Support scope
Support for billing and subscription management-related issues as well as technical break-fix issues is available at all support levels. Advisory and account management services are available at the Enterprise support levels.
Products and services covered:
- Microsoft Azure services released to General Availability are covered by all support plans.
- Microsoft Azure Public previews are covered by all support plans.
- Non-Microsoft technologies, when provided as part of an Azure product feature, are covered by all support plans, such as the Azure SDK and sample code for Python.
Severity and responsiveness
Initial Response Time is the period from when you submit your support request to when a Support Engineer contacts you and starts working on your support request. The Initial Response Time varies with both the support plan and the Business Impact of the request (also known as Severity).
| SEVERITY LEVEL | CUSTOMER’S SITUATION | INITIAL RESPONSE TIME | EXPECTED CUSTOMER RESPONSE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Severity A |
Critical business impact Customer’s business has significant loss or degradation of services, and requires immediate attention. 2 |
Developer: N/A1 Standard: <= 1 hour Enterprise3: <= 1 hour Azure Rapid Response (ARR)3: <= 15 minutes 24x7 access |
When you select Severity A you confirm that the issue has critical business impact, with severe loss and degradation of services.The issue demands an immediate response, and you commit to continuous, 24x7 operation, every day with the support team until resolution, otherwise, 21vianet may at its discretion decrease the Severity to level B. You also ensure that 21vianet has your accurate contact information. |
| Severity B |
Moderate business impact Customer’s business has moderate loss or degradation of services but work can reasonably continue in an impaired manner. |
Developer: <= 4 hour Standard: <= 4 hour Enterprise3: <= 2 hour Azure Rapid Response (ARR)3: <= 2 hour Business hours access only |
When you select Severity B you confirm that the issue has moderate impact to your business with loss and degradation of services, but workarounds enable reasonable, albeit temporary, business continuity. The issue demands an urgent response every day with the support team until resolution, otherwise, 21vianet may at its discretion decrease the severity to level C. You also ensure that 21vianet has your accurate contact information. |
| Severity C |
Minimum business impact Customer’s business is functioning with minor impediments of services. |
Developer: <= 8 hour Standard: <= 8 hour Enterprise3: <= 4 hour Azure Rapid Response (ARR)3: <= 4 hour Business hours access only |
When you select Severity C you confirm that the issue has minimum impact to your business with minor impediment of service. You also ensure that 21vianet has your accurate contact information. |
1 For technical support, maximum severity for Developer support is Severity B.
2 For non-technical support (Billing, subscription, quota, general inquiry, ICP support) of all support plans, maximum severity is B.
3 Advanced services in Enterprise support plan (Unified Support) should be purchased through 21vianet technology licensor, please contact your customer success account manager (CSAM) for details.
Support Business Hours
- Technical Support:
- Severity A (crisis): 24 x 7.
- Severity B/C:
- Technical support of IaaS: 09:00–24:00 (all year round).
- Technical support of PaaS: 09:00–24:00 (except weekends, public holidays).
- Enterprise advanced support: 09:00–18:00 (except weekends, public holidays).
- Billing, subscription, quota, general inquiry, ICP support: 09:00–18:00 (except weekends, public holidays).
Note: The time above is Beijing time (UTC+8)
Version history
1.4 Updated: April 2023
1.3 Updated: June 2021
1.2 Updated: November 2018
1.1 Updated: September 2016 More Details
1.0 Online: September 2014
