Get the Most Value With VMware Global Support

 

 

Reliable IT systems are crucial for any organization, which is why selecting the right support is essential. This guide will help you understand the full value of VMware Global Support.

I'll explain the various service options and coverage levels available. You'll also learn best practices for working with support engineers.

This is a complete guide for VMware Support, below is an index to navigate easily:

1. Severity Definitions and Response Targets
2. How to file high-quality SR & Guidelines to ensure a speedy resolution on any Support Request
3. How to escalate any Support Request
4. How to file a Technical or Non-Technical Support Request in VMware Customer Connect
5. How to uplift the severity of a Support Request:
6. How to add your colleague to a Support Request in the Watch List
7. How to re-open a closed Support Request
8. Support Request Closure Information
9. How to update your profile and change your support communication preferences in VMware Customer Connect

 

 To get the best experience from VMware support, kindly follow this guide.

 

 

1) Severity Definitions and Response Targets:

 

Production Support:

Production Support		Initial Response Targets	Severity Definition Guidelines
Response Times	Sev 1	Within 30 minutes	Production down, no work around available
	Sev 2	Within 4 business hours	Major functionality impaired, although restricted, operations can continue. Workaround Available.
	Sev 3	Within 8 business hours	Partial, non-critical loss of functionality. Impaired options of some components, but users can use the software
	Sev 4	Within 12 business hours	General Usage questions, cosmetic issues including errors in documentation
Hours of Coverage	Sev 1	24 Hours x 7 Days	All are routed directly to in-region Engineers
	Sev 2, 3 & 4	5 days per week (Monday to Friday) 10 hours per the operations days ( 9 A.M. to 7 P.M Saudi Time )

 

 

Success 360 Support:

Success 360 Support		Initial Response Targets	Severity Definition Guidelines
Response Times	Sev 1	Within 30 minutes	Production down, no work around available
	Sev 2	Within 2 business hours	Major functionality impaired, although restricted, operations can continue. Workaround Available.
	Sev 3	Within 4 business hours	Partial, non-critical loss of functionality. Impaired options of some components, but users can use the software
	Sev 4	Within 8 business hours	General Usage questions, cosmetic issues including errors in documentation
Hours of Coverage	Sev 1	24 Hours x 7 Days	All are routed directly to in-region Engineers
	Sev 2	7 days per week (Monday to Friday) 10 hours per the operations days ( 9 A.M. to 7 P.M Saudi Time )
	Sev 3 & 4	5 days per week (Monday to Friday) 10 hours per the operations days ( 9 A.M. to 7 P.M Saudi Time )

 

( VMware Severity Definitions and Response Targets: https://www.vmware.com/content/dam/digitalmarketing/vmware/en/pdf/support/vmware-severity-definitions-response-time-business-hours-datasheet.pdf )

 

 

 

2) How to file high-quality SR & Guidelines to ensure a speedy resolution on any Support Request:

 

Remember: the more details you can supply upfront, the better, and it will reduce scoping time; To fill out a high-quality SR, provide as much detail as possible by copying and pasting the following into the Support Request and answering them:

 

1. How many users are impacted by this? Internal, External, One business group, one branch office? (Indicate technical and business impact upfront and be aware of severity classification when submitting an SR so the support can prioritize the case).
2. Did anything change in the environment before the issue occurred?
3. What date/time (Time zone Saudi Arabia – GMT +3) did the issue begin?
4. Provide the date/time (Time zone Saudi Arabia – GMT +3) of a specific problem instance? (Timestamps of all relevant actions in the flow to encounter the error)
5. What was the entire error message displayed on the screen or in the logs?
6. What was the name of the host/cluster/VM/datastore/vCenter that was impacted?
7. What is the product versions and build numbers are being used?
8. What are the steps to reproduce the problem?
9. What troubleshooting steps have you performed before contacting VMware?
10. What is the name/ID of Skyline? (Most SRs require logs, and the support can retrieve the logs from Skyline).
11. Are you going to be out of the office in the next few days? (If the answer is yes, let the support know, so they don’t close your ticket, and it’s better to share your availability).
12. Send a screenshot of the entire screen, and if the issues cannot be easily described or involve multiple steps, a video may be more useful than a series of screenshots.

 

Example (to understand the process):

1. How many users are impacted by this? Internal, External, One business group, one branch office? (Indicate technical and business impact upfront and be aware of severity classification when submitting an SR so the support can prioritize the case)? The backup system doesn’t work as it is integrated with vCenter, and it’s critical for us to take a backup for all of our systems before the end of the day.
2. Did anything change in the environment before the issue occurred? After applying the patch, the problem occurred.
3. What date/time (Time zone Saudi Arabia – GMT +3) did the issue begin? Date 01/Feb/2023 at 04:00 P.M. Saudi Time.
4. Provide the date/time (Time zone Saudi Arabia – GMT +3) of a specific problem instance? (Timestamps of all relevant actions in the flow to encounter the error) vCenter failed to boot after the patch.
5. What was the entire error message displayed on the screen or in the logs? 503 Service Unavailable
6. What was the name of the host/cluster/VM/datastore/vCenter that was impacted? vCenter name is “HQ”.
7. What is the product versions and build numbers are being used? vCenter Version 8.0
8. What are the steps to reproduce the problem? N/A
9. What troubleshooting steps have you performed before contacting VMware? I have opened vCenter Appliance Management Interface, and I can see some of the services are stopped.
10. What is the name/ID of Skyline? (Most SRs require logs, and the support can retrieve the logs from Skyline). “HQ-Skyline”.
11. Are you going to be out of the office in the next few days? (If the answer is yes, let the support know, so they don’t close your ticket, and it’s better to share your availability). My working hours are from 09:00 A.M. to 05:00 P.M. Saudi time from Sunday to Thursday, but I’m willing to work overtime to fix the issue.
12. Send a screenshot of the entire screen, and if the issues cannot be easily described or involve multiple steps, a video may be more useful than a series of screenshots. The picture is in the attachment.

 

 

Note: If you have several issues and are unsure which product to pick?

Please raise each matter individually, highlighting if you suspect a common cause. This will ensure efficiency and the specific product-related questions are addressed by a subject matter expert.

Similarly, if you suspect an issue outside of any VMware products, concurrent tickets with the potential stakeholders' vendors - parallel assessment will ensure resolution is not bottlenecked on one aspect.

 

 

 

3) How to escalate any Support Request:

1. Log in to the Customer Connect with the user profile that is the primary contact on the SR. This would be the person that initially opened the SR.

2. From the menu, Navigate to Support > My Support Requests.

 

3. Click on the Support Request Description hyperlink that needs to be escalated from the list.

 

4. Once on the Support Request Details page, select “REQUEST MANAGER ASSISTANCE”.

 

NOTE:  The "REQUEST MANAGER ASSISTANCE" button will only appear when the criteria are satisfied:

• AFTER the Estimated response time due date for the Support Request
• The product of the Support Request is allowed to be escalated (e.g. not in End Of Life or out of support) 
• The Service Request is not already escalated.
  
  

5. Provide a Brief Description explaining the impact and need for the escalation, and click the “REQUEST ASSISTANCE” button.

 

 

4) How to file a Technical or Non-Technical Support Request in VMware Customer Connect:

When filing a Support Request online, you can choose from one of these categories:

• Technical – Choose from this option if you are facing an issue related to product usage or installation. 
• Non-Technical – Choose from this option if you are facing an issue related to License Management, Customer Connect Users & Permissions, Products & Orders, Entitlement Accounts, and Cloud Services.

 To file a Technical or Non-Technical Support Request:

1. Log in to Customer Connect.
2. Select Support > Get Support from the navigation home page.
   
   
   
3. Choose Technical Support > Request Support or Choose Non-Technical Support > Get Guided Support.
4. Select either On-Premise or VMware Cloud Services (CSP) from the Product Location Drop Down; once selected, click on Next.
   Note: Only applicable options to your profile are available in the Product Location Drop Down.

• VMware SASE/SD-WAN and Workspace ONE UEM (SaaS or On-Premise) Support can be found under one of the following “Product Location” options (even if hosted in the Cloud Services Portal) :
• On-Premise
• My product is NOT hosted in the Cloud Services Portal

5. Your default Account/ Organization is pre-selected, you can change the associated Account/ Organization in the Account section if needed.
6. Upload any attachments (log files, screenshots, etc) if you consider them necessary to help resolve the issue. For more information, see Uploading diagnostic information for VMware.
7. Add the Product or Subscription Service for which you are filing the Support Request.
8. Update the Severity of the problem you are facing and the Issue Type, and click Next 
9. Review/Edit your issue description, attachments, contact preferences, support level, and click Submit. A support request will be generated for you.

 

 

 

5) How to uplift the severity of a Support Request:

If an existing severity 2-4 support request has become production-impacting, then you have to uplift it:

1. Log in to Customer Connect 
2. Navigate to View All Support Requests option from the Connect Support section of the page.

       
                                                                                          

3. Click on the Support description hyperlink that needs to be uplifted from the list.
      
   
           
   
   
4. From the options listed at the top, select: “Request Uplift in Severity-1”.
       
   
        
                         
5. Select “Yes” to confirm that production is down, and click “Request Uplift in Severity-1” button.
       
   
   
   
   
   
   

6) How to add your colleague to a Support Request in the Watch List:

 

This would be beneficial if there is a need to allow other team members within the organization to update an existing SR, or to expand the audience of the SR email correspondence.

Prerequisites: The user being added must have the “View Support Requests” permission to be able to search and access the Support Request created by other team members.

 

1. Log into VMware Customer Connect portal.

2. From the menu, navigate to Support > My Support Requests.

3. Locate and open the Support Request that needs to be managed.

 

4. From the “I want to” drop-down menu, select “Manage Watch List”.

 

5. Add team member(s) to the Watch List and click the “Update Request button”.   Existing users can also be removed with the red X button. 

 

Note: “Edit” button indicates that the user has the ability to update the SR.  Otherwise, a “Mail” icon will be displayed instead, indicating that they only have access to receive the SR email communication updates. 

 

7) How to re-open a closed Support Request:

You can reopen a Support Request that has been closed only within the past 21 days.

To reopen a Support Request:

1. Log in to Customer Connect 
2. From the menu, Navigate to Support > My Support Requests. 
   
   
   
   
3. Click Closed in the Past 21 Days.
4. Locate and open the Support Request that you want to re-open.
5. From the I want to drop-down, click Reopen Support Request.
6. Provide information about why you need to reopen your Support Request.
7. Click Update Request.

 

 

 

8) Support Request Closure Information:

A support request is typically closed when you confirm that a resolution has been reached or if VMware is still waiting to hear back from you after three attempts to contact you during a ten-day period. Support requests may also be closed if they cannot be resolved, or if VMware chooses not to resolve specific issues, with acknowledgment and agreement from you.

Your request will remain open, and you will be contacted when a fix is available in a production release. If an experimental build to address your issue is posted, VMware will contact you. You can also sign up to receive notifications of updates and upgrades as soon as they become available.

 

 

 

9) How to update your profile and change your support communication preferences in VMware Customer Connect:

Update your Contact Preferences: Preferred method of contact, if you choose email, it will confirm the information you already have registered in Customer Connect Portal, if you select phone, then it will display your time zone and a selection of hours to best contact you. Once completed, click on DONE

To update your information:

1. Log in to Customer Connect
2. Move the mouse pointer next to your name located at the navigation menu at the top right corner.
3. Select My Profile:
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. In the appropriate section tabs (Username, General information, Company Information, Company Address, Computing Environment), click Edit.
   
   
   
5. Click Save
6. Then navigate to Preferences.
   This tab allows you to update your Email Language and Support Communication preferences.
7. Click Edit against each tab.
8. Select your preferred language, contact, emergency contact method, and your time zone.
   
   
   
9. Click Save.