FAQ

upport FAQSupport FAQ

BROCADE SUPPORT PLANS FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

General Questions and Answers
Q What types of product support does Brocade offer? A Brocade offers a complete portfolio of support services to meet various customer needs: Essential: Provides base-level support for Brocade hardware and software products, and offers various service levels to fit customer requirements. Premier: Provides a higher level of proactive support for larger, more complex environments. Premier adds support account management, quarterly support reviews, and annual Brocade SAN Health and Brocade NET Health checks to help customers increase the performance and efficiency of their networking infrastructures. Premier-Plus: Provides Premier customers with a Brocade Onsite Support Engineer (OSE) focused on performing proactive maintenance to optimize Brocade networking infrastructures. These support services are available under two support plans: Brocade Direct Support: Provides a direct support relationship between Brocade and customers on all Brocade Storage Area Network (SAN) and IP hardware and software products, with Brocade delivering all support services (through its resources or subcontractors). Brocade Supplemental Support: Augments customers Brocade OEM Partner support plans, allowing customers to obtain software and hardware troubleshooting support directly from Brocade on equipment purchased through a Brocade OEM Partner or Brocade solution provider. Q What is the value of Brocade Support? A Brocade Support offers customers: A single point of contact for all Brocade SAN and IP hardware and software support activities Direct access to Brocade Support resources and expertise 247 Fast problem escalation and resolution Reduced costs associated with downtime, increased application availability Greater operational efficiency and lower overall support costs A variety of hardware and software Service Level Agreements (SLAs) to meet customer needs Proactive support services to help customers optimize their Brocade networking infrastructures

Q Where is Brocade Support available? A Brocade Support is available throughout the United States and Canada, as well as in many locations throughout Europe and Asia Pacific. For more information on the level of Brocade Support available in a specific location, contact your Brocade sales representative or [email protected]. Q Is call-home support available with all plan levels? A Call-home support is included in all SLA levels and under all tiers of Brocade Direct Support as long as the product has this functionality available. For Brocade Supplemental Support contracts, the OEM typically owns the call-home support. Q How do I register my Brocade-supported equipment? A Brocade Support customers can register their SAN equipment at www.brocade.com/services-support/support-plans/activate-your-plan/index.page. Brocade Support customers can register their IP equipment at https://kp.foundrynet.com/Portal/registration.asp. Q What numbers do I call to obtain support? A For technical issues, Brocade Direct Support and Brocade Supplemental Support customers can contact Brocade Support 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, in accordance with the latest Brocade Support Reference Card located at www.brocade.com/downloads/documents/miscellaneous/SupportReferenceCard_04.pdf. Q Does Brocade offer remote management or remote diagnostics as part of its support plans? Or is it an additional service? A Brocade offers some level of remote diagnostics on all Brocade products, under all service levels and tiers. Some Brocade products are supported via remote access, while others require customers to provide logs to Brocade Support in order to initiate remote diagnostics. Brocade attempts to resolve the majority of issues remotely, with onsite support reserved for defective hardware replacement. Brocade also offers the remote Brocade Network Monitoring Service (NMS) as an additional service for many SAN and IP network products. Brocade NMS combines 247 monitoring, proactive alerting, and flexible reporting to help customers increase the availability and efficiency of their data center networks and resources. For more information on Brocade NMS, visit www.brocade.com/services-support/supportplans/network-monitoring-service/index.page.

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Brocade Direct Support Plans

Q What can I expect from a Brocade Direct Support Plan? A Brocade Direct Support Plans provide full hardware and software support coverage from Brocade to customers, with Brocade delivering all support services (through its own resources or subcontractors). Q What products are supported with Brocade Direct Support Plans? A All Brocade SAN and IP networking infrastructure products qualify for a Brocade Direct Support Plan. Q What levels of support are available with Brocade Direct Support Plans? A Brocade Direct Support offers three levels of support: Essential: Provides base-level support and is sold with new Brocade products at the time of sale. (This level of coverage also can be renewed after the initial period expires.) It is tied directly to the product it is supporting and offers several hardware and software SLA options. Premier: Provides a higher level of proactive support. It includes all features in the Essential level, with the addition of management of call activity, support account management, quarterly support reviews, and annual Brocade SAN Health and Brocade NET Health checks. Premier-Plus: Provides Premier customers with a Brocade Onsite Support Engineer (OSE) to proactively tune and monitor their environments to maximize network performance. Q What is the value of Brocade Direct Support? A Brocade Direct Support offers customers: A single point of contact for all Brocade hardware and software support activities Direct access to Brocade Support resources and expertise 247 Fast problem escalation and resolution Reduced costs associated with downtime Greater operational efficiency and lower overall support costs Maximum performance, efficiency, and uptime through quarterly support reviews and annual SAN Health and NET Health checks (Premier and Premier-Plus levels) Proactive communication and coordination of all support activities with Brocade Support Account Managers (Premier and Premier-Plus levels) Coordination of firmware upgrades, if purchased (Premier and Premier-Plus levels) The ability to augment staff with a Brocade Onsite Support Engineer (OSE) focused on providing proactive maintenance services to optimize Brocade networking infrastructures (Premier-Plus level)

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Q What are the deliverables in a Brocade Essential Direct Support Plan? A Essential Direct Support Plans provide a choice of options and SLAs: Essential Direct Support Plans covering hardware and software
Plan 4-Hour Onsite Description Designed for mission-critical implementations that require a 4-hour response for onsite parts and labor. This plan helps ensure that network problems are quickly addressed, minimizing system downtime for key business applications. *Not available in all areas Designed for organizations that require a 4-hour response on parts availability but have in-house technicians to perform the physical installation of the replacement part and defective product return. *Not available in all areas Designed for organizations that require economical service for non-critical operations. Customer Deliverables - Direct call access to Brocade (247) - Online support - Ongoing software updates - Hardware repair: 4 hours - Direct call access to Brocade (247) - Online support - Ongoing software updates - Hardware replacement: 4 hours - Direct call access to Brocade (247) - Online support - Ongoing software updates - Hardware repair: Next business day - Direct call access to Brocade (247) - Online support - Ongoing software updates - Hardware replacement: Shipped next business day - Direct call access to Brocade (247) - Online support - Ongoing software updates - Repaired hardware shipped within 5 business days from receipt - Direct call access to Brocade (247) - Online support - Ongoing software updates

4-Hour Parts

Next-Business-Day (NBD) Onsite

Next-Business-Day (NBD) Parts

Return to Factory

Designed for organizations that require economical service for non-critical operations. Physical installation of the replacement part and defective product return are to be performed by the customer. Designed for organizations that have onsite spares available. Physical installation of the replacement part is to be performed by the customer.

Remote Support

Available on Limited Lifetime Warranty products only

Essential Direct Support Plans covering application software (not Brocade Fabric OS)
Name Software Technical Support 247 Description Available on software applications to direct customers. *Covers Brocade software applications Customer Deliverables - Direct call access to Brocade (247) - Online support - Ongoing software updates

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The following chart summarizes the Essential SLA options under Brocade Direct Support.
Brocade Essential Direct Support Levels
Telephone Support Online Support and Trouble Ticketing Software Releases

4-Hour Onsite

4-Hour Parts
247 Access Unlimited Bug Fixes and Maintenance Updates 4-hour advanced replacement parts onsite

NextBusinessDay Onsite
247 Access Unlimited Bug Fixes and Maintenance Updates Nextbusinessday onsite hardware repair (labor and parts)

NextBusinessDay Parts
247 Access

Return to Factory

Remote Support
247 Access Unlimited Bug Fixes and Maintenance Updates

Software Technical Support 24x7

24x7 Access

247 Access

247 Access

Unlimited Bug Fixes and Maintenance Updates 4-hour onsite hardware repair (labor and parts)

Unlimited

Unlimited Bug Fixes and Maintenance Updates Repaired hardware shipped within 5 business days

Unlimited Bug Fixes and Maintenance Updates

Bug Fixes and Maintenance Updates Next-businessday advanced replacement parts onsite

Hardware Repair/ Replacement

None

None

Q What are the account management activities for the Premier and Premier-Plus levels of Brocade Direct Support? A Brocade Support Account Manager (SAM) activities include: Acting as a Brocade Support focal point for implementations, change activities, escalations, and critical situation management Recommending software upgrades and releases Coordinating firmware upgrades, if purchased Proactively communicating technical tips, best practices, white papers, and other information Conducting quarterly support reviews Coordinating annual SAN Health and NET Health checks For more information, see the Support Account Manager data sheet at www.brocade.com/downloads/documents/data_sheets/support_data_sheets/SupportA cctMgr_DS_01.pdf. Q What are the Onsite Support Engineer (OSE) activities for the Premier-Plus level of Brocade Direct Support? A Brocade OSE activities include: Tuning and optimization of Brocade products Software and release planning Onsite support and product escalations Assistance with software upgrades SAN Health and NET Health data collection For more information, see the Onsite Support Engineer data sheet: www.brocade.com/downloads/documents/data_sheets/support_data_sheets/OnsiteSu pportEngineer_DS_01.pdf.

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Q Where are Brocade Direct Support Plans available? A Brocade offers Direct Support throughout the United States and Canada, as well as in many locations throughout Europe and Asia Pacific. For information on the availability of Brocade Direct Support in a specific location, please contact your Brocade sales representative or [email protected]. Q With a Brocade Direct Support contract, does Brocade escalate calls to the Brocade OEM Partner when a hardware issue is detected? Who closes the call? A The OEM Partner is not involved in customer support for Brocade Direct Support. Brocade owns the issue through completion and does not contact the OEM Partner.

Brocade Supplemental Support Plans

Q What can I expect from a Brocade Supplemental Support Plan? A Brocade Supplemental Support is designed to augment existing support plans from Brocade OEM Partners and Brocade solution providers by providing customers direct access to Brocade Support resources on a 247 basis. Brocade Supplemental Support customers must have an existing support plan with a Brocade OEM Partner or Brocade solution provider that covers their hardware at a minimum. If an issue arises involving a Brocade product, a customer first contacts the appropriate Brocade OEM Partner or solution provider according to the existing support contract and obtains a support ticket number. After that, the customer may contact Brocade directly to troubleshoot and fix the issue. Onsite labor and parts will be provided by the Brocade OEM Partner or Brocade solution provider. Q What products are supported with Brocade Supplemental Support Plans? A All Brocade SAN and IP network infrastructure products sold through Brocade OEM Partners and Brocade solution providers are eligible for a Supplemental Support Plan, as long as the customer has a support contract with the Brocade Partner. Q What levels of support are available with Brocade Supplemental Support Plans? A Brocade Supplemental Support Plans offer three levels of support: Essential: An entry-level Supplemental Support Plan that includes: Direct call access to Brocade (247) Online support via Brocade Extranet Patches and ongoing software updates Quarterly support reviews Management of call activity Premier: Provides a higher level of proactive support. It includes all features in the Essential level and adds support account management, annual Brocade SAN Health and Brocade NET Health checks, and optional firmware upgrade services. Premier-Plus: Provides Premier customers with a Brocade Onsite Support Engineer (OSE) focused on performing proactive maintenance.

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Q What are the account management activities for the Premier and Premier-Plus levels of Brocade Supplemental Support? A Brocade Support Account Manager (SAM) activities include: Acting as a Brocade Support focal point for escalations and critical situation management Identifying differences between Brocade and Brocade OEM Partner software releases Recommending software upgrades and releases Coordinating firmware upgrades, if purchased Proactively communicating technical tips, best practices, white papers, and other information Conducting quarterly support reviews Coordinating annual SAN Health and NET Health checks Q What are the Onsite Support Engineer (OSE) activities for the Premier-Plus level of Brocade Supplemental Support? A Brocade OSE activities include: Tuning and optimization of Brocade products Software and release planning Onsite support and product escalations Assistance with software upgrades SAN Health and NET Health data collection Q Where are Brocade Supplemental Support Plans available? A Brocade Supplemental Support is available throughout the United States and Canada, as well as in many locations throughout Europe and Asia Pacific. For information on the availability of Brocade Supplemental Support in a specific location, please contact your Brocade sales representative or [email protected]. Q With a Brocade Supplemental Support Plan, does Brocade escalate calls to the Brocade OEM Partner when a hardware issue is detected? Who closes the call? A If Brocade determines that it is a hardware issue and a part needs to be replaced, Brocade will refer the customer back to the Brocade OEM Partner to have the issue fixed. The Brocade OEM Partner will then manage the ticket to closure. Q For Brocade Supplemental Support cases that involve more than one Brocade OEM Partner, will Brocade take the lead in resolving issues between the various parties? What is the communication process and call flow for this arrangement? A Brocade Supplemental Support is typically a direct contract between Brocade Support and the end-user customer, with Brocade working the case directly with the customer. If OEM engagement is needed, it is up to the customer to initiate that step. Q Is Brocade Supplemental Support available through Brocade OEM Partners? What is the communication process and call flow for this arrangement? A Brocade Supplemental Support is offered by select Brocade OEM Partners. In situations where an OEM resells Brocade Supplemental Support, Brocade Support works the case cooperatively with the OEM Partner and the end user customer, coordinating all hardware and software fixes.

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Transitioning to the New Brocade Direct Support or Brocade Supplemental Support

Q Why is Brocade discontinuing the Brocade TechNet support program for IP products? A Brocade has combined the best of the TechNet Support and Brocade Direct Support offerings, creating one support portfolio that meets the needs of both SAN and IP customers. As a result, Brocade Support customers can have one SLA, one point of contact, and one customer experience across their entire Brocade SAN and IP networking infrastructure. Q What are the key differences between the old and new service levels? A The new offerings under Brocade Direct Support are very similar to the service levels provided under TechNet Support and the old Brocade Direct Support portfolio, with some important enhancements, including the following. Key changes from TechNet include: A new Next-Business-Day Onsite Service option is now available. Remote Support now provides 247 coverage (Bronze was 95). New proactive Premier and Premier-Plus support services are available, helping customers proactively manage their environments to avoid problems and optimize Brocade products. Key changes from the previous Brocade Direct Support portfolio include: Next-Business-Day Parts is now available (Advanced Replacement was a two-day shipment) A new Return to Factory option is now available. The chart below outlines the deliverables under the new Brocade Direct Support levels.
Brocade Direct Support Levels Essential Support Premier Support Premier-Plus Support High Quality Reactive Support X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Managem ent of Call Activity Account Manage ment Quarterly Support Reviews Annual SAN Health and/or NET Health Checks Optional Firmware Upgrades Brocade Onsite Support Engineer

Q How will this change impact the support I receive? A The overall quality of support you receive will not change. You will continue to receive high quality support that meets the SLA option you selected. Going forward, you will have more SLA options to choose from, giving you greater flexibility. Q What is the process for transitioning to the new Brocade Direct Support/Brocade Supplemental Support offerings? A Your Brocade sales representative will work with you to select the appropriate level of support for your needs and help you transition to the new offerings at the time of contract renewal.

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Q Where can I learn more about the Brocade Direct Support/Brocade Supplemental Support programs? A To learn more about Brocade Direct Support and Brocade Supplemental Support offerings, visit www.brocade.com/services-support.

2009 Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 10/09 Brocade, the B-wing symbol, BigIron, DCX, Fabric OS, FastIron, IronPoint, IronShield, IronView, IronWare, JetCore, NetIron, SecureIron, ServerIron, StorageX, and TurboIron are registered trademarks, and DCFM, Extraordinary Networks, and SAN Health are trademarks of Brocade Communications Systems, Inc., in the United States and/or in other countries. All other brands, products, or service names are or may be trademarks or service marks of, and are used to identify, products or services of their respective owners.

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