GMC Inspire support and maintenance

GMC SERVICES AND SUPPORT BRIEF
GMC Inspire support
and maintenance
Peace of mind, expert resources, keeping you ahead of your competitors
Maintenance option designed to meet your specific needs
GMC support resources available 24/7 by telephone or email
Immediate availability of all GMC Inspire upgrades, updates and patches
Preferred pricing for GMC Professional Services
Free access to the GMC Inspire e-learning portal
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Your roadmap to peace of mind
Making the smart choice
As with any awarding-winning organization, GMC is committed
to provide the highest quality software. GMC is CMMI Level 3
certified which means everything we deliver has undergone the
most rigorous testing prior to release.
By choosing the GMC software maintenance contract that is
best aligned with your needs, your organization can be assured
that your investment in GMC Inspire is protected. For maintenance contract customers, GMC experts are readily available to
answer questions, address issues, receive suggestions about future features and functionality, and provide technical assistance
with the development and testing of new applications.
We deliver the highest quality of maintenance and technical
support through our flexible GMC software maintenance contract agreements. Whether you have a crisis situation, merely
need a fast answer to an operational question, or just want
to download the latest software updates and documentation,
with a GMC Inspire software maintenance contract in place,
you will have ready access to a wealth of knowledge, speedy
response and immediate availability of all patches, updates and
upgrades to GMC Inspire and its components. Leverage these
services to ensure improved productivity, increased revenues
and an improved ability to reliably meet all customer service
level agreements.
Each organization is different – different hardware, software
and third-party solutions that must operate with GMC Inspire
as an integrated whole. These are often complex configurations
whose performance can be affected by many factors outside
of your control. A GMC Inspire software maintenance contract
is a critical element for any customer-oriented service provider.
It provides the necessary support to ensure that the integrated
whole continues to operate as expected.
Your GMC maintenance contract is a strong platform for business security
In addition, a GMC Inspire software maintenance contract entitles you to immediately receive all upgrades, updates and patches. It also provides you with preferred pricing for fee-based services. And the GMC global technical support network delivers
its services in the language that is most comfortable for you and
your team.
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You have questions – we have answers
Why do I need a maintenance contract?
The main benefits of having a maintenance contract
include:
• 1-year support for any issues with the GMC Inspire
solutions you have bought
• Access to highly qualified dedicated support personnel
• Free software upgrades and updates during the period
of the contract
• Remote assistance when required
• Email and telephone support as required as often as
needed
• Peace of mind
GMC’s highly-trained support personnel are top-of-the-
line professionals with deep knowledge of GMC Inspire software with direct lines to the Research & Development team when necessary. In addition to this expertise, a software maintenance contract includes free access to software upgrades and ensures that you can use all of the features and capabilities of the specific solutions you own.
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What if I need to upgrade or have an issue
between upgrades?
There are 23+ GMC offices around the globe. We
provide excellent local support and consultancy services
in the language that is most comfortable for you. This
includes assisting customers in the upgrade process with
professional advice or solutions.
All customers who have a current maintenance contract
are entitled to upgrades to the latest version of the
GMC product modules they purchased. Contact your
Account Manager for more information on the upgrade
process and GMC support for that process.
How often can I expect new software releases
from GMC?
GMC’s Product Development team generally releases
one major version release every 16 months and 1 service
pack every 6 months.
Typical release includes:
• Major releases update anywhere between 200 – 250 features per release
• Total implemented functionality between 900 – 1000 features
If GMC solutions are so good, why do I need
support?
Because GMC Inspire is a vital element of your business
operation, enabling you to deliver world-class business-
critical multichannel communications to your customers, it is important to have a consistent source of support
to ensure minimal business disruption in line with your
business continuity management processes.
What if I only need minimal support a few
times per years?
It is entirely your choice as to whether you choose to
have a maintenance contract. However, GMC cannot
guarantee that support will be available to you when
you most need it should you not have a valid maintenance contract in place. This includes such things as
batch failure, corrupt files, or additional mission-critical
functionality your organization needs to remain competitive.
Will my maintenance contract cover training
of new staff?
The purpose of maintaining a current maintenance
contract is to support day-to-day operations and the
ongoing development of GMC Inspire capabilities within
your business.
We strongly recommend that any new staff either undertake on-site training or have access to our Electronic
Knowledge Portal (EKP) where they can take GMC
Inspire courses and gain certifications. These services
are included in some maintenance contracts. Details are
available from your Account Manager.
What if I choose not to have a maintenance
contract but still need support?
The support and maintenance team prioritizes resources
to first address the needs of customers who have valid
maintenance contracts in place. Should you have any
issues with no contract in place, the engineer will pass
your enquiry on to your Account Manager who will
contact you with more details.
GMC provides information to its customers via our
online community portal with the goal of enabling
self-service.
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What happens if I require support but my
maintenance contract has lapsed?
Only customers with valid maintenance contracts are
eligible to receive technical support and software help.
However, contracts that are renewed after expiring can
be backdated to start from the old expiry date. Your organization is only able to receive technical support and
software maintenance with a valid a support contract
Please contact your Account Manager for more details.
Can I upgrade GMC Inspire without a valid
maintenance contract?
Yes. However, you must buy all upgrades since your
maintenance contract lapsed to bring your installation
up to date.
With a valid maintenance contract, what is the
response workflow I can expect from GMC?
Incident
severity
Incident
Reporting
confirmation time
and start
work
Priority 1
Critical
incident
1 hour
Every 3 hours Immediately
Priority 2
High priority
incident
2 hour
Twice a day
After 1 hour
2 days
After 5 hours
Priority 3
4 hour
Medium
priority incident
Escalation
to 2nd level
support
What happens if I have a production stop
without a valid maintenance contract?
Why and how often do I need to upgrade my
GMC Inspire installation?
GMC technical support resources give priority to customers with current maintenance contracts in place.
Emergency hot-fix versions and emergency support may
be provided for a fee without a maintenance contract
but we cannot guarantee the timeliness of this support.
Due to changes in production environments such as
operating systems or hardware, it is advisable to implement all upgrades to keep up with market demands.
Future-proof
your investment
and achieve
peace of mind
GMC works hard to keep GMC Inspire current with
market demands. Staying current with upgrades means
you will have access to all new features and capabilities as they are released, improving your competitive
positioning in the marketplace.
GMC suggests that customers upgrade at least once
every three years. Technical support is only provided for
two versions previous to the current one. It should also
be noted that upgrading to a level that is more than
two versions ahead of your current implementation may
create a more complex upgrade process that requires
extensive testing to ensure that everything is functioning properly.
To learn more about the GMC
Inspire maintenance plans or
add-on services visit www.gmc.net
or contact [email protected]
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