1) What is a manufacture support contract?

A manufacturer support contract is an agreement between the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) such as HP, Dell, Cisco, etc. and the owner of that equipment (end user) that commonly provides three key benefits to an end user. Access to the manufacturers technical assistance center (TAC) to open cases and resolves technical or installation issues with a product. New software releases that include bug fixes and new feature releases including operating systems updates, and repair/replacement of failed equipment.

back to top

2) Do I need to have a Support Contract?

No. End users are not required to purchase a support contract. However, those who choose not to purchase support or who let their support contracts expire will most often be required to pay the reinstatement fee if they choose to purchase a support contract.

back to top

3) Are there choices to make when purchasing a support contract?

Yes. The baseline support contract is access to TAC Monday-Friday during normal business hours with parts replacement the next business day (8x5xNBD). For more critical installations there is 24x7x4 access to support, on-site technicians who bring replacement hardware, proactive installation management and more. The combinations are extensive and with each greater service commitment from the baseline, an up charge in the contract price is included. We can work with you to determine the best strategy in choosing a support level based on highly available network topologies, your tolerance for outage time, availability of technical resource on-site and of course budget.

back to top

4) How can I get my contracts to have a common end date, (co-termed)?

This is one of the most common things we do at Support Track. We offer co-termed contracts across manufactures that align with your budget cycle.

back to top

5) Once my contracts are co-termed, how do I keep them that way?

There are two ways we do this for our customers: First, we true-up dates on contracts on an annual or quarterly basis at renewal times. In this case customers have purchasing restraints through budgets (operational vs. capital) or find it more convenient to make new purchases with first year support included. At normal renewal times, we will purchase partial year renewals at the annual review of support contracts to sync expiration dates to the common date. Alternatively, two purchases can be made at the time of adding new hardware or software. One purchase from the supplier of the new equipment and one purchase from Support Track that syncs the expiration date to the contract end date.

back to top

6) What is a Support Reinstatement Fee and how much is it?

The support reinstatement fee is a charge that is assessed to any customer who re-activates a lapsed Support contract or activates a support contract after the standard warranty period or previous support contract for their product has expired. The fee is added to the cost of the support contract. Customers that re-activate their support contracts after allowing them to expire enjoy the same benefits of the most up-to-date technology as those customers who consistently maintain their coverage. The reinstatement fee ensures that all customers share equally in the cost of continual improvements to their manufacturer solutions. The fees vary from manufacturer to manufacturer but are generally a percentage of the total cost of the support contract. In some cases, it may be more cost effective for customers to back-date the new support contract to cover the time that has elapsed since the expiration of the original contract. This option is usually preferable for systems that have been without active support coverage for less than 90 days. We at Support Track can help you determine which choice makes sense for you.

back to top

7) Can reinstatement fees be waived?

The answer is maybe. We can help you strategize on how to best do this when possible. Most commonly waiving of the reinstatement fees involves backdating and/or agreeing to purchase multiple years of support.

back to top

8) Is there a standard grace period for customers who have let their coverage lapse?

Again, this varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, but as a rule of thumb customers have 30 days after the expiration of their support contract or standard product warranty period to purchase a support contract without incurring the reinstatement fee. The contract start date will be the day after the lapsed contract expired.

back to top

9) How do I activate (or re-activate) my support contract?

To In most cases, Support Track will active the contract on your behalf with the manufacturer and notify you by email when it is complete.

back to top

10) What do those Cisco support part numbers mean?

back to top