What is Microsoft Support for Business.
WHAT IS MICROSOFT SUPPORT FOR BUSINESS?
Microsoft Support for Business is made up of technology-specific support and business-wide programs like Premier and Unified. Microsoft Support for Business provides mission-critical support to prevent costly downtime. Find the MS support that best fits your organization’s budget, Microsoft technologies, and resolution time needs.
Microsoft Unified Support
Microsoft Unified Support fundamentally changes the enterprise support experience, providing organization-wide coverage for all Microsoft products.
Microsoft Unified Support affords you the peace of mind knowing your Microsoft products – and the people who use them – are supported, so you can focus on accelerating your enterprise. Compare Unified to Microsoft Premier Support.
UNIFIED SUPPORT |
DATASHEET |
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Best fit for: | Enterprises |
Industries: | Financial Services, Healthcare, Government, Automotive, Manufacturing, Retail |
Cost: | Premium+ (Starts at $25,000 per year) |
Advantages: | One agreement covers all departments, as needed support across all Microsoft products |
Disadvantages: | Smaller EA customers reporting subpar experience, wasted support budget if not using all MS products, 7-16% price increase year over year |
Key Takeaway: | 3-year Unified cost forecast is a must |
Microsoft Premier Support
Microsoft Premier Support gives you access to an always-on global network of specialists with deep knowledge of Microsoft products. This Microsoft product expertise allows you to optimize the value of your Microsoft investment with MS Premier Support services.
As a result, getting more done, faster, with less distraction to your IT operations. With MS Premier Support, your enterprise can drive business outcomes, with a dedicated partnership helping you focus on your business goals, not your IT’s uptime. Compare Premier to Microsoft Unified Support.
PREMIER SUPPORT |
DATASHEET |
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Best fit for: | Enterprises |
Industries: | Financial Services, Healthcare, Government, Automotive, Manufacturing, Retail |
Cost: | Premium (Starts at $15,000 per year) |
Advantages: | Menu style – choose your technologies and buy hours, predictable 5% price increase year over year |
Disadvantages: | Smaller EA customers no longer qualify, Mid-size EA customers reporting subpar experience, existing Premier clients will need to move to Unified or alternative by 2023 |
Key Takeaway: | Still available 2021-2022 |
Azure Support
Azure Professional Direct (ProDirect) Support is for businesses deploying business-critical, strategic applications on Microsoft Azure.
Billing and subscription support is included with your Microsoft Azure subscription, which you can submit through the Microsoft Azure admin portal.
AZURE SUPPORT |
DATASHEET |
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Best fit for: | Medium and Large Businesses |
Industries: | Financial Services, Healthcare, Government, Automotive, Manufacturing, Retail |
Cost: | Premium (Starts at $12,000 per year) |
Advantages: | As needed reactive Azure support, escalation management, pooled account management |
Disadvantages: | 1 hour response time for critical issues, credit card payment only |
Key Takeaway: | Baseline support for single application where 1 hour response may be too long for some |
Microsoft Professional Support (pay-per-incident)
If you need technical support for your business on a smaller scale, Professional Support is available as a single pay-per-incident (PPI) or a 5-pack of incidents.
Microsoft experts help you troubleshoot a specific problem, error message or functionality that isn’t working as expected. Before buying, search for your product to confirm it is still supported.
PRO SUPPORT |
DATASHEET |
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Best fit for: | Small and Medium Businesses |
Industries: | All |
Cost: | Standard ($2,000 per 5 pack) |
Advantages: | Fixed cost per incident, good for 1 year |
Disadvantages: | Lowest tier of Microsoft support, tickets can languish months since time to resolution (TTR) not relevant, heavily offshored, “reasonable efforts” and unresolved case billing at Microsoft’s discretion |
Key Takeaway: | Inexpensive but slow resolution |
Microsoft 365 Support
Premier Support Microsoft 365 provides elevated Microsoft 365 support, including Microsoft-managed support from a cloud expert, exclusive proactive services for your Microsoft 365 environment, and highest priority reactive support.
Basic technical support is included with your Microsoft Office 365 subscription, which you can submit through the Microsoft Office 365 online portal.
OFFICE 365 SUPPORT |
DATASHEET |
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Best fit for: | Medium and Large Businesses |
Industries: | Financial Services, Healthcare, Government, Automotive, Manufacturing, Retail |
Cost: | Premium (Starts at $15,000 per year) |
Advantages: | Buy the M365 hours you need for the year, predictable 5% price increase year over year |
Disadvantages: | Smaller EA customers no longer qualify, Mid-size EA customers reporting subpar experience, existing Premier for M365 clients will need to move to Unified or alternative by 2023 |
Key Takeaway: | Still available 2021-2022 |
Dynamics 365 Support
Professional Direct Support for Dynamics 365 is for medium to large businesses operating a 24/7 production environment requiring access to Dynamics experts for advisory and escalation services.
Basic technical support is included with your Microsoft Dynamics 365 subscription, which you can submit through the Microsoft Dynamics 365 admin center.
DYNAMICS SUPPORT |
DATASHEET |
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Best fit for: | Medium and Large Businesses |
Industries: | All |
Cost: | Standard ($3,600 for 20 users, per year) |
Advantages: | 1 hour response time for critical incidents |
Disadvantages: | 24/7 support only for critical incidents, technical account manager (TAM) is pooled |
Key Takeaway: | Baseline support for single application |
Microsoft Support for Business
Microsoft provides a variety of plans to help you get the business support you need, from premium support available 24/7, to pay-per-incident. If your organization doesn’t have a paid support plan, explore your options and choose the Microsoft support that best fits your business.