What's covered by support? General questions and answers.

[アーティクル]
09/03/2008

Customers sometime have a misunderstanding of what is covered when supported is provided. So, I’ve put together a link covering common areas for all to read. I would suggest starting with the link below to get an understanding on what is supported to understand some of the basics of supportability.

OFF: Getting Support for Microsoft Office Solutions

https://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;234322

Incidents:

Here is some info on what is supported as far as incidents – ie break-fix.

MSDN Subscriber Support

https://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/aa948874.aspx

Technical Support Incidents

https://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/bb266240.aspx

Frequently Asked Questions

https://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/aa948864.aspx

The gist: … For production-ready samples – we cannot provide.

Lifecycle:

It’s important to understand and follow the lifecycle of the applications you use. Applications, servers and operating systems have different lifetimes. Do you know when the software you are using will no longer be supported?

Microsoft Support Lifecycle

https://support.microsoft.com/?LN=en-us&scid=fh%3Ben-us%3Blifecycle&x=11&y=11

This is good for explaining when different levels of product support end for different categories of products. It’s a worthwhile read.

Support Lifecycle Policy Extended for Business and Developer Products

https://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=LifeAn16

Developer Tools Family Product Support Lifecycle FAQ

https://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifedevtool

Best Practices - What is supported and not.
https://blogs.msdn.com/b/webdav_101/archive/2015/05/06/ews-best-practices-what-is-supported-and-not.aspx

MSDN – finding stuff:

Some customer take samples as end-all solutions or production ready, which is not what they are for.

How To Use the Developer Support Microsoft Knowledge Base

https://support.microsoft.com/kb/242971

“Sample articles provide downloadable code samples designed to assist users and developers with a Microsoft product feature or technology. Code samples are usually written when a HowTo article would not be sufficient to demonstrate a particular feature or technology. These articles are prefaced with "SAMPLE:" in the Title.”

Samples

Samples are not meant to be production ready. They are “samples” and a sample is by its definition an example, not a solution. Most all samples must be modified in order to be tested by the end developer. A sample should never, ever be used in a production environment. When a sample is provided, it’s up to the customer to try the sample and make it their own – this means changing it to work in their environment and doing thorough testing. Samples usually have a disclaimer such as the one below.

“You have a royalty-free right to use, to modify, to reproduce, and to distribute this sample application, or any modified version in any way you find useful. You can do this provided that you agree that Microsoft has no warranty, obligations, or liability for the code or for the information provided herein. THE CODE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND/OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. The sample is for demonstration purposes only, and does not constitute "production-ready" code.”

Note: This is from: https://support.microsoft.com/kb/248501

Now look at these:

Frequently Asked Questions

https://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/aa948864.aspx

“Will Microsoft write source code for my project?
Microsoft will assess customer project requirements and provide sample code to illustrate a particular technology, product feature, or development paradigm. Any source code provided by Microsoft is for illustrative purposes only and is not intended for production use.”

Wait! Before you use that sample...!!!
https://blogs.msdn.com/b/webdav_101/archive/2015/08/19/wait-before-you-use-that-sample.aspx

MCS:

If you are looking for code which will be supported by us, then please contact Microsoft Consulting Services (MCS):

MCS Home:

https://www.microsoft.com/services/microsoftservices/default.mspx

If you are looking to contact Microsoft:

Below is a good place to start.

Contact Microsoft:

https://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support