How to get information, help, and technical assistance

If you need help, service, technical assistance, or just want more information about IBM® products, you will find a wide variety of sources available from IBM to assist you.

Information

IBM maintains pages on the web where you can get information about IBM products and fee services, product implementation and usage assistance, break and fix service support, and the latest technical information. For more information, refer to Table 1.

Table 1. IBM websites for help, services, and information
Website Address
Directory of worldwide contacts http://www.ibm.com/planetwide
Support for Storwize® V3700 (2072) www.ibm.com/support
Support for IBM System Storage® and IBM TotalStorage products www.ibm.com/support/
Note: Available services, telephone numbers, and web links are subject to change without notice.

Help and service

Before calling for support, be sure to have your IBM Customer Number available. If you are in the US or Canada, you can call 1 (800) IBM SERV for help and service. From other parts of the world, see http://www.ibm.com/planetwide for the number that you can call.

When calling from the US or Canada, choose the storage option. The agent decides where to route your call, to either storage software or storage hardware, depending on the nature of your problem.

If you call from somewhere other than the US or Canada, you must choose the hardware option when calling for assistance. When calling IBM for service regarding the product, follow these guidelines for the software and hardware option:

Software option
Identify the Storwize V3700 product as your product and supply your customer number as proof of purchase. The customer number is a 7-digit number (0000000 - 9999999) assigned by IBM when the product is purchased. Your customer number should be on the customer information worksheet or on the invoice from your storage purchase. If asked for an operating system, use Storage.
Hardware option
Provide the serial number and appropriate 4-digit machine type. For Storwize V3700, the machine type is 2072.

In the US and Canada, hardware service and support can be extended to 24x7 on the same day. The base warranty is 9x5 on the next business day.

Getting help online

You can find information about products, solutions, partners, and support on the IBM website.

To find up-to-date information about products, services, and partners, visit the IBM website at www.ibm.com/support.

Before you call

Make sure that you have taken steps to try to solve the problem yourself before you call.

Some suggestions for resolving the problem before calling IBM Support include:
  • Check all cables to make sure that they are connected.
  • Check all power switches to make sure that the system and optional devices are turned on.
  • Use the troubleshooting information in your system documentation. The troubleshooting section of the knowledge center contains procedures to help you diagnose problems.
  • Go to the IBM Support website at www.ibm.com/support to check for technical information, hints, tips, and new device drivers or to submit a request for information.

Using the documentation

Information about your IBM storage system is available in the documentation that comes with the product.

That documentation includes printed documents, online documents, readme files, and help files in addition to the knowledge center. See the troubleshooting information for diagnostic instructions. The troubleshooting procedure might require you to download updated device drivers or machine code. IBM maintains pages on the web where you can get the latest technical information and download device drivers and updates. To access these pages, go to www.ibm.com/support and follow the instructions. Also, some documents are available through the IBM Publications Center.

Sign up for the Support Line Offering

If you have questions about how to use and configure the machine, sign up for the IBM Support Line offering to get a professional answer.

The maintenance that is supplied with the system provides support when there is a problem with a hardware component or a fault in the system machine code. At times, you might need expert advice about using a function that is provided by the system or about how to configure the system. Purchasing the IBM Support Line offering gives you access to this professional advice while deploying your system, and in the future.

Contact your local IBM sales representative or your support group for availability and purchase information.