eGuide home      Rational software      Rational Services & solutions      Rational Support & downloads      My IBM  
IBM Support Notifications
On the Web

My Support overview  |  My Support online tour


Support Notifications

Coming in June 2008, the new Support Notifications subscription service will replace the notification function on ibm.com’s MySupport site. This new service is designed to keep subscribers informed of new or updated support content, such as publications, hints and tips, technical notes, product flashes (alerts) and downloads and drivers. The new tool offers several benefits over the current My Support tool.

Here are some highlights:


  • More options for frequency of notification. Emails can be sent weekly or daily - My Support is limited to weekly
  • Choose between HTML or Text formatted email notification - not available with My Support
  • Provides option to store notices in personal Web folders defined by the subscriber, providing an automatic archive of notices – Note: Your migrated MySupport subscription definitions will be stored in a MySupport folder for ease of maintenance for you. Your email notifications will continue based on the criteria in those subscriptions.
  • Choose delivery via RSS, using your favorite RSS reader - not available in My Support
  • Ability to subscribe to notifications of a specific product directly from that product’s support page - not available in My Support
  • Subscription layout is similar to the layout of content on the product support site making subscription choices clearer - improvement over My Support
  • Ability for IBM support to notify subscribers of critical technical support Alerts independent of frequency of notice selection - not possible with My Support
  • Built on IBM’s strategic technology platform for continued future enhancement

Please note that your current MySupport subscriptions will be migrated to the new Support Notifications facility. After you receive confirmation of your subscriptions moving to Support Notifications, you may wish to edit your subscription to take advantage of the advanced functions available in the new tool.

What is it ?
The new strategic web-based function for managing your subscriptions to support content. 
As the strategic subscription function – you will manage your subscriptions to that support content for which you want to be notified, with a common interface and have the same delivery options available to you, regardless of the product.
Support Notifications has been in place for most IBM systems platforms since 2007.
This new function will replace MySupport notifications in June 2008.

Why should I subscribe ?
You may want to receive proactive notifications to stay informed of important new information related to your IBM products.
You want to be notified of any HIPER fixes released for your products.
You may have temporary and/or occasional needs to be notified if a specific technical document is updated (such as changes to a document describing a problem you are experiencing).

When should I use it ?
Today - Create your subscriptions today for the products available.
Add a subscription for new products as you purchase them.
Add a subscription for specific documents of interest to you.

Where do I find it ?
Look for the box on the right side of most Systems product support pages – “Stay Informed”, or go to "http://www.ibm.com/support/mysupport/".


Q1. What is changing?
A1. The IBM product support Website is launching a new Support Notifications subscription service that provides improved features and function over that previously offered through My Support.

Q2. Why is IBM making this change?
A2. This new Support Notifications subscription service is built on a technology platform that enables immediate benefits over that provided by My Support. It is also the strategic platform for support notifications being deployed over time across IBM as part of a broader common services initiative, which has an objective to reduce complexity and bring more synergy to support services across the IBM product portfolio.

Q3. What are some examples of the benefits of this new subscription service over My Support?
A3. The new subscription service gives you more options for notification of your subscriptions. Profiling is also easier with the new tool.  For example, from anywhere on the Systems Support site, you can use the Stay Informed box in the right-navigation area.
  
When you click “Subscribe” you will be asked to sign-in with your IBM ID and password. If you do not have one, you will be given the opportunity to create one. Once you have signed in, the subscription service will automatically assume the product information from the product support page you came from for your subscription criteria. For example if you are on the product support page below for the IBM System Storage DS4800 Midrange Disk System, a Stay Informed box like the one above will be displayed in the right navigation area.


Q4. What happens to my current My Support subscription?
A4.  Your existing subscription definitions will be moved to the new tool. Once that migration is complete, your notifications will be sent from the new tool. They will no longer be sent via MySupport, so you should NOT see duplicate messages. Your existing MySupport subscription definitions will be stored in a “MySupport” folder in the new tool so you can review and modify them as needed.  As there are additional functions available in the new tool, you may want to review your subscriptions after the migration to take advantage of the new functions.

Q5. If my current subscriptions are being moved, why should I bother editing my subscriptions on Support Notifications?
A5. Support Notifications offers advantages today over My Support and it is built on IBM’s strategic technology for support notification subscription services, as part of IBM’s strategic initiatives to provide common services across our product portfolio. Future improvements and development efforts will be targeted to Support Notifications and Support Notifications will become the visible “Stay informed” subscription service on the IBM support sites. If you don’t make any changes, you will continue to receive notifications based on the criteria in your current MySupport subscriptions. To take advantage of the advanced functions, such as different frequency of notifications, RSS feeds, etc, you will need to edit your subscriptions to select the desired options.
 
Q6. What actions would you suggest I take?
A6. None at this time. One you receive confirmation that your MySupport subscriptions have been migrated to the new tool, you can edit those subscriptions to take advantage of the new functions.

Q7. Should I discontinue (unsubscribe) to My Support?
A7. That is not necessary. Once your MySupport subscriptions have been migrated to the new tool, the email facility on MySupport will be automatically discontinued and replaced with your new Support Notifications subscription service email.

CD Publication Date: June 2008
© Copyright IBM Corporation 
2008