2025

IBM Support
Client Quick Reference
Guide

IBM SUPPORT CLIENT QUICK REFERENCE

GUIDE
IBM
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IBM’s mission is to empower its clients’ success through specialized product knowledge
and world-class customer service for our software/hardware products. This
commitment translates into accurate issue resolution and proactive problem
prevention, ensuring businesses can thrive under the protection of IBM’s expertise.

SUPPORT SITE REGISTRATION 2

DOWNLOAD SOFTWARE/FIXES AND ADVISORY SUBSCRIPTIONS 2

CONTAINER SOFTWARE LIBRARY / ENTITLEMENT REGISTRY 3

STAY INFORMED OF CRITICAL IBM UPDATES 3

USE DIGITAL SELF-HELP CHANNELS 4

OPEN A SUPPORT CASE 4

MANAGE YOUR SUPPORT CASE 5

Case Severity Definitions 5

Response time objectives 5

SUPPORT LANGUAGE AND HOURS OF OPERATION 6

BASE SUPPORT SCOPE 6

QUESTIONS HANDLED BY IBM SUPPORT 7

KEEP YOUR TEAM INFORMED OF CASE ACTIVITY 8

Access Cases Owned by Team Members 8

CASE RESOLUTION BEST PRACTICE 9

MUST GATHER 9

Exchanging Data with IBM 10

Apply Software Fixes 10

ESCALATING A CASE 11

EXTENDING SUPPORT 11

IBM SUPPORT OUTAGE INFORMATION 12

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Support Site Registration

Registering on the IBM Support Site grants users access to software downloads and
various support services. If you're an existing user with an IBM customer number, IBMid,
and previously registered for product support, you don't need to register again; simply
proceed to the next section.

To get support for IBM Cloud®, use the IBM Cloud Support Center. If you do need to
create a support case, you can attach a specific Cloud resource for efficient routing to
the appropriate support team. For details, see Using the Support Center.

Registration process for support of IBM Software Products, IBM Appliances, IBM
Power, IBM Storage and IBM Z:

Here's a list of commonly used abbreviations, which can be helpful when working with IBM
support:

1. ICN- IBM Customer Number. You will need your ICN to download software for
IBM Support services. If you do not know your ICN, please reach out to the
IBM eCustomer Team.
2. IBMid – Your IBMid is your single point of access to IBM registration-based
services such as product downloads, support advisory subscriptions, and IBM
Support services. If you have forgotten your IBMid, please contact your
country’s IBMid help desk. If you have your IBMid, but have forgotten your
password, you can reset it here.

To perform the one-time registration for IBM support, click here.

Be sure to register with the correct ICN associated with IBM so7ware.
(If you do not know your ICN, please contact the IBM eCustomer Team for assistance.)

If you encounter any problems while registering, don't hesitate to reach out to the IBM Support
team at mysphelp@[Link]

Download Software/Fixes and Advisory Subscriptions

Here's a list of commonly used abbreviations, which can be helpful when working with IBM
support:

1. PAO- Passport Advantage Online

2. ESS- Entitled Software Support

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Process to download software/fixes and advisory subscriptions for IBM Software and
IBM Appliances:

You can download your entitled software, patches and fixes via Passport Advantage
Online. Explore our Passport Advantage Online how-to videos to get the most from your
entitled PAO experience.

Click here for Passport Advantage Support Contacts and hours.

Fixes can be downloaded on Fix Central.

Process to download software and fixes for IBM Power and IBM Storage:

Access and manage IBM Power, IBM Storage hardware and software and IBM Z
hardware products and services purchased through Digital Sellers, Business Partners
or by yourself directly on ESS.

Fixes can be downloaded on Fix Central.

Process to download software and fixes for IBM Z:

Use Shopz, to order z Systems software, manage software licenses, view software inventory
and more.

To register for Shopz, follow the instructions here.

Fixes can be downloaded on Fix Central.

Container Software Library / Entitlement Registry

If you are blocked from accessing Container software due to a problem with your
entitlement registry key in MyIBM Container Software Library, please contact
[Link] Order Support (aka “oCare”)

Stay Informed of Critical IBM Updates

To receive critical IBM support notifications (e.g. new release announcements,
endofsupport announcements, security bulletins, etc.), you must subscribe to My
Notifications for your products.

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Use Digital Self-Help Channels

IBM Support offers self-service capabilities via digital means before initiating a case.
Attempt resolving issues through cognitive support options for faster results.
• Search IBM Knowledge base for product documentation, best practices, fixes,
known issues, security bulletins, technical support articles, and more.
• Ask you peers in the IBM TechXchange Community- connect, learn and share
with over 100,000 users in the discussion forums.
• Use the “Chat with Support” option in the IBM Support site for answers to
frequently asked questions.
• Use IBM’s Software Product Compatibility Reports to check system compatibility
and requirements for your software installation.

Open a Support Case

Open a support case for IBM Software, IBM Appliances, IBM Power, IBM Storage
and IBM Z.

To open a support case:

• Create a case from the IBM Support site.
If you need assistance accessing or creang a support case online, please contact the IBM
Support Site Helpdesk via email to mysphelp@[Link].
• Call in via phone

Refer to the links below for Sterling Supply Chain Business Network support
• SCBN Essenals
• SCBN Standard
• SCBN Premium

Tips:
• Create a case via the IBM Support Site before calling IBM Support to expedite
the case routing and assignment.
• Follow our create case templates to save your environment information for re-use
in new cases.

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Manage Your Support Case

Get timely resolution of your business problems by following IBM support case management
process and best practices.

Case Severity Definitions

Severity 1- Critical business impact- System or service is down.
Severity 2- Significant business impact- This indicates the program is usable but is severely
limited.
Severity 3- Minor business impact- This indicates the program is usable with no significant
business impact.
Severity 4- Minimal business impact- Inquires, how-to-questions, or minor problems.

Response time objectives

Here's a list of commonly used abbreviaLons, which can be helpful when working with IBM
support:

1. RTO- Response Time Objectives

2. EOS- End of Service
3. PSIRT- The IBM Product Security Incident Response Team

IBM Support Response Time Objectives can be found at the following links:
• IBM Software RTO
• IBM Appliances RTO
• IBM Storage RTO
• IBM Power RTO
• IBM Z RTO

Severity 1 Impact Reduction

IBM reserves the right to communicate and downgrade case severity when
functionality is restored, but noncritical issues exist from Severity 1 to an appropriate
level, such as 2, 3, or 4. The goal of this policy is to inform users that support
representatives might reduce severity during an investigation to assist users and
organize critical issues. It is important to clearly communicate how your case impacts
your business for IBM Support to triage your case and understand the urgency and
severity of the issue.

Examples where support might downgrade the case severity:

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• Unresponsive requests to work on your Severity 1 case.

• A workaround is in place and the critical business impact is mitigated.
• An APAR or known issue is provided and continued work is required, but the system
is functional.

In these scenarios, a support representative might change the case severity. We

understand that cases evolve over time and the issue severity might go up or down as
problems are investigated. To further assist users, an Escalate case button is available
in the IBM Support Portal. The Escalate case button allows users to escalate and issue
after IBM provides an initial response to your case. Severity 2, 3, and 4 escalated cases
are worked in their geographic time zone during business hours and Severity 1 issues
are worked 24x7.

Support Language and Hours of Operation

IBM Support business hours reflect normal country business hours in your time zone,
excluding national or statutory holidays. These business hours are based on the
originating site ICN for your case.

Refer to the Product Support Details page for product-specific business hour
variances (if any) and the language(s) supported for your product.

Severity 1 issues are responded to 24 x 7. All non-Severity 1 issues submitted after

business hours will be responded to the next business day. To request after business
hour support for Severity 1 issue, please open a case via the IBM Support site,
describing the problem, business impact, and set your case severity to 1.

Base Support Scope

IBM Software Support and Services help protect your software investment throughout
the entire product life cycle. Refer to the IBM Support Lifecycle for policy details.

IBM Support offerings are not intended to provide end-user help desk support. IBM
Support offerings supplement customer-based support staff skills by providing access
to IBM Support’s knowledge base(s) and technical support professionals.

IBM Appliances are sold as a software offering. Please refer to the Appliances Support
Handbook for appliance-specific information such as country and regional warranties,
shipping lead times and processes related to Service Parts.

Response Goals
IBM will use commercially reasonable efforts to respond to cases raised by authorized
contacts within the criteria outlined in the IBM Support Guide. Our initial response may
result in resolution of your request, or assistance with the identification of what additional

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actions may be required to resolve the issue. Be sure you and your support professional
agree on what the next action is and when the next checkpoint will be.

Product Security Incident Response

IBM is committed to responding to new threats and risks. The IBM Product Security
Incident Response Team (PSIRT) manages the receipt, investigation and internal
coordination of security vulnerability information related to IBM offerings.

To help protect our customers, IBM does not publicly disclose or confirm security
vulnerabilities until IBM has conducted an analysis of the product and issued fixes and/or
mitigations. IBM PSIRT coordinates with each individual IBM product and solution team
to investigate and if needed, identify the appropriate response plan. Please review the
IBM PSIRT process for additional information.

Questions Handled by IBM Support

Technical question support allows you to obtain assistance from IBM for product-
specific, task-oriented questions regarding the installation and operation of currently
supported IBM software and hardware. IBM Z products require a special IBM Z
offering that includes support for Q&A. To provide comprehensive answers to your
technical questions, Support may refer you to product documentation or publications
(including Redbooks), and may additionally assist you in the following areas:

• Usage (how-to), installation, or configuration problems or questions regarding

documented functions, often tailored from product documentation to the context of
the customer's specific environment or configuration.
• Product compatibility and interoperability
• The interpretation of publications
• The availability of existing configuration or code samples
• General questions on maintenance philosophy
• Instruction or guidance on how to collect specific diagnostic data unrelated to a
suspected IBM defect.
• Searches for IBM content that contain answers to problems or questions.

IBM Base Support offerings are not structured to address everything. Examples of areas that
are outside support scope coverage:

• Assisting with recovering a system from a failure not caused by a defect in IBM
hardware or software.
• Recovering a database, or data recovery.

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• Answering extensive configuration questions, assisting through a full configuration

change, or reviewing a migration or upgrade plan.
• Performing an overall system health-check.
• Reviewing a list of hardware or software maintenance for personalized
recommendations.
• Writing, troubleshooting, or customizing non-IBM code.
• Consulting
• Interpreting or triaging customer or third party generated defect scanning reports.
• In-depth assistance and advice in designing a solution
• Analyzing performance.
• Overall performance or tuning request.
• Complete review of a workload policy
• Capacity analysis tuning or recommendations

For IBM Software, most activities that fall outside base support will require Developer
Support, Advanced Support, Platinum Support or IBM Expert Lab Services. Contact
your IBM Account Manager for information on those services offered by IBM. Your
current IBM Account Manager contact info is available in your account renewal records
in Passport Advantage Online (PAO). Contact the eCare team if you need assistance
with PAO to locate your account manager.

For IBM Infrastructure, activities that fall outside Basic Support will require Expert Care
Advanced Support, Expert Care Premium Support, or Expert Labs services. Contact
your IBM Account Manager for information on those services offered by IBM.

Keep Your Team Informed of Case Activity

Provide your project/account team with visibility to your support cases by adding team
members to your case. Case team members will receive notifications when your case is
updated.

Note: Case view is available to registered users only. You will not be able to add team
members to your case until they have completed their registration with IBM support.

Access Cases Owned by Team Members

For visibility to all cases owned by your team members, submit your access request by
following the instruction for “non-administrator” user in the Getting Started Guide with the
IBM Support Site”.

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Case Resolution Best Practice

Help our Support team better understand your problem and more effectively respond to
your concerns, as well as help you make the best use of your time by following these best
practices:

• Submit your case online and set the severity based on your judgement of the business
impact.
• Ensure the correct product is specified for your case to route to the correct team.
• Submit different issues in separate cases (one issue per case).
• Keep IBM Support informed of major upgrades/implementations of your system
(where applicable)
• Provide timely feedback on recommendations provided by IBM or confirm issue
resolution by closing your case. You may reopen the case online if the issue recurs.

For IBM Cloud service, please review IBM Cloud Service Overview for additional guidance.

Must Gather
It is the Customer’s responsibility to provide IBM support information about their systems
and details about the failing components for IBM to quickly and accurately resolve the
problem. Must gather information includes (but is not limited to):
1. Situation Appraisal:
• When did the issue start? (time/date)
• What is happening? (describe issue, scope of impact)
• Has anything changed? (any upgrade, configuration changes)
• What has been done so far? (outline any steps taken towards resolution)
• How is this impacting your business?
2. Clear steps to reproduce the issue if the problem can be recreated.
3. IBM Software (versions)
• Version and patch levels (including database, drivers, operating system, etc.)
• Apply trap or trace code, document timestamp of failure and supply trap/trace
output
• Formatting the output from the trap or trace (if needed)
• Point to the location in your log files(s) if you identified log errors
4. IBM Appliance
• Appliance machine type
• 7-digit appliance serial number
IBM Infrastructure clients should consider activating IBM Call Home Connect (Call Home).
Call Home constantly monitors the health and functioning of your asset. Two primary
capabilities are provided:

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1. System data, including the code levels and other core information, is transmitted to
IBM at regular intervals for proactive use and analysis. This data does not contain
any client-specific information. The data is displayed on Call Home Connect Cloud
and is the basis for proactive suggestions.
2. Should a potential serviceable event occur, Call Home sends the situational data
and supporting diagnostic information to IBM in real time to avoid a more serious
event or outage. Each serviceable event is dynamically analyzed and—depending
upon the asset’s proactive data, previous serviceable events and severity of the
current event—a new case (problem report) may be be created. If a case is created,
the IBM support team will review the diagnostic data uploaded with the serviceable
event and the contact you as soon as possible to resolve the issue. With Call Home
enabled, IBM Support can quickly identify problems and develop an action plan for
resolution, giving you a more effective first support session and, ultimately, an
overall reduction in time to resolution.

Exchanging Data with IBM

Information shared with IBM should be non-confidential in nature and should not contain
personally identifiable markers. If you are a customer in the United States looking for
tighter security with your support interactions with IBM, please visit the US Secure
Support page for available secure support offerings.

Apply Software Fixes

Customers are also responsible for obtaining and applying fixes and support
recommendations to their systems and testing the fixes to ensure success. Occasionally,
removal of installed fixes may be necessary in the process of isolating problems.
Sometimes fixing a problem will mean the installation of a later release of the software as
some fixes cannot be retrofitted into earlier code

If you do not have the required skills or not positioned to complete the work necessary
to resolve the problem for an IBM Software offering, please engage a services provider
such as IBM Expert Labs or a business partner to assist for an additional fee. If you
need assistance with code updates for IBM Infrastructure, consider adopting IBM Global
Total Microcode Support.

Please review IBM Support General Guidelines and Limitations for additional guidance.

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Escalating a Case
If the criticality of the situation increases, you can request additional focus on your
support issues in three ways
1. Escalate a case in the case management system.
Update the case document to change the business impact
and raise the severity of the case.
For more information on severities see Case severities definition.
If you still do not receive a response, escalate the case as described in How to
use the escalate button.

2. Contact a duty manager from the Emergency Contacts

3. Create a managed escalation

For more information, see Requesting assistance with an unresolved issue.

Extending Support
IBM understands you may need additional time when planning to move to a supported
version or may need a higher level of support. IBM has the support offerings to meet your
meets. Please visit our IBM Support Offerings page for more information.
Please contact your IBM Account Manager, prior to the end of the existing support period
for the product of interest. We want to work with you to ensure your critical business
systems are supported by IBM’s unique experience and abilities.

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IBM Support Outage Information

This section provides an overview of how clients can identify potential service disruptions
(outages) across three primary IBM product categories below. It also details procedures for
reporting these incidents effectively.

• Software as a Service (SaaS)

• IBM Cloud (including Infrastructure as a Service – IaaS and Platform as a Service –
PaaS)
• Perpetual on-premises software installations

1. Identifying Potential Outages

• SaaS Products
MultiCloud SaaS Platform (MCSP) Status page provides details about major events that
affect services for IBM SaaS offerings like IBM Watson, IBM [Link] and IBM Watson
Orchestrate. The page displays current status, planned maintenance, announcements,
history, and incident reports. Unauthenticated users can access only current status content,
while authenticated users can view all content. The page also sends email notifications
about newly published events. You can access the MCSP Status page at
[Link]

• IBM Cloud Services

In the case of IBM Cloud, both IaaS and PaaS components come equipped with robust
monitoring capabilities. Users can leverage the IBM Cloud Activity Tracker with Auditing
service to monitor API calls and track changes within their environments. Additionally, IBM
Cloud offers a comprehensive status history ([Link] tool that logs
past incidents and planned maintenance activities.

• On-Premises Solutions
Clients running perpetual licenses for IBM’s on-premises software must implement
proactive monitoring strategies using native tools or third-party solutions. Tools such as IBM
Tivoli Monitoring or open-source alternatives like Nagios can alert administrators when
predefined thresholds are breached, indicating possible system failures or performance
degradation. Regular health checks and log reviews are essential practices to maintain
optimal operations.

2. Reporting Outages

Once an outage has been identified, prompt and effective communication becomes crucial.
Here’s how clients can report incidents depending on their deployment type:

• SaaS Products
Users encountering problems with SaaS offerings should first consult the relevant IBM
support documentation or community forums for troubleshooting steps. If the issue persists,
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contacting IBM through the official support channels, such as opening a ticket via the IBM
Support Portal ([Link] is recommended. When submitting
tickets, providing detailed descriptions of symptoms, affected users, and environment
configurations expedites resolution processes.

• IBM Cloud Services

Reporting outages in IBM Cloud involves accessing the IBM Cloud console, navigating to
‘Contact Support’ > ‘Create Case’. Clients should describe the problem comprehensively,
mentioning any error messages encountered and the scope of the impacted resources.
Utilizing the IBM Cloud Activity Tracker logs during this process can significantly aid in
diagnosing the issue.

• On-Premises Solutions
For on-premises deployments, customers should open a ticket via the IBM Support Portal
([Link] Typically, this would also include notifying the IBM
account team. Detailed reports, including system snapshots, logs, and configuration files,
facilitate quicker identification and rectification of issues.

Should you have any questions or concerns about the content of this document, please
contact ksaipas@[Link].

Last updated: December 12,2025

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