NetIQ Guide to Technical Support Processes
Our goal is to provide optimal value from your NetIQ products throughout the product's lifecycle. From initial installation to on-going support, the NetIQ Worldwide Support Team empowers you to maximize your investment with the support services we provide. In addition to conventional support methods, we offer web-based support tools such as knowledge bases, white papers, product documentation, user forums and an online service request management portal to provide you with the flexibility of accessing support in the way that best suits your needs.
Your input is extremely important to us! We continually improve and add value to our service by maintaining a strong focus on the feedback we receive from our customers through surveys, advisory boards and user forums. Your feedback allows us to continually enhance our support services including online service request management and technical knowledge search capabilities.
Note:
The following document applies to all supported geographic regions with the exception of Japan.
Web-Based Self-Service
To access web-based self-service visit http://www.netiq.com/support.
Web-based self-service resources include the NetIQ Knowledge Base, Service Request Manager, Customer Forums and Notifications and additional online documentation. (The NetIQ Knowledge Base and some online documentation are "unlocked" resources and do not require a purchase.) Listed below are the most commonly used resources.
All customers have access to the following web-based tools and unlocked areas.
Knowledge Base
Access a wealth of technical information including answers to known issues and information on best practices through articles with proven solutions to address your needs.
To access the NetIQ Knowledge Base:
- Go to http://www.netiq.com/support.
- Type a question in the My Question is field.
- Select a Product in the drop down menu and click Search.
Per our customers' feedback, NetIQ continually invests in this area. In calendar year 2005, we have improved search capabilities and continue to add and refine content.
Evaluation Support
NetIQ provides evaluation support for 30 days from the date of the trial download installation. Use of the "unlocked" web-based resources is encouraged during the evaluation period. In the event that additional support is required, please see 'Contact Information' below.
Contact Information
Includes contact information for Support, Maintenance Renewals, and a complete listing of our phone menus that can help you to reduce the amount of time it takes to contact the product support team that can help you.
To access support contact information:
- Go to http://www.netiq.com/support.
- Click Go under Contact Support.
- Select your product, and then choose one of the options under Evaluation Support, Customer Online Support, or Customer Phone Support.
Customers with a valid support maintenance contract can access the additional web-based tools below in locked areas of the support site. These areas also contain tools designed to enhance your support experience.
Note about locked resources
NetIQ Customers / Partners with a current maintenance contract must first create a "MyNetIQ" account and then request access to locked areas. Information on creating a MyNetIQ account can be found at: http://www.netiq.com/support/accessinfo.asp.
Service Request Manager (SRM)
Allows you to open a service request online, update and view existing service request statuses online and receive notifications when your service request has been updated by Technical Support. When opening a new request, SRM will request basic information on the nature of the problem (product, version, severity, description and category).
To access SRM:
- Go to http://www.netiq.com/support.
- Click Go under Submit Tech Support Requests and login with your 'MyNetIQ' account.
- Select My Service Requests and Create a New Service Request.
If you need assistance using SRM or have questions about specific User Preferences, please see: https://srmanager.netiq.com/eservice_enu/help/siebcomgeneric.htm.
Customer Forums
Provides a web-board for customer-to-customer product discussion forums. A customer can post questions and answers regarding specific NetIQ products and track responses from their peers. Customers have the option to automatically receive email notifications for new postings in specific forums, as well as for specific items posted in the forums.
Additional customer forum options include Watched Topics, My Boards, etc. These options allow you to customize the user experience and optimize your usage of these forums.
To view entries in a customer forum for a product:
- Go to http://www.netiq.com/support.
- Click Go under Ask Other Customers.
- Select the product (if prompted), or the customer forum for the currently selected product will be displayed.
Product Notification Forums
Provides a web forum where NetIQ posts entries about the latest technical information including hotfix announcements, new releases, product specific conferences, etc. Customers have the option to automatically receive email notifications for new postings with product updates and releases, security alerts, and vulnerability updates for NetIQ products.
To view notifications for a product:
- Go to http://www.netiq.com/support.
- Click View under View or Sign up for Email Updates.
- Select the product (if prompted), or the Notifications for the currently selected product will be displayed.
To sign-up to receive notifications (email updates):
- Go to http://www.netiq.com/support.
- Click Sign-up under View or Sign up for Email Updates.
- Check the boxes for the products about which you want to receive notifications, and then click Save.
Other Online Services
Additional resources are available by selecting a product under View Options for a Specific Product. Note that these options may vary by product and are not limited to the options detailed below. Some of these resources are freely available; others require access to locked resources:
White Papers - Best Practices, Specific technology and environments, integration and a host of topics relevant to your NetIQ product deployments.
Documentation - Product specific documentation including release notes, Installation Guides, User Guides, and Administration Guides among others.
Knowledge Depot - The Knowledge Script Depot (does not apply to all products) features Knowledge Scripts, Reports, and Operator Console plug-ins that address specific needs. Most were developed and contributed by NetIQ customers.
Diagnostic Tools - Product specific diagnostic tools (does not apply to all products) that gather log files, environment specific information, registry settings, etc.
Hotfixes - The latest information and downloads for product specific Hotfixes.
Upgrades - The latest information and downloads for product specific Service Packs, Upgrades and Releases.
Phone NetIQ Technical Support
To ensure that we can address your issue quickly and efficiently, please have the following available:
- NetIQ product registration numbers.
- Support Service Request number if you are calling about an existing case.
- Be at the computer where the affected product is running and have a copy of the product documentation at hand.
NetIQ provides one number to call for support regardless of product. These numbers are differentiated along the following geographic lines.
Note
Essential Care Plan excludes certain holidays. Contact your support center for further information.
North America
- Premium Care Customers - Premium Plan (24x7) - The number to call is provided to you in your Premium Care support package. Both toll and toll free numbers are available.
- Essential Care Customers (1-713-418-5555) - You can call this number Monday through Friday from 8:00am to 8:00pm EST.
EMEA (Pan-European)
- Premium Care Customers - Premium Plan (24x7) - The number to call is provided to you in your Premium Care support package. Both toll and toll free numbers are available.
- Essential Care Customers (+353 (0) 91 782 677) - You can call this number Monday through Friday from 8:00am to 6:00pm GMT.
APAC
- Essential Care Customers (1-713-418-5540) - You can call this number Monday through Friday from 9:00pm to 8:00am GMT.
- APAC Toll Free Phone Numbers:
| Location | Toll Free Number |
| Australia | 1-800-009-617 |
| China | Option 1: 10-800-130-0552 Option 2: 10-800-713-0555 |
| Hong Kong | 800-965-772 |
| India | Option 1: 000-800-100-3319 (India Toll Free) Option 2: 1-713-418-5540 |
| Indonesia | 001-803-015-201-2217 (Country Code 62 when using calling card) |
| Malaysia | 1-800-80-8989 |
| Philippines | 1-800-765-4048 |
| New Zealand | 0-800-443-063 |
| Singapore | 800-1301-284 |
| Taiwan | 00-801-14-8519 |
Phone Menus
Our phone menus are designed to provide efficient call routing. When your call is received, you will be prompted to make the menu selections to route your call to the appropriate Technical Support Engineer.
To help you navigate through our phone menu, we have created a visual representation of the menu. You will find the link to this diagram online under the “Contact Support” section of the support web page. This link provides direct access to the menu diagram. Download the phone menu from our website.
| Location | Phone Menu |
| North America and APAC |
http://www.netiq.com/go/supportmenu |
| EMEA | http://download.netiq.com/library/support/EMEA_Phone_Menu%20_2_.pdf |
Email NetIQ Technical Support
Important Note
NetIQ fully encourages customers to use our online service request logging tool "Service Request Manager". Customers can open a service request online, update and view service request status online, and receive notifications when we have updated your service request.
NetIQ accepts email requests at the following email address: Support@NetIQ.com. When using this direct method of support contact, please include the following information for prompt replies:
- Product name and version number (in the email subject line).
- Service request number if this is a continuation of an existing request (in the email subject line).
- Company name, contact's name, and phone number.
- Brief description of the problem.
Issue Escalation
NetIQ technical escalations are managed through the technical support engineer working on the case. The technical support engineer can engage the appropriate support resources such as senior support, development, product management, quality engineering and TS management while continuing to effectively interface with the customer. This time proven approach has yielded the best results from a customer perspective by providing consistent and accurate accounts of the situation to management and customers and ultimately minimizing the overall resolution time cycle.
Escalation Requests
Customers may escalate at anytime for either technical or customer service reasons. Upon your request, the support engineer working the case, the Technical Team Lead, and the appropriate management staff will be notified. During normal business hours, you should receive a reply in 1 hour or less.
NetIQ accepts escalation requests at the following email address: TSEscalationSSMProducts@NetIQ.com.
Note:
If you do not receive a timely response from the escalation method described above, please call the NetIQ Technical Support line and request to be transferred to a manager.
Customer Satisfaction and Feedback
At NetIQ, we value your input and continually make improvements based on your feedback. We consistently measure customer satisfaction using the following methods:
- Service Request Surveys - Upon the closure of a Service Request, the customer will receive an e-mail with a link to a 6 question survey with comment section. We appreciate every customer that takes a moment to complete the survey. These results are documented and reviewed by support management to further guide our continuous service improvement efforts.
- Support Feedback - Our online support service offerings also provide a means for overall customer feedback. To submit your comments regarding support in general or an incident in particular, please visit: http://www.netiq.com/support/feedback.asp.
- Support Management - Please do not hesitate to email or phone the management team at anytime with your comments. (please see section (4) of this document for phone numbers.)
Service Request Severity / Response Times
The table below outlines the available severity levels of service requests, the recommended method of contact for each severity level and associated targeted response time. Please note that these are targeted response times and not indicative of resolution times. Targeted response times only apply to service requests submitted during Support hours. Responses to existing issues may require a call back when the Support Engineer is otherwise engaged.
| Severity Level | Description | Contact Method | Response Times |
|
System is inoperable, not functioning; data is lost. | Phone |
Premium Care: Essential Care: |
|
Business outage or significant impact threatening future productivity. Very difficult to work around; system is somewhat usable. | Phone |
Premium Care: Essential Care: |
|
Problem impact is high; production is proceeding but in an impaired fashion. Workarounds are available. | Service Request Manager or Phone |
Premium Care: Essential Care: |
|
Issue does not have significant current productivity impact. Examples: product enhancements, usage questions, and cosmetic problems. | Service Request Manager or Phone |
Premium Care: Essential Care: |
* Important Note
After hours Premium Care support request calls are processed by a 24 hour paging service. This can delay the normal response of ‘immediate’ but you will receive a call back in an hour.
Product Updates
General product updates are developed, tested and released by NetIQ to address known issues, platform currency and additions to product functionality. These updates are commonly referred to as hotfixes, service packs and upgrades and are available from each product's support page.
To access product updates:
- Go to http://www.netiq.com/support.
- Select a product name from the drop down list under View Options for a Specific Product.
- Select Hotfixes, Service Packs, or Product Upgrade Download under Downloads. Product Upgrade Download will require you to login with your 'MyNetIQ' account.
When the resolution of a support issue requires a hotfix or patch, these can also be made available through the following mechanisms:
- E-Mail from Support Engineer
- FTP Site (client assigned password-protected)
- Diskette or CD (upon request)
Scope of Support
Technical Support is intended to assist, troubleshoot and resolve specific issues resulting from use of NetIQ products on a supported platform with all pre-requisites met. Issues arising from a need for training, implementation services, and customization (scripting) may be referred to our Professional Services and Knowledge Services organizations to contract for the services appropriate to the need.
Technical Support for supported products is available via a variety of contact methods, which include a product knowledge base, online support request and telephone support during scheduled support hours for current software versions. The current support status information for each product can be found in the Knowledge Base article NETIQKB8323. Technical Support reserves the right to request that a customer upgrade to the current version to resolve a known problem or technical issue. The provision of technical support does not imply that NetIQ will fix software defects or make changes to the software.
The following items are NOT generally supported:
- Operating systems and third party applications.
- Alterations or revisions to the NetIQ software made by the customer.
- Escalations from personnel other than the named Technical Account Contacts.
- Continued support for issues, which NetIQ has provided corrections not implemented by the customer or data requested from the customer but not provided.
- Enhancement requests.
- Alpha versions of NetIQ software.
- Free or no-cost NetIQ software products and tools.
Product Life Cycle
All products go through the following phases during its lifecycle; the length of each phase may vary according to the specific product. These phases include:
- Beta - new product, pre-release (optional)
- General Availability (GA) - new product version releases
- Continued Support - for previous product
- Sunset - period for the previous product version
Supported Products
The level of technical support available during a product's lifecycle varies depending upon the lifecycle phase that the product is in. The current support status information for each product can be found in the Knowledge Base article NETIQKB8323. (Information in this article regarding support status is described as "Current", "Supported", "Withdrawn" and "End of Life" with equivalent terms noted below.)
Beta - During a product beta program, NetIQ will provide support during normal working hours for the product. Beta code is only available to customers with a current support plan agreement.
General Availability - 'Current' - For all products in this phase of the lifecycle, NetIQ will provide support and maintenance offerings, which will allow you to choose the most appropriate level of support for your organization. Maintenance offerings will consist of maintenance releases, service packs and/or hotfixes. Hotfixes and service packs are not available for all products. Support services include, but are not limited to Knowledge Base, online support, and phone support during business hours; 24x7 phone support is available to customers who have purchased a Premium support plan.
Continued Support - 'Supported' - Once a new version becomes available, NetIQ will no longer actively develop new fixes or service packs for the previous release (note; hotfixes and service packs are not available for all product lines). Technical Support reserves the right to request that the customer upgrade to the current version, which is only available with a current support plan agreement. For an additional 12 months, NetIQ may offer limited support on that version answering usage questions only. Providing technical support does not imply that NetIQ will fix software defects or make changes to the software.
Sunset Period - 'Withdrawn' - Following the end of the published version support availability time period, NetIQ will no longer provide support for the previous version (see "Support Withdrawal Date"). Knowledge Base articles will remain available for a period beyond this withdrawal date. NetIQ will not accept support requests for products for which support has been withdrawn or for products available at no charge.
End of Life Products - 'End of Life' - Effectively, NetIQ no longer sells these products. NetIQ will continue to offer technical support for the Products until the earlier of (1) the expiration date of your maintenance contract, or (2) the date selected as "End of Life" for the product. NetIQ will continue to provide the same level of technical support you currently enjoy with the following exceptions:
- If a product defect is found and verified, NetIQ Technical Support will document and evaluate the defect.
- Where a workaround for the issue exists, NetIQ will not provide programmatic fixes for the Products. Workarounds that may cause performance issues, scalability issues, or are labor intensive for the customer are considered valid workarounds.
- In the event that the issue requires functional enhancements to the product, please be advised that NetIQ will not provide further enhancements for the Products. This means that NetIQ will not develop additional features and/or functionalities for the Products.
Please contact your local NetIQ sales representative if you have questions regarding products in this phase: http://www.netiq.com/about_netiq/contactus.asp.
General Questions and Answers
- How do I reach NetIQ for assistance regarding my Maintenance Agreement renewal or related issues?
Email the NetIQ Maintenance Renewal Sales Team at MaintenanceRenewalSales@NetIQ.com. Please include your contact information as well as the specific products in question.
- How will I know if my organization's Maintenance Agreement is near expiration?
The Maintenance Renewal Sales Team will provide notification to your organization approximately 90 AND 60 days prior to the expiration of the then current maintenance term ("Expiration Date"). This notification will include your annual renewal charges for the forthcoming year.
- If I have purchased multiple NetIQ products with varying maintenance start and end dates, is it possible to align the Expiration Dates?
Yes, NetIQ offers you the option of co-terminating the Expiration Dates for all licenses owned by your organization. Simply contact your respective Maintenance Renewal Sales Representative directly, or email your request to:
Location Email Address North America and APAC MaintenanceRenewalSales@NetIQ.com EMEA CustomerCareTeamEMEA@NetIQ.com
- After I receive my renewal invoice for Maintenance Renewal, what's next?
From the invoice sent by the Maintenance Renewal Sales Representative, your organization may either pay directly with a check OR submit a valid Purchase Order. The payment or purchase order is due prior to the Expiration Date; if the invoice contains multiple licenses with varying Expiration Dates, the payment or purchase order is due prior to the Expiration Date of the most current Expired License(s).
- Can I purchase new licenses if we currently own identical licenses with expired maintenance?
Maintenance must be brought current on the Expired Licenses prior to purchasing additional licenses for the same NetIQ software. Re-instatement fees may apply. - If no payment or purchase order is received by the Expiration Date, NetIQ will send a formal notification stating due to lack of payment, maintenance on the licenses has been terminated.
- Once NetIQ sends a formal Termination Notice, your organization will be subject to the then current NetIQ re-instatement policy.
- If no payment or purchase order is received by the Expiration Date, access to Technical Support, product upgrades, fixes, and authenticated online support areas will automatically expire and cannot be reinstated until a renewal order has been completed.
- All backdated maintenance must be paid for in full. The term of backdated maintenance is from the Expiration Date to the current date.
- A re-instatement fee will be imposed equal to 50% of the Maintenance charge (Re-instatement fee).
- Your organization must also purchase and pay for an additional 12 months of maintenance on all licenses being re-instated.
Termination & Cancellation of Maintenance
You may cancel maintenance at any time. However, in doing so your organization will be subject to the then current NetIQ re-instatement policy regarding the licenses in which maintenance was cancelled. If maintenance is cancelled prior to the Expiration Date, you still qualify for all terms under maintenance until the Expiration Date. At that time, the maintenance on the licenses will be canceled & subject to the then current NetIQ re-instatement policy. NetIQ will honor your full current term of the agreement that has been paid in full. In term cancellations will not result in a check refund.
Non-Payment
Re-instatement Policy
Your organization may re-instate a NetIQ Maintenance Agreement with the following considerations:
Premium & Essential Care Plan Comparisons
| Support Plan Features | Premium Care | Essential Care | No Support Plan |
| eSupport | |||
| Knowledge Base |  |
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| Service Request Manager | |
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| Product Community Website | |
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| Online User Forums (Partner Access Available Shortly) | |
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| Notification Service | |
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| Quarterly Technical Product Newsletter | |
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| Support Services | |||
| Telephone Support during normal business hours | |
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| Online Support Request - during normal business hours | |
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| Priority Routing of Issues | |
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| 24 X 7 Telephone Support After-hours pager support for severity 1 and mission critical severity 2 issues only. One-hour targeted response time. |
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||
| Designated toll-free number | |
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| Remote diagnostics (initiated with client authorization only) | |
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| Named Key Contacts | 10 additional available | 4 | |
| Product Maintenance | |||
| Hot fixes and Inline Releases (posted to Support section of NetIQ.com website) | |
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| Service Packs | |
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| New Versions | |
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| Access to Beta Product (not a guarantee of acceptance) | |
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