Explaining Scope of Support

Not every issue can be handled by Product Support. Some issues fall under consulting, which Product Support cannot assist with.

There are two broad categories you must understand before creating an incident. The scope of support is divided into two main areas of Support and Consulting questions.

Before you submit an incident to Product Support, make sure you understand the difference between Support and Consulting.

To learn more about the scope of support at SAP, watch the following video:

For on-premise solutions, SAP support agrees to handle problem incidents in the following scenarios:

• There is an error/defect in the software
• An error/defect in the software causes subsequent errors
• Problems exist when implementing corrections (by implementing the SAP correction instructions)
• Standard functions have incorrect documentation

For cloud solutions, SAP support agrees to handle problem incidents in the following scenarios:

• There is an error in the software or SAP provided best-practice configuration or with expert configuration done by SAP as requested by the customer.
• An error in the software causes subsequent errors or SAP provided best-practice configuration that causes subsequent errors.
• Standard product functions have incorrect or missing documentation.

In all other cases, it is considered a consulting request. This includes inquiries concerning:

• Advice or assistance relating to configuration, business process analysis, or implementation specific to the customer's unique environment or already documented in product guides
• How-to questions seeking assistance with documented features
• Assistance with customization of the core product, core functionality and/or problems or errors caused by customization that has been implemented or completed by customers or partners

Note

Consulting requests are priced separately at the discretion of SAP unless otherwise specified in your maintenance contract.

If you have a how-to, configuration question or any other issue that falls outside of the scope of support, what should be your first step?

SAP offers a wide range of free resources to help you, such as the SAP Help and Support Portals, and the SAP Community network, which are gateways to thousands of SAP Knowledge Base Articles, and to SAP software experts, including SAP engineers, consultants, and experienced users from our vast ecosystem. They are the fastest and easiest way to find solutions to most problems relating to user experience. To access these resources, visit:

• SAP Support Portal - http://service.sap.com/xsearch
• SAP Help Portal - http://help.sap.com
• SAP Community - http://www.sdn.sap.com (registration required)
• SAP WIKI - http://wiki.sdn.sap.com/wiki/dashboard.action (adjust this link to your component area)

For an overview of the services offered by SAP or by one of our partners, please see our SAP Ecosystem In a Nutshell document.

• Knowledge Base Article 83020 - What is Support - What is Consulting: On- Premise Solutions
• Knowledge Base Article 2706322 - What is Support - What is Consulting: Cloud Solutions