Re: Do you ask the question: How do I work with Oracle Support....?

From: David Fitzjarrell <oratune_at_yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2011 12:53:05 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <957306.90195.qm_at_web65408.mail.ac4.yahoo.com>


According an Oracle support manager I met the goal is 'follow the sun suppport', 
meaning the analyst that starts on  your SR can, and should, pass it on to the 
next analyst in the 'follow the sun' rotation.  But that 'next-in-line' analyst 
may already be working on a SEV 1 SR which puts yours (and others) on the 'back 
burner' which can take yours out of the rotation (meaning it never gets passed 
on to other analysts) until  your original analyst is back on the clock and 
checks on it -- resulting in the  'one response per day' dilemma.  Also from 
this same Oracle support manager comes the knowledge that these analysts work 
their shift and then they are done for the day, and when their shift ends the 
SRs get passed on -- or not.  The differing levels of knowledge these analysts 
have can also affect how often you receive a response as the 'next-in-line' 
analyst may not comprehend the situation as thoroughly as your original point of 
contact.

[As a side note Oracle support analysts write the MOS (Metalink) documents (and 
are encouraged to do so) which can explain why there can be different 
'solutions' to the same problem causing confusion as to which document to rely 
upon.  I have found this more than once on Metalink/MOS.]


David Fitzjarrell





________________________________
From: "Joel.Patterson_at_crowley.com" <Joel.Patterson_at_crowley.com>
To: andrew.kerber_at_gmail.com; dbvision@iinet.net.au
Cc: oracle-l_at_freelists.org
Sent: Wed, April 13, 2011 10:24:44 AM
Subject: RE: Do you ask the question: How do I work with Oracle Support....?


Yes, its cool that you might not realize which time zone your SR analyst works 
in.   If it is across a pond you can get easily caught in the one answer per day 
dilemma….   Also if they have worked ‘long enough’, it is obviously not as 
important as ‘something’ and you might not get a response everyday at that 
point.   

 
J
 
That’s not to say I don’t get good analysts.   There are time when submitting 
the SR to the right place becomes challenging.  It is also good mental health to 
keep in the back of your mind that it is going to be at least a couple days 
before you will be able to break through this ‘front line’ analyst…
Joel Patterson
Database Administrator
904 727-2546

________________________________

From:oracle-l-bounce_at_freelists.org [mailto:oracle-l-bounce@freelists.org] On 
Behalf Of Andrew Kerber
Sent: Wednesday, April 13, 2011 9:03 AM
To: dbvision_at_iinet.net.au
Cc: oracle-l_at_freelists.org
Subject: Re: Do you ask the question: How do I work with Oracle Support....?
 
Well, my two latest incidents are almost emblematic of the current fun with 
oracle support.  


#1, I am looking for a good set of step by step instructions for upgrading grid 
infrastructure from 11.2.0.1 to 11.2.0.2 on solaris sparc 64.  After searching 
the metalink, and googling, I did not find a set of documentation by oracle.  I 
found a couple of step by steps using oui for Linux, but nothing for Sun.  So I 
opened an sr.  So far, they have pointed me to one patch I need to install 
(9413827), and something called ARU 12952701.  I dont even know what an ARU is 
(Maybe something like a CPU or PSU?), but a search on the metalink for 'ARU 
12952701' as well as just '12952701' returned no hits.

#2, we got a swap space error message and a crash after adjusting some memory 
settings.  MOS asked for the memory usage for each isntance, plus ASM, which I 
supplied.  The next day they asked for total memory usage (they only seem able 
to do one update per day).  Huh?  They need me to add up the sga+pga for all the 
nodes, rather than just doing the math themselves, after I supplied the 
information?  If they needed me to do the math, they should have asked for it 
the first time rather than waste two days waiting on it.
On Wed, Apr 13, 2011 at 2:27 AM, Nuno Souto <dbvision_at_iinet.net.au> wrote:
Jared Still wrote,on my timestamp of 13/04/2011 2:00 AM:
It's been some time since I have opened an SR.  I avoid it if at all possible.

Same here.  Usually only sev2 and higher.
Great experiences:  An Oracle support person (in Australia ) helped me to open a
database
which I had stupidly screwed up.  He was most helpful and very knowledgeable.

I'll second that.  Being in Australia myself, I tend to get answered within the 
local time window.  Which means I get someone local. The last 5 calls have all 
resulted in my marking the person very high in the subsequent "survey".  Not 
just because he/she deserved it, but also because I got a high quality response, 
helpful, and a timely resolution.  Made it all worthwhile.


Poor experiences: Several of these:  spend 1-2 hours carefully documenting a
problem,
and then get a phone call asking to explain what was wrong.  I can't tell you
how many
times I have been asked a question that was clearly shown in the uploaded
documentation.
(This is not just an Oracle problem, but an industry problem - seen it elsewhere
as well)

Aye...  IBM, Microslop, EMC and so on have all been guilty of this with us.

-- 
Cheers
Nuno Souto
in sunny Sydney , Australia
dbvision_at_iinet.net.au
--
http://www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l





-- 
Andrew W. Kerber

'If at first you dont succeed, dont take up skydiving.'
--
http://www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-l
Received on Wed Apr 13 2011 - 14:53:05 CDT

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