© 2012 IBM Corporation Rational Insight | Back to Basis Series L3 Support Process Ya Qiang Li 09/21...

© 2012 IBM Corporation

Rational Insight | Back to Basis Series

L3 Support Process

Ya Qiang Li09/21 2012


2 09/22/12


Agenda

• Terminology

• IBM Common L3 process

• L2 work with L3

• RATLC

• Jazz Support

• Useful Links


3 09/22/12


Terminology

• L1 (Level 1): Who directly commuicate with customer to creates a PMR via a Service Request.

• L2 (Level 2): A Technical Support Engineer (TSE) who works directly with customers to provide solutions to customer requests (PMRs) about product issues.

• L3 (Level 3): Who is development. For the purposes of this document the terms are interchangeable. Level-3 is responsible for providing Level-2 with information/guidance to resolve a customer issue in an escalation. Level-3 is also responsible for creating TextFixes for defects.

• SWAT (Software Advisory Team): A Development Level Team in Rational Customer Support organization responsible for providing L2 with information/guidance to resolve a customer issue in an escalation. They may reproduce complex customer issues to either resolve the customer problem or to determine a potential defect. They may also create and supply “diagnostic” fixes to customers based on problems discovered in the product code.

• RETAIN (Remote Technical Assistance and Info Network): An IBM application and database for reporting and managing the resolution of customer-reported problems and defects, such as PMR and APAR.

• PMR (Problem Management Report): A RETAIN record for managing resolution of customer-reported problems. A PMR may be defect-oriented or non-defect-oriented.

• MDV (Maintenance Delivery Vehicle): A general term for a software package IBM provides customers to update their installed software (e.g., TestFix, Interim Fix, FixPack, etc.).


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Terminology

• Escalation

– Overview: A high priority pending customer problem (PMR) for which Support (Level-2) has exhausted its internal resources and needs technical assistance from Development (Level-3) to resolve.

– Example situations where escalations are used:• Level-2 has no clear “next steps” for resolving the PMR. • There are significant customer satisfaction issues.• Response time commitments made to the customer are in jeopardy.• The issue has a high “Business Priority” or impact on sales.

– Different from APARs / Change Requests:• Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are established for Escalations.• Escalations don’t always result in an APAR or code change, but an Escalation may

result in one or more APARs. • An Escalation may involve multiple teams within Level-3 or across organizations

(e.g., Development, Test, Product Management, Sales, etc.)


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Terminology

• APAR (Authorized Program Analysis Report): A RETAIN record created by Level-2 to document and manage resolution of customer-reported defects. One or more APARs are used to resolve a defect-oriented PMR.


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IBM Common L3 process

• The L3 process begins when: – L2 asks L3 for assistance.

-or-

– L2 believes a customer-reported problem (PMR) is a potential defect.

• L2:– Consults with L3

– Verifies an APAR is warranted,

– Creates an APAR to document and track resolution of the defect.

• If an APAR is created, L3 corrects the problem.

• The L3 process ends when: – L2/L3 determines the PMR is not a

product defect. -or-

– L3 delivers a fix for the APAR via a standard fix vehicle (MDV).

Level-3CustomerSystem in Production

Find Problem

Report Problem

Level-2

Create a PMR

Work with PMR

Problem

Resolved?

Need

Level-3

assistance?

Continue to work with PMR

Create an ER

Help L2 with PMR

Problem

Resolved?

Is an

APAR

Required?

Ask Level-2

to open an

APAR.

Resolve APAR

Install Solution

Solution in Production

Deliver Solution

Yes

Create an APAR

Yes

No

No

Yes

No

No

Yes


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IBM Common L3 process

• Create APAR (with L2)

• Create defect for APAR

• Triage and assign APAR

• Determine resolution

• Communicate resolution

• Process code changes

• Process documentation changes

• Finalize APAR

• Conduct peer review

• Close APAR

• Build, verify and deliver MDV

• Update APAR to identify MDV(s) the APAR fix is delivered in.


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L2 work with L3

• L2– The prime communication interface and point of contact to the customer

– Questions requiring little investigation or a quick answer, may be sent to L3. Completed searches of all applicable and available knowledge bases.

– If L2 has reproduced the customer problem, provide access to a test system or clear documentation of the recreation steps. If L2 is unable to reproduce the customer problem, provide a detailed description of the scenario which illustrates the problem.

– Collected and analyzed all related documentation that may be needed to resolve the problem, including traces, logs, core files, configuration files, dumps, etc. L2 is expected to analyze logs, traces, etc. to the extent documented in external documentation or internal documentation, which has been provided to L2.

– Summarize the following information before contacting L3

• Customer basic environmental information

• Complete background information

• clear statement of the problem or question that L3 is asked to assist with


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L2 work with L3

• L3– Expected to respond to L2 with meaningful, timely assistance, which will minimize the number of

times L2 needs to contact the customer.

– Perform the analysis, determine next steps that are needed, and determine a fix can be created in time.

– Work together with L2 to create the APAR, determine how to set the customer's expectations regarding how the APAR will be resolved and the APAR's relative priority.


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RATLC

Finalize APAR / Enter APAR Close Info (Level-3)

Yes

Triage APAR(Submitted RATLC CR)

No

RATLC CR(Submitted)

APAR(INTRAN)

Level-3 Process

Is

APAR a valid

defect?

Close APAR (Invalid) RFE Cancelled Duplicate Info Not Provided Unreproducible

Will

ship APAR fix

in next MDV or

release?1Yes

Close APAR (Valid) NPTF Postponed

No

Open APAR(Assign RATLC CR)

Determine

APAR Resolution

Level-2 / Level-3

agree on resolution

Process Code

Changes

Process Doc

Changes

Build and Test

Changes

Passed

Acceptance

Test?

No

Yes

Close APAR

(Valid) Fixed Fixed Indirectly Documentation

Publish Closed APARs

to www.ibm.com

Set Media Available=Yeson RATLC CWProject Record

(RATLC Project Admin)

Review APAR Close Info (QA/Reviewer in Level-2 or Level-3)

Set Approved for External Publication=Yes (RATLC Project Admin)


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RATLC

RATLC Customer Priority

RTC Customer Priority Requirement/Goal

CP1 Blocker/Critical Daily, meaningful update of the Escalation.

CP2 Major Meaningful updates of the Escalation at least every 3 days.

CP3 Normal Meaningful updates of the Escalation at least every 5 days.

CP1-CP5: All Escalations in Awaiting TestFix state.

Meaningful update of the Escalation at least every 5 days regarding the status of the TestFix development / delivery.


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RATLCRATLC ER - Initial State RATLC Action RATLC - End State End State Owner

<None> Submit Support_Esc Level-2 or Tier-2

Support_Esc WaitingInfo WaitingInfo Level-2

Support_Esc Submit_To_Dev Dev_Submitted SWAT or Level-3

Support_Esc EngineeringComplete EngineeringComplete Tier-2

Support_Esc Close Closed Level-2

Dev_Submitted Engineering Engineering SWAT or Level-3

Dev_Submitted WaitingInfo WaitingInfo Level-2

Dev_Submitted Awaiting_TestFix Awaiting_TestFix Level-3

Engineering EngineeringComplete EngineeringComplete Level-2

Engineering Awaiting_TestFix Awaiting_TestFix Level-3

Engineering WaitingInfo WaitingInfo Level-2

Engineering EngineeringComplete EngineeringComplete Level-2

Engineering Close Closed Level-2

Engineering ReSubmit_Support Support_Esc Level-2 or Tier-2

EngineeringComplete Close Closed Level-2

EngineeringComplete Engineering Engineering SWAT or Level-3

Closed ReSubmit_Support_Closed Support_Esc Level-2 or Tier-2

Waiting_Info ReSubmit_Support Support_Esc Level-2 or Tier-2

Waiting_Info Engineering Engineering SWAT or Level-3

Awaiting_TestFix Close Closed Level-2

Awaiting_TestFix Engineering Engineering SWAT or Level-3

<All states except Submitted> Modify <Same State> Depends on State


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Jazz Support

• Pre-requisite:

– Ensure you have been given permission to create an “Escalation” type work item on the “Jazz Support (Private)” project area (URL: http://jazz.net/jazz/web/projects/Jazz Support (Private))

– If you do not have the permission, please go to the follwing URL https://w3km.lexma.ibm.com/RTCSupport/Wiki.jsp?page=JazzNet_PA


14 09/22/12


Jazz Support

• L3 Basic process

– When the Escalation is accepted by L3, both the L3 Owner and L3 Resolver will be set. Before this change they are set to Unassigned. When the L3 Owner field is set, by L3, this indicates that the Escalation has been accepted and needs to be triaged.

– Once a L3 Resolver has been selected, the L3 Resolver will be subscribed to the WI, and will be updated via the @username in the discussion. Note - The resolver is the person responsible for researching the escalation


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Jazz Support


– The following fields on the Escalation overview are populated by L2 with a Summary of the problem, the Clients Environment, and the Customer Problem description. The L3 problem description (Root Cause) is populated by L3 when the Escalation is closed.

– The last step in this process is to provide a quick update for the Action Plan. The date must be set; this will provide expectations of when it is going to be acted upon and by whom.


16 09/22/12


Jazz Support


– When the Escalation WI is created by L2, the Escalation WI type needs to be selected. Question category; this will mostly be set to Deviation or Question.

– Here is a description of the different category types:

• Question: If the customer has a consulting type of question (How do, is there a doc, do we support...)

• Deviation: This term means the customer is experiencing a behavior not expected


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Jazz Support


– Here is a description of the different States.

• Ask L3: L3 is researching the issue.

• Ask Development: Seeking assistance from a Developer

• Ask Level2: L2 will ask for some additional information from the client or try a suggestion from Development

• Give Solution: Start the process of closing the Escalation. The Closure tab will need to be completed before closing. See Closing Escalation section below.

• Ask SWAT: Ask Senior Technical Support Team Members

– L2 will set the status of Ask L3. This will indicate to L3 that L2 is asking for assistance.

– Ask L3 places the state in "L3 Backlog" or "L3 starts investigating" = Equivalent to “Engineering”

– L3 Engineer reviews Escalation and provides possible workarounds, confirms if it is a defect in the product. L3 will also work with Developers to help determine when a fix can be delivered if no workaround is present.


18 09/22/12


Jazz Support

• How to work with L2

– Once a L3 member reviews the Escalation and when additional information is needed or additional trouble shooting needs to be performed by L2.

– The Current Status dropdown should be set to Ask Level 2.

– The next step is to go to the Discussion tab and add a comment and use the person’s Jazz id so that a WI notification is sent. For example @asq please send the current log files.

• Note: At this point always ensure that all team members are subscribed to this WI.

• Note: Ask L2 places the state in "L2 Investigating"= Equivalent to “WaitingInfo”


19 09/22/12


Jazz Support• Close Escalations

– On the Right of the Escalation, in the second drop down, click and choose Give Solution

– In the third group box which becomes active when Give Solution is selected and choose the appropriate resolution that best matches the situation.

– Here is a description of each option:

• Knowledge Resused: Solved with existing knowlege

• Knowledge Created/Flagged/Modified: Potential technote

• APAR Created: Provided when a the resolution is going to be part of a Ifix or Release.

• RFE Created: Not applicable at this time.

• APAR/RFE reused: Not justifiable

• No News from L2: Not applicable at this time.

• Testfix Delivered: When a testfix has been delivered.

• Invalid: Not a valid Escalation.


20 09/22/12


Jazz Support• Close Escalations

– Next go to the Closure tab on the far right and complete the mandatory fields.

– The first mandatory field is Last Solution Given Date. This is the date that the last solution was provided.

– The second mandatory field is asking if Development was involved (create a test fix, or having a Developer perform some research on the issue.

– The third mandatory field is for the Preventive Target drop down. I have being leaving that set to None at this time.


21 09/22/12


Useful Links

• IBM L3 process:

– https://d01db034.pok.ibm.com/q_dir/qmx/swg/qh0dl.nsf/procnum/PROCESS-0003

• Ratioal L3 process

– https://d01db034.pok.ibm.com/q_dir/qmx/rtnl/qk4dl.nsf/procnum/RATL-EDU-0004


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www.ibm/software/rational


23 09/22/12


Revision History

Author Date Version Comment

Ya Qiang Li 09/21 2012 0.1 Initial Draft

© 2012 IBM Corporation Rational Insight | Back to Basis Series L3 Support Process Ya Qiang Li 09/21...

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