Guidelines for SAS^® Premium Support

 

Program Description

The SAS Premium Support program is an optional upgrade to the standard technical support that is provided under the customer’s Master License Agreement (MLA). The customer can purchase Premium Support for SAS^® software that is licensed by customer under the MLA. Premium Support includes direct access to a named SAS Technical Support Account Manager (TSAM). The TSAM is the customer’s direct liaison with SAS Technical Support and a primary point of contact for escalated technical-support issues that relate to the customer's use of the software for which Premium Support is purchased (hereafter called "the software"). The software is designated in the Premium Support portion of the supplement or amendment pursuant to which the software is licensed (hereafter called "the supplement"). The customer can designate up to five (5) named customer employees who can contact the TSAM anytime during normal business hours in the customer’s designated time zone¹ for technical-support issues that are related to the software. The SAS Premium Support offering might be updated from time to time, and these guidelines might be modified accordingly.

SAS Premium Support also includes the following components:

• Enhanced Service-Level Agreements (SLA): SAS will provide targeted response times that are shorter than the response times provided under Standard Technical Support. The enhanced SLAs are provided in Table 2.
• Premium Support Workshops: SAS will design and conduct Premium Support Workshops to address our customer needs and concerns. Topics might include an overview of SAS online services, effective management with SAS Support, and problem-investigation techniques.
• Premium Support Reports: SAS will provide information reports about your SAS Technical Support activity that is only available to SAS Premium Support customers.
• Access to Optional Services:: SAS will provide access to a menu of optional services that are available to SAS Premium Support customers. The menu and availability might vary by country and region.

Description of Services and Service Levels

The services that are offered under the SAS Standard Technical Support and Premium Support programs are listed here in Table 1.

Table 1: Comparison of Technical-Support Services under SAS Standard Technical Support and SAS Premium Support

Service	Offering Under Standard Technical Support	Offering under Premium Support
Annual Support Term	Yes	Yes
Direct Access to a Named Technical Support Account Manager A primary point-of-contact for technical-support issues	No	Yes1
Premium Support Workshops Account-specific workshops about technical-support policies, online resources, troubleshooting, and problem resolution	No	Quarterly4
Premium Support Reports Access to customized and account-specific information and reports	No	Yes
Access to a Menu of Optional Services Services might include consulting hours, Out-of-Hours Planned Support, remote administration, or managed services.	No	Yes2
Enhanced Service Levels (see Table 2)	Standard level	Premium level3
1  Access is available for to up to five (5) designated customer employees during normal business hours.  2   Services availability varies by country and region.  3  Turnaround times for initial follow-ups are shorter and updates to support requests are more frequent. 4   The schedule and frequency of workshops are negotiated with the TSAM.

Premium Support customers receive faster initial follow-up times, increased frequency of updates, and more. Table 2 compares the support service levels for SAS Standard Technical Support and Premium Support. 

Table 2: Comparison of Technical-Support Service Levels under SAS Standard Technical Support and SAS Premium Support

		Standard Technical Support		Premium Technical Support
Severity Level	Condition	Initial  Follow-up*	Frequency of Updates	Initial Follow-up*	Frequency of Updates
1	A critical SAS production system is down or does not function at all, and there is no circumvention for the problem. A significant number of users are affected, and a production business system is inoperable.** ‡	2 hours	Daily	1 hour †	As agreed upon with the TSAM
2	A component of SAS technology is not performing, which creates a significant operational impact.**	4 business hours	Every 2 business days**	2 business hours	Every business day
3	A component of SAS technology is not performing as documented. There are unexpected results. Problems are circumventable, and operational impact is moderate or minor.	1 business day	Every 3 business days	8 business hours	Every 2 business days
4	Questions pertain to usage or clarification of documentation.	1 business day	Every 10 business days	8 business hours	Every 5 business days
5	Customer offers suggestions or requests for new product features and enhancements.	1 business day	Every 30 business days	8 business hours	Every 15 business days
* For problems that are assigned to a Technical Support consultant, initial follow-up is defined as the time between when the problem is initially reported and the specialist contacts the customer. For problems that require further research by the consultant who initially received the problem, initial follow-up is defined as the time between the initial contact with the consultant and a follow-up call.  ** Follow-up is as agreed upon by Customer Management and SAS Technical Support Management. † Note: Includes weekend or other non-business hours. ‡ Outside of business hours, support is provided through the standard support process and the TSAM is contacted by the  SAS on-call team. If the TSAM does not respond within the SLA time frame, the on-call team can contact the TSAM's manager.

Program Fees and Conditions

The customer can purchase Premium Support for software at annual fees, in addition to the applicable license fees for the software and any applicable taxes. Fees for the initial annual Premium Support period are set forth in the supplement. Fees for subsequent annual periods might vary and will be set forth in renewal invoices. Travel costs and any expenses for on-site visits that are related to Premium Support might be billed separately and in accordance with SAS Travel Guidelines. Payment of the annual Premium Support program fee (and any applicable travel costs and expenses) entitles the customer to the benefits described herein for one (1) designated SAS software solution or one (1) aggregated group of designated SAS software tools that are licensed by the customer under the MLA. However, the customer also can purchase Premium Support for other SAS software that is licensed by the customer under the MLA, in consideration of additional annual fees.

Customer Responsibilities

To ensure timely and efficient responses to the customer’s technical support requests, the customer will assign dedicated internal resources who are knowledgeable with the software and the customer’s computing environment to coordinate with the TSAM. If technical-support services are performed at the customer’s location, the customer will provide SAS with reasonable access to applicable customer personnel, materials, information, CPU time, and equipment.