Support scope and responsiveness
Understand initial response time
Support scope
Support for billing and subscription management-related issues as well as technical break-fix issues is available at all support levels. Advisory, escalation and account management services are available at the Professional Direct and Premier support levels.
Products and services covered:
- Microsoft Azure services released to General Availability and purchased from Microsoft are covered by all support plans.
- Microsoft Azure Public previews are covered by all support plans.
- Non-Microsoft technologies, when provided by Microsoft as part of an Azure product feature, are covered by all support plans, such as the Azure SDK and sample code for Python.
- Support for services purchased through another channel (other than purchased online, for example, Enterprise Agreement) are governed by the agreement terms for that purchase.
Severity and responsiveness
Initial Response Time is the period from when you submit your support request to when a Microsoft Support Engineer contacts you and starts working on your support request. The Initial Response Time varies with both the support plan and the Business Impact of the request (also known as Severity). The Initial Response Times for Unified Support plans can be found here.
| Severity level | Customer’s Situation | Initial Response Time 2 | Expected Customer Response |
|---|---|---|---|
| Severity A |
Critical business impact
Customer’s business has significant loss or degradation of services, and requires immediate attention.3 |
Developer: N/A1
Standard: < 1 hr
ProDirect: < 1 hr
Premier: < 1 hr
Azure Rapid Response: < 15 min
24x7 access
|
When you select Severity A you confirm that the issue has critical business impact, with severe loss and degradation of services. The issue demands an immediate response, and you commit to continuous, 24x7 operation, every day with the Microsoft team until resolution, otherwise, Microsoft may at its discretion decrease the Severity to level B. You also ensure that Microsoft has your accurate contact information. |
| Severity B |
Moderate business impact
Customer’s business has moderate loss or degradation of services but work can reasonably continue in an impaired manner. |
Developer: N/A1
Standard: < 4 hr
ProDirect: < 2 hr
Premier: < 2 hr
Azure Rapid Response: < 2 hr
Business hours access4 (24x7 available)
|
When you select Severity B you confirm that the issue has moderate impact to your business with loss and degradation of services, but workarounds enable reasonable, albeit temporary, business continuity. The issue demands an urgent response. If you chose 24x7 when you submit the support request, you commit to a continuous, 24x7 operation, every day with the Microsoft team until resolution, otherwise, Microsoft may at its discretion decrease the severity to level C. If you chose business-hours support when you submit a Severity B incident, Microsoft will contact you during business hours only. You also ensure that Microsoft has your accurate contact information. |
| Severity C |
Minimum business impact
Customer’s business is functioning with minor impediments of services. |
Developer: < 8 hr4
Standard: < 8 hr4
ProDirect: < 4 hr
Premier: < 4 hr
Azure Rapid Response: < 4 hr
Business hours access4
|
When you select Severity C you confirm that the issue has minimum impact to your business with minor impediment of service. For a Severity C incident, Microsoft will contact you during business hours only. You also ensure that Microsoft has your accurate contact information. |