This September, it will be 3 years since we launched IBM Power Expert Care alongside the new IBM Power E1080. I wanted to take some time to share an update on this strategic cornerstone offering in your support strategy.
IBM Expert Care for Power launched in September 2021 to standardize and simplify the acquisition of support for IBM Power clients. They can choose from 1 to 5 years of coverage, which provides more predictable support costs, and from three tiers – Basic, Advanced, and Premium. As the E1080 is a high end server, it was launched with Advanced and Premium tiers only – and I’ll explain why. But indeed when we launched the Mid-range and Scale-Out Power servers in July 2022, they launched with all three tiers.
Each tier represents the increasing level of support and decreasing level of response times:
- Basic support is 9x5,
- Advanced support is 24x7 (with predictive support), and
- Premium support is 24x7 (with enhanced response times, predictive and proactive support with an assigned Technical Account Manager).
The tiers that accompany the Power system depend on the warranty – if the warranty is 9x5, then Basic will be available; if it's for 24x7, Basic would not be available. That’s a high level view – but the potential to customize has been one of the things we have continued to enhance since we launched Expert Care.
How has IBM Expert Care evolved?
Based on client and partner feedback, we adjusted our Premium offering to right-size the price and provide a more flexible, easier to predict design. In the process, we made some of the services like Media Retention and Machine Set-Up optional add-ons.
We also recently added the possibility to include Committed Maintenance Service Levels in Advanced and Premium tiers, giving clients the utmost flexibility to choose response and fix times, system by system.
Launched in October, 2023, IBM Expert Care Remote Support and Parts extended the Global reach of Expert Care to 79 countries. The remote Expert Care design model is tailored to the country's regulations, allowing more options and service support coverage. IBM Expert Care is now deployed across 169 countries.
Premium and the value of proactive support
We know that downtime is a costly affair for many of our clients. Let’s take a moment to better understand how the Premium tier can help ensure that you prevent issues before they happen, and speed problem resolution when they do.
The Premium tier provides 24x7, same day IBM onsite repair, with 30 minute response times for Severity 1 and 2 issues, and 4 hours for Severity 3 and 4. This is designed to ensure that if a problem does occur, it is handled with priority. The optional Committed Maintenance Services Levels between 4 and 72 hours provide a committed fix time, ensuring issues are quickly resolved.
Remote Code Load is provided twice a year, ensuring that code is kept current. Proactively planning and conducting updates is a known deterrent to unplanned downtime. The Technical Account Manager (TAM) provides dedicated support from a highly specialized subject matter expert with deep technical expertise on IBM Power platforms. They review your entire IT environment and are your single point of contact, focusing on proactive actions to prevent issues from happening and on problem resolution. TAMs are different from traditional technical support specialists in that they develop a long-term relationship with you and are your organization’s advocate.
So what’s next?
We will continue to launch IBM Expert Care with infrastructure products. And we continue to explore the simplification of obtaining white glove hands-on support. Expect to see many more birthdays to come!
In the meantime, please let me know your thoughts on how you would like to see IBM Power Expert Care continue to evolve!
#IBMExpertCare#IBMPower