Working with Sage Budgeting and Planning (SBP) Customer Support

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Frank Thomas
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1 Table of Contents Who Can Call Sage Budgeting and Planning... 2 When To Call Sage Budgeting and Planning... 3 When To Call Your Consultant or Sage Budgeting and Planning Business Partner... 3 How to Fast Track Your Case... 3 Escalating an Issue with Sage Budgeting and Planning... 4 Sage Budgeting and Planning Code Fixes... 5 Product Enhancement Requests... 6 Contacting Sage Budgeting and Planning Management... 7 Page 1 of 7

2 The following policy has been established by the Sage Budgeting and Planning department in an attempt to help resolve your issues in the most expeditious manner. Sage Budgeting and Planning is most effective at troubleshooting and resolving cases that arise from problems in our standard program code. See section below titled When To Call Sage Budgeting and Planning. When issues arise due to customizations or enhancements written by outside developers, consultants, or Sage Budgeting and Planning Business Partners, Sage Budgeting and Planning may be limited in its ability to resolve the issues. In those situations, you should contact the outside developer or Sage Budgeting and Planning Business Partner directly for support. See section below titled When To Call Your Consultant or Sage Budgeting and Planning Business Partner. All customer installations must remain current on the latest software release and product update to take advantage of the latest available product fixes. Failure to do so may result in delayed resolutions as well as unnecessary down time and loss of productivity. It is the responsibility of the developer, consultant, Sage Budgeting and Planning Business Partner, or Customer to implement product updates on customer systems in a timely manner. Neither Sage Budgeting and Planning nor Engineering provides onsite services. Our Professional Services group offers Implementation and Consulting Services for the Sage Budgeting and Planning product line. All of these services are individually paid services and require a professional services contract. For more information, obtain a professional services contract or to book time, please contact us at mmdpsg.sage.com, Who Can Call Sage Budgeting and Planning An Sage Budgeting and Planning Consultant or Sage Budgeting and Planning Business Partner with an active agreement An Sage Budgeting and Planning Customer with an active SupportPlus agreement An authorized Support Contact, designated by an Sage Budgeting and Planning Customer with an active SupportPlus Agreement o A Customer may designate up to three (3) authorized Support Contacts per Server Software License o One contact must be the Customer s database administrator o Each Support Contact must be knowledgeable in all aspects of the Customer s operating environment in which Sage Budgeting and Planning Product(s) are being used Page 2 of 7

3 When To Call Sage Budgeting and Planning After you have checked the Sage Budgeting and Planning knowledge base on the Sage Customer or Partner Portal to see if the issue you are experiencing has already been reported. You have documented the steps in an attempt to reproduce the issue or error on standard, non-modified code. You are on a supported product version with the most current product update released by Sage Budgeting and Planning. You have documented the hardware/software/database profile of the system in question. The server and workstation hardware/software/database profile meets or exceeds Sage Budgeting and Planning minimum system requirements. When To Call Your Consultant or Sage Budgeting and Planning Business Partner The error or issue is due to customized code or a 3 rd party product or add-on. The error is not reproducible in demo data or non-modified code. Consistent steps to duplicate have not been identified. You are not on a supported product version and/or choose not to install the latest product update released by Sage Budgeting and Planning. How to Fast Track Your Case There are several steps that a Customer, Consultant, or Sage Budgeting and Planning Business Partner can take to fast track a resolution. Below are a few suggestions. Check the Sage Budgeting and Planning resources on the Sage Customer or Partner Portal to find resolutions or to see if the issue you are experiencing has already been reported: o Check product system and user guides for procedural issues o Check the compatibility guide and release notes for your product for software and hardware compliance o Check the Sage Budgeting and Planning knowledge base to see if the issue you are experiencing has already been reported, or whether a resolution or workaround is available o Check the Download link for available service packs and product updates Note: Before updating a customized installation, check with your Consultant, Sage Budgeting and Planning Business Partner, or 3 rd Page 3 of 7

4 Party Provider to avoid overwriting customizations and ensure compatibility. If the issue has not been reported, compile the following information and contact Sage Budgeting and Planning to open a new support case: o Sage Budgeting and Planning product version o Sage Budgeting and Planning Product Update version o GL Product and version o Operating system versions: workstation/s, and Terminal/Citrix, SQL, Application, and Web servers (if applicable). o Error messages (exact wording). o Exact steps to duplicate the problem on standard, non-modified code o Screenshots o Reports and forms (if applicable). o SQL profiler traces Escalating an Issue with Sage Budgeting and Planning Sage Budgeting and Planning takes escalations very seriously; therefore, we have formed an escalation team that reviews Severity 1 and Severity 2 issues on a regular basis. The following outlines the steps for creating an escalation on the Sage Customer or Partner Portal and provides general insight to the escalation process. For online escalation of Severity 1 and 2 issues, use the Case Escalation link on the Sage Customer or Partner Portal.. o Severity Level 1 and 2 support cases will receive priority attention above other escalations (see the Severity Levels document). When the CS Manager receives a request to escalate, he/she may contact you directly to ensure Sage Budgeting and Planning has obtained all of the facts surrounding the escalation. If deemed necessary, the CS Manager may coordinate a recurring meeting with the Customer, Consultant, or Sage Budgeting and Planning Business Partner to review escalation details. The determination to conduct these meetings is made by the severity of the escalation and the business impact to the customer. Customer accounts that are placed on the escalation list are monitored on a regular basis by management until all parties agree the issue is resolved. Typically, the CS management team works directly with the Consultant or Sage Budgeting and Planning Business Partner to resolve customer issues unless otherwise requested by the Customer. Page 4 of 7

5 Sage Budgeting and Planning Code Fixes Sage Budgeting and Planning strives to offer high quality software releases while continuing to provide you with exceptional support and service. To meet this goal, Product Management, Engineering, and Support adhere to several policies and procedures for prioritizing and managing the delivery of code fixes. For product quality and the success of your business, it is critically important to ensure that our Sage Budgeting and Planning Engineering and QA teams have sufficient time to develop, test, and deliver a fix that resolves the reported issue correctly and works successfully in the customer s database. All customer installations must be on a supported product version and the latest product update because development of program fixes is reliant on foundational code contained in each update. This allows: Sage Budgeting and Planning Engineering to develop and deliver a quality fix in the shortest possible timeframe and help minimize potential risk and impact to the customer s business. Customers to take advantage of functionality and improvements to their software as part of their maintenance and support agreement service. The following outlines Sage Budgeting and Planning internal process for prioritizing, managing, and delivering code fixes for Sage Budgeting and Planning products. 1. Customer, Consultant, or Sage Budgeting and Planning Business Partner contacts to report issues occurring in standard, non-modified code and provides exact steps to duplicate 2. must be able to verify and duplicate the issue 3. documents the steps to duplicate issue If the issue is not a defect, CS creates a knowledge article and posts it to the knowledge base. If the issue is determined to be a software defect, CS submits all documentation to the Engineering team 4. The Defect Review Committee meets weekly to prioritize defects and schedule them for resolution based on: Severity of the Issue Business impact Numbers of customers affected 5. The customer / partner is notified of the projected date of delivery for the fix. ETA delivery dates are provided under a good faith estimate 6. QA must be able to verify and duplicate the issue Page 5 of 7

6 7. The defect is assigned to an Engineer for code review. The Engineer works through the program code or data (if applicable) to locate and resolve the problem. 8. Once a defect is resolved, the fix is processed through an Engineering code review. 9. Once the fix passes the Engineering code review and tests successfully, the fix is bundled and delivered in one or more of the following ways: Code Fixes: The revised code is submitted for bundling into the product update. Note: Not all defects can be bundled into a product update due to the complexity of the resolution. Those that cannot be resolved through a product update are reviewed for consideration for the next software release. Note: Fixes are delivered to the Customer, Consultant, or Sage Budgeting and Planning Business Partner for acceptance testing in a development environment before implementing into production. As is usual and customary, fixes should be applied to production environments after successful user acceptance testing has been completed, users have logged out of production, and an immediate backup of the production database has been performed. Product Enhancement Requests As an Sage Budgeting and Planning customer, you have an important role to play at Sage Budgeting and Planning, and we are listening! Submitting product enhancement requests gives you an opportunity to help influence the future improvements and features that are considered for your Sage Budgeting and Planning product, and we ve made it easier and faster than ever for you to your share ideas! Use the link below to visit our self-service Product Suggestions idea management website link to request your product enhancement ideas for a future release. It s never been easier! Click the link below or add it to your Web browser Enter your contact information in case we have any questions Submit new enhancement requests and suggestions Sage Budgeting and Planning: Submitting your own enhancement requests ensures the requested functionality meets your business requirements and provides our Product Management team with the information they need to contact you for further information if we have any questions. Page 6 of 7

7 Contacting Sage Budgeting and Planning Management Still have questions? Our Management Team will be happy to help you. Locate direct contact information for our Management Team using the Contact Us on the Sage Customer or Partner Portal. Page 7 of 7

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