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Novell Premium Service

Feature Descriptions

Access
Access defines the business hours in which Novell is committed to address your networking problems. Choosing 24x7 access gives you Novell support at any time for critical issues. This round-the-clock access reflects the reality of the needs of today's businesses. 12x5 access provides access during the heaviest standard business hours:

  • Americas Support Center:  6 a.m. to 6 p.m. MT
  • EMEA Support Center:  8 a.m. to 8 p.m. CET
  • Asia Pacific Support Center:  7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Local time

Note: For products that have bundled support options, the hours of coverage is determined by the product.

Maximum Response Times
When you select the maximum response time necessary for your business, factor in how long your business can (or cannot) wait for an expert's help with your technical issue.

Service Account Management
Personalized account management has proven to be one of the most valued features of Premium Service. Your Service Account Manager (SAM) is your advocate within Novell, developing a close working relationship with your business to gain an in-depth knowledge of your technical support needs. Account managers advocate and coordinate the efforts of support personnel on behalf of your business. They ensure you receive and are able to use the support tools provided with your Premium Service contract. They make sure your needs are addressed, including:

  • Ensuring that service requests are logged, prioritized and progressing appropriately
  • Working with support engineers and management to facilitate the shortest-possible resolution time for your critical issues
  • Hosting regularly scheduled meetings to discuss your support and satisfaction issues
  • Coordinating and recommending optional services such as on-site support, scheduled standby, health checks, regional training opportunities and more

Optional onsite visits allows the service account manager to work in person with your IT staff in your office to become even more familiar with your system configuration, your business needs and your technology environment.

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Service Requests
A Service Request (SR) is defined as assistance with one issue, problem, or question relating to the use or installation of a Novell product or product component, regardless of the number of communications required. A single support SR is a problem that cannot be broken down into subordinate problems. If a problem consists of subordinate problems, each is considered a separate SR.

Each Premium Service level gives you a specific number of service requests. How many service requests you'll need for the year, to cover your support requirements, depends on many variables:

  • Complexity of your network
  • Number of elements within your system that could experience problems (servers, applications, data stores, Web applications, portals, databases, etc.)
  • Size of your IT staff
  • How much money you spend calling in for support on an ad hoc basis
  • How dispersed your network is geographically

Dedicated Resources
With dedicated resources you have access to on-call or on-staff engineering resources who consider your business their top priority. Experience has proven that customers who purchase support packages that include dedicated resources have the highest level of satisfaction with their service. Having one or more dedicated resources on-hand offers very personalized service—an ongoing relationship with a specific person who mentors your staff and can act as an advisor as well as a troubleshooter to your problems. These professionals have in-depth knowledge of Novell technologies and solutions and are assigned to customers based on technology expertise. Dedicated resources offer the highest level of service for the most customized configurations. Already familiar with your environment, your dedicated resource(s) are able to resolve issues faster because they know exactly what they're dealing with—they are a continuing Novell presence in your workplace. As time permits, they can even make recommendations on critical issues like staff skills and training, can review your project planning, and do periodic health checks.

Download the brochure here

Advantage/Assigned Support Engineer
An Advantage/Assigned Support Engineer (ASE) provides the first level of personalized support—a relationship that manages issues from recognition to resolution. ASEs are located in the Novell call center and are available over the phone during Novell Technical Service core business hours of 6:00am to 6:00pm MT.

Primary Support Engineer
A Primary Support Engineer (PSE) solves active problems and provides proactive maintenance on your Novell technologies. With only three* customer accounts, PSEs can give you more of their time, developing a more personalized technical support relationship with your business. PSEs visit their customers onsite periodically during the year and are available 24x7** by phone for emergency situations. Novell's PSEs are located in major cities and near Novell's field offices, allowing them to have a closer relationship with their customers.

*In Asia Pacific the services of a PSE are available as part of a Premium 3000 agreement on a 1:7 engineer/customer ratio limited to 50 service requests, or as part of a Premium 4000 agreement on a 1:3 basis with unlimited service requests.
**In EMEA, your PSE or DSE provides a single point of contact for all your support queries during Novell business hours five days a week. Outside these times, you will still be able to access expert support via the Dedicated Support team, giving you a 24x7 service.

Dedicated Support Engineer
A Dedicated Support Engineer (DSE) serves and supports your business as the primary focus of his or her activities. Your DSE solves problems, performs proactive maintenance, works closely with Novell resources to resolve your issues, and works onsite at your business. There is no stronger support relationship available than that of the DSE, situated in your office and focused on your business systems' needs.

Technical Subscriptions
With the right tools, your in-house staff can quickly resolve minor problems—saving time and money and allowing you to reserve your service requests for the most critical issues. Each Premium Service level includes the Novell Professional Resource Suite, which combines the resources in the Novell Product Toolkit™, Novell Software Evaluation & Development Library and Novell Support Resource Library™. With this all-inclusive subscription, you'll have everything you need to make the most of your system.

BrainShare
BrainShare is Novell's premier technical conference, providing you with a wealth of tools and knowledge on anything from the Datacenter to the Desktop, Security and Identity, Workgroup and Resource Management. BrainShare is the ideal place to network with your peers, share knowledge and learn about the latest from Novell to help you build the Open Enterprise. Learn more.

Scheduled Standby
Schedule a support expert when you know you may need one-like when you're making any system change or doing routine maintenance you'd like a little help with: Anything that could pose a risk to your operations. The standby support engineer is available to you two hours in advance, so you can discuss exactly what you're planning to do and your support engineer can advise you on the best course of action. By devising and properly planning a strategy with a Novell expert, you can accomplish your tasks quickly, avoid surprises, and have your Novell engineering expert on hand should trouble arise--someone who is prepared with an understanding of your project and who has the skills to troubleshoot for you should any serious issues arise.

Download the brochure here

On Site Support
If your chosen level of Premium Service does not include onsite support, you may purchase that service option separately. Or, if you already have onsite support included in your Premium Service contract, you can easily purchase additional days of onsite support as you need it. Use the Onsite support option to augment your staff, to give you a Novell presence during specific projects, or for emergency onsite problem resolution.

Download the brochure here


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