Vendor Technical Support Overview – Ingram Micro Support (For End Customers)

Purpose and Audience

This document provides end-customers with an understanding of Vendor Technical Support at Ingram Micro. It outlines who we are, our roles, and the scope of our services. The document aims to explain the nature of the technical assistance we provide, as well as the specific obligations and benefits associated with our support services.

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What is Vendor Technical Support

Vendor Technical Support is the first line of defense when a product purchased through Ingram Micro malfunctions, i.e., Break-fix. We offer a tiered support structure with Agents capable of resolving increasingly complex technical issues.

Break-fix refers to a model of IT support where technical services are provided to resolve issues only when something breaks or malfunctions. The term often describes reactive support, meaning that actions are taken after a problem has occurred rather than being proactively prevented.

Our Break-fix services are provided to our customers to ensure their products return to normal functionality as quickly as possible. In partnership with Microsoft, we provide this support for cloud-based products for specific scenarios:

Support Escalation Management

Our Support Escalation Management process effectively manages technical support issues requiring escalation within Ingram Micro or Microsoft. We facilitate the expediting and escalation of business-critical tickets to ensure timely resolution. Additionally, we provide feedback to relevant groups and business owners within Ingram Micro, ensuring continuous improvement and optimal support experiences.

Scope of Support

The scope for Partner Support is broadly outlined below. Ingram Micro VTS handles issues and escalates as required, related to Microsoft product issues, including:

• Azure

• Microsoft CSP/NCE Commerce

• Other Microsoft products, such as Dynamic, Intune

Note:

• Local language support is provided on a best-effort basis.

• If Vendor Technical Support cannot resolve the issue, a case will be submitted to Microsoft.

• Ingram Micro requires admin privileges to open a case with Microsoft (please refer to Microsoft Partner Center GDAP Mapping for more information).

• Ingram Micro will facilitate the communication between all parties.

Scope Of Support – Microsoft Out of Scope

The following is not a complete list, but rather a starting point. Some cases that fall out of scope may be raised if they involve an on-premises component. Vendor Technical Support assists with issues that occur within the cloud functionality of a Microsoft product:

Microsoft Severity Overview and Response Objectives

When a case is raised to Microsoft, you can expect the following response times* based on the criticality of the incident.

*Ingram Micro or Microsoft may, at its discretion, change the severity level depending on the true urgency of the ticket so as not to over-utilize the escalation process.

How Our Support Works

Engaging Support

Our VTS team provides reactive (break/fix) support through our in-house technical Support Team, which collaborates with Microsoft Premier Support. To engage with our VTS team, please contact your indirect partner.

Ingram Micro VTS Service Level Objective

We want to ensure that contacting support is effortless; below are the hours of operation and what you can expect.

Support Hours of Operation

• Our Support operates during local business hours.

• For all hours during the weekend and national holidays, "Out of Hours" coverage is provided for Severity A cases only, and contact must be made via phone. Emails and chats will be responded to on the next working day.

Appendix Microsoft Break-Fix Support

Microsoft Partner Center GDAP Mapping

We use GDAP mapping for order management, allowing our platform to communicate with Microsoft's system to place orders initiated by our customers. Additionally, GDAP is crucial for support purposes, enabling access to customer tenants for troubleshooting issues and raising tickets with Microsoft. Without GDAP, these functionalities are not possible and will lead to delays.

To ensure we can assist without delays, please ensure the GDAP privileges are correctly assigned. Please review the tenant to ensure the following 11 roles are assigned to Ingram Micro:

• Directory Readers. Can read basic directory information. Commonly used to grant directory read access to applications and guests.

• Directory writers. Can read and write basic directory information. This is for granting access to applications that are not intended for users.

• License Administrator. Can manage product licenses for users and groups.

• Service Support Administrator. Can read service health information and manage support tickets.

• User Administrator. Can manage all aspects of users and groups, including resetting passwords for limited admins.

• Privileged Role Administrator. Can manage role assignments in Microsoft Entra and all aspects of Privileged Identity Management.

• Helpdesk Administrator. Can reset passwords for non-administrators and helpdesk administrators.

• Privileged Authentication Administrator. Can access, view, set, and reset authentication method information for any user (admin or non-admin).

• Cloud Application Administrator. Can create and manage all aspects of app registrations and enterprise apps except App Proxy.

• Application Administrator. Can create and manage all aspects of app registrations and enterprise apps.

• Global Reader. Can read everything a Global administrator can, but can't update anything.

For more information on GDAP, please see Microsoft Learn: GDAP Frequently Asked Questions—Partner Center.

GDAP Requirements

Conditional Access

If you have conditional access policies in place to safeguard your tenant, we request that they be configured appropriately to ensure our Support Team can access the relevant subscription to provide technical support. This can be done by excluding the service provider principal from Conditional Access policies that we may hit. Information about the exclusion process can be found here: Excluded Workarounds.

This is critical, as we cannot raise tickets to Microsoft via phone, especially for Microsoft Azure, since they require diagnostic information from the subscription.

Root Cause Analysis Requests

After a workaround has been provided or Microsoft has solved an incident, there are times a customer would like to know what caused the issue, also known as a Root Cause Analysis.

However, Root Cause Analysis cases cannot be completed for cases originating through Ingram Micro. If your customer needs a Root Cause Analysis, you must open a Pay-Per-Incident case, followed by an Advisory case through the Services Hub after closing the break-fix case.

Microsoft will provide a case summary at closure. This summarizes the issue brought to their attention and the steps taken to resolve it. Please note that this is not an in-depth analysis.

Premier RCA for Cloud:

For cloud technologies, Microsoft engineering teams perform Root Cause Analysis only in situations with a declared service incident. In some situations, incomplete forensic data can hinder the identification of the root cause of a service incident. Microsoft will provide a Post-Incident Review (PIR) five business days after the incident is resolved due to the time and resources required to conduct an in-depth analysis. Official guidance: Service health and continuity—Service Descriptions | Microsoft Learn.

Tenant Lockout

Steps to Regain Access to Your Global Admin Account If Locked Out:

• Use the Recovery Form: Start by using the Microsoft account recovery form to initiate the recovery process

• Contact Microsoft Support: If the recovery form doesn't resolve the issue, contact Microsoft support directly. Since you're locked out of your tenant account, you may need to use the Global Customer Service phone numbers.

• Provide Necessary Information: Be ready to provide evidence that proves your ownership of the tenant. This might include domain management details, DNS records, or other relevant information.

• Follow-up: If you don't receive a response promptly, contact Microsoft support to ensure your case is handled.

Tenant Security – Breach

A security breach is unauthorized access to the customer's environment. We understand the severity of a breach. However, Microsoft does not support this as a break/fix function.

After a customer has been able to remediate a perceived or confirmed hacking event, they may want to know how the entity gained access and what steps can be taken to prevent this in the future:

• Microsoft does not provide support for security breaches under the CSP agreement.

• Ingram Micro Support- cannot assist in analysis or making recommendations against future attacks.

• Microsoft has vetted several security partners that can be contacted for consultation services at a fee. This list can be found by visiting the Microsoft Security Partners website.

Email Template for creating support tickets

To help us serve our customers more efficiently, please create a support ticket detailing the issue and complete as much of the table below as possible.

POC Name*: John Doe (Example)

POC Email*: john.doe@example.com (Example) POC Phone*: 000-000-0000 (Example)

CC User Email Address: (Please note that multiple email addresses can be included)

**All fields with star marks are mandatory to provide while opening the ticket

Self-escalation guidance

Working with an unresponsive engineer

Check the engineer's email signature line. They should always have their shift days and times listed; confirm that they are on shift.

If the engineer is off shift, the customer can either wait until they are on shift or contact the Support Team (How to Contact Unified Support) and request that the case be assigned to the next available on-shift engineer.

If the engineer on shift isn't responding to the customer's satisfaction, please contact their Manager, as listed in 'How to Contact Unified Support - Manager Escalation Emails'

Increasing case severity

Before increasing the severity of a ticket, please ensure the case meets the requirements to do so. If the case meets the requirements, the customer can:

• Ask the current support engineer to escalate the case severity.

• Contact the Support Team - How to Contact Unified Support - and request to increase the case severity.

Reassigning a case

If an end-user feels that the engineer doesn't have the required skills:

• Reach out to the Manager listed in the How to Contact Unified Support - Manager Escalation Emails article, explaining why the case needs reassignment.

• Contact the Support Team - How to Contact Unified Support - and ask to be assigned to the next available on-shift engineer.

Escalating to Severity A

The customer must ensure an engineer is available to actively work on the case if it is escalated to Severity A.

Be prepared to provide the Support Team with the business impact information so the case can be prioritized accordingly. Completing the Business Impact Statement helps you better understand how the current issue affects your business and workflows.

Guidelines for a Solid Business Impact Statement

Providing a detailed, accurate impact statement for Severity A issues ensures that a support case receives the appropriate attention.

• Provide a concise, non-technical scope of the impact on the business

• Include quantitative data, such as the number of users affected, the quantity of servers/systems impacted, and the financial implications

• Include qualitative data, such as the services or activities impaired, the effect on project schedules, and the relationship/reputation impact

To assist you in writing a comprehensive Business Impact Statement, we have prepared a set of questions that will guide you in providing the necessary information:

• How do users in your environment use the product/technology directly related to this issue?

• Is this blocking a deployment? How so?

• What functionality are you attempting to provide, and why are you using your current approach?

• How is the problem keeping you from performing specific business functions? (If the problem is not resolved)

• What is this issue's financial impact on you? 

• How was this financial impact calculated?

• What is the problem's frequency and probability?

• Number of end users impacted (Number):

• What current workarounds are in place, and why are they not acceptable/optimal?

• If there are additional circumstances or notes you wish to provide regarding this problem that are not covered by the answers to the above questions, what are those?

Common Mistakes to Avoid when Writing a Business Impact Statement

• Don't: Go into depth on the technical details. Instead, provide a high-level technical summary and focus on the operational impact.

• Don't: Assume the implications of the issue are evident. Instead, describe how the problem affects the business/industry/customers.

• Don't: Use vague terms to explain the situation ("production constraints," "major financial impact," "many users," etc.) Instead, explain specifically who, what, and how the issue is impactful.

Example of a good Business Impact Statement

The enterprise is facing a significant business impact as approximately 14,000 users are currently encountering delays in email delivery due to a technical issue. This issue has been identified as approximately 50,000 to 60,000 emails being routed directly to the spam folder, resulting in a substantial loss of sales from end clients of approximately $100k per day. This situation severely threatens the organization's reputation and customer satisfaction, as timely communication with customers is paramount to the customer's brand and reputation. Furthermore, the revenue losses incurred by the enterprise due to the spam folder issue could significantly impact its financial performance, negatively impacting its stakeholders, including shareholders, investors, and employees.