What is IBM Rational
eSupport?
IBM® and
Rational® software have made significant investments in our
Web support tools, which will help dramatically reduce the time
that your staff spends on software support tasks. We have an extensive
range of technical documents, manuals, news flashes and more at
your fingertips. And there is much more than information on the
IBM Software Support Web sites.
For
example, you can:
- Search
extensive product knowledge bases
- Download
software fixes and patches
- Submit
and track problem reports online
- Personalize
your support experience using the My Support portal and RSS
feeds
- Translate
support information into your language
- Find
links to other areas of interest
This is truly
your one-stop shop for your software support needs! Take advantage
of the IBM Rational eSupport web sites today by visiting ibm.com/software/rational/support/.
Organized for your
convenience
Highlights
of our design changes
The IBM Software
Support Web sites are organized in three levels, each with full
Web support functions. Depending on your needs, you can go to:
- IBM
Software Level:
All software products at ibm.com/software/support
with links to IBM brands including
Information Management, Lotus®,
Rational®,
Tivoli®,
and WebSphere®
plus an AZ
list of all IBM Software Support pages
- IBM
Software Division Level:
Brand software support sites, such as Rational
software's, with links to all of Rational's product support
pages
- Individual
Product Level:
Individual product
support pages such as ClearCase,
ClearQuest,
Functional
Tester, Requisite
Pro, Rational
Application Developer for WebSphere Software or Rose
Plus
the IBM & Rational eSupport teams have built additional
pages to help you achieve your self-help support tasks: |
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Rational
Site guide |
- this is Rational support's "one place for support".
Here we link to and explain all the various support content
offerings and services we provide our customers. |
|
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Support
by product |
- this
page contains a complete alphabetical listing of all supported
IBM software products. |
 |
 |
Rational
Licensing |
-
here you will find details on the new IBM Rational license
key fulfillment service. IBM registration required |
 |
 |
Rational
downloads and upgrades |
- on
this page, customers are able to select their product from
a table of all available downloads, upgrades and fixes. Note:
current full-product downloads & upgrades may be found
on Passport
Advantage Online. IBM registration required |
 |
 |
Rational
documentation |
-
this page contains links to current versions of Rational product
documentation housed in the IBM
Publication Center, plus links to legacy documentation
such as Online manuals, install guides & additional documentation
for previous Rational software product releases. |
 |
 |
Rational
Premium Support Services |
- this
page contains an overview of the Premium Support Services.
Premium Support provides your company with a custom, personalized
approach to technical support through a dedicated Senior Technical
Support Engineer who will serve as your single point of contact
into technical support for all IBM Rational software products.
|
 |
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Rational
Beta programs |
- this area provides full details on what the IBM Rational
Beta programs are and how to participate in this very important
testing process. |
 |
 |
Rational
Contact support |
- this
page contains complete web, phone and fax contact information
for all Rational support offices. |
(These
above links are also available from the Rational
software support homepage.)
Search to solve
problems
Using
our new Search knowledge base page
The Software
Support Web sites provide search capabilities that include a wide
range of resources. For example, you can find documents to help
you solve installation, setup and operational problems—or learn
about IBM software products through product documentation.
There are
many ways to search the Rational support areas of IBM.Com:
- Brand-level:
- Product-level:
- Navigate
to the product
support page of the Rational software product you are
interesting in and either search or navigate to the self-help
information just for that product.
- Each
product support page has product-specific links to:
- Focused
search for just that product’s Technotes and authorized
program analysis reports (APARs), or documented software
defects.
-
Focused search for just that product’s downloads of
software fixes or patches.
- Focused
search for just that product’s learning documents.
- Informational
resources such as product manuals, IBM Redbooks® and
white papers.
-
Flashes, which provide important product news or product
alerts.
- Plus
an "Other valuable resources" area with additional
self-help links.
Download software
fixes and patches
Using our new Downloads search page
Want to access
the latest product updates? The IBM Rational software support
sites allow you to find the latest software fixes and patches.
Also, you can access demos, trials, betas and sample code. Some
sites offer IBM Download Director to package multiple downloads
for your convenience.
There are
many ways to search the Rational support areas of IBM.Com:
- Brand-level:
- Product-level:
- Navigate
to the product
support page of the Rational software product you are
interesting in and either search or navigate to the download
files just for that product.
- Each
product support page has product-specific links to:
- Focused
searches for just that product’s downloads of software
fixes or patches.
-
Links to All
Rational downloads & upgrades.
- Informational
resources such as product manuals, IBM Redbooks® and
white papers.
-
Flashes, which provide important product news or product
alerts.
- Plus
an "Other valuable resources" area with additional
self-help links.
Submit problem reports
online with the Electronic Service Request (ESR) tool
Overview
of the ESR tool
An important
function of the IBM Software Support Web sites is submitting Problem
Management Records (PMRs) to IBM support. If you have a valid
Software Maintenance agreement, you can easily manage your PMRs
on the Web using the Electronic
Service Request (ESR) tool. It has an improved user interface
and task-based navigation that allows you to:
- Submit,
update and track PMRs
- Attach
files to your PMRs
- Receive
e-mail notifications when your PMR is updated
- View,
print and download PMR reports in spreadsheet format
- Manage
Authorized Caller lists for the ESR tool, if you are your company's
Site Technical Contact (STC)
To access
the ESR
tool, you must first have an IBM User ID and password. Then,
you must be listed as an Authorized Caller in the ESR tool. Your
company's Site Technical Contact (STC) can add your name to the
list, or you can nominate yourself, using the self-nomination
form in the ESR
tool. After you’re authorized by your STC and added to the
list, you simply use your IBM user ID and password to access the
tool
More
ESR details on this CD
Personalize your
support experience
My Support
My
Support tour
Another
feature available through the IBM Software Support Web sites
is personalization of your support experience using My
Support.
This capability,
provided by IBM WebSphere Portal Server, enables you to:
- Develop
your own profile based on products of interest to you
- View
those product pages within My Support
- Receive
weekly e-mail notices for products that you’re interested
in, with links to the latest downloads, flashes, Technotes
and other documents
More
My Support details on this CD
IBM Software Support
RSS Feeds 
These RSS
feeds allow you to stay up-to-date with the latest content
created for specific IBM Software products. Feeds are updated
daily.
For more
information on RSS and how to get started, visit our RSS
help page.
More
RSS details on this CD
Translate information
into your own language
The IBM Software
Support Web sites offer dynamic translation capabilities for nine
languages through IBM WebSphere Translation Server. To help you
work in your own language, you can translate English content and
navigational pages into French, German, Italian, Spanish, Brazilian
Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional
Chinese. Simply select the appropriate language and click Translate
on any IBM
Software support web site.

You'll find the Translation tool in the
right column of all
support pages.
Passport Advantage
Online
To assist
you in managing your account and installed base of IBM software,
each Passport
Advantage and Passport
Advantage Express authorized customer with active Software
Maintenance can access Passport
Advantage Online to download the latest software full-product
upgrades to new versions and releases.
Get started now!
If you haven’t
already registered at the IBM Software Support Web sites, it’s
easy! Complete
the brief web form to create your own single IBM User ID and
password. Use this information to sign in to multiple locations
on the ibm.com Web sites.
- Registering
lets you personalize your My
Support page.
- Authorized
and registered users can access and use entitled services (
indicated by a key symbol -
- next to a task or content section on IBM.Com).
- Entitled
Content access requires an active Software Maintenance agreement
or other support coverage.
- Electronic
problem submission using the ESR
tool requires authorization by your company's Site Technical
Contact.
To start using
these IBM Rational Customer Support services, please visit:
ibm.com/rational/support/
For more information
on the IBM Passport Advantage program, please visit:
ibm.com/software/passportadvantage/
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