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IBM Europe, Middle East, and Africa Hardware
Announcement ZG10-0214
IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation
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availability. System configuration and inventory information collected by Electronic
Service Agent also can be viewed on the secure Electronic Services Web portal and
used to improve problem determination and resolution between the customer and
the IBM support team. As part of an increased focus to provide even better service
to IBM customers, Electronic Service Agent tool configuration and activation comes
standard with the system. In support of this effort, a new HMC External Connectivity
security white paper has been published, which describes data exchanges between
the HMC and the IBM Service Delivery Center (SDC) and the methods and protocols
for this exchange. To read the white paper and prepare for Electronic Service Agent
installation, go to the Reference Guide section at
http://www.ibm.com/support/electronic
Select your country.
Click on "IBM Electronic Service Agent Connectivity Guide."
Benefits
Increased uptime: Electronic Service Agent is designed to enhance the
warranty and maintenance service by providing faster hardware error reporting
and uploading system information to IBM Support. This can optimize the time
monitoring the symptoms, diagnosing the error, and manually calling IBM Support
to open a problem record. And 24 x 7 monitoring and reporting means no more
dependency on human intervention or off-hours customer personnel when errors are
encountered in the middle of the night.
Security: Electronic Service Agent is secure in monitoring, reporting, and storing
the data at IBM. Electronic Service Agent securely transmits via the Internet (HTTPS
or VPN) and can be configured to communicate securely through gateways to
provide customers a single point of exit from their site. Communication between
the customer and IBM only flows one way; activating Service Agent does not enable
IBM to call into a customer's system. System inventory information is stored in a
secure database, which is protected behind IBM firewalls. The customer's business
applications or business data is never transmitted to IBM.
More accurate reporting: Because system information and error logs are
automatically uploaded to the IBM Support Center in conjunction with the service
request, customers are not required to find and send system information, decreasing
the risk of misreported or misdiagnosed errors. Once inside IBM, problem error data
is run through a data knowledge management system and knowledge articles are
appended to the problem record.
Customized support: Using the IBM ID entered during activation, customers can
view system and support information in the "My Systems" and "Premium Search"
sections of the Electronic Services Web site.
The Electronic Services Web portal is a single Internet entry point that replaces the
multiple entry points traditionally used to access IBM Internet services and support.
This Web portal enables you to gain easier access to IBM resources for assistance in
resolving technical problems. The newly improved My Systems and Premium Search
functions make it even easier for Electronic Service Agent-enabled customers to
track system inventory and find pertinent fixes.
My Systems provides valuable reports of installed hardware and software using
information collected from the systems by IBM Electronic Service Agent. Reports
are available for any system associated with the customer's IBM ID. Premium
Search combines the function of search and the value of Electronic Service Agent
information, providing advanced search of the technical support knowledgebase.
Using Premium Search and the Service Agent information that has been collected
from the system, customers are able to see search results that apply specifically to
their systems.
For more information on how to utilize the power of IBM Electronic Services, visit the
following Web site or contact an IBM Systems Services Representative