Tac Best Practices

Global CX Centers
Technical Assistance Center (TAC)
Speaker name
Speaker title
TAC Global Capabilities
Providing superior, globally consistent services
London
Munich
Moscow
Kortrijk Krakow
Brussels Dalian Seoul Tokyo
Boxborough
San Jose
RTP Beijing
Richardson
Amman New Delhi
Mexico City Barranquilla Bangalore

Costa Rica
Rio De
Janeiro
Sydney
Global
Regional/Local Language
© 2018 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Partner Confidential
TAC Fast Facts 11 JD Power
“Technology and 105
Digital Support Industry
Awards since 2010
Support” Certifications
CISCO issues solved software downloads

3M+ per month
SUPPORT
4.5M
unique visitors 86% online every
month technical documents
WEBSITE per month 185K+ downloaded per month
TAC Supports… 5,800+ TAC engineers, advisors, & support Automated Issue
180+ Countries Detection
handled 2.2M cases (annually)
22 Locations 7,000 digitized scripts
10+ Languages 40% cases using digitized knowledge
achieved a 65 Net Promoter Score
1M+ alerts
earned 1,554 CCIEs Lab Automation
issued 357 Patents 42% lab capacity increase
$8.5M lab cost avoidance
Updated 12 Apr 18
Collaborative
Partner Support
Services (PSS)
Collaborative Partner Support Services (PSS)
• Partners are the single point of contact, supporting the customer at all
times throughout the resolution process
• Partners provide Level 1 and 2 support, managing all communications
with customer
• Partner may open an Cisco Service Request for Level 3 support
Refer to the legal service description for more details

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/index.html
Technical Assistance Center (TAC)
Cisco's Technical Assistance Center solves our customers and partners toughest
problems. The global team ensures that partners get expected business outcomes,
providing a superior customer experience.
Technical Assistance Center
Customer Support Engineers (CSEs)
Team Attributes Value
• Highly-trained TAC network and application software Engineers

worldwide
Technical Expertise
• Computer science/electrical engineering degrees
Timely issue resolution
• Engineers average five years of industry experience
• 2600+CCIE professionals
• Continuous internal technical training and rotations averaging 27

Broad expertise in Cisco technologies
hours/quarter
• Expertise in a broad array of technologies Ownership of complex issues
Rapid fault isolation in a complex environment

• Trained in Kepner-Tregoe adaptive troubleshooting methodology
leading to accurate resolution
7
Technical Services- Opening a Service Request/ Severity
For Severity 3 or 4, open your service request by web
TAC Technology Expertise
Support Case
Manager
Automated diagnostic capabilities creates a service
request
Smart Call
Home
For low-level severity or determining if Severity 3 is
necessary; also for common questions and configuration
assistance
Global Service
Communities &
Logistics and Ops
Social Media
Contact Center Services (GSLO)
Open any service request via tac@cisco.com
Email
Phone
For Severity 1 or 2 network-down emergency, open service
request by telephone via country-specific numbers
• TAC Service Request
• Process Overview
• Common Service Request types
• Escalations
Overview • Best Practices
TAC Service Request
Workflow Overview
When creating a new Service Request, provide
TAC Service Request (SR) the following information:
– Service Request Initiation Best Practices • Service contract number and product serial
number
• Business Impact or Urgency
• Description of problem and symptoms (only one
problem description per service request)
• Software versions and types of equipment
• Network topology diagram
• Output from show tech command, if applicable or
available, and all other relevant outputs
• Be as accurate as possible to ensure that your
case is routed to the appropriate queue/engineer
• To capture all email communications with TAC
please copy emails to attach@cisco.com with SR
number in the email subject field
• To open a Severity 1 & 2 SR, open the service
request by phone
TAC Service Request (SR) Severity is a factor used to determine how each service
– Service Request Prioritisation – Definitions request is prioritised. The partner determines the severity
of the service request using the definitions below.
• Production network down

• Critical impact to business operations
Severity 1 • 24-hour Cisco, Partner and Customer
commitment
• No workaround available
• Network severely degraded
• Significant impact to business operations
Severity 2 • Cisco, Partner and Customer committed
during business hours
• No workaround available
• Network functionality degraded
• Business operations noticeably impaired
Severity 3
• Cisco, Partner and Customer in frequent
contact
• General assistance
• Installation, upgrade, or configuration
Severity 4 assistance
• General product information
TAC Service Request (SR) When taking ownership of an SR, TAC
– Working a Service Request to Resolution engineers:
• Check for special handling instructions
• Make initial contact via preferred
“Communications Preference”
• Use WebEx (or other tools) for access to the
customer network
• Request logs, debugs and other captures as
needed for analysis
• Talk in terms of: Case update/Summary based
on:
 Problem Description
 Business Impact
 Action Plan
• Ensure regular case updates and
communication with the Partner
• Modify case status accordingly
TAC Service Request (SR) SRs may be transferred between teams
– SR Transfer Process when:
• The Partner requests continuation of service
at change of shift
• Technical escalation is required
• If troubleshooting indicates a potential problem
involving multiple different technologies, initial
TAC engineer will collaborate with cross-
technology teams and retain ownership of
case.
• Prior to SR transfer, SR notes are updated to
include:
 Problem description
 Business impact
 Actions taken to date
 Action plan
TAC Service Request (SR) SRs may be closed under two
– Service Request Closure circumstances:
• Closed with customer permission – Preferred
TAC engineer receives agreement from the Partner that the
issue has been resolved and that the SR can be closed
• Customer not responsive

If the Partner is no longer reachable by email and phone,
the SR can be closed if at least 3 attempts to contact the
customer have been performed over at least 2 calendar
weeks
Complete the case closure by, updating the

case with:
 Problem and Symptom description
 Resolution summary
 Correct Resolution Code
 Removal of customer data on closure
TAC Online Resources
• Accessing Cisco Technical Services:

http://www.cisco.com/web/services/ts/access/index.html
• Technical Services Quick Start Guide:

http://www.cisco.com/web/partners/services/resources/tsquickstart/downloads/Global_Technical_Services_Quick_Start_Guide.pdf
• Technical Services Support & Downloads Page:

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/index.html Tools and support information
• Get the Technical Support App:
• Download for IOS:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cisco-technical-support/id398104252?mt=8
• Download for Android:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cisco.swtg_android&hl=en
Support &
Downloads Page
- DEMO
Common
Service Request
Types
Most common Service Request types
1. “Network” down or severely degraded

2. Unexpected behavior or undesired reaction to a command/event
3. Poor performance
4. Error message in the logs
5. Configuration assistance, inquiry about product or functionality
1. Network down or severely degraded
• Examples:
• All calls to and from the organisation are failing to connect
• Most of the servers have lost access to the storage array
• The switch keeps crashing
• A line card has failed, all connected hosts are down
• Partner opens a Severity 1 or Severity 2 case via telephone with TAC frontline
• Partner and TAC engineer are mostly engaged on the phone until resolution.
• Live troubleshooting in a webex session till the problem is solved or a workaround is found
• Best practices from Partner:
• Articulate whether changes were made, and what troubleshooting has been done
• You may need to coordinate with all internal parties involved within the customer organization (server
team, network team, application team, other vendors)
• Have a topology map
2. Unexpected behavior or undesired reaction to a command/event
3. Poor performance
• Examples:
• Excessive read/write latency for disks in VMware, High CPU on router during SNMP polls
• SAN Replication over 1Gb/s FCIP link maxing out at 10 Mbytes/sec
• Delayed dial tone, short periods of silence heard in conversations, Process “flogi” crashed on the
switch, upgrade did not complete correctly
• Depending on the impact, typically it’s a Severity 2 or Severity 3 case
• Analysis of the issue often requires repeated collections of logs counters, and packet captures
• Depending on the complexity of the issue and the environment, TAC may try to recreate in the lab
• Have a baseline to compare, be ready to capture a sniffer/finisar trace of the low performing flows
• Isolate the issue as best as you can (e.g.: if intermittent, correlate the low performance with other
events, define what works well and what does not), mentioning the changes done in the “network”
• Provide meaningful data: reset the counters, recreate the issue, then collect them, as well as “show
tech details” while the problem occurs
4. Error message in the logs
• Examples:
• Interface port-channel 1, VSAN 10 is down (Isolation due to zone merge failure)
• Interface fc1/26, Low Rx Power Warning
• Partner opens a Severity 3 case via TAC frontline or web SR tool

• TAC engineer gets in touch with the Partner via Communication preference - email, phone or virtual
space
• Depending on the error message, an explanation (with a remediation plan) can be provided soon, or it
may require further analysis (conditions, triggers, etc)
• Define and isolate the problem as best as possible
• Provide a sample of the error message with its timestamp (log or screenshot)
• Provide a show tech-support (if applicable) or log files
5. Configuration Assistance
• Example:
• Assistance with configuring FCoE on Nexus 5k
• Zoning best practices on MDS switch
• Severity 3 or 4 case
• Most of the time on new installations
• TAC mainly focuses on fixing issues, advanced design questions could be better handled by specialized
teams (Advanced Services, System Engineers)
• Check the configuration and design guides available on cisco.com
TAC Duty Manager/Escalations
Customer Driven Service Request Escalation
TAC Duty Manager Role & Responsibilities
• Serves as the single point of contact for all Cisco imperatives

internal and external customer initiated escalations and
responds to a wide variety of situations that require • Reviews and provide guidance on situations where a
immediate intervention, whether due to normal process process has experienced delays or in any crisis support.
breakdown and/or unique situations that are causing, or Available as an advocate and strategic guide when
may cause customer dissatisfaction with Cisco services or needed.
products.
• Ensure Cisco TAC sites, networks and tools are
• Assesses the needs of support requirement to ensure operational; activate Business Continuity Plan and
SRs are handled at the correct resource level and with prioritize efforts to resume business operations quickly
appropriate focus and by engaging any necessary Cisco following a disruption. Act as central point of
resources to facilitate speedy resolution to problem communication to coordinate resolution and mitigation
resolution. activities.
• Takes ownership and accountability to service success. • Documents all escalations, IT incidents in “Duty Manager
Accessibility and approachability to drive exception Log” in SR notes.
escalations in timely manner.
• Works as part of a worldwide team of Duty Managers, to
• Is empowered to approve additional services or material manage issues 24 x 7
requests, based on customer business needs or per
account team’s request, and as justified by Cisco business
© 2018 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential
Customer Driven Service Request Escalation
What information to have when engaging the TAC Duty Manager?
The more information the better:

• Have all related SR/case numbers
• Customer expectations and shortfalls
• Background information we may not be aware of (account
history, challenges to sales, renewals due to existing
problem)
• Business impact and urgency
• Customer sentiment
© 2018 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential
Service Request Progression
• SRs are frequently reviewed by team leads and managers for progress
• Escalation resources can be engaged at any time – Don’t hesitate to escalate
if you are not getting the service or resolution you want!
• Service requests can be escalated by the engineer, team lead or a customer
• Remember that excessive re-queues delay resolution
• Recommended approach to escalation:
1. Ask the engineer directly to engage additional resources
2. Ask to speak to the engineer’s team lead or direct manager
3. Ask for or call in to speak to the Duty Manager
4. The engineer’s Manager will be engaged first by the Duty Manager
Automated Service Request Escalation
To help minimise impact to business operations, an automatic escalation process engages Cisco TAC
management to ensure the appropriate resources are applied to resolve Service Requests in an accurate
and timely manner
Severity 1 Severity 2
1 Hour Network Down Severe Impact
TAC Manager
4 Hours 4 Hours
TAC Director TAC Manager
24 Hours 24 Hours
SVP TS (Tom Berghoff) TAC Director
48 Hours 48 Hours
CEO SVP TS (Tom Berghoff)
Chuck Robbins
96 Hours
CEO
Chuck Robbins
Teamwork in Engaging the TAC
In sport, it is not passing the ball – we are all in a scrum! …Let’s work together to service the
needs of our customers
When you open a Service Request on behalf of the customer, share with us:
What expectations have you set?
Don’t abuse the TAC Service Request severity system

If it isn’t a network down or severe degradation, use Severity 3, but be sure to let us know of any goals or constraints
Work with us to set the right expectations with the end customer
Don’t promise beyond what we are certain we can achieve

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Global CX Centers

Technical Assistance Center (TAC)

Mexico City Barranquilla Bangalore

CISCO issues solved software downloads

Refer to the legal service description for more details

Team Attributes Value

• Highly-trained TAC network and application software Engineers

• Continuous internal technical training and rotations averaging 27

• Expertise in a broad array of technologies Ownership of complex issues

Rapid fault isolation in a complex environment

Open any service request via tac@cisco.com

• Production network down

 Actions taken to date

• Customer not responsive

Complete the case closure by, updating the

• Accessing Cisco Technical Services:

• Technical Services Quick Start Guide:

• Technical Services Support & Downloads Page:

• Download for Android:

1. “Network” down or severely degraded

• Partner opens a Severity 3 case via TAC frontline or web SR tool

• Serves as the single point of contact for all Cisco imperatives

The more information the better:

Don’t abuse the TAC Service Request severity system

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