Premier Support Offerings Refined

New product support offerings and greater flexibility for customers that purchase Microsoft’s most comprehensive support service, Premier, will enable the company to tailor the program to better suit customer requirements. However, the company has pulled back from some programs that engage partners in supporting customers, and partner-oriented programs that it has promised are taking a long time to emerge.

Premier Overview

Premier—Microsoft’s support program for medium and large customers— includes the following four basic components:

• Account management, via staff at Microsoft who help customers develop a service plan to address their specific support needs, escalate problems that need more Microsoft resources, and provide reports to customers on their use of the service
• Problem resolution (also called “break-fix” support) to fix problems that are likely related to the customer’s Microsoft software
• Proactive services, such as technical workshops, system health checks, advisory