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Cisco Support Services for CloudCenter

Service Definition

August 2016

Service Definition


Contents

About This Document .............................................................................................................................................. 3

Cisco Support Services for CloudCenter Overview.............................................................................................. 4

The Cisco CloudCenter Solution ........................................................................................................................... 4 Cisco Support Services for CloudCenter .............................................................................................................. 5 Choosing Your Support Type for Cisco CloudCenter ............................................................................................ 6

Cisco Solution Support for CloudCenter ............................................................................................................... 7

Cisco Solution Support for CloudCenter Areas of Expertise ................................................................................. 7 Cisco Solution Support for CloudCenter Customer Requirements ........................................................................ 8

Cisco and Solution Partner Product Coverage ..................................................................................................... 9

Core Products ....................................................................................................................................................... 9 Cisco Accountable Products ................................................................................................................................. 9 Solution Partner Accountable Products ................................................................................................................ 9 Processes for Resolving Solution-Level Issues .................................................................................................. 10 Opening a Cisco Solution Support Case for Cisco or Solution Partner Products ................................................ 10 Working with Cisco Solution Support Engineers ................................................................................................. 11

Appendix A: Cisco and Solution Partner Products and Coverage Levels ........................................................ 12

Appendix B: Coverage Limitations ...................................................................................................................... 12


About This Document

Read this document to learn about Cisco® Support Services for CloudCenter: Basic Support for CloudCenter,

Premuium Support for CloudCenter, and Cisco Solution Support for CloudCenter. Aspects of the solution and

services described in this document include:

● Cisco CloudCenter™ solution overview

● Comparison between the Cisco Support Services for CloudCenter

● Details about Cisco Solution Support for CloudCenter:

● Expertise of the Cisco Solution Support engineer

● Customer requirements

● Tiers of coverage

● Covered Cisco and solution partner products


Cisco Support Services for CloudCenter Overview

The Cisco CloudCenter Solution

Businesses today are experiencing significant increases in both the number of applications and the frequency with

which applications are deployed and versioned. At the same time, businesses want the ability to deploy and

manage their applications by transparently consuming infrastructure from data centers, private clouds, managed

private clouds, and public clouds.

The traditional approach of manually configuring the infrastructure environment and then deploying and configuring

the application doesn’t support the speed and scale objectives of a hybrid IT strategy. Businesses are looking for a

way to automate the deployment and management of their applications across any infrastructure environment

based on the needs of the application: an application-centric solution.

Cisco CloudCenter simplifies the process of modeling, deploying, and managing the full lifecycle of both new and

existing applications in data centers and private and public clouds. Cisco CloudCenter supports integration with a

variety of Cisco solutions, including Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (Cisco ACI), Cisco Metapod™, and

Cisco Unified Computing System™ (Cisco UCS®) Director solutions. Primary lifecycle features include:

Model

Graphically create infrastructure-independent, portable application profiles for new or existing

applications.

Combine infrastructure and application automation.

Support combinations of virtual machine components, cloud-provided services (for example, cloud

database vendors), and containers (for example, Docker) to create “composite” combinations.

Inherit application firewall settings for automated network microsegmentation.

Define the deployment and ongoing management and scaling requirements.

Deploy

Automate infrastructure provisioning along with full application stack deployment to user’s choice of data

center or cloud environment.

Enable fully automated creation and management of Cisco ACI policy objects specific to each application.

Optionally benchmark price and performance of application workloads across any data center, private or

public cloud, or instance type.

Support stretched deployment for applications that span data centers and clouds.

Manage and Govern

Enable common policy-based lifecycle management across data center and cloud environments.

Guide user placement, deployment, and runtime decisions.

Set use and cost limits centrally for data center or public cloud users.

Report on cost and use by application, cloud, user, or group.

Enterprise Ready

Deploy a single platform for IT organizations and global service providers.

Get integrated security.

Get highly scalable, distributed architecture.


Integrate with existing and popular tools and processes such as ITSM tools such as ServiceNow and a

variety of Cisco solutions, including Cisco ACI, Cisco UCS Director, and Cisco Metapod solutions.

Multitenant design supports flexible mix of isolation and sharing to optimize efficiency.

Broad Data Center and Cloud Support

Standardized support for more than 19 cloud environments

Data center: Cisco UCS Director, Cisco ACI, VMware vCenter, and other software-defined infrastructure

management solutions

Private cloud: OpenStack, CloudStack, VMware vCloud Director, Microsoft Azure, and Bracket Compute

Public cloud: Amazon Web Services (AWS) and AWS GovCloud, Microsoft Azure and Azure Government

cloud, Google Compute Platform, Dimension Data, IBM SoftLayer, Rackspace, VMware vCloud Air, and

others

Cisco Support Services for CloudCenter

Cisco Support Services for CloudCenter are essential to keeping business-critical applications available, highly

secure, and operating optimally. Customers have a choice of three support types for Cisco CloudCenter, offering

increasingly value-added capabilities:

Basic Support for CloudCenter

Premium Support for CloudCenter

Cisco Solution Support for CloudCenter

All three of these support types are term and content subscription support, meaning that the contracts are sold by

term rather than perpetual duration. Each of the three service types is embedded in the software (as opposed to

the hardware product) at the time of purchase.

See Table 1 for a comparison of features among the support types.

Table 1 Comparison of Cisco Support Services for CloudCenter

Item Basic Support for CloudCenter

Premium Support for CloudCenter


Capabilities

Root cause analysis Problem analysis Problem analysis Problem analysis

Centralized support, solution-level expertise, interoperability troubleshooting, issue isolation, coordination between Cisco and solution partner support teams, accountability for case management until issue resolved

No No Yes

Software updates and upgrades

Yes Yes Yes


Access to Cisco forums Knowledge Base

Yes Yes Yes

Access

Hours of operation 7 a.m.–7 p.m. local time for location of issue addressed, Monday–Friday

24x7 24x7

Email and web support Yes Yes Yes

Phone support No Yes Yes

Maximum number of technical contacts

No limit No limit No limit

Maximum number of cases per month

Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited

Response Times

Severity 1

Not included Within 1 hour, 24x7 Within 1 hour, 24x7

Severity 2

Not included Within 1 hour, 24x7 Within 1 hour, 24x7

Severity 3 8 business hours Within 1 hour, 8x5. NBD, outside of business hours

Within 1 hour, 8x5. NBD, outside of business hours

Severity 4 12 business hours Within 1 hour, 8x5. NBD, outside of business hours

Within 1 hour, 8x5. NBD, outside of business hours

Choosing Your Support Type for Cisco CloudCenter

Select the support type that best suits your organization’s needs by identifying your IT team profile and support

expectations:

Basic Support for CloudCenter: This support type is available at no charge with your Cisco CloudCenter

solution purchase. It is suited for customers that have an in-house IT team with strong expertise in their

cloud technologies and might only require business-hour access to Cisco Technical Assistance Center

(TAC) and same-day turnaround time. They also have the resources to coordinate between various cloud

vendor support teams if a multivendor issue arises.

Premium Support for CloudCenter: This support type is purchased when ordering the Cisco CloudCenter

solution. It is suited for customers that have an in-house IT team with expertise in their cloud technologies

but need the priority of 24/7 access to Cisco TAC and one-hour turnaround time. They also have the

resources to coordinate between various cloud vendor support teams if a multivendor issue arises.

Cisco Solution Support for CloudCenter: This support type is purchased when ordering the Cisco

CloudCenter solution. It is suited for customers that want to make sure their IT team stays focused on


their business and other initiatives, with Cisco leading support for both product and solution-level issues

across their cloud ecosystem of vendors. They want a Cisco primary point of contact with solution-level

expertise that coordinates support among any ecosystem vendors involved in the issue and accountability

for issue management from first call until resolution.


Because of the significant number of vendors with which you might be working in your cloud deployment, the Cisco

Solution Support for CloudCenter support type can be a primary element for helping you maintain solution

performance, reliability, and return on investment.

This service centralizes support across your CloudCenter environment. Whether there is an issue with a Cisco or

solution partner product, just call us. Our CloudCenter solution experts are the primary point of contact and own the

case from first call to resolution. This service includes both Cisco product support and solution-level support,

resolving complex issues in multivendor environments 41 percent more quickly than product support alone.1

Cisco Solution Support for CloudCenter helps you:

Innovate with confidence – Adopt new technologies to grow your business. Your Cisco expert engineers

are here to help you succeed.

Focus on your business – We take the lead to manage technology issues so you can focus on your

customers and business.

Resolve issues quickly – You can get the most out of your technology with a service that solves issues

faster than product support alone.

Features include:

Primary point of contact – Your team of Cisco solution experts is accountable for resolving your issue

no matter where it resides. You receive continuity of service from first call until you close your case.

Solution expertise – Our deep knowledge about how the solution works as a whole means we can often

resolve issues immediately, helping you get back to business quicker.

Multivendor coordination – Because of our strong relationships with global solution partners, we can

effectively manage support to best resolve your case. This eliminates the need for you to supervise

multiple support teams.

Fast access – Open a case even if you’re not sure you have an issue. There’s no need to identify your

problem before getting the help you need.

One service, broad coverage – You get both Cisco product support and Solution Support in one service

that’s easy to order and renew. Use the same familiar ordering process you use to buy Cisco product

support.

Cisco Solution Support for CloudCenter Areas of Expertise

The Cisco Solution Support engineer team focused on Cisco CloudCenter has subject matter experience in Cisco

CloudCenter architecture, administration, application modeling and profiles, application deployment, and

application management as well as broad expertise in data center architectures, data center networking, routing

and switching, cloud application architectures, and cloud infrastructures.


Specific areas of expertise include:

Cisco CloudCenter Manager

Cisco CloudCenter Orchestrator

Virtual machines

Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI)

Cisco Nexus® 9000 Series Switches

Infrastructure configuration

Database management

REST APIs

Disaster recovery

Security

Data center

Public cloud

Private cloud

To determine if a particular Cisco or solution partner product is covered by Cisco Support Services for

CloudCenter, see Appendix A, “Cisco and Solution Partner Products and Coverage Levels.”

Cisco Solution Support for CloudCenter Customer Requirements

The following requirements must be met in order to receive support through Cisco Solution Support:

● Fully Operational Environment: Cisco Solution Support for CloudCenter is a day-2 support service. There

are no features or deliverables associated with planning and/or building your Cisco CloudCenter

environment. We assume that your Cisco CloudCenter environment is up and running with major functions

in operation. If you need help planning and/or building your Cisco CloudCenter environment, contact an

authorized Cisco representative to learn about additional professional services.

● Cisco Solution Support Contracts: All Cisco products listed in Appendix A, “Cisco and Solution Partner

Products and Coverage Levels,” when used in your deployment of the solution must be covered by

Cisco Solution Support for CloudCenter in order to receive the solution-level support as described in this

service definition. Purchasing Cisco Solution Support for only some, but not all, products in Appendix A will

not provide complete entitlement for this service.

● Product Support Contracts: Product support is required for all components in your Cisco CloudCenter

solution.

● Cisco components in your Cisco CloudCenter solution are automatically covered by Cisco

product support when you purchase Cisco Solution Support, because this service is inclusive of the

required Cisco software support for those products.

● Solution partner components in your Cisco CloudCenter solution must be covered by their

product support with a service equivalent to Cisco Smart Net Total Care Service or Cisco Software

Support Services (Cisco Software Application Support, Software Application Support with

Upgrades, or Software Support Service). Solution partner product support contracts are necessary

for:

o Solution partners to provide expertise and directly resolve issues with their products

o Access to solution partner return merchandise authorizations (RMAs), software updates and

upgrades, knowledge base, and so on


o Cisco Solution Support engineers to coordinate issue resolution with solution partner

support teams

Note: The following services are not acceptable as required product support for Cisco or solution partner

products:

● Warranty services such as Cisco Warranty, Cisco Warranty Plus, Cisco Smart Net Total Care for

UCS Hardware Only, or any similar services from solution partners

● Community support programs

● Support contracts with a third party delivering their own branded support

Cisco and Solution Partner Product Coverage

The following section describes how individual products are covered within Cisco Solution Support for

CloudCenter. Product coverage is provided in three tiers:

Cisco products fall under the “Core products” tier.

Solution partner products fall under the “Cisco accountable” or “solution partner accountable” tiers.

Core Products

Core products are defined as (1) manufactured by Cisco or a Cisco original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and

(2) eligible for coverage by a Cisco product support contract.

Cisco is accountable (that is, we make sure support is provided) and responsible (i.e., we deliver support) for

providing support to resolve issues with core products according to the product service levels chosen in your Cisco

Solution Support contract.

Cisco Accountable Products

Cisco accountable products are defined as (1) solution partner products and (2) may be listed in Cisco Validated

Designs or reference architectures for Cisco CloudCenter.

Cisco is accountable for resolving issues with these solution partner products based on the product support

contract you have with them. We are able to offer support accountability for these products because we have

established a direct support relationship with these solution partners. We have working relationships with their

engineer and support teams, access to solution partner product training, and solution partner products represented

in Cisco support labs.

Solution partner support teams are responsible for providing support to resolve issues with their products according

to your product support contract with them.

Solution Partner Accountable Products

Solution Partner Accountable products are defined as (1) solution partner products and (2) may be listed in the

Cisco Marketplace and are often tested and certified by the solution technology partner for use in [name of

https://marketplace.cisco.com/


solution], or (3) solution partner products where we’ve seen significant customer deployments in the Tetration

Analytics solution.

Cisco takes your first call for solution issues with these solution partner products and coordinates issue resolution.

The solution partner support team is both accountable and responsible for providing support to resolve issues for

these products according to your product support contract with them.

For more details about solution and product coverage, see Appendix A, “Cisco and Solution Partner Product

Coverage Levels.”

Processes for Resolving Solution-Level Issues

This section describes how to open support cases and how Cisco Solution Support engineers work with you and

solution partners (Figure 1).

Figure 1 Cisco Solution Support Engagement Model

Opening a Cisco Solution Support Case for Cisco or Solution Partner Products

You or your Cisco brand resale partner opens a case using your Cisco Solution Support contract entitlement by

calling the Cisco 800 number (for severity 1 and 2 cases) or through the Cisco TAC online case tool (for severity 3

or 4 cases) and provides the following information:

The severity level of your service request

Cisco product serial number (for the product you think is involved in the issue or interacting with a solution partner product in the issue)

The name of your eligible Cisco solution

Description of the problem you are experiencing and symptoms (business effects, technology, and so on)

You will then be routed to the appropriate Cisco Solution Support engineer team. For complete details, review “Opening a Cisco Solution Support Service Request” on Cisco.com.

Note:

http://www.cisco.com/techsupport

http://video.cisco.com/detail/videos/featured-videos/video/4270744405001/cisco-solution-support:-requesting-a-case?autoStart=true&q=Solution%20Support&q=Solution%20Support&linkBaseURL=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.cisco.com%2Fdetail%2Fvideos%2Ffeatured-videos%2Fvideo%2F4270744405001%2Fcisco-solution-support%3A-requesting-a-case%3FautoStart%3Dtrue%26q%3DSolution%20Support%26q%3DSolution%20Support


● In some situations, you might not know what product is causing the issue or if there actually is an issue. You

can still open a Cisco Solution Support case indicating any product entitled to Cisco Solution Support. Your

engineer will determine if there is an issue and if so, will initiate the issue resolution process.

● At any time and for any reason, you can open a support case directly with a solution partner. If it is then

determined that Cisco Solution Support is a better way to address the issue, open a Cisco Solution Support

case on the Cisco product that is interacting with the solution partner product, and we will step in to begin

coordinating your case.

Working with Cisco Solution Support Engineers

Standard Work Flow

After you have opened a Cisco Solution Support case as described in the prior section, the Cisco Solution Support

engineer:

Coordinates support by working with you or, if you prefer, your Cisco brand service resale partner.

Resolves any issues that can be resolved based on their knowledge of the Cisco CloudCenter solution

through configuration best practices, Cisco Validated Designs, reference architectures, or other expertise,

experience, and/or internal information.

If the Cisco Solution Support engineer cannot directly resolve the solution issue, the engineer isolates the issue to

a product or products and:

Works with you to open a secondary case using your product support contract entitlement from Cisco

and/or the solution partner.

Coordinates issue resolution with Cisco and/or solution partner support teams, providing information

about what led to the request for the secondary case, as well as expert guidance on Cisco CloudCenter.

Note: If a solution partner support team cannot resolve the issue and is a member of the Cisco DevNet

program, the solution partner may open a service request with the Cisco Developer Support Service for

help in isolating and resolving the issue.

Alternate Work Flow

The alternate work flow applies when you first open a product support case directly with a solution partner support

team, then determine that the issue involves multiple products and requires Cisco Solution Support.

After you have opened a Cisco Solution Support case as described in the prior section:

Notify the Cisco Solution Support engineer that you are requesting solution-level support for a product

support case previously opened with a solution partner.

The Cisco Solution Support engineer works with you to become familiar with your case and manages

issue resolution from that point forward.

In both the standard and alternate work flows, your case remains open and active until you approve it for closure

by Cisco.


Appendix A: Cisco and Solution Partner Products and Coverage Levels

Table 2 shows coverage of products eligible under Cisco Solution Support for CloudCenter. Use the following

definitions to interpret the “coverage” column code:

C (core products): Cisco products covered by the service with Cisco accountable and responsible for

product issue resolution.

A (Cisco accountable products): Solution partner products covered by the service with Cisco

accountable and solution partners responsible for product issue resolution.

P (solution partner accountable): Solution partner products covered by the service with Cisco

coordinating issue resolution and solution partners accountable and responsible for product issue

resolution.

Table 2 Cisco and Solution Partner Products and Coverage Levels

Company Product Name Coverage Product Area Notes

Cisco Cisco CloudCenter Manager C Software

Cisco Cisco CloudCenter Orchestrator C Software

Cisco Cisco CloudCenter Virtual Machine C Software

Cisco Cisco ACI A Software/ hardware

VMware vCenter, vCloud Director, vCloud Air P Software

ServiceNow ITSM, ITOM, ITBM P Software

Appendix B: Coverage Limitations

This document defines Cisco Support Services for CloudCenter. The products covered by this service are listed in

Appendix A. However, there are instances where specific product capabilities implemented by you are not covered

by Cisco Support Services for CloudCenter. Base functionality of the listed products in Appendix A is covered by

Cisco Support Services for CloudCenter. However, unless specifically listed, it should not be assumed that all

licensed technologies related to listed products are covered by this service.

Printed in USA 08/16

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Cisco Support Services for CloudCenter Service Definition · cloud, Google Compute Platform, Dimension Data, IBM SoftLayer, Rackspace, VMware vCloud Air, and others Cisco Support