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SolarWinds Support

OK I know support is getting better. Over the last year it has gotten a lot better so you guys are moving in the rght direction. I just do not think it is fast enough.

First off if you are going to use thwack as a method of support then you need to make sure EVERY post gets answered by staff within some reasonable time frame. If that means you need to dedicate a small staff to do so then so be it. I troll on here a lot (obviously) and I see far to many unanswered posts in my opinion.

Further more, Tier 1 support is aweful. This is not because of the people but because you rarely hear form them. I can submit a ticket and see 24 hours plus go by before I hear from someone (regardless of priority) for the first time. And contact after the initial email is even worse. I have had some tickets open for weeks at a time hearing from support as infrequently as once or twice a week.

I will end on a positive. Tier 2 support when you are lucky enough to get to them is awesome. They are like support bulldogs. They will chew on an issue no matter the complexity until it is solved and they actually send you updates.

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Accepted answers

All comments

brian_duvall

I agree. Overall moving in right direction but I call/email for updates on my cases and don't hear a peep. I have cases open for weeks/months and usually takes weeks in between updates. Communication is a big thing with me...even if its to say there is no update.

I can understand Thwack posts not being replied to...but requests for updates on open cases getting ignored is a bit much for paying customers. Luckily a number of the issues aren't life threatening but the ones that are I get incredibly frustrated with the whole support process.

So review..keep up good work...but still LONG way to go to be considered an above average support structure.

MarieB

Awesome feedback from you both.

I'm working with support right now to see what we can do to be more responsive, especially considering that you are both valued customers and thwack posters.

Please stand by and I assure you, these posts will be answered.

MarieB

Hi Donald—

Ok, so let me address your post one paragraph at a time J, so I don’t miss anything:

Paragraph 1- thwack is really not a primary support channel. Its mandate is that of community builder where customers can share ideas and solutions in the spirit of self-help. Having said that, I read each post and mark it for an appropriate audience to view, such as product managers, information dev, and support. If there is something pressing, I email product managers and support directly and in my experience, they are always responsive. It's true that some posts may not be answered but the perceived importance of a post—and therefore whether it is answered-- is often dictated by the community response.

Paragraph 2 – In looking at your cases, I did notice that your Case #121575 took too long for you to receive an initial response. We are constantly trying to improve, and I’m glad that you are noticing these efforts. In the case of #123674 or #121072—both of these were answered within hours. Your other recent case, Case #112249, was also initially replied to in a prompt manner, no?

Paragraph 3 – As I said before, I’m really glad that you can see our improvement and to report there are more improvements in store. I see that you are currently working with Destiny Martin on your open case. She is definitely tenacious and our hope is that by escalating your case to her, we are showing our greatest commitment to your support needs.

Just out of curiosity, what prompted your initial post? Did a product stop working?

I sincerely hope this helps and clarifies! I know you are a long-time customer and a valued thwack contributor. You can email me directly via thwack if you have additional concerns.

Many thanks for your time and support in the community.

Mindy

Thanks for the feedback on our Support team. I’m the manager of the North American Support team and I’ve been at SolarWinds for about 3 weeks now. One of the reasons I joined SolarWinds was because of thwack. There are few companies that value the community as much as we do and the feedback from community and customers is taken very seriously. I’m exploring now how Support can best participate on thwack and also more generally what things we can do to make the support experience better.

As is typical with any complex system (whether it’s a network or a support process), it can be a big mistake to make changes without understanding the consequences. I’ve been observing what’s working and what could use some improvement in my team and I know enough now to be dangerous. I’m starting to make some changes and though it may take some time before they are apparent, my goals are to improve the support experience and to make sure the group is staffed with awesome folks at all levels.

Keep the feedback coming,

Mindy

mcbridea

Hi Donald and Brian,

Thanks for the feedback - that's how we know where we need to improve. I don't know if you guys have a lab environment or not but it does help in finding issues before the change goes into production. We don't expect our customers to QA for us and we do a lot of testing. A lab can be helpful to find environmental issues as we can't test for all situations.

Andy

Donald_Francis

I would again like to thank you guys for going right at this issue and not side stepping it or making excuses for it. I think that shows that SolarWinds is a customer oriented company intent on making customers happy with their products.

Being more concerned with your support instead of pollitics is refeshing.

MarieB

Donald--

Our pleasure! Thanks for the kudos and keep the feedback coming. Feel free to email me personally via thwack should you need to.

TGhosh

Marie\Mindy,

Im glad you were able to turn around the views of some users here.

Unfortunately, my frustration with Solarwinds grows day by day. I would like to speak with you or someone who is in the position to understand the issues I've been facing.

Sorry if this sounds like I'm venting, but I am currently on hold for over 30 minutes just to speak to someone in support. My production solarwinds installation is down.

My customer number is SW55114. You can find my contact information and I do hope that you reach out to me.

jlintner

I don't know if you guys have a lab environment or not but it does help in finding issues before the change goes into production. We don't expect our customers to QA for us and we do a lot of testing. A lab can be helpful to find environmental issues as we can't test for all situations.
Andy

I'm currently looking at some sort of lab implementation but all I can see for now is the 30 day eval copy. I guess we would have to buy another license for "lab use" but that still won't accurately test performance.

What has anyone else out there done for lab testing in their environment?