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OracleGold

Yes, you did it; you read through this chapter long enough to get the gold medal and stand on that platform with your OracleGold support, listening to your corporate anthem. You are right; OracleGold members get the best. Although Oracle cannot guarantee you a Wheaties endorsement, OracleGold does provide you with a Support Account Manager as your single point of contact for service-management issues. Resolution of Gold support issues takes less time because you work directly with one of these managers, who ensures that your support requests receive attention before those at the same severity level placed by other members .

If your business runs a profitable application that relies on the Oracle RDBMS and small delays might cost a great deal of money relative to the extra cost of this service, OracleGold might be the most cost-efficient OracleMetals support for you. An example is a trading floor for stocks and bonds , where even a delay of a few minutes might cost a company millions of dollars. Situations such as these ultimately make OracleGold the least expensive path for some companies.

Customer Support Identification Number

When you go to the Oracle-support Olympics and win your Bronze, Silver, or Gold, you are identified by your Customer Support Identification (CSI) number. Never leave home without it! When you call Oracle's support number, the first thing they see is the level of support you have. If you ever lose your CSI, call client relations at Oracle; they will assist you in finding this important piece of information, which identifies you as a customer of Oracle.

When you buy Oracle products, be sure to look for the CSI number. Without OracleMetals, products often come with an free initial support period. The CSI number exists for all licensed Oracle products running on distinct CPUs. If you want support from Oracle, the CSI number is what you use to prove that you actually purchased the product.

Crossing the TAR Pits

This section really isn't all that ominous, but I couldn't resist the title because Oracle Support identifies your problem as a TAR (Technical Assistance Request). If you have 100 distinct problems, you create 100 new TAR numbers that are forever yours. Even though the term TAR has different connotations for different people, I have found that Oracle Support is far superior and more knowledgeable than most support operations.

When you first call Oracle, you speak to an initial screener. He or she discusses your problem with you and makes an initial decision about the severity level. The four basic severity levels in Oracle Support are

• Severity Level 1: The problem results in a complete loss of service for the customer environment. The problem does not necessarily affect a production system but might affect a development or testing machine that is running Oracle software.
• Severity Level 2: The problem results in a severe loss of service. Your business can continue, but only in a limited way.

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• Severity Level 3: The problem results in a minimal loss of service, perhaps causing corrupted data or a few failed functions, but the system as a whole can continue to operate . This level also includes slight performance slowdowns of the database that impact your business productivity.
• Severity Level 4: This level covers a minor problem with minimal impact to your system. It might be annoying, however, and you want it fixed.

After the initial screener assesses the severity level of the TAR, make sure you write down your TAR number and give the analyst information on how to contact you throughout the day or the night. Your TAR is your ticket number for your Oracle laundry; don't lose it!

Actually, many of the initial screeners are support analysts themselves and might be able to help you without calling for a specialist from a certain group . Don't think you are speaking to a mindless operator; these people intercept TARs at this first trail-crossing and solve many problems.

At this point, you have the choice of staying on hold or hanging up and waiting for a call from an expert within a given time frame. If you stay on hold, you might find that the hold time is less than what you expect from most companies. If you decide to wait for a call, be ready for it; don't take an early lunch . I find that most of my calls are returned within a few hours.

If your problem is very complex and even your expert cannot solve it, he or she will ask his or her expert friends in the underground city of Oracle Support. Complex problems take more time to fix unless Oracle can tie it to a related problem that was already solved . The experts (and even you) have access to a Incident Tracking System (ITS), which allows them to search related problems and possible solutions.

You might be asked to run complex SQL statements, trace file dumps, or OS commands, which you then e-mail or fax to Oracle. If you don't know how to do these things, don't worry; the support experts assist you on the phone as you land your airplane of woes. Remember, the more information you give them, the faster resolution will occur.

Oracle's Automated Support

In the world of automated information, Oracle is one company that uses automated support. For one thing, automated support is more profitable for Oracle, but it is also more convenient for the user who doesn't mind talking to electronic brains and fax machines and wants the freedom to search for a quick response.

The main Oracle automated support tools include

• Incident Tracking System (ITS): This is Oracle's own automated tool for logging and tracking TARs. ITS helps you locate solutions to questions and problems that Oracle users encounter. The best way to solve a bug or a glitch in software is to find someone else who already went through the grueling process of fixing it. Why reinvent the wheel?

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