazil - 000 811 004 3843from Argentina - 0800 666 3643

Europe, Middle East, Africa

from Belgium 0800 728 74from Bahrain - 800 477from Czech Republic - 0042 087 187 then

866 999 0603from Denmark 8088 9794from Egypt inside Cairo - 510 0200 then

800 634 4357from Egypt outside Cairo - 02 510 0200 then 800 634 4357from France 0 0800 912 900from Germany 0800 181 5704from Greece - 800-1809-204-0290from Hungary - 00 800 12 804from Ireland 1 800 550 172from Italy 16 7878 535from Kuwait - 800 288 then 800 634 4357from Netherlands 0800 022 8767from Norway 8001 2270from Panama 1 866 999 0601from Poland 00 800 141 0006from South Africa - 0800 996 087from Spain 900 961 329from Sweden 020 793 770from United Kingdom - 0800 328 0743

Asia / Pacific

from Australia - 1 800 501 341from Hong Kong - 800 90 3834from Japan - 00531 114715from Korea - 008 1800 004 3843from New Zealand - 0800 448 695from Philippines - 1800 1 111 0653

from Singapore - 800 1101065from Thailand - 001 800 11 004 3843