Picture this: Your Windows NT network goes down at 4:15 p.m., just 45
minutes before time to go home. A problem that should take 45 minutes to correct
turns into hours of tweaking and futzing around. Now it's midnight, your desk is
littered with stained coffee cups and candy bar wrappers, and there you sit. In
just six short hours, the information research department will come in expecting
to have all systems on line. In a panic, you think, "Who can I call to help
get my Windows NT network back on line?"
To aid in your quest for help, I went in search of around-the-clock, 24 X 7
(24 hours a day, 7 days a week) technical support for NT. Here are the available
support options and who to call. After you digest the options, read the sidebar,
"NT After Dark," on page 46 for an account of a simulated NT network
crisis and the support people who came to the rescue.
Who's on Call?
At the first sign of trouble, you probably turn to your hardware vendor for
support. Vendors such as Dell Computer, Gateway 2000, and Micron ship their
systems with NT installed and provide technical support 24 hours a day, 7 days a
week, 365 days a year.
For example, after you completely load NT, Dell's DirectLine technical
support technicians will walk you through troubleshooting network issues,
problem determination and resolution, and proposed corrections for
hardware-related error messages. However, Dell will not help load or install NT,
install peripheral devices, or perform work administrative duties such as
establishing user profiles, printer queues, system security, and login scripts.
Configuration and Customization
I'm not trying to single out Dell. Most hardware vendors follow the same
support policies. The bottom line is that hardware vendors support NT only to
get it working with their hardware. So your hardware vendor is probably the
right call if NT doesn't work with a particular CD-ROM drive or sound card.
The best support for NT configuration and customization problems comes from
those with the most experience: the people who designed NT, or people trained
and authorized to support it. Microsoft states, "Only one company is
responsible for the quality of Microsoft products: Microsoft." Microsoft's
complete 24 X 7 product support for NT programs and options is the most
extensive alternative. With Microsoft's direct support, its Authorized Support
Centers (ASCs), and Microsoft Solution Providers (SPs), you get a three-tiered
product support ladder.
Contacting Microsoft Directly
Microsoft has an elaborate and comprehensive set of technical services for
organizations worldwide. Four direct services (premier, premier global, custom
consulting, and technology consulting blueprints) are available for global
enterprise organizations. You can purchase all these services with one Microsoft
Master Service Agreement (Table 1 lists Microsoft service and support phone
numbers).
- Premier provides proactive support planning and problem resolution for
Microsoft products. It also includes rapid response times, with immediate 24 X 7
server-down response and special consulting and planning services.
- Premier global extends Premier to serve multinational organizations. You
work with a Global Technical Account Manager to quickly resolve any Microsoft
technical issue anywhere in the world. You get reports on how your organization
can best use its support resources, and experienced technical recommendations
for dealing with growth, migration, and other changes.
- Custom consulting helps plan, build, and manage distributed computing
environments. Highly skilled in client/server architecture and design, Microsoft
consultants frequently provide project management, ensuring a quality
implementation by working with you and your third-party partners.
- Technology consulting blueprints are predefined consulting projects around
specific technology topics such as migrating to NT from a Banyan VINES
environment, Microsoft Exchange planning, and Internet/intranet application
planning.
MS Authorized Support Centers
The second tier on Microsoft's support ladder consists of ASCs, which are
members of the SP program. Microsoft specially selects them for their ability to
provide a broad range of mission-critical support. ASCs meet stringent
admittance requirements. For example, they must answer at least 20,000 technical
support calls per month, be specially trained and certified on Microsoft
products, have a certain number of engineers intern with Microsoft service
engineers, and be able to provide support and isolate problems in multivendor
environments. ASCs must provide open support and not limit support to
proprietary projects or customers who purchase the ASC's software or hardware.
Microsoft's quality control is stringent. Each ASC has a dedicated
Microsoft ASC Technical Account Manager who ensures that ASCs have information,
tools, and knowledge to support Microsoft products. Technical Account Manager
Glenn E. Morris says, "I monitor the ASC's open incidents and talk with my
accounts several times a day, acting as a resource for information, products,
betas, and training. I also get involved with technical situations that require
Microsoft expertise. My quality-control role includes monthly feedback on ASC
performance, making blind calls to ASC call centers, and regular reviews of ASC
training and infrastructure plans. Recently, I have been gathering and preparing
NT 4.0 technical support information for ASCs."
Depending on your needs and which ASC you work with, you can choose one
service such as outsourcing your Help desk or getting support visits on demand,
or you can choose full services such as complete planning, implementation, and
maintenance.
To select an ASC, Morris suggests you get recommendations from your local
Microsoft representative or service engineer, or check the ASC Web page at
http://www.microsoft.com/supportnet/SupportPartners. From this page, you can
connect to individual ASC Web sites. Or you can call an ASC for pricing and
types of service, level of service commitment (e.g., response-time goals,
escalation procedures, customer-satisfaction goals), electronic services and Web
access, trial-period information, and references.