How to switch to third-party support from Oracle/SAP Support

When considering a switch to third-party support, the main concern for many of our customers has always been the transition process from their vendor to us. Understandably, many worry that the process is long, complicated, and time-consuming. They worry that this will offset the savings of third-party support that a lengthy transition can incur.

With Support Revolution, this is not the case

Transitioning from Oracle/SAP Support to Support Revolution is a simple process. Our onboarding has been the focus of many of our customer testimonials because of its ease and efficiency.

“Support Revolution was able to seamlessly integrate with our company and processes, working  easily alongside our internal teams. The transition process was smooth and we are delighted with the quality of service we have received over the past few years.”

Tifco Hotel Group – Read the full case study here

We take pride in the fact that our onboarding process is:

  • Efficient, consistent, and safe: Our processes are both ISO9001 (Quality) and ISO27001 (Information Security) accredited. We follow a regimented process that is secure and of consistent quality.
  • Open and transparent: We immediately share and agree on an onboarding project plan and timeline with you. We introduce key members of the team and set up regular communications. We ensure you are fully informed at every stage of the process with no surprises.
  • Comprehensive: We cover customisations, previous support incidents, your patch archive, and your own processes & systems. This is to get an in-depth understanding of your organisation so that we can deliver a truly personalised service.

Our ten-step onboarding process

  1. First, we assign you a dedicated and experienced transition project manager. They will provide the project plan and regular status reporting to all stakeholders through weekly checkpoint meetings.
  2. Next, we schedule a kick-off meeting. This is to introduce all the relevant teams, explain the transition process in more detail, and agree on deliverables & timelines.
  3. We review your IT infrastructure including all supporting instances and interfaces to other systems.
  4. We then discuss your forward plans. This includes any IT hardware refreshes, IT software upgrades, and any modules that need retiring so that we can fully understand your roadmap.
  5. We then use our tools to retrieve your system configuration and confirm any customisations that you have in place. At the end of this stage, we should have a full understanding of how your system is configured.
  6. Next, we review all open incidents that you have with Oracle and SAP, and agree on a plan of which incidents we will address, and which the manufacturer will address.
  7. We identify any patches or latest versions that you are entitled to but have not yet applied. We then assist you or your partners in identifying what you need and storing it in an archive.
  8. Then, we establish VPN connectivity so that our team can replicate any issues directly in a test environment, allowing us to fast track issue resolution (although we can work without this if access is not possible).
  9. Next, we load all open incidents onto our Remedyforce system, providing your team with access and training to explain how to use it effectively.
  10. Finally, we ’flip the switch’ and go live with your support service, taking over from your vendor completely. You’ve completed the switch to third-party support.

In-depth: Creating a patch archive

One question we repeatedly hear from customers is how they access vendor patches after they leave their support service.  The answer is that we assist them to download and create their own ‘patch archive.’ This is their own copy of the patches that they are entitled to but have not applied.  This can be a confusing area when going through a switch to third-party support.

Our own process is as follows:

  • First, we send you a transition questionnaire to gather version and product information of your software. This is to help you determine what patches you need and what you are entitled to for the patch archive.
  • Then we will use our patch archive calculator to determine the time you need to create your patch archive, which can be between one and three months. This will determine the total length of the transition process.
  • Next, we help you with selecting options for storing your patch archive, which can either be on your network or in an infrastructure Cloud.
  • We can then send you a download guide specific to your software and versions, which you can use to create your own patch archive.

The patch archive takes place throughout the entire onboarding process. We do not just leave you to it, we will have regular workshops with your team during the transition to guide you through creating the patch archive to ensure that it is a straightforward process.

Not sure where to start?

The first step is to fill in our free online savings calculator to see whether we can support your products and just how much you could be saving. Once complete, we will reach out directly to talk through your options and to better understand your organisation and software setup so we can further customise the quote to your needs.

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