Working Effectively With Support (WEWS) Oracle Support Essentials Oracle Support Training and Education

Learning Objectives If your only interactions with Oracle Premier Support have revolved around Service Requests when problems occur, you are missing out on key capabilities that could play a role in contributing to your company’s success. There is so much more to Oracle Premier Support than just opening Service Requests. Oracle Premier Support provides customers with support best practices, capabilities, and tools to help you work effectively with Oracle Support, increase adoption of My Oracle Support Portal and maximize business value by utilizing the Get Proactive portfolio. During this presentation we will explore valuable information and Support Best Practices categorized under three sections – Discover | Adopt | Maximize. <Next Slide> Learn about support best practices, capabilities, and tools to help you work effectively with Oracle Support Start working with Support through the My Oracle Support portal Maximize business value by utilizing the Get Proactive portfolio.

Agenda 1 Oracle Premier Support Policies Preventing known issues Oracle Support Best Practices 5 Tips for successful SR Resolution Additional Resources 2 3 4 Here is our Agenda <Next Slide> 5

DISCOVER – Oracle Premier Support Policies Starting with the Oracle Premier Support information and Policies which are divided into Life time Support Policies and Technical Support Policies Lets first, review the Life time support policies

Oracle Premier Support Policies Access all of Oracle’s support policy documentation in a single location. Find the latest Support Terms and Support Level information for your Product. Check the Lifetime Support Policies regularly for updates, and plan proactively for your projects, product upgrades, patching cycles Software, Hardware and Operating Systems Brochures You can access all the Oracle’s Support Policy in a single location from oracle.com/support http://www.oracle.com/support

Oracle Premier Support Policies The life time support policies are easily located by accessing the Lifetime Support policy link so you can plan proactively your product upgrades and patching cycles. As soon as a new product or version is delivered, Oracle updates the Lifetime Support Policy with the General Availability date for that Product, and the next lifecycle for this new release. <CLICK> Lifetime Support offers 3 stages of support: Premier Support, which provides maintenance and support of Oracle database, middleware, and application products for 5 years from their general availability date. Extended Support, which provides you with an extra three years of support for specific Oracle release for an additional fee. And Sustaining Support, for which you receive technical support, including access to our online support tools, knowledge bases, and technical support experts. Sustaining support is available for as long as you license your Oracle products. On this page you will also find find the key feature for each stage of the Oracle Support Policy As a Best Practices, always search for and review the Support Policies for each of your product areas! Find more details about each stage of this Lifetime Support Policy

Oracle Premier Support Policies Find the latest Support Terms and Support Level information for your Product. Tools that support technical services Severity definitions The policies outline in detail what is covered by a Customer’s support contract. The Oracle Technical Support Policies page provides access to all of Oracle's support policy documentation. The Support Policies page is an important resource to assist you in the understanding of what is included in your support contract and how various aspects of Support are delivered. The Severity definitions, level of service, field service information, etc are documented in the Policy. Technical Support Policies outline what’s included in your support policy.   This document defines the specific severity levels associated with products and in section 9 it outlines the severity levels that are used when logging Service Requests in My Oracle Support. I will reference these again later in this presentation

Maximize Prevent Issues before they happen Lets talk a little about the Proactive resources available in your Premier Support to you maximize your Oracle’s investments. <Next Slide>

Diagnostic Tools Make use of the available Diagnostic tools. These tools help you identify problems, correct them with known solutions and prevent the need to open service requests. In My Oracle Support look for the DOC ID 1987483.2 and bookmark it, so you can always know which are the diagnostic tools available for you to help in the prevention/resolution process <CLICK> From this page you can also have access to our Get Proactive Portfolio Get Proactive!

Get Proactive Oracle Premier Support Delivering Value Proactive Product Portfolio Prevent. Resolve. Upgrade. Get Proactive In the MAXIMIZE section we will introduce the Get Proactive Portfolio that helps our customers to achieve resolution faster; simplify their daily operations; reduce risks and maximize uptime through preventative maintenance. The portfolio has diagnostic tools and best practices organized into 3 categories per product, Prevent, Resolve and Upgrade. You can access to this Get proactive Portfolio through your mobile <CLICK> <Next Slide>

Discover capabilities and tools to help you resolve issues. Get Proactive Portfolio Agile and AutoVue Business Analytics E-Business Suite Enterprise Manager Exadata Industry Solutions JD Edwards Oracle Database Oracle Fusion Applications Oracle Fusion Middleware Oracle Solaris Oracle Systems PeopleSoft Primavera Siebel Taleo Choose Product Area Prevent Prevent known problems, help keep your Oracle software and systems healthy Resolve Discover capabilities and tools to help you resolve issues. Upgrade Leverage capabilities and tools to help guide you through the upgrade process Many of our Support customers typically use only the basic of My Oracle Support, like simple search, create service requests, and download patches. They think they know how to use My Oracle Support. However, they know something but often they’re utilizing only a fragment of My Oracle Support’s potential. For the investment that has been made, using only a small subset of the capabilities offered in My Oracle Support leaves value on the table. There is much more available in My Oracle Support. Dozens of diagnostic tools, proactive health checks and best practices are organized into My Oracle Support in the Get Proactive Portfolio. You just need to select your Product, and then check, implement and use the tools and tips available in the 3 categories showed in this slide: Prevent, Resolve or Upgrade. Where to find the proactive portfolio? Search for Note 432.1 You are going to hear more about the Get Proactive Portfolio in the other Essentials Seminars. <Next Slide> Get Proactive Portfolio Doc ID 432.1

My Oracle Support—Get Proactive Portfolio <This slide has automated builds – simply click when you are ready to preview the next screenshot, repeat>. Here some slides regarding the Get Proactive Portfolio for Database to give you an idea about the resources available in the categories Prevent, Resolve and Upgrade. <Next Slide>

ADOPT – Working Effectively with Support Lets do an overview about the My Oracle Support portal, including the Service Request Escalation Process.

Oracle Support Best Practices When you have a question, need, or issue… ... the solution may already be available. Unable to locate a solution? Submit a Service Request through My Oracle Support 3 Service Request Visit My Oracle Support Community and seek answers from Oracle experts & industry peers . 2 Ask the Community Search Find answers fast, search the Knowledge Base for a solution More than 50% of issues are resolved by using the knowledge base, the Chances are, an answer or solution may already exist. A support best practice: is to search the Knowledge Base in My Oracle Support and ask your how to or informational questions in the Community When you can’t find your answer then its time to engage Oracle Support by logging a Service Request. <Next slide> 1 Search the Knowledge base

Searching for Information My Oracle Support Knowledge Base contains all known solutions and best practices from Oracle Support My Oracle Support offers a unified search engine that searches the Knowledge Base, My Oracle Support Community, documentation, known bugs and Patches At Oracle the Oracle Support engineers use the same database collection that you have access to via My Oracle Support and the Cloud support Portal. The Knowledge Base contains all the known solutions and best practices from Oracle Support. The unified search engine incorporates not only the KB, but MOS community, documentation, known bugs and patches – using this one resource you have access to all of the results that match your query.   Knowledge base articles are created from Root Cause Analysis of your issues. To ensure that these articles are correct and up to date, support engineers are responsible for maintaining existing articles and creating new ones. This ensures that you have access to the latest and greatest articles. Finally, we are encouraging you to provide feedback. We rely on you, our My Oracle Support users to help us maintain the knowledge base by providing feedback on knowledge documents. For more details in how to effectively used the knowledge base attend the Finding Answer in My Oracle Support session Doc ID 1540338.1 17

My Oracle Support Community (MOSC) MOSC is a trusted network of supported customers, Oracle Technical Support, and Oracle employees for: MOS & KM OTN Other Communities Development My Oracle Support Community Collaboration Sharing Experiences Sharing Knowledge Sharing News & Announcements Oracle Customers and Partners Oracle Engineers My Oracle Support Community is a trusted network of supported customers, Oracle Technical Support, and Oracle employees for collaboration, sharing experiences, sharing Knowledge, and sharing News & announcements. My Oracle Support Community is not the same as OTN, Oracle Technology Network. You need to be a customer and have a Support Contract to access the My Oracle Support Community. OTN is a collection of publicly accessible spaces/forums, and the My Oracle Support Community platform is part of the Oracle Proactive Support. It is integrated with the MOS portal, KM, Oracle Engineers, your Peers and Development. Our communities are moderated by the same Oracle Engineers that work your SRs and have deep Product knowledge. <Next Slide>

Creating Service Requests IF You are unable to locate a solution through the Knowledge Base or by asking a question in My Oracle Support Community. THEN Log a Service Request through My Oracle Support. If you have not found a solution in the MOS Knowledge Base, or asking in My Oracle Support Community, then you should submit a Service Request through the MOS support portal. Click Create SR in the SR region available on the Service Requests or Dashboard tabs to start the SR Creation Flow. <Next slide> https://support.oracle.com

Proactive Opportunity Have all your information ready before you create a new SR Product, Version Problem Summary Support Identifier Problem Description Files to attach The first lesson is ‘Be Proactive!’ Get the Product Name and version, check the error codes, and prepare the trace and log files to attach to your SR. Identify the business impact of the issue to your company in order to choose the right severity level when opening your Service Request. <Next slide> Business impact Error Codes

A Well Formed Service Request Include the Problem Summary and Detailed Problem Description The first step in creating your Service Request is to describe the problem and define the Product. <CLICK MOUSE> The Problem Summary is a short, high-level explanation of the issue. Think of it as the title of your SR. Enter a problem description and the error codes if you experience an error in the application. You have to enter only one problem per Service Request. You can also refer to the Tip section on the RHS for examples of the kind of information you can include. After entering the Problem Summary, you need to select the relevant product from the ‘Where is the Problem’ region. The available Tabs in this region is related with the Support Identifiers you have in your profile. Then, choose Hardware, Software or the Tab related with your SI to entry the right product where is the problem. If you use the Configuration Manager collector, or have a Platinum Certified Systems, you can click on the Configuration tab to select your system. Incorrect information or product selection could delay assignment to the proper support team and engineer.

Service Request Creation Flow Problem Description and Business Impact Business Impact Example #1 – Well-defined impact statement Example #2 – Insufficient detail for Support WHAT Details of what is happening in your business This issue has a direct impact in our RAC production environment. One of the nodes is hanging with the errors in the attached trace files, and the machine needs to be rebooted. One of our RAC nodes is hanging daily, and we need to know the reason urgently. WHO How broad is the impact? A single user? Multiple users? Multiple global locations? Our production database has 1,100 internal users and approximately 100,000 external users via internet access. Our users are impacted WHEN How often is the problem occurring? We are facing the problem once or twice per day during business hours. RAC node is hanging daily WHY Why is this specific issue critical to your primary business functions? The impact is critical because it affects all of the system users. There is no acceptable workaround while we are waiting for a solution, and the system unavailability is impacting the company’s revenue. The issue is impacting our business. The first step in creating your Service Request is to describe the problem and define the Product. <CLICK MOUSE> The Problem Summary is a short, high-level explanation of the issue. Think of it as the title of your SR. Enter a problem description and the error codes if you experience an error in the application. You have to enter only one problem per Service Request. You can also refer to the Tip section on the RHS for examples of the kind of information you can include. After entering the Problem Summary, you need to select the relevant product from the ‘Where is the Problem’ region. The available Tabs in this region is related with the Support Identifiers you have in your profile. Then, choose Hardware, Software or the Tab related with your SI to entry the right product where is the problem. If you use the Configuration Manager collector, or have a Platinum Certified Systems, you can click on the Configuration tab to select your system. Incorrect information or product selection could delay assignment to the proper support team and engineer.

A Well Formed Service Request The Severity Level represents the Business Impact In the final SR Creation step, you will define the severity level for your issue and specify your contact information. <CLICK MOUSE> It is important to select the correct severity level which accurately reflects the business impact of your issue. We will review the different severity levels and their definitions in the next slide. The severity 3 is set by default. If you wish to change the SR from Severity 3, simply check the appropriate box. If you choose Severity 1 a 24x7 contact will be requested. Set the severity level appropriately to represent the real urgency of your issue Severity 3 is the default

Service Request Severity Levels Partnership Severity Level Business Impact Technical Impact 1st Response Update Frequency Resolution Time 1 Mission Critical Business Impact < 1 Hour (telephone preferred) Continual Updates 24x7 Co-Owned 2 Serious Business Impact Communication Preference Multiple Updates 24-48 hours 3 Minor Business Impact Updates 2-3 Business Days 4 No Business Impact Updates 3-5 Business Days Identifying the severity of an issue is a very important part of the Service Request process. Since our customers are the most familiar with the business impact of their issue, it is crucial that they translate that business impact into support terminology, ensuring that the severity level is set appropriately and represents the urgency of their issue. Let’s review the different severity levels starting with the minimal impact: Severity Level 4 implies that the issue you are running into results in no loss of service or resources. This is more of a minor error or notification of documentation error. It could also be a request for assistance in finding documentation or clarification. Customers can select from a variety of communication preferences and expect an update frequency of 3-5 Business days. Severity Level 3 implies that the problem or product defect is causing a minimal loss of service. In this case the impact is more of a minor error or an inconvenience and does not impact your ability to complete your work. These issues generally have a simple workaround. Customers can select from a variety of Communication preferences and expect an update frequency of 2-3 Business days. Severity Level 2 implies that the problem or product defect is causing a severe loss of service. There is no customer-acceptable workaround, which means there may be a workaround but it may be as painful as the problem itself. In a severity 2 situation your operations can continue but they continue in a restricted fashion. Customers can select from a variety of Communication preferences and expect an update frequency of 24 – 48 hours. Severity Level 1 is our most critical severity level. In a severity 1 situation, the problem or product defect causes a complete loss of service and work within your organization cannot reasonably continue. The work in question is mission critical, it is critical to your business and the situation is an emergency. Severity 1 issues are worked by default 24 x 7. Because of this, customers are required to provide 24X7 contact information so that the SR solution process can run smoothly. Once the SR is created and submitted, you can flag it to be worked just during normal business hours. Severity levels generally apply to a production system, but if you are within a few days of a go live or a critical milestone and you run into a showstopper which will impact your ability to meet your go live date, this would also fall into the Severity 1 category. Regarding the Resolution Time it depends on the partnership between the Support Engineer and Customer. Both groups must work together to find a solution as quickly as possible. Support Engineers are always monitoring your Service Request. Customers that take an active monitoring role of their Service Requests tend to get their issues resolved much more quickly than customers that don’t. <Next slide>

When working on a Severity 1 Severity 1 Agreement Attend the live seminar Service Request Flow and Best Practices for step by step instructions on how to create and manage a Service Request

Service Request Best Practices 5 Tips for successful SR Resolution 1. Stay Engaged 2. Monitor & Update 3. Use Favorites 4. Update the SR primary contact if needed Enable SR Email Updates Use Mobile MOS Engage in SR Chat Update SRs that need attention Manage your Severity during the SR lifecycle Make important SRs favorites to easily access via Mobile MOS and enable notifications on SR favorites Mange the Primary contact through out the life of the SR update as needed. Read through the slide 5. Work Effectively with Support For more details in How to Work Effectively with Support, please review the Doc ID 166650.1

Mobile My Oracle Support Manage and Update your Service Requests when away from your desk Locate SRs via Searching Click SR Header to view SR in MOBIL MOS Click “Update” to add in your comments Scroll down to view your SRs – (0) shows the number of Actions needing updates <Script> If you are away from your desk, access Mobile MOS from your mobile device. Search for SR’s, view the SR from your search result. Using Update top right to add you notes to the SR. Scroll down the home page to view the Service Requests with Actions. If there are actions you will see a number between the brackets (1). <Next Slide> https://support.oracle.mobi

Assistant: My Oracle Support - SR Issues Resolve common SR visibility issues in My Oracle Support <Script> Some times you might not be able to see a SR, this is typically because you either don’t have access to the SI or your access level, If you do have issues you can searaach and – use the MOS assistants to resolve your issue... <Next Slide>

Service Request Manager Attention Process Managing Critical Issues Let’s discuss the Oracle Support resources available to you for managing critical issues. <Next slide>

Requesting Manager Attention to a Service Request Engaging the Manager’s Attention will facilitate the creation of an Action Plan to resolve the issue with your Service Request. Request Management Attention when : the SR is not progressing in a manner that will meet your project milestones, implementation or upgrade plans you urgently need to communicate important business issues to a managers you are dissatisfied with the resolution or response to a Service Request Call Support Find the local number to call at www.oracle.com/support/contact.html Speak with the analyst regarding your specific, immediate need and any applicable business impact Need a call back: Request that a manager call you back and provide your contact information Do not need a call back: Provide detailed information you would like conveyed to the manager More information is available on Document 199389.1 – How to Request Management Attention to a Service Request (SR) with Oracle Support Services Did you know, Oracle Support has a documented process to get management attention for a situation, and avoid delays in a critical SR. The process is designed to help you bring management attention to your issue. Please know that this is always an option for you when you feel that your issue is not being addressed appropriately. For example you might need to use this process if you find the SR is not progressing in a manner that will meet your project milestones, implementation or upgrade plans. Or you urgently need to communicate important business issues to managers in Oracle Global Customer Support or you are dissatisfied with the resolution or response to a Service Request You can find the local number to call support at www.oracle.com/support/contact.html When you reach a Support Analyst: Speak with them regarding your specific, immediate need and any applicable business impact Determine if you need to be called back by a Support Manager If you need a callback, explicitly request that a manager call you back and provide your contact information , and be prepared to provide your manager's contact information as well If you do not request a call back, then provide detailed information you would like conveyed to the manager The Support Analyst will then engage the Support Manager who will be responsible for reviewing the Service Request, and the manager will call you back as required. Is important to mention that requesting manager attention and setting the severity of the service request are different processes . The management attention process, brings your issue to Oracle Global Customer Support management’s attention. A Severity assignment is a the process of ensuring that the severity level matches the business or technical impact you are experiencing. The process of requesting management attention is there to facilitate the creation of an Action Plan to resolve the issue with your Service Request. It also allows Oracle management to validate and coordinate the required resources to resolve your problem. Consider that routinely requesting management attention to non-critical issues or consistently overstating the criticality of a Service Request may result in a misunderstanding of the importance or critical impact of a future request. Prudent use of requesting management attention enables Oracle to accurately prioritize your Service Request. You will be able to find in My Oracle Support the Doc ID 199389.1 with additional information about the Management Attention Process. <Next Slide>

Additional Resources & Learning Options Now let’s see some additional resources for you, and the learning options. <Next slide>

Continue Your Learning Experience Oracle Support Essentials Series – live instruction, Q&A. If you miss a webcast they are repeated and the How-to Series covers similar content using a step by step approach. Doc ID 553747.1 My Oracle Support How to Series – Detailed training videos, documentation, Latest how to content, webcasts, self-paced replay – select a feature area or role to get started. Doc ID 603505.1 Advisor Webcasts Program – live instruction of features or how to support and a more detailed deep-dive into Oracle products. Doc ID 740966.1 For general My Oracle Support Portal or Cloud Support Portal how-to use questions, ask the Using My Oracle Support (MOSC) community Test your Support knowledge – Undertake the Oracle Support Accreditation program, Level 1 and Level 2 for the products you support. Doc ID 1583898.1 Continue your learning Experience, with One location to locate the Essentials session, register to attend and download the presentation materials. Document 553747.1 If you need a deep dive on specific functionality access the My Oracle Support Video training Document 603505.1 Need to learn more about a specific product – Attend an Advisor Webcast Program 740966.1 Have a questions about this session post it in the community - Test your Support Knowledge undertake the Oracle Support Accreditation program. Document 1583898.1 Today’s essentials session is part of your Oracle Support Learning experience, make use of the other resources as needed.

Stay Informed Using Oracle Support Blogs Oracle Support Blogs are based on Oracle Support analysts experience, technical knowledge, and product training. They provide information relating to: Product news, technical insights, how to use support tools, and other interesting topics to enable you to get the most from your Oracle Support Experience. Support Blog access Directly - https://community.oracle.com/community/support/support-blogs Via the Support Product Index (Document 222.1) Search for ‘Product Support Blogs’ in My Oracle Support How to subscribe to blog postings (short video) If you need to stay informed about changes or new features in My Oracle Support or product technical insights access the Support Blogs using one of the options shown.