IBM Cognos Support Plans Guidepublic.dhe.ibm.com/software/data/cognos/support/en/... · Support Contacts requiring assistance must access a Support Center in the region where the

IBM Cognos Support Plans Guide


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

OVERVIEW AND INTRODUCTION

1.0 About This Guide ...................... 4

2.0 Glossary ................................... 5

3.0 Finding IBM Cognos Support ... 6

4.0 The IBM Cognos Support Model – Support Groups And Contacts ........ 6

5.0 Service Requests (SR) .............. 8Definition and Logging ...........................8

Severity .................................................8

Resolution ..............................................9

6.0 Multi-Vendor (Third-Party) Coordination ................................. 10

7.0 Joint Commitments .................. 11

IBM COGNOS SUPPORT PLANS FOR SOFTWARE CUSTOMERS

1.0 Software Support Plans in Brief......................................13

2.0 Product Continuation .............. 15Product Release Types.........................15

3.0 Components Common to All Software Support Plans.................17

Fix Packs ............................................. 17

Product Life Cycle ................................ 17

Product End-of-Life (EOL) .................... 17

Product Error Corrections..................... 17

Complementary Software ....................19

3.1 Online Support .............................20

Technotes ............................................20

White Papers .......................................20

Product Information and Downloads .... 21

Product Documentation .......................22

Supportlink Magazine ..........................22

“Tech-Talk” Customer Information Series –

Web Seminars .....................................22

IBM Cognos Diagnostic Tools ..............22

Proactive Notifications ..........................22

4.0 Standard Support Plan .......... 23

4.1 Assisted Support ...........................23

Response Time ...................................23

Support Contact Entitlement ...............23

5.0 Advantage Support Plan ......... 24

5.1 Assisted Support ...........................24

Skilled Product Expert Team ................24

Response Time ....................................24

Issue Resolution Targets ......................25

24x7 Critical Coverage ........................25

Support Contact Entitlement ................25

6.0 Premier Support Plan ............. 26

6.1 Partnership And Prevention .........26

Executive Sponsor ...............................26

Support Account Manager (SAM) ........27

Model Environment ..............................27

Alerts and Summaries ........................28


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6.2 Assisted Support ..........................28

Skilled Product Expert Team ................28

Response Time ....................................28

Issue Resolution Targets ......................29

24x7 Critical Coverage .........................29

Support Contact Entitlement ................29

7.0 Optional Support Components (Add-Ons) ..................................... 30

7.1 Global Support IBM ......................30

Global Support and the

Standard Support Plan.........................30

Global Support and Advantage/

Premier Support Plans ........................30

7.2 Support Contacts (additional) .....31

7.3 IBM Cognos 8 Software

Development Kit (SDK) Support ........31

7.4 IBM Cognos Now! Appliance

Customers (Customers Using Hardware

From Dell) .............................................31

Hardware Support – Onsite .................. 31

Hardware Support –

Your Commitment ................................32

Hardware Support – Conditions and

Limitations ..........................................33

7.4.1 IBM Cognos Now!

Appliance (Customers using IBM

Hardware) ............................................34

7.5 Additional Support Offerings .. 35

Vintage Support ...................................35

IBM COGNOS SUPPORT RENEWAL POLICIES

1.0 Support Renewal Policies ....... 36

1.1 Contacting Support Renewal .......36

1.2 Renewal Cycle and Continued

Coverage ..............................................36

1.3 Calculation of Support Fees ........36

1.4 Late Renewal .................................36

1.5 Support Reinstatement .................36

1.6 Withdrawal of software subscription

and support or Selected Support for a

particular Program .............................36

1.7 Definition of Software Subscription

and Support .........................................37



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1.0 ABOUT THIS GUIDE

This IBM Cognos Support Plans Guide is the

document referenced in your purchase agreements

with IBM. It describes, in detail, what IBM Cognos

Support offers, and what you should expect in

terms of Support Plans and services. This guide

applies to those customers and partners who are

entitled to Cognos programs aside from IBM

Passport Advantage or Passport Advantage Express.

Passport Advantage customers should refer to the

IBM Support Handbook located on the IBM Web

site: http://www.ibm.com/support/handbook

IBM Business Partners participating in the

IBM Software ValueNet program should refer

to the following web site: http://www.ibm.com/

partnerworld/swvaluenet

Throughout this guide will you see references in

brackets to IBM terminology appearing next to the

Cognos terminology that you have become familiar

with, for example, Interim Fixes.

There are three distinct sections to the guide.

1. Overview and Introduction: assists you

in navigating the guide, and provides basic

background on terminology, the locations of

support, the IBM Cognos Support model,

Service Requests (SRs) and your required

commitment to ensure success.

2. IBM Cognos Support Plans for Software Customers: details Support Plans for IBM

Cognos software customers— those customers

who purchase IBM Cognos software and install

and maintain such software on their own

hardware. Please note that not all support plans

are available in all countries. Please check with

your local representative for details.

3. IBM Cognos Support Renewal Policies: details all applicable policies with respect to

the ongoing renewal of your support services.

To fully utilize the services described in this

guide post-purchase, please see the companion

guide, IBM Cognos Support User Guide, which

explains how to obtain the maximum value from

your chosen Support Plan.



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2.0 GLOSSARY

IBM Cognos Assisted Support (Assisted Support): available through the IBM Cognos

Support Web site or by telephone, Assisted Support

is when you require an IBM Cognos Support

Analyst to provide interactive technical assistance.

Online Support: refers to the Support self-service

Web site, and collectively all of its features and

assets.

IBM Cognos Support Analyst (Support Analyst): often referred to as a Support Analyst

or Technical Analyst, an IBM Cognos Support

Analyst is a highly skilled, highly trained technical

employee who is ready to assist you when you need

interactive support from IBM.

IBM Cognos Support: collectively refers to

the support organization at IBM dedicated to

supporting your IBM Cognos software, most

typically visible to you through 24x7 online Web

access and IBM Cognos Support Analysts.

Error: is defined as an error in product code,

resulting in the product not functioning as

documented, as per design specification or as

intended by IBM.

Error Correction: is defined as a revision that

corrects errors and deficiencies in product code.

Priority: the severity level of a Service Request,

from 1 to 4, that encapsulates the impact an issue

is having on your business and/or application.

Response Time: relates to a Service Request, and

is the lapsed time from when you log a Service

Request to when an IBM Cognos Support Analyst

is assigned to your issue, and acknowledges such

assignment by initiating return contact. The

Response Time you receive is a function of your

Support Plan and Service Request Priority.

Service Request (SR): a single, reproducible

issue, problem, or symptom that you require

interactive assistance with from an IBM Cognos

Support Analyst.

Support Contact: a member of your team who

is highly trained and skilled in IBM Cognos

products and solutions, and who understands your

implementation of IBM Cognos. The Support

Contact works with IBM Cognos Support to

identify, diagnose and resolve Service Requests.

Support Plan: is a purchasable support service

offering with defined deliverables, rights, joint

commitments and service levels. A Support Plan

encapsulates the shared working arrangement

between you and IBM Cognos Support.



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3.0 FINDING IBM COGNOS SUPPORT

4.0 THE IBM COGNOS SUPPORT MODEL – SUPPORT GROUPS AND CONTACTS

IBM Cognos Support Analysts are located in

Support Centers worldwide. Support is provided

to most customers from 09:00 to 17:30 local

time, Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays.

Visit http://www.ibm.com/planetwide to find the

Cognos Support numbers in your country.

For a complete list of Cognos Support locations,

operating hours and languages, visit

http://www.ibm.com/software/data/cognos/

support/contact.html.

IBM Cognos solutions are deployed into

IT software and hardware environments, a

combination of hardware servers, databases,

application servers, Web servers and security

software. Hardware and software environments

are typically housed in a physical location, and

can host many IBM Cognos applications. To

support the users of these applications, you must

select a number of senior technical staff who have

received appropriate training and can demonstrate

extensive knowledge of the IBM Cognos products

used in your company to act as an internal help

desk team. These help desk personnel are your

Support Contacts, and they are the only people

authorized to raise issues with IBM Cognos

Support. IBM Cognos solutions, deployed in a

specific hardware and software environment and

supported by your personnel, or Support Contacts,

are known as Centers of Excellence, Competency

Centers or Support Groups. IBM Cognos

Support is premised on this model, which can be

illustrated as follows:

Customer Support ŁContacts Ł

(internal help desk or IT)

CustomersApp Support

IBM CognosGlobal Support

Contact IBM Cognos



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Your highly skilled, trained groups of internal

personnel (Support Contacts) are the foundation

for Support Groups.

Their full understanding of system hardware,

software and deployment constraints, as well as

their ability to filter, sort and prioritize calls with

IBM Cognos Support, ensures your priorities are

understood and followed, duplication of issues is

eliminated, and diagnosis and resolution is timely.

There are three different levels of customer

designated Support Contacts: Primary Site

Technical Contact, Secondary Site Technical

Contact, and Authorized Caller/User. You may

select one Primary and as many Secondary Site

Technical Contacts and Authorized Users as

your contract allows (the system limitation for

Secondary Contacts is nine).

IBM Cognos Support provides worldwide coverage

through our Support Centers, divided among three

regions:

• Americas: covering North and South America

and the Caribbean

• Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA): covering Eastern and Western Europe, the

United Kingdom, Scandinavia, the Middle

East and Africa

• Asia-Pacific: covering South and Southeast

Asia and Australia and New Zealand

Support Contacts requiring assistance must access

a Support Center in the region where the software

licenses and support were purchased. For example,

if a company in the United States purchases a

Support Plan, all Support Contacts will register

with and access a Support Center in the Americas

region.

If you are interested in Global Support, so that

your Support Contacts around the world can

contact the Support Center in their country

regardless of the country where your Support Plan

was purchased, contact your local Subscription and

Support representative: http://www-01.ibm.com/

support/docview.wss?rs=3528&uid=swg27014717

You may want to consider upgrading to IBM’s

Passport Advantage, as this support program is

globally orientated. For more information see:

http://www-01.ibm.com/software/howtobuy/

passportadvantage/

http://www-01.ibm.com/software/howtobuy/passportadvantage



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5.0 SERVICE REQUESTS (SR)

Definition and Logging

A Service Request (SR) is a single, reproducible

issue, problem, or symptom that you require

interactive assistance with from IBM Cognos

Support). Service Requests can be logged with

Support through the Web or by telephone. Should

you need to raise a Service Request, IBM Cognos

Support will respond based on your Support Plans

Service Level Agreement (SLA) for the Service

Request Priority level.

Severity

The Service Request (SR) priority is the assigned

severity level, from 1 to 4, that encapsulates

the impact an issue is having on your business

and/or application. To ensure timely resolution,

the Support Contact who logged the Service

Request must be readily available throughout

the time period that the Service Request is being

worked on. IBM Cognos Support uses four priority

levels to identify the severity of your issue and its

impact on your business.



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Severity Level

Severity Definitions

Examples

Severity 1

• Critical situation/System Down• Busines critical software component is

inoperable• Usually applies to production environment• Critical interface has failed

• All users of Tivoli Problem Management are unable to register a call

• Lotus Notes mail server is down and affecting all users

Severity 2

Severe impact: A software component is severely restricted in its use, causing significant business impact

• All users of Tivoli Problem Management receive a database manager error while attempting to view open problems

Severity 3

Moderate impact: A non-critical software component is malfunctioning, causing moderate business impact

• A client cannot connect to a server

Severity 4

Minimal impact: A non-critical software component is malfunctioning, causing minimal impact, or a non-technical request is made

• Documentation is incorrect• Additional documentation requested

Resolution

We understand that you are looking for more than

just a response to your Service Request (SR); you

want to know when an issue is going to be resolved.

We strive to resolve your issues as fast as possible

with the highest quality, and look for direct

confirmation from you that the issue has been

resolved.

However, there are instances when an issue will be

deemed resolved without your direct input. Below

is a list of reasons why an issue may be deemed as

resolved.

• You tell IBM Cognos Support that the issue is

resolved or can be closed.

• The issue is not due to an error in the IBM

Cognos product.

• Instructions are provided to you on how to

correctly deploy or use the product feature in

question.

• A workaround to achieve similar results is

provided and accepted by you.

• You are informed of a scheduled product

release that contains an error correction for

the issue.

• The issue is classified as an enhancement

request and IBM Cognos Support determines

that such a change will not be undertaken.



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• The issue would require a change in existing

product functionality and IBM Cognos Support determines that such a change will not be undertaken.

• The issue is determined to be a third-party vendor issue and you agree to transfer the problem to the third-party vendor for resolution.

• It is determined that you require additional expertise and knowledge that can only be gained through product training or an IBM professional services engagement.

• The issue cannot be reproduced in a baseline

environment and it is determined that an

IBM professional services engagement is

required to assess customization, design or

architectural influences that might be causing

or contributing to the issue.

• IBM Cognos Customer Support has been

unable to contact you (three attempts must

be made by Support) or, seven consecutive

business days have passed awaiting a response

from you. To ensure timely resolution, the

Support Contact who logged the Service

Request (SR) must be readily available

throughout the time period that the Service

Request is being worked on. Any closed

Service Request can be reopened within 28

days.

6.0 MULTI-VENDOR (THIRD-PARTY) COORDINATION

IBM Cognos Support makes no assurances

regarding resolutions related to technology partner

or third-party products. If we determine that your

problem or symptom results from an error in

software from third-party software from another

vendor or an IBM Cognos Technology Partner, we

will use reasonable efforts to resolve the issue with

the vendor or technology partner on your behalf

or ask you to open a Service Request (SR) directly

with the identified vendor or technology partner.

You must have a valid Support Contract with the

technology partner or third-party vendor. IBM

Cognos Support will continue to work with you,

the vendor, or technology partner, as needed to

isolate and resolve the problem.



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7.0 JOINT COMMITMENTS

IBM Cognos Support commits to:

• Troubleshoot your software product issues

when you are experiencing unexpected results.

• Provide guidance and offer tips and techniques

for new development or maintenance.

• Reproduce potential software code problems,

provide alternative solutions or workarounds,

and log your potential software code errors for

evaluation and potential correction.

If your issue requires advanced assistance, such

as detailed guidance on how to use the product or

guidance on custom code or specific application

attributes, you will be referred to IBM professional

services. IBM professional services provide

additional staff for time critical implementations,

and are the experts capable of assisting you

with: designing a model; developing report

generation code to meet your business needs; and,

application development, management, tuning and

deployment. A successful partnership requires full

cooperation and collaboration between IBM and

its customers. By committing to the following, you

can ensure you receive the most value from IBM

Cognos Support and your investment:

1. Maintaining internal environments according to best practices: Ensure that IBM

Cognos solutions operate in a supported or

conformed environment, as published on http://

www.ibm.com/cognos/support. To find your

IBM Cognos solution, select your IBM Cognos

product and scroll to the Software Environment

section. In addition, troubleshoot, diagnose,

test and implement the suggestions, solutions

and code error corrections supplied by IBM

Cognos Support. It is strongly recommended

that you have a development, testing and

production environment so that issue solution

experimentation, implementation and promotion

can occur.

2. Training and certifying Support Contacts: To reduce issue diagnosis and troubleshooting

time spent on issues, it is strongly recommended

that your designated Support Contacts be

trained on IBM Cognos products with the intent

to become certified on IBM Cognos products at

a future date.

3. Providing timely application and environmental data: To enable rapid resolution

of issues, easy access to key environmental

information is paramount. IBM Cognos Support

will depend on you to provide accurate and

complete information about your environment

and systems to Support Analysts working on

your issue.



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4. Customer Information Accuracy: Fulfillment

of support services is reliant on the accuracy

of your information such as Support Contacts

and the full address at which the hardware is

physically located. To avoid delays or service

denials you should maintain this information

with IBM Cognos Customer Support and notify

us in a timely manner should it change.

5. Backup your data and software: It is your

responsibility to backup all existing data,

software, and programs on affected systems

before receiving services (including telephone

support) from IBM Cognos Support. Under

no circumstances will IBM or a designated

third-party be responsible for any loss of

software, programs, or data — even if Support

Analysts or technicians have attempted to

assist you with your backup, recovery, or

similar services. Any such assistance is beyond

the scope of this agreement and the assistance

is provided in IBM’s sole discretion, and

without any guarantee or warranty of any

kind. In situations where you cannot meet

these commitments, IBM Cognos Support will

make every effort to troubleshoot issues in

an alternative manner but cannot guarantee

timely resolution.


IBM COGNOS SUPPORT PlANS fOR SOfTWARE CUSTOMERS

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1.0 SOFTWARE SUPPORT PLANS IN BRIEF

The three main IBM Cognos Support Plans are:

Standard, Advantage and Premier. These plans

include:

1. Product Continuation: such as new and

maintenance product releases.

2. Online Support: 24x7, self-serve access

to Web resources such as Technotes, White

Papers, Diagnostic Tools and product

downloads. The difference between the plans

is in the Assisted Support that is offered.

3. Assisted Support: the support services

available to you when you require live

support from IBM Cognos Support.

Standard Support is focused on business

protection and designed for customers with

small to medium solution deployments. It is

the minimum level of support service required

to ensure your success. As a Standard Support

customer, you have unlimited, regular business

hours access to Assisted Support in the region in

which support was purchased.

Medium to large-size customers with larger

installations and greater dependency on application

availability should consider Advantage Support.

Extending Standard Support and for critical issues,

Advantage Support provides 24x7 access to a team

of our most skilled technical Support Analysts in a

low customer to analyst ratio who are focused on

rapid, quality issue resolution.

Large enterprises and global multinational

customers should consider Premier Support.

Extending both Standard and Advantage Support,

Premier Support is focused on partnership and

prevention. Designed to provide a tight partnership

with you, a named team of resources is assigned

to work in concert with you in an effort to foresee

and prevent issues before they occur, and to

rapidly address them should they arise. IBM

Cognos Support, in essence, becomes part of your

performance management team.



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Below is a high level summary of the Support Plans, with details to follow later in this document:

Support Plan Components Standard Advantage PremierProduct Continuation New Releases • • •

Refresh Packs • • •Fix Packs • • •Interim Fixes • • •Documentation • • •Product Enhancement Program • • •Product Advisories • • •

Online Self-Serve Support Service Request Management • • •Technotes • • •White Papers • • •Product Information and Downloads • • •Product Documentation • • •Supportlink – Online Magazine • • •Tech-Talk Web Seminars • • •Diagnostic Tools • • •Proactive Notifications (RSS Feed) • • •

Assisted Support Support Contacts Based on number of supported

users

4 per Support Group

(in addition to Standard

contacts based on supported

users)

8 per Support Group

(in addition to Standard

contacts based on supported

users) Service Request Logging Unlimited Unlimited UnlimitedResponse Time (Severity 1) within 2 hrs within 2 hrs within 2 hrsResolution Targets (non-code Error) • •Senior Subject Matter Expert Team • •Team Based Issue Resolution • •Low Customer: Analyst Ratio • •

Partnership and Prevention Executive Sponsor •Support Account Manager (SAM) •Modeled Environment •Onsite Visits •Proactive Summaries/Alerts •

Add-on Components Global Support Option Option OptionIBM Cognos 8 Software Development Support

Option Option Option



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2.0 PRODUCT CONTINUATION

IBM invests significantly in enriching its products.

As an IBM Cognos supported customer you

are entitled to upgrades and documentation for

supported products that become available during

the life of your support contract.

IBM Cognos Support delivers different types of

software releases during the life of a product.

Use the following links to download your IBM Cognos products –

IBM Software and Services site – current

products

http://www.ibm.com/software/howtobuy/

softwareandservices

Cognos Legacy Downloads – back releases of

supported product versions

https://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/iwm/

web/preLogin.do?lang=en_US&source=cognos

Fix Packs, Emergency Fixes, etc. – including

Fix Packs released since Jan. 1, 2009

http://www-933.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/

?productGroup0=ibm/Information%20

Management&ibmsst=Information%20

ManagementBtn

Product Release Types

New ReleasesNew Releases (Major and Minor versions)

feature: new capabilities; new supported

environments; improvements in quality; scalability

and performance; as well as architectural

enhancements. New Releases are fully regression

tested and typically require a full uninstall/

reinstall of the IBM Cognos product. New

Releases are signified by an increment in the

major version number, represented by the

digits to the immediate left of the first decimal

in the version number, or by an increment

in the minor version number, represented by

the digits to the immediate right of the first

decimal in the version number (for example,

IBM Cognos 8.2, Series 7 Version 4 - 7.4).

Refresh PacksRefresh Packs are incremental changes to a

Major or Minor New Release, periodically made

available to supported customers. They primarily

address problems with the software that have

been reported by customers or uncovered through

IBM’s own investigations. Refresh Packs are also

used to add support for new environments. In

some cases they may contain new capabilities

http://www-933.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/?productGroup0=ibm/Information%20Management&ibmsst=Information%20ManagementBtn



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and improvements but to a lesser degree than a

New Release. Refresh Packs are subject to full

regression testing and include the accumulation of

corrections made in all previous Refresh Packs and

Interim Fixes since the most recent New Release.

They may require a full install/reinstall of the IBM

Cognos product. Refresh Packs can be signified

in one of two ways. They may add a Release

number or MR number suffix to the major and

minor version number, such as IBM Cognos 8.2 Maintenance Release 1, often abbreviated to IBM Cognos 8.2 MR1. Alternatively they may add a

third decimal point to the major and minor version

number, such as IBM Cognos 8.2.1, leading to

the Point Release reference.

Interim FixShould a specific error, or combination thereof,

warrant immediate release to solve a high priority

issue for a customer, a specific product build

containing the error correction may be designated

as a Interim Fix. These releases are normally

sent only to customers who have reported one

of the corrected errors and the error must be

an extremely high priority. Interim Fixes do not

address customer enhancement requests, and not

all error corrections can be delivered as Interim

Fixes. Interim Fixes include the accumulation of

corrections made in all previous Interim Fixes

since the most recent release. Due to their urgency

and unlike a Fix Pack, Interim Fixes undergo

only targeted testing of specific corrections, not

regression testing. If your issue is not causing a

major business impact, we recommend that you

wait for a scheduled Fix Pack or Refresh Pack,

which is regression tested. Corrections made in

Interim Fixes are automatically included in the

next Fix Pack or Refresh Pack.



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3.0 COMPONENTS COMMON TO ALL SOFTWARE SUPPORT PLANS

Fix Packs

Fix Packs, provide regular, high quality and stable

error correction releases. Fix Packs use automated

regression test suites to exercise the release prior to

it becoming generally available. Fix Packs contain

selected Interim Fixes and critical corrections

implemented since the last regression tested

release, such as a Refresh Pack, or a previous Fix

Packs. Unlike Refresh Packs, Fix Packs do not add

new environment support and will not contain new

capabilities or enhancements.

Fix Packs are not a fully installable product;

they are targeted corrections to specific product

components. You must already have a Base Release

installed in order to deploy a Fix Pack into your

environment. Fix Packs are signified with an SP

or FP designation after the version number, such

as SP1 or FP2 and can be found in the Support

area of the IBM Web site: http://www.ibm.com/

products/finder/us/finders?pg=ddfinder&cm_

re=other-_-suprcn-_-download

or, FixCentral on the IBM Web site:

http://www-933.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/

?productGroup0=ibm/Information%20

Management&ibmsst=Information%20

ManagementBtn

Fix Packs are only available for IBM® Cognos® 8

Query and Analysis products. IBM may expand

their use in the future.

Product Life Cycle

For products released before January 1, 2009,

excluding IBM Cognos 8 BI Version 8.4

Product End-of-Life (EOL)

End-of-Life is the date in which IBM Cognos

product management will no longer issue any

releases of any type for a product. This applies

to all language versions, platforms and channels

for that product (unless otherwise noted). IBM

provides a minimum of 12 months notice of

product EOL, and publishes notice of EOL on the

Support Web site at http://www.ibm.com/cognos/

support. Products that are EOL will be given a

reference status of Obsolete.

Product Error Corrections

As long as you are current with your IBM Cognos

support contract you will have access to Online

Support and Assisted Support. Through Assisted

Support, IBM Cognos support will provide advice,

guidance, workarounds and known solutions. You

will also remain eligible for New Releases and all

associated upgrade or migration benefits. However,

the level of Assisted Support and availability of

Refresh Packs and Interim Fixes, and your ability

to log and receive Error Corrections is dependent

on the life stage of the product version.

http://www-933.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/?productGroup0=ibm/Information%20Management&ibmsst=Information%20ManagementBtn



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After a New Release, reported errors are

strategically corrected with the accumulated error

corrections being bundled into a newer product

build. Should a specific error correction, or

combination thereof, warrant immediate release to

solve a high priority issue for a customer, a specific

product build may be designated as Interim Fix.

At some point in time, a specific product build,

including accumulated error corrections and

Interim Fix, is designated a Refresh Packs or

Fix Pack. The Service Pack is tested and made

generally commercially available. A given product

and/or version will have one of the following

statuses within Product Development. The product

status indicates the ability to log and receive error

corrections, and the level of Assisted Support you

will receive on that product or version.

Development Status

Support Status Description Status

Active Full Development and Assisted Support

• Product updates will be made available through Refresh Packs, Fix Packs and/or Interim Fixes.

• You can log any Assisted Support issues with IBM Cognos Support on the product version, including product errors.

Inactive Assisted Support Only • Product updates will NOT be made available through Refresh Packs, Fix Packs and/or Interim Fixes.

• You can log Assisted Support issues with IBM Cognos Support on

the product version, but you will be encouraged to upgrade to an active product version.

• Assisted Support may include known solutions, advice and workarounds, but will not include product fixes.

End of Life or Obsolete

Vintage Support • Product updates will NOT be made available through Obsolete Refresh Packs, Fix Packs and/or Interim Fixes. • You CANNOT log Assisted Support issues with IBM Cognos Support on the product or version unless you have purchased Vintage Support. • See the Vintage Support section for restrictions and guidelines around Vintage Support.

* Assisted Support Only and Vintage Support is delivered pending resource availability and knowledge of such product versions being available. We understand that customers may have a business reason to stay on an inactive or EOL version for longer than warranted, but at IBM’s discretion, and based upon the length of time that a product version has been Inactive or EOL status, the offering of Vintage Support may not be continued after the term date has ended.



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IBM Cognos products are available in many

different languages. Some IBM Cognos products

include all supported languages simultaneously

available upon product release, while others

release English language product first, followed

by specific language releases. Provided that a

product has not been declared End-of-Life (EOL),

a New Release product version, designated by a

major and minor version number, will remain in

a development status of Active for a minimum of

twelve (12) months from when the last language

release was made commercially available. Product

versions and their development status can be found

at http://www-01.ibm.com/software/data/support/

lifecycle/

Products released after January 1 2009, and IBM

Cognos 8 BI Version 8.4, fall under the Standard

IBM Software Support Lifecycle Policy. Under this

policy, IBM Cognos will:

• Provide a minimum of 3 years of product

technical support beginning at the planned

availability date of the version/release of the

product.

• Ensure support is available for all IBM

components of a product or until the product

or bundle is withdrawn from support. In

addition, all components of a bundle have a

common End of Service date.

• Publish a notice of support discontinuance

(“End of Service”) for a product at least 12

months prior to the effective date.

• Align the effective date of support

discontinuance (“End of Service”) to occur on

common dates either in the months of April or

September.

• Make product support extensions available,

where possible, that are designed to allow

migration to the current release to be

completed. For additional information on

product technical support extensions beyond

the three-year minimum period, contact

your IBM representative. Please refer to the

following site for full details of this policy:

http://www-01.ibm.com/software/support/

lifecycle/lc-policy.html

Complementary Software

IBM Cognos Support provides a variety of

complementary software to be used in conjunction

with our products. Open-source and commercially

available software and its use is subject to its own

license terms (typically found in the installation

process). Complementary software is typically

found in the IBM Cognos Supplementary Software

download, and generally falls into one of two

categories: Optional or Required.

http://www-01.ibm.com/software/support/lifecycle/lc-policy.html



20

3.1 Online Support

The IBM Cognos Support Web site (http://

www.ibm.com/cognos/support) provides 24x7,

self-service access to assist you in diagnosing

and solving your own issues. You can also gain

knowledge about IBM Cognos products and

solutions. The IBM Cognos Support site provides

access to a vast collection of knowledge resources,

such as Technotes, White Papers, Product

Documentation and Supportlink magazine and

IBM Cognos Diagnostic Tools. The knowledge

resources are collectively searchable and are also

listed on the Cognos Customer Center page on

the IBM web site: http://www.ibm.com/cognos/

customercenter/

Technotes

The extensive text-based and multimedia document collection provides easily accessible solutions to your technical questions.

White Papers

All Support Contacts can access IBM Cognos Proven Practices documents to help them learn how to best use IBM Cognos products within their environment — covering both the practical and theoretical approach to problem solving. Developed, tested and proven in real life customer engagements, IBM Cognos Proven Practice information is collected, created, validated and shared from experiences gained through product

Complementary Software Type

Description Examples IBM Cognos Support Policy

Open Source (optional)

Includes open source software that IBM redistributes according to the license terms specified by the relevant Open-source organization, and which is provided for convenience but is not a necessary component of IBM Cognos products and can be substituted.

Apache Tomcat Java Servlet

Supported as per the IBM Cognos Support Contract, only when used in conjunction with IBM Cognos products.

Commercial Third-Party (Optional)

Includes third-party commercially available software for which the IBM Cognos Support (optional) IBM has negotiated limited redistribution rights, and which is provided for convenience but is not a necessary component of IBM Cognos products and can be substituted.

Commercial Directory server (LDAP)


Commercial Third-Party (Optional)

Includes third-party commercially available software for which IBM Cognos Support IBM has negotiated limited redistribution rights, and which is a necessary component of certain IBM Cognos products.

ObjectStore database from Progress


Note: If you wish to use the optional or required complementary software independently of IBM Cognos products, or to use capabilities not required for use with IBM Cognos products, you must separately license the software and purchase support from the original third-party vendor.



21

reviews and actual deployments. To access Cognos

Proven Practices documents, visit the Cognos page

in IBM developerWorks: http://www.ibm.com/

developerworks/data/products/cognos/index.html

Product Information and Downloads

The Support Web site (http://www.ibm.com/

cognos/support) is where you can find detailed

information about IBM Cognos products. Some of

the information available includes:

• Product Advisories (under Troubleshoot): warnings, advice and updates on known or

potential issues or alerts with IBM Cognos or

third-party software.

• Localized Products (under Plan): a

listing of the languages into which IBM

has translated the user interface and/or

documentation.

• Supported Products (under Support Tools): provides the support status of all

versions of IBM Cognos software. Please note

that this page applies to both English and

localized versions of IBM Cognos products

unless otherwise noted.

• Software Environments (under Plan): provides a listing, by product version, of the

software environments in which IBM Cognos

products are known to work and have been

tested. You can also find supported locales,

character sets, and languages in which data is

supported.

The Downloads section has New Releases,

Maintenance Releases and Service Packs for

applicable IBM Cognos products. Only Primary

and Secondary Site Support Contacts can access

these downloads (see Types of Support Contacts).

If you have received an IBM Customer Number

(ICN) for your existing IBM Cognos software or

purchased new software after January 1, 2009:

1. Create your own IBM Web ID at http://www.

ibm.com/account/.

2. Use the following links to download your IBM

Cognos products:

IBM Software and Services site (current

products): http://www.ibm.com/software/

howtobuy/softwareandservices

Cognos Legacy Downloads (back releases of

supported product versions): https://www14.

software.ibm.com/webapp/iwm/web/preLogin.

do?lang=en_US&source=cognos

If you have not yet received an IBM Customer

Number (ICN) contact the person within your

company responsible for managing the IBM

Cognos relationship.



22

Product Documentation

Updated product documentation, including readme

files, installation guides, new feature guides, and

user and technical reference manuals, are provided

with each New Release. In the case of multi-user

licenses, only one set of hard-copy documentation

is provided with the software. The documentation

details new features and enhancements and may

have also been updated based on user feedback. If

required, additional hard copies can be purchased

through your IBM Cognos account manager, or

a soft copy can be downloaded from the Support

Web site: http://www.ibm.com/cognos/support/

doc.html

Supportlink Magazine

All customers can access Supportlink, an online

magazine with technical and product information

written by IBM Cognos customers and partners.

Supportlink is designed to enable you to work

more effectively with IBM Cognos software.

Published by IBM Cognos Support, Supportlink

is a unique source of in-depth information about

IBM Cognos software and services. You can access

Supportlink from the following link: http://www-

931.ibm.com/newsletter/11022

“Tech-Talk” Customer Information Series

– Web Seminars

This online series delivers deep, technical

information and offers the opportunity to pose

questions to IBM Cognos experts. Learn about

best practices and technology updates from

hands-on specialists. You can access TechTalk

Insider from the following link: http://www.ibm.

com/cognos/techtalkinsider/

IBM Cognos Diagnostic Tools

IBM Cognos Support has developed a number

of diagnostic tools to help verify your software

environment, identify and troubleshoot issues and

provide you with the product details and systems

information needed to log a Service Request (SR).

You can access IBM Cognos Diagnostic Tools

from the following link: http://www-01.ibm.com/

software/data/support/cognos_diagnostictools.html

Proactive Notifications

Through RSS feeds, you have access to continually

updated headlines, summaries, and links to full

stories on our Web site. For a list of Cognos related

RSS feeds, see the following link: http://www-01.

ibm.com/software/support/rss/db2/



23

4.0 STANDARD SUPPORT PLAN

4.1 Assisted Support

Designed for customers with small to medium

size IBM Cognos solution deployments, Standard

Support includes all the common program

elements such as Product Continuation and Online

Support and adds unlimited regular business hour

access to Assisted Support.

Response Time

Response time is measured from the time you

raise an issue with IBM Cognos Support to the

time an IBM Cognos Support Analyst is assigned

to the issue and acknowledges such assignment

by initiating return contact. Response times are as

follows:

Distributed Platform Response Objectives

Severity Impact Response Goal

1 Critical business impact Within two hours

2 Significant business impact Within two business hours

3 Some business impact Within two business hours

4 Minimal business impact Within two business hours

Support Contact Entitlement

Standard Support contact entitlement provides for

automatic expansion with increased supported

license ownership. For licenses purchased using

a per user license model (or server/user), contact

entitlement is as follows:

Total Supported Users Support Contacts

0-100 2

101-500 4

501-1,000 6

1,001-5,000 8

5,001-10,000 10

10,001-15,000 15

15,001-20,000 20

20,001+ 25

If your purchase is anonymous user or Appliance

CPU based, you are entitled to two (2) Support

Contacts for every two (2) CPUs, to a maximum

of 20 Support Contacts. If you have an Enterprise

License Agreement (ELA) that encompasses

multiple departments, divisions or operating

companies, Support Contact entitlement will

be based on the terms set forth in the ELA.

In absence of ELA specific terms defining

entitlement, per user or anonymous user

entitlement policies will be applied, as pertinent to

the ELA license structure.



24

5.0 ADVANTAGE SUPPORT PLAN – No longer commercially available

Designed for medium to large-size customers with

larger installations and greater dependency on

application availability, Advantage Support includes

Product Continuation and Online Support and

adds a comprehensive Assisted Support offering

focused on rapid, quality issue resolution.

Advantage Support is offered per Support Group,

as described previously in this document. Each

Advantage purchase entitles you to Advantage

level support for the Support Group you designate.

This enables you to have broad access to Standard

Support, yet choose the specific deployments,

geographies or business areas that require advanced

support services. If you have many disparate Support

Groups within your company, you will require

multiple Advantage Support Group purchases for

universal coverage. Conversely, if you operate in a

shared service or competency center model, the

number of Advantage Support Groups you require

is reduced. Each Advantage Support Group includes

the following Assisted Support features.


Skilled Product Expert Team

As an Advantage Support customer, you will

collaborate with specialized Support Analysts

who have in-depth knowledge in key product

functional areas. These functional experts work as

a team to solve multiple issues simultaneously. Our

knowledgeable Support Analysts provide thorough

issue resolution and deep, targeted knowledge

transfer to your internal team – improving your

understanding of the issue and resolution and

possibly preventing future issues.

Response Time


raise an issue with IBM Cognos Support, to the




follows:









25

Issue Resolution Targets

IBM Cognos Support understands that you are

looking for more than just a response to your

Service Requests (SR); you want to know when

an issue is going to be resolved. For Advantage

Support customers, we have established target

resolution times for issues not requiring product

code changes. The following resolution targets

should be viewed as median resolve times

measured over a period of time, and not as resolve

times for all Service Requests. That means that

often Service Requests will actually be resolved

faster.

Issue Priority Target Median Resolution Time*

1 2 business days

2 5 business days

3 15 business days

4 20 business days

*Note: does not apply to issues requiring product code modifications or error corrections

IBM Cognos Support strives to resolve your issues

as fast as possible with the highest quality and

looks for direct confirmation from you that the

issue has been resolved. Your confirmation that

the issue has been resolved is essential to meeting

target resolution times.

24x7 Critical Coverage

You can log critical Severity 1 issues with IBM

Cognos Support at any time. In order for a Service

Request (SR) to qualify for 24x7 Critical Coverage

assistance, your issue must be a Severity 1 issue

and logged by telephone. Visit http://www.ibm.

com/planetwide to find the Cognos Support

numbers in your country. 24x7 Critical Coverage

is provided in English only. The time at which the

Service Request is logged is governed by your local

time as determined by the country code or area

code registered with IBM Cognos Support for each

Support Contact.


As an Advantage Support customer, you are

entitled to four (4) Support Contacts per Support

Group, in addition to your Standard Support

contact entitlement. Only these four (4) contacts

will be able to receive support at the Advantage

level.



26

6.0 PREMIER SUPPORT PLAN– No longer commercially available

Designed for customers with large IBM Cognos

solution deployments and/or high application

availability needs, Premier Support delivers

personalized, flexible service, with a focus on

rapid issue resolution and close partnership to

proactively prevent problems. Premier Support

includes Product Continuation and Online

Support, as well as a more comprehensive and

personal Assisted Support offering. It also includes

Partnership and Prevention support features to

decrease risk and maximize the return on your

IBM investment. Premier Support is offered per

Support Group, as described previously in this

document. Each Premier purchase entitles you

to Premier level support for the Support Group

you designate. This provides you with broad

access to Standard Support, while choosing the

specific deployments, geographies or business

areas that require advanced support services. If

you have many disparate Support Groups within

your company, you will require multiple Premier

Support Group purchases for universal coverage.

Conversely, if you operate in a shared service or

competency center model, the number of Premier

Support Groups you require will be reduced. Each

Premier Support Group has access to the following

Premier Support features.

6.1 Partnership And Prevention

Executive Sponsor

As a Premier Support customer you will be

assigned an executive sponsor who will actively

work with you and your senior management team

to ensure that your corporate vision is aligned with

and supported. An executive sponsor is a senior

member of the IBM Cognos management team

who will work to build key relationships between

your organization and IBM Cognos Support to

improve your long-term satisfaction and success.

Through the executive sponsor, IBM Cognos

Support can strategically partner with you to

ensure that the resources, processes and support

required are available. To gain the most value from

your executive sponsor, we ask that you make your

senior executives, CIOs and/or key business leaders

available for corporate visits or strategic discussions

led by your sponsor. Although your sponsor is

open to discussing support issue escalation— your

Support Account Manager (SAM) is the main

contact for any escalation or support related needs.



27

Support Account Manager (SAM)

Your trusted partner in IBM Cognos Support,

your SAM (also referred to as Premier Support

Managers – PSMs) can help you achieve your

performance management goals and will make

sure your priorities are our priorities. A SAM helps

reduce downtime by effectively managing the

issue resolution process and by working with you

to identify opportunities to increase productivity.

A SAM does not work explicitly on solving your

Service Requests (SR), but through regular

collaboration and high frequency communication,

your SAM will:

• Develop an understanding of your unique

business challenges, existing and planned

implementations and technical environment

and share this knowledge with IBM Cognos

Support and other internal teams to ensure

fast and thorough issue resolution.

• Provide proactive advice to prevent issues

and deliver high frequency and quality

communication.

• Coordinate support activity and provide a

holistic view of issues to reduce duplication

and churn.

• Work with product development to manage

and drive product corrections. Be a single

point of escalation and the point person on

critical issues to ensure the appropriate IBM

Cognos resources are engaged.

• Be an integral part of the IBM Cognos

solution team by ensuring that support

activity, challenges and successes are regularly

shared with the appropriate internal teams.

• Provide advice on upgrade or deployment

strategies and high impact product issues (this

may require the involvement of IBM Cognos

Professional Services).

• V isit you onsite two times per year to

understand your business and systems and

establish priorities.

Model Environment

To reduce the discovery time associated

with diagnosing an issue and to improve

resolution time, IBM Cognos Support will work

collaboratively with you to create and maintain

a model software environment within the IBM

Cognos Support Center. A model environment is

a scaled down, reasonable approximation of the

hardware and software environment in which you

develop, test or deploy your IBM Cognos solutions.

Because customers often have development, test

and production environments with vast arrays of

hardware, third-party software versions, security

and fail over features, it is not possible to exactly

duplicate your system in-house.



28

Alerts and Summaries

Your SAM will work with you to deliver regular Service Request (SR) summaries with status, expectations and next steps and will monitor adherence to response and resolution target times. Based on your modeled environment and the SAM’s insight into your IBM Cognos solution, they will also provide proactive alerts for high impact issues, and advise on identified solutions or workarounds that may be pertinent to you.


Skilled Product Expert Team

As a Premier Support customer, you will

collaborate with an elite team of specialized

Support Analysts who have in-depth knowledge

in key product functional areas. Working closely

with your SAM, these product functional

experts work as a team to solve multiple issues

simultaneously. Our knowledgeable Support

Analysts provide thorough issue resolution and

deep, targeted knowledge transfer to your internal

team. This improves your understanding of

the issue and resolution and may prevent future

issues.

Response Time


raise an issue with IBM Cognos Support to the




follows:









29

Issue Resolution Targets

IBM Cognos Support understands that you are

looking for more than just a response to your

Service Requests (SR); you want to know when an

issue is going to be resolved. For Premier Support

customers, we have established target resolution

times for issues not requiring product code

changes. The following resolution targets should

be viewed as median resolve times measured over

a period of time, and not as resolve times for all

Service Requests. That means that often Service

Requests will actually be resolved faster.

Issue Priority Target Median Resolution Time*

1 2 business days

2 5 business days

3 15 business days

4 20 business days

*Note: does not apply to issues requiring product code modifications or error corrections

IBM Cognos Support strives to resolve your issues

as fast as possible with the highest quality, and

looks for direct confirmation from you that the

issue has been resolved. Your confirmation that

the issue has been resolved is essential to meeting

target resolution times.

24x7 Critical Coverage

You can log critical Priority 1 issues with IBM

Cognos Support at any time. For a Service

Request (SR) to qualify for 24x7 Critical Coverage

assistance, your issue must be a Priority 1 issue

and logged by telephone. Visit http://www.ibm.

com/planetwide to find the Cognos Support

numbers in your country. Critical Coverage is

provided in English only, and the time at which the

Service Request is logged is governed by your local

time, as determined by the country code or area

code registered with IBM Cognos Support for each

Support Contact.


As a Premier Support customer, you are entitled

to eight (8) Support Contacts per Support Group,

in addition to your Standard Support contact

entitlement. Only these eight (8) contacts will be

able to receive support at the Premier level.



30

7.0 OPTIONAL SUPPORT COMPONENTS (ADD-ONS)

7.1 Global Support IBM

Cognos Support provides you with support in the

region where your software licenses and support

were purchased. Your Support Contacts must

reside in, and access support from, one of the

Support Centers in this region. Global Support is a

valuable add-on for multinational customers with

a shared server infrastructure and IBM Cognos

applications supported in different regions. Global

Support enables Support Contacts to access a

Support Center in their local region, regardless

of the region where support was purchased. For

example, if a support plan was purchased in the

United States but applications that use the same

server infrastructure are developed and supported

in Sweden and Britain, Global Support would

allow Support Contacts to be designated in Sweden

and Britain, as well as the United States, and each

would have access to Support Centers within their

region.

Visit http://www.ibm.com/planetwide to find the Cognos Support numbers in your country.

For a complete list of Cognos Support locations, operating hours and languages, visit http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=3528&uid=swg27015566.

Global Support and the Standard

Support Plan

As a Global Support customer you can register

Support Contacts with any Support Center,

regardless of where the support was purchased,

up to your contact entitlement limit. If support

is required outside of normal business hours,

customers may require 24x7 Critical Coverage

Service Request packs.

Global Support and Advantage/Premier

Support Plans

Customers with Advantage or Premier Support

who have Support Contacts outside the region in

which support was purchased, can also choose the

Global Support add-on and nominate personnel to

contact their local Support Centers (during normal

support hours). Although such Support Contacts

will have access to Assisted Support (such as, call

logging), all other applicable support services of

Advantage and Premier (such as, SAM and onsite

visits) are only delivered within the region the

Support Group was purchased, at the primary

location of the Support Group.



31

7.2 Support Contacts (additional)

The number of Support Contacts you are entitled

to is determined by the number of supported

users and your Support Plan. If you are interested

in more support contacts, please contact your

local Subscription and Support representative:

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.

wss?rs=3528&uid=swg27014717

7.3 IBM Cognos 8 Software Development Kit (SDK) Support

In addition to the available standard IBM Cognos

Support, with IBM Cognos SDK, you can

upgrade your support to one of two SDK-specific

offerings. Created and delivered by developers for

developers, Accelerated Value for IBM Cognos

SDK provides in-depth technical information and

support to clients who want to integrate and extend

functionality with their SDK solution For more

information, please visit http://download.boulder.

ibm.com/ibmdl/pub/software/data/sw-library/

cognos/pdfs/factsheets/fs_premium_support_for_

sdkclients.pdf.

7.4 IBM Cognos Now! Appliance Customers (Customers Using Hardware From Dell)

Hardware Support IBM Cognos Now! hardware

was sold by Cognos with a three-year warranty

from a third-party provider (Dell). Once the three

year warranty period ends, customers who have

maintained continuous support and maintenance

on the IBM Cognos Now! software are eligible to

purchase a new IBM Cognos Now! appliance from

IBM. Supported customers have two options; they

can purchase an extended hardware warranty

directly from Dell, or they can purchase new IBM

hardware, which will be pre-loaded with the most

current version of the IBM Cognos Now! software.

Customers who purchase new IBM hardware will

have new warranty terms through IBM. Please

note that there is no credit for existing hardware.

You can continue to use your previous Appliance

in parallel with your new Appliance for a ninety

(90) day period from the effective date of your

purchase. After such time, you must permanently

de-install and destroy the IBM Cognos software

on the previous Appliance, along with all related

documentation. You will have no further rights

or interests in the IBM Cognos software on the

previous Appliance. You do, however, retain

ownership of the hardware associated with the

previous Appliance. However, IBM will have no

further ongoing support obligations with respect to

such hardware.

Hardware Support – Onsite

If an issue is determined to be hardware related,

onsite support may be required to diagnose or

solve the issue. IBM reserves the right to deliver

onsite support through a third-party provider.

An IBM Cognos Support Analyst will try to

troubleshoot the issue remotely and determine if

an onsite service technician and/or replacement

parts are required. If IBM determines that onsite



32

service is required, a technician will be sent to

your business location (indicated on your invoice

or applicable separately signed agreement). Once

a service technician arrives at your site, they will

continue to work until the issue has been resolved

or until it is determined that different parts or

resources are required to resolve the issue. Work

may be temporarily suspended if additional parts

or resources are required but will resume when

they become available. Onsite hardware service is

provided according to the guidelines below:

Hardware Support – Your Commitment

A successful partnership requires full cooperation

and collaboration between IBM and its customers.

By committing to the following you can ensure you

receive the most value from IBM Cognos Support

and your IBM investment:

Priority Response Time

Special Terms

1

2

3

4

Next Business

Day

• Available 5 days/week (Monday to Friday), 10 hours/day (08:00- 18:00 EST), excluding observed holidays

• Calls received after 17:00 local time and/or dispatches made after that time may require an additional business day for arrival onsite

• Subject to parts availability and geographic restrictions

1. Provision of Hardware Numbers: Upon

request, it is your responsibility to provide

hardware serial numbers, service tag numbers,

system type or model numbers.

2. Onsite Service: Where onsite service is

required, you must provide free, safe and

suitable access to your facilities and the

supported hardware. This includes ample,

hazard-free working space, electricity, local

telephone line, access to parking facility (at no

charge) and security escorts as necessary during

the performance of the service. An adult (over

age 18) must also be present at all times during

the technician’s visit.

3. Insurance: You must maintain adequate

insurance coverage for the hardware throughout

the term of your Support Plan.

4. Adequate Environment: You must maintain

the hardware in an environment that would

reasonably be considered a safe and appropriate

storage environment that will not cause direct

or indirect harm to the hardware, or negatively

impact its use.

5. Unauthorized Repairs: Any repair or

attempted repair of the hardware by any party

other than IBM or a designated third-party

provider will void and cancel this agreement.



33

IBM will not reimburse you for any repairs

that you or another person makes or attempts

to make to the system. Repairs necessitated as

a result of alteration, adjustment, or repair by

anyone other than IBM or its designated third-

party provider, are not included.

6. Appliance Relocation: If hardware is to be

relocated outside the country of purchase, you

must request, and IBM will not unreasonably

withhold, approval for a change in country of

origin. Service levels for support may change

based upon the country to which it is relocated.

Hardware Support – Conditions and

Limitations

1. Whole Unit Replacement: If it is determined

that a defective component of the hardware is

not easily disconnected and reconnected (such

as a keyboard or monitor), or that the entire

hardware should be replaced, IBM reserves the

right to take and replace the entire unit. In such

instances, you agree to relinquish the defective

hardware system or the component in question.

If you don’t relinquish the hardware, you must

pay IBM for the replacement unit upon receipt

of invoice.

2. Parts Availability: Repair of hardware is subject

to parts availability. IBM’s third-party hardware

provider stocks hardware parts in multiple

locations. Selected, noncritical parts may not be

stocked in the location closest to your site. Parts

deemed non-critical include, but are not limited

to, floppy drives, modems, speakers, all memory

modules, sound cards, zip drives, internal tape

drives, NICS, monitors, keyboard and mice. If

a part that is needed to repair the hardware is

not available from a facility near your location

and must be transferred from another facility, it

will be shipped using overnight delivery at no

additional cost to you. Spare parts provided may

be new, used or reconditioned.

3. Geographic Limitations: Onsite response

may not be available in all locations and/

or additional restrictions, charges, terms and

conditions may apply. For a complete listing of

service locations and restrictions, please visit:

http://www.dell.com.

4. Appliance Alterations: The Appliance is

provided with specific hardware, IBM Cognos

software and configured environment (that

is, operating systems, drivers and third-party

technologies). With the exception of changes

to hostname, mail server domains, SSL

certificates and IP addresses, you may not alter

or reconfigure the Appliance in any way without

the explicit written consent of IBM, which

IBM will not unreasonably withhold. You are

permitted to use any of the standard services

already operating on the Appliance.

5. Hardware Support Exclusions: hardware

support does not include repair of any system or

system component which has been damaged as

a result of

1. Accident, misuse, or abuse of the system or

component such as, but not limited to, use of

incorrect line voltages, use of incorrect fuses,

use of incompatible devices or accessories



34

2. Use of the hardware in an unsuitable

environment, such as where there is improper

or insufficient ventilation 30

3. Failure to follow operating instructions

4. An “Act of God” such as, but not limited to,

lightning, flooding, tornado, earthquakes and

hurricanes

5. The moving of the system from one

geographic location to another or from one

entity to another

7.4.1 IBM Cognos Now! Appliance (Customers using IBM Hardware)

IBM provides repair or exchange service

depending on the type of warranty specified for

the machine. IBM will attempt to resolve the

problem over the telephone or electronically by

access to an IBM Web site. You must follow the

problem determination and resolution procedures

that IBM specifies. Scheduling of service will

depend upon the time of your call and is subject to

parts availability. Service levels are response-time

objectives and are not guaranteed. The specified

level of warranty service may not be available in all

worldwide locations. Additional charges may apply

Outside IBM’s normal service area. Contact your

local IBM representative or reseller for country and

location-specific information.

Warranties do not cover:

• Failure or damage resulting from misuse

(including but not limited to use of any

machine capacity or capability, other than

that authorized by IBM in writing), accident,

modification, unsuitable physical or operating

environment, or improper maintenance by the

customer.

• Failure caused by a product for which IBM is

not responsible.

• Any non-IBM products, including those

provided with, or installed on an IBM

Machine at the customer’s request.

• Accessories, supply items and consumables (for example, batteries and printer cartridges) and structural parts (for example, frames and covers).

• Service of Machine alterations.

• Service of a Machine on which the customer

is using capacity or capability, other than

authorized by IBM in writing. The warranty

is voided by removal or alteration of

identification labels on the machine or its

parts. IBM does not warranty uninterrupted or

error-free operation of a machine. For specific

warranty information, see IBM Warranty

Information.



35

7.5 Additional Support Offerings

Vintage Support

From time to time IBM will announce the

End-of-Life (EOL) for a product or version. We

understand that customers may have a business

need to stay on a product or version that has been

declared End-of Life (EOL). For these situations

IBM may offer IBM Cognos Vintage Support at

its discretion based on market demand. Products

released after January 1st 2009 or after the release

of IBM Cognos 8 BI 8.4 are not eligible for Vintage

Support.

Vintage Support provides the following services:

• Customers may continue to log cases with

Customer Support.

• IBM will make every effort to satisfy the

customer’s technical problem given the

restrictions of Vintage Support.

• IBM will attempt to provide a workaround

solution. Vintage support has the following

restrictions:

– IBM will not provide any additional versions

of the product.

– IBM will not provide any additional Interim

Fixes, Refresh Packs, Fix Packs.

– IBM cannot guarantee the compatibility

of the products on any future versions of

Supported Environments beyond those

stated for the version of the products current

at the date Engineering Support ended.


IBM COGNOS SUPPORT RENEWAl POlICIES

36

1.1 Contacting Support Renewal

For more information, please contact your local

IBM Cognos Software Subscription and Support

representative, found at http://www-01.ibm.com/


1.2 Renewal Cycle and Continued Coverage

For more information, please visit the IBM

Software Support Handbook at ftp://ftp.software.

ibm.com/software/server/handbook/webhndbk.pdf

1.3 Calculation of Support Fees

For more information, please contact your local

IBM Cognos Software Subscription and Support

representative, found at http://www-01.ibm.com/


1.4 Late Renewal

If payment is not made within 30 days from the

date of invoice, (or in the case of quarterly advance

billing of recurring charges, within 60 days from

the date of invoice), you may be subject to late

payment charges.

1.5 Support Reinstatement

If you choose not to renew software subscription

and support coverage for certain or all of your

Program licenses and, at a later date, wish to again

obtain coverage for any of those Program licenses,

you must obtain IBM Software Subscription and

Support Reinstatement or Third Party Software

Subscription and Support Reinstatement, as

applicable.

1.6 Withdrawal of software subscription and support or Selected Support for a particular Program

If IBM or the third party, as applicable, withdraws

software subscription and support or Selected

Support for a particular Program, you understand

that

a. IBM will not make software subscription and

support renewal or Selected Support renewal

available for that Program; and

b. if you renewed IBM Software Subscription

and Support for that IBM Program license or

Selected Support for a Selected Program license

prior to the notice of withdrawal, IBM, at its sole

discretion, will either continue to provide IBM

Software Subscription and Support or Selected

Support to you for that Program license until

the end of the then current coverage period

or you may obtain a prorated refund. If you

renewed Third Party Software Subscription and

Support for that Non-IBM Program prior to the

notice, the third party will continue to provide

Third Party Software Subscription and Support

to you for that Non-IBM Program license until

the end of the then current coverage period.

Otherwise, you may obtain a prorated refund.

1.0 SUPPORT RENEWAL POLICIES



37

1.7 Definition of Software Subscription and Support

1. Software Subscription and Support

a. For Programs running in a System z

environment or equivalent:

(1) Subscription and Support: During the

Software Subscription and Support Period,

for the unmodified portion of a Program, and

to the extent problems can be recreated in

the specified operating environment, S&S is

composed of the following:

(a) Code Corrections: code to correct

reported, substantial deviations from the

Program’s then applicable specifications;

(b) Fixes: existing Code Corrections,

restrictions or known bypasses for

reported problems;

(c) Program Updates: periodic releases of

collections of Code Corrections, Fixes,

functional enhancements and new

versions and releases to the Program and

documentation.

(d) Technical Assistance: a reasonable amount

of remote assistance via telephone or

electronically to address suspected Program

defects.

Technical assistance is available from

Customer’s IBM support center in their

geography. Additional details regarding

Technical Assistance, including IBM contact

information (see Appendix C: Contact

Information), are provided in the Software

Support Handbook at www14.software.ibm.

com/webapp/set2/sas/f/handbook/home.html

S&S does not include assistance for 1) the

design and development of applications,

2) Customer’s use of Programs in other than

their specified operating environment or 3)

failures caused by products for which IBM is

not responsible under this Agreement.

b. For Programs running on IBM distributed

platforms (e.g., IBM Power Systems), IBM

System i, IBM System p, or IBM System x or

equivalent:

(1) Software Subscription and Support: During

the Software Subscription and Support Period:

(a) IBM makes available to Customer the

most current commercially available

version, release, or update to all of the

Programs for which Customer acquires

Software Subscription and Support under

this Agreement, should any be made

available. Customer’s right to upgrade to a

new version, release or update under this



38

subsection may only be exercised during

the Software Maintenance Period and

expires at the end of the Period if Software

Maintenance is not renewed.

(b) IBM provides Customer technical assistance

for Customer’s 1) routine, short duration

installation and usage (how-to) questions;

and 2) code-related questions.

(c) IBM provides technical assistance via

telephone and, if available, electronic

access, to only Customer’s information

systems (IS) technical support personnel

during the normal business hours (IBM

published prime shift hours) of Customer’s

IBM support center in their geography. This

assistance is not available to Customer’s end

users. Additional details regarding assistance

are provided in the IBM Software Support

Handbook at www14.software.ibm.com/

webapp/set2/sas/f/handbook/home.html.

Software Subscription and Support does

not include assistance for 1) the design and

development of applications, 2) Customer’s

use of Programs in other than their specified

operating environment or 3) failures

caused by products for which IBM is not

responsible under this Agreement.

2. Software Subscription and Support RenewalIBM, at its option, may renew expiring Software

Subscription and Support under the Agreement

terms and charges in effect on that date,

subject to applicable law. Subsequent Software

Subscription and Support Periods begin on the

day following the end of the preceding Software

Subscription and Support Period

3. Charges and PaymentIf Customer returns an Eligible Program for

credit or refund as allowed under its license

terms, IBM or Customer’s IBM Business Partner

will terminate and credit or refund any charges

paid for, Software Subscription and Support

ordered with the Program. IBM does not give

credits or refunds for Software Subscription

and Support without return of the associated

Eligible Program.

a. Software Subscription and Support acquired

from an IBM Business Partner

When Customer acquires Software

Subscription and Support from an IBM

Business Partner, the IBM Business Partner

sets the charges and the terms governing

charges. Customer will pay Customer’s IBM

Business Partner directly.



39

b. Software Subscription and Support acquired

directly from IBM

(1) Charges for Software Subscription and

Support during each Software Subscription

and Support Period, called the Software

Subscription and Support Charge, are

invoiced in advance.

(2) The Software Subscription and Support

Charge may vary, depending on, for

example, the machine (type/model), the

Program or group of Programs, or level of

use of the Program.

(3) IBM may increase the Software

Subscription and Support Charge without

notice. An increase will not apply to

Customer if IBM receives Customer’s order

for Software Subscription and Support

before the effective date of the increase

and within three months of receipt by IBM

of Customer’s order IBM makes Software

Subscription and Support available to

Customer.

Customer receives the benefit of a decrease

in the Software Subscription and Support

Charge for amounts which become due on

or after the effective date of the decrease.

(4) Amounts are due and payable upon

receipt of invoice. Customer agrees to pay

accordingly, including any late payment fee.

(5) If any authority imposes a duty, tax, levy

or fee, excluding those based on IBM’s

net income, upon Software Subscription

and Support IBM supplies under this

Agreement, then Customer agrees to pay

that amount as specified in the invoice,

unless Customer supplies exemption

documentation.

4. Software Subscription and Support Transferability Customer may transfer Software Subscription

and Support only to an entity that is within

Customer’s Enterprise and located within

the country in which Software Subscription

and Support is acquired, provided that (1)

the applicable Program is transferable and is

transferred in accordance with its license terms

and (2) the entity receiving the Program agrees

to the terms of this Agreement. When Customer

transfers the Program, Customer must also

transfer a printed copy of this Agreement for

the entity to receive Software Subscription and

Support.

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2009

IBM Canada 3755 Riverside Drive Ottawa, ON, Canada K1G 4K9

Produced in Canada November 2009 All Rights Reserved.

The information contained in this publication is provided for informational purposes only. While efforts were made to verify the completeness and accuracy of the information contained in this publication, it is provided AS IS without warranty of any kind, express or implied. In addition, this information is based on IBM’s current product plans and strategy, which are subject to change by IBM without notice. IBM shall not be responsible for any damages arising out of the use of, or otherwise related to, this publication or any other materials. Nothing contained in this publication is intended to, nor shall have the effect of, creating any warranties or representations from IBM or its suppliers or licensors, or altering the terms and conditions of the applicable license agreement governing the use of IBM software.

References in this publication to IBM products, programs, or services do not imply that they will be available in all countries in which IBM operates. Product release dates and/or capabilities referenced in this presentation may change at any time at IBM’s sole discretion based on market opportunities or other factors, and are not intended to be a commitment to future product or feature availability in any way. Nothing contained in these materials is intended to, nor shall have the effect of, stating or implying that any activities undertaken by you will result in any specific sales, revenue growth, savings or other results.

IBM, the IBM logo and ibm.com are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. If these and other IBM trademarked terms are marked on their first occurrence in this information with a trademark symbol (® or ™), these symbols indicate U.S. registered or common law trademarks owned by IBM at the time this information was published. Such trademarks may also be registered or common law trademarks in other countries. A current list of IBM trademarks is available on the Web at “Copyright and trademark information” at www.ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml.

References in this publication to IBM products or services do not imply that IBM intends to make them available in all countries in which IBM operates.

Any reference in this information to non-IBM Web sites are provided for convenience only and do not in any manner serve as an endorsement of those Web sites. The materials at those Web sites are not part of the materials for this IBM product and use of those Web sites is at your own risk.

About IBM Cognos BI and Performance Management

IBM Cognos business intelligence (BI) and

performance management solutions deliver

world-leading enterprise planning, consolidation

and BI software, support and services to help

companies plan, understand and manage

financial and operational performance. IBM

Cognos solutions bring together technology,

analytical applications, best practices, and a

broad network of partners to give customers

an open, adaptive and complete performance

solution. Over 23,000 customers in more than

135 countries around the world choose IBM

Cognos solutions.

For further information or to reach a

representative: www.ibm.com/cognos

Request a call

To request a call or to ask a question, go to

www.ibm.com/cognos/contactus. An IBM

Cognos representative will respond to your

enquiry within two business days.

Documents

IBM Cognos Support Plans Guidepublic.dhe.ibm.com/software/data/cognos/support/en/... · Support Contacts requiring assistance must access a Support Center in the region where the