As part of the VMware Services family, Global Support Services works in conjunction with VMware Consulting Services, VMware Education Services and VMware Certification Services to accelerate return on investments while mitigating risk. VMware employs the largest technical force dedicated to virtualization and specializes in the support of highly complex, varied, heterogeneous and mission-critical virtual and cloud computing environments.
The combination of VMware customer-proven virtualization and cloud infrastructure solutions, and world-class Global Support Services enables customers and partners to follow an evolutionary path to cloud computing. By preserving existing application and infrastructure investments while accelerating realized value from a cloud computing approach, customers can achieve efficiency through utilization and automation, agility with control, and freedom of choice. To meet the needs of organizations—large and small, global and regional—VMware offers the support options below.
Download the quick reference guide for the current VMware support offering by product.
| Feature | Production | Basic | U.S. Federal | Per Incident |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hours of Operation | 24 Hrs/Day 7 Days/Wk 365 Days/Yr [1] |
12 Hrs/Day Mon–Fri [1] |
24 Hrs/Day 7 Days/Wk 365 Days/Yr |
12 Hrs/Day Mon–Fri [2] |
| Length of Service | 1 or 3 Years | 1 or 3 Years | Depends on support contract purchased | Valid for one year after purchase of the incidents |
| Product Updates | Yes | Yes | Depends on support contract purchased | Not Available |
| Product Upgrades | Yes | Yes | Depends on support contract purchased | Not Available |
| Products Supported | Support by Product Matrix | Support by Product Matrix | Support by Product Matrix | Support by Product Matrix |
| Method of Access | Telephone/ Web |
Telephone/ Web |
Telephone/ Web |
Telephone/ Web |
| Response Method | Telephone/ |
Telephone/ |
Depends on support contract purchased | Telephone/ |
| Remote Support | Yes | Yes | Depends on support contract purchased | Not Available |
| Root Cause Analysis | Available only with Business Critical or Mission Critical Offering | Available only with Business Critical or Mission Critical Offering | Available only with Business Critical or Mission Critical Offering | Available only with Business Critical or Mission Critical Offering |
| Access to VMware Discussion Forums and Knowledge Base | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Max Number of Support Admins per Contract | 6 | 4 | Depends on support contract purchased | Not Applicable |
| Number of Support Requests | Unlimited | Unlimited | Depends on support contract purchased | 1, 3, or 5 Incidents |
[1] Hours of operation for Latin America – Portuguese 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. (BRST), Spanish 9 a.m. (ARST) to 6 p.m. (CDT).
[2] Hours of operation for Fusion are 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. (PST/PDT) globally.
| Feature | Mission Critical | Business Critical | Production |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hours of Operation | 24 Hrs/Day 7 Days/Wk 365 Days/Yr |
24 Hrs/Day 7 Days/Wk 365 Days/Yr |
24 Hrs/Day 7 Days/Wk 365 Days/Yr |
| Length of Service | 1 or 3 Years | 1 or 3 Years | 1 or 3 Years |
| Product Updates | Included with required Production Support and Subscription Service | Included with required Production Support and Subscription Service | Yes |
| Product Upgrades | Included with required Production Support and Subscription Service | Included with required Production Support and Subscription Service | Yes |
| Products Supported | Support by Product Matrix | Support by Product Matrix | Support by Product Matrix |
| Method of Access | Telephone/Web | Telephone/Web | Telephone/Web |
| Response Method | Telephone/Email | Telephone/Email | Telephone/Email |
| Remote Support | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Root Cause Analysis | Yes | Yes | No |
| Onsite Support for Exceptional Escalations | Yes | Not Available | Not Available |
| Max Number of Support Admins per Contract | Unlimited within contracted support region [1] | Limited to 6 per BCS contract per support region [1] | 6 |
| Number of Support Requests | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Direct Routing to Senior-level Engineers | Support Requests filed bypass Level One to a designated priority support queue that is staffed by Specialist Senior Support Engineers. | Support Requests filed bypass Level One and will be routed to your assigned Senior Support Team during local business hours and by a pool of senior level engineers during off hours. | Not Available |
| Point of Contact | Assigned Account Manager and Specialist Senior Support Engineers. | Assigned Senior Support Engineer | Not Available |
| Customer Support Plan | Yes | Yes | Not Available |
| Support Review Meetings | Daily, Weekly or Monthly (As Desired) | Monthly | Not Available |
| Customer Site Profile | Yes | Yes | Not Available |
| Root Cause Analysis | Yes | Yes | Not Available |
| Support for Migration and Updates | Yes | Yes | Not Available |
| Quarterly Business Reviews | Yes | Not Available | Not Available |
| Prerequisites | Requires VMware Production Support in place for all VMware products to be covered and supported under VMware Mission Critical Support. One customer contact must be VCP certified. A VMware TAM is required. | Requires VMware Production Support in place for all VMware products to be covered and supported under VMware Business Critical Support. One customer contact must be VCP certified. | Not Applicable |
[1] Support Regions are defined as
| Feature | Production | Basic | Per Incident |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hours of Operation | 24 Hrs/Day 7 Days/Wk 365 Days/Yr |
12 Hrs/Day Mon–Fri |
12 Hrs/Day Mon–Fri |
| Length of Service | 1 or 3 Years | 1 or 3 Years | Valid for one year after purchase of the incidents |
| Product Updates | Yes | Yes | Not Available |
| Product Upgrades | Yes | Yes | Not Available |
| Products Supported | Support by Product Matrix | Support by Product Matrix | Support by Product Matrix |
| Method of Access | Telephone/ Web |
Telephone/ Web |
Telephone/ Web |
| Response Method | Telephone/ |
Telephone/ |
Telephone/ |
| Remote Support | Yes | Yes | Not Available |
| Access to VMware Discussion Forums and Knowledge Base | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Max Number of Support Admins per Contract | 6 | 4 | Not Applicable |
| Number of Support Requests | Unlimited | Unlimited | 1, 3, or 5 Incidents |
| Feature | SaaS Production | SaaS Basic |
|---|---|---|
Hours of Operation |
24 Hrs/Day |
12 Hrs/Day |
Length of Service |
1 Year |
1, 2 or 3 Years |
Product Updates |
Yes-SaaS Updates [1] |
Yes-SaaS Updates [1] |
Product Upgrades |
No |
No |
Products Supported |
Support by Product Matrix | Support by Product Matrix |
Method of Access |
Telephone/Web [2] |
Telephone/Web [2] |
Response Method |
Telephone/Email |
Telephone/Email |
Remote Support |
Yes |
Yes |
Access to VMware Web site |
Yes, and access to product SaaS Performance Dashboard [3] |
Yes, and access to product SaaS Performance Dashboard [3] |
Access to VMware Discussion Forums and Knowledge Base |
Yes |
Yes |
Max Number of Support Admins per Contract |
6 [4] |
4 [4] |
Number of Support Requests |
Unlimited |
Unlimited |
[1] "SaaS Update" means a subsequent release of the SaaS product which VMware generally makes available for its SaaS customers with an active SaaS product’s license and support contract at no additional fee. SaaS Updates may contain, but are not limited to security fixes, critical patch updates, general maintenance releases, selected functionality, and documentation updates. SaaS Updates do not include any product release, option, service or other SaaS product that VMware licenses separately. For more details, see SaaS Support Policies.
[2] Email where Web access is not available.
[3] Where available : Horizon Application Manager, Socialcast.
[4] You are required to establish and maintain an internal help desk for your employees and act as first-line support for the SaaS product. First-line support shall include, but not be limited to: (i) a direct response to users with respect to inquiries concerning the performance, functionality or operation of the SaaS product, (ii) a direct response to users with respect to problems or issues with the SaaS product, (iii) a diagnosis of problems or issues of the SaaS product, and (iv) a resolution of known problems or issues with the SaaS product with the help of technical knowledge base articles. For more details, see SaaS Support Policies.