MICROSOFT SUPPORT LIFECYCLE BLOG : Programs

Is Microsoft really going to keep pricing for Custom Support flat in 2009?

Jared Proudfoot — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 03:39:00 GMT

We've received many questions regarding our recent announcement to keep Custom Support prices flat for the 2009 contract year. In resposne to this we've compiled the following list of Frequently Asked Questions:

Is Microsoft really going to keep pricing for Custom Support flat in 2009?
The answer is YES…. Microsoft is aware that customers are making hard financial choices in today’s economy. Every day there is news of Fortune 100 company layoffs, downsizing and reorganization. Microsoft has announced flat year-over-year (YOY) pricing for Custom Support for select products and service packs in Custom Support for 2009.

What IS Custom Support anyway, I never heard of it!
The Custom Support program provides customers with the opportunity to receive support on legacy versions of some Microsoft products and service packs that have reached the end of support.

Why is Microsoft doing this?
To respond to the current market downturn and customer needs, Microsoft is not going to increase the price for the 2009 contract year, but will maintain the 2008 pricing.

How does this decision help customers?
This price freeze not only provides cost savings to Microsoft customers but enables them to maintain support on older versions of Microsoft products until they have had the opportunity to complete their migration to supported versions.

Is Custom Support available for ALL legacy Microsoft products?
No, Custom Support is currently only available for a select number of products. For details on which products are covered, please contact your Microsoft Technical Account Manager or other Microsoft Account Representative.

Can any customer purchase Custom Support?
Only customers enrolled in Premier Support can purchase Custom Support. To learn more about Premier Support, point your browser here:
http://www.microsoft.com/services/Microsoftservices/srv_premier.mspx

I still have questions and need more information. Who do I contact?
If you still have questions, please contact your Microsoft Technical Account Manager or other Microsoft Account Representative. They will be able to provide you with additional details on the Custom Support program and the impact of this annoucement.

I hope this information helps to clarify the situation. If you have other questions, please feel free to leave a comment to this posting! We will do our best to answer them.

*This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.*

Everything you always wanted to know about Extended Hotfix Support for Daylight Saving Time enrollment but were afraid to ask!

gloriav — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 19:29:00 GMT

The Microsoft Support Lifecycle team gets lots of questions about Extended Hotfix Support for Daylight Saving Time (EHS for DST). Although this offering was initiated in 2007, there still seems to be some confusion around its purpose and how to obtain it.

In an earlier post we talked about Extended Hotfix Support and its purpose: a program that provides customers with the ability to request non-security hotfixes for products in the Extended Support phase of the lifecycle. EHS for DST is slightly different, but related.

What is the history behind Extended Hotfix Support for Daylight Saving Time? Daylight Saving time (DST), and "Summer Time" in much of Europe, is the practice of moving local time forward one hour in the spring and backwards in the autumn. These spring and fall shifts to DST are different between northern and southern hemispheres. The start of DST in the northern hemisphere is in March or April (depending on the country/continent), and ending in October or November. In the southern hemisphere, the changes are the opposite, with DST beginning in October and ending in March or April. Generally, DST is not observed in Asia and Africa, and parts of Central and South America. Unless certain updates are applied to your computer, the time zone settings for your computer's system clock may be incorrect during this four-week period. In particular, you must make sure that both your Windows operating system and your calendar programs are updated.

Daylight Saving Time hotfixes can be applied to your computer to correct the time zone settings that get “out of synch” because of the DST time changes; and are available for products in the Mainstream phase of the lifecycle free of charge. To obtain DST hotfixes for products in the Extended Support phase, customers must purchase Extended Hotfix Support for Daylight Saving Time. EHS for DST entitles them to receive daylight saving time hotfixes for all affected products in the Extended Support phase. The cost is $4,000 USD and the program is open to all Microsoft customers. A list of affected products is available here.

COMMON QUESTIONS:

When will my Extended Hotfix Support for DST contract expire?

All EHS DST support contracts expire on the 31st of December of the calendar year, so any contract signed during 2008 will expire on December 31, 2008.

After I enroll, how do I get the hotfixes?

Once you enroll you will receive access to the Microsoft Connect web site where you can download the appropriate updates.

My company purchased a Extended Hotfix Support for DST contract in October 2007. I thought the contract was good for 12 months. Do I have to purchase another contract to receive 2008 DST updates?

Your contract ended on December 31, 2007. EHS for DST contracts signed on or after January 1, 2008 will end on the 31st of December of the calendar year in which the contract commences; so you must purchase another contract for 2008.

Additional information can be found here:

Let us know if the explanation above helped you better understand Daylight Saving Time Extended Hotfix Support!

*This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.*

What is Extended Hotfix Support?

Jared Proudfoot — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 04:25:00 GMT

As I mentioned in an earlier posting, during the Extended Support phase we no longer provide non-security hotfixes without enrollment in the Extended Hotfix Support program. Simply put, the Extended Hotfix Support program provides the ability to request non-security hotfixes for products that are in the Extended Support phase.

Remember, Extended Hotfix Support (EHS) only provides the opportunity to request a non-security hotfix for a new bug discovered during the Extended Support phase. It has no impact on a customer’s ability to request support, security updates, or other non-security hotfixes created during the Mainstream Support phase.

To enroll in EHS, customers must already have Premier Support. In addition, enrollment in the program must occur within the first 90 days of the product entering the Extended Support phase. If the customer misses this deadline, there may not be an opportunity to enroll in EHS again.

The only exception to the 90 day enrollment rule is for customers with Software Assurance (SA). Customers with Software Assurance on select products are eligible for a benefit which includes the program fee for Extended Hotfix Support and allows enrollment at any time. Essentially, this means that the SA customers only need to sign the appropriate paperwork and pay the per hotfix fee. The products that are included in this benefit are: Microsoft Office Professional, Microsoft Windows Client, Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM), Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS), and Microsoft Windows Server.

Pricing for Extended Hotfix Support consists of an annual program fee, plus an additional fee for each non-security hotfix they receive. Non-security hotfixes produced during the Extended Support phase will not be made available to other customers in the program, without enrollment in EHS or the per hotfix fee. This is to ensure that all customers are treated equal and are being charged the same fees for each hotfix.

Whew… That’s a lot of stuff to cover. I hope it makes the program easier to understand, though. :)

*This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.*