Transition Tips — Getting Started with IBM Support

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Tip #1: IBM Customer Numbers (ICNs) Explained

Please Note: Should you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact Information Management (IM) Client Care at tsmail@us.ibm.com. This email address is a global address and is committed to replying to your inquiry within 2 business days of receiving your email request.

The information found on this page contains important details on how ICNs (IBM Customer Numbers) relate to each of the Cognos Support offerings, and how you will use these ICNs to access support from IBM.

Step #1: Find your IBM Customer Number (ICN)
PSTC = IBM Primary Site Technical Contact

Step #2: Understand Your ICNs

Standard Support
Every installation with Cognos entitlements reflecting Cognos Standard Support will have an ICN that is to be used to receive associated support for that environment. Your ICN can only be used to access support in the country to which it is associated.

Therefore you may have multiple ICNs with different IBM Primary Site Technical Contacts.

Global Support
If you have added Global Support, for every country where you require support outside the base installation site, you will have an additional ICN to access support. You will only use these ICNs to access support, not for billing. If you are not using the IBM Service Request (SR) tool, you will need to use the local country phone number for each ICN (located at http://www.ibm.com/software/data/cognos/support/contact.html) for support.

Cognos Premium Support (SDK, Advantage, Alliance and Premier)
If you have added any of these offerings, you will have a second ICN, in addition to the Standard Support ICN, for you to invoke the Premium handling associated with these offerings. You should begin to use this Premium Support ICN for support access. This Premium ICN is a separate number from the ICNs your company will have been issued for your standard support contract. Your standard support ICN should not be used to access coverage available through your Premium contract.

Support Providing Partners
If you are a Support Providing Partner, you will have an ICN that will reflect the entitlement(s) of your client(s). You should use this single ICN for accessing support for your environment(s) and that of your client(s), in the country where your ICN is associated. If Global, SDK, Advantage, Alliance or Premier Support were also added, please refer to the details above.

Step #3: Additional information
• ICNs are always 6 or 7 digits long, but the IBM Service Request (SR) tool requires that they always be entered as a 7 digit number. When you are using the IBM SR tool, prefix a 6 digit ICN with a zero.

• Do not use your ICNs for downloads as they will not allow this capability. Cognos Software product downloads are accessed via your IBM Site Number provided to the named IBM Primary Contact for your company. See Tip #2: IBM Contacts Explained for details on the IBM Primary Contact.

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Tip #2: IBM Contacts Explained

For questions on your IBM Customer Number (ICN), associated entitlements, or any of the designated contacts for your site/ICN, please contact Information Management (IM) Client Care at tsmail@us.ibm.com. This email address is a global address and is committed to replying to your inquiry within 2 business days of receiving your email request.

Below you will find brief descriptions for the various IBM contact roles to help you better understand the role itself and responsibilities of the person nominated to that role. For a more detailed discussion of these roles please refer to the following document: http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=3528&uid=swg21391305

Designated Contacts for a Site/IBM Customer Number (ICN)

Your site/ICN may have up to six distinct contacts designated to fulfill various roles in managing your site’s support relationship with IBM and users that you wish to access the services available under your subscription and support agreements. The same person may be designated to more than one role, and may be designated to the same or different roles for other sites.

Primary Contact / Business Contact
As the Primary Contact, sometimes called the Business Contact, you are the person entering into the contractual relationship with IBM on behalf of your company. If you are the only contact specified, IBM may consider you to be the sole contact for all roles described below. It is your responsibility to ensure that the appropriate people are designated for the other site contact roles if you will not fulfill these roles yourself.

Administration Contact / Proof of Entitlement Contact
As the Administration Contact, sometimes known as the Proof of Entitlement Contact, you are responsible for requesting and authorizing account information changes. In addition, IBM will send you documents including Software Maintenance Renewal notices (unless a specific Software Maintenance Renewal Contact is designated), software upgrade availability notifications, Proofs of Entitlement, etc. You are the primary contact for the IBM Software and Services On-line Tool for product downloads under your site’s subscription and support agreements and are responsible for managing user access to this tool.

Site Technical Contact / Primary Site Technical Contact
As the Site Technical Contact, sometimes called the Primary Site Technical Contact or PSTC, you are responsible for overall support compliance of the site associated with a specific IBM Customer Number, and for managing user access to the IBM Service Request Tool.

Software Maintenance Media Shipping Contact
Product upgrades are primarily delivered by electronic download. However, each site may request and receive one set of media when product upgrades become commercially available. As the Software Maintenance Media Shipping Contact product upgrade media will be shipped to you, unless otherwise specified in the request for media shipment. Please note: This process is more time consuming than electronic download from this site.

Software Maintenance Renewal Contact
As the Software Maintenance Renewal Contact you are responsible for assisting with Software Maintenance Renewals.

Billing Contact
As the Billing Contact you will receive, where applicable, billing communications.

How to Change Your Site’s Designated Contacts
For details on how to request changes to any of the above contacts please refer to the following document: http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=3528&uid=swg21391305

The IBM Service Request tool (IBM SR tool), at https://www.ibm.com/support/servicerequest, is used to submit and manage online your Service Requests (SRs), also known as Problem Management Records (PMRs), for assisted technical support. There are five designated roles for users of this tool.

Since your Primary Site Technical Contact (PSTC) manages user access to this tool, if you don’t know who this is please email Information Management (IM) Client Care at tsmail@us.ibm.com. This email address is a global address and is committed to replying to your inquiry within 2 business days of receiving your email request.

Primary Site Technical Contact (PSTC)
As the PSTC you are responsible for managing the IBM SR tool access for up to nine Secondary Site Technical Contacts (SSTCs), and an unlimited number of Authorized Users, Authorized Readers, and Business Partners. You may open SRs and view all SRs for your site/ICN. There is only one PSTC per site/ICN.

Secondary Site Technical Contact (SSTC)
Approved by the PSTC, you are responsible for assisting in managing your company’s list of Authorized Users, Authorized Readers, and Business Partners, to allow them access to the IBM SR tool. You may open SRs and view all SRs for your site/ICN. There may be up to nine SSTCs per site/ICN.

Authorized User
Approved by the PSTC or an SSTC, as an Authorized User you have been designated to open and view all SRs for your site/ICN.

Authorized Reader
Approved by the PSTC or an SSTC, as an Authorized Reader you have been designated to view all SRs for your site/ICN.

Business Partner
Approved by the PSTC or an SSTC, as a business partner you have been designated to open SRs for the customer’s site/ICN. You may also be given access to specific SRs opened by the customer’s own users on a case-by-case basis.

The IBM Software and Services On-Line Tool, at https://www.ibm.com/software/howtobuy/passportadvantage/paocustomer, is used to download the current release of the software products covered by your site’s subscription and support agreements. There are three designated roles for users of this tool.

Since your site Administration Contact manages user access to this tool, if you don’t know who this is please email Information Management (IM) Client Care at tsmail@us.ibm.com. This email address is a global address and is committed to replying to your inquiry within 2 business days of receiving your email request.

Primary Contact (See Administration Contact above)
As the Primary Contact within this tool you will approve access requests from users, and will receive all download account management and software download instruction communications. You may authorize up to four Secondary Contacts to assist you with user management. There is only one Primary Contact for this tool per site/ICN.

Secondary Contact
As a named Secondary Contact, you are authorized by the tool’s Primary Contact to grant users access to the IBM Software and Services On-Line Tool and determining their access privileges. There may be up to four Secondary Contacts for this tool per site/ICN.

User
As a user, you are authorized by the tool’s Primary Contact or a Secondary Contact to download the software products covered by your site’s subscription and support agreements.

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Tip #3a: Getting Access to the SR Tool – Primary Site Technical Contact (PSTC)

Please Note: The SR Help Desk can assist you with problems and questions related to the SR tool. Please do not hesitate to contact the SR Help Desk by using the form found at this url: https://www-111.ibm.com/software/servlet/CustAssist?topic=esr .

For questions on your ICN or associated entitlements and Primary STCs, please contact Information Management (IM) Client Care at tsmail@us.ibm.com. This email address is a global address and is committed to replying to your inquiry within 2 business days of receiving your email request.


Follow these steps to set up your access to the SR Tool.

Step #1: Create an IBM Web ID

1. Visit https://www.ibm.com/account/profile, and click Register
   
   
   
   
2. Fill out the following fields on My IBM Registration form (2 pages) that appear
   • IBM Web ID - to facilitate your enablement within the SR tool, you should use your email address associated with your ICN(s)*
   • Password - follow the password guidelines found at this URL,
   https://www.ibm.com/account/profile/us?page=regfaqhelp#4
   • Security question/answer
   • Email address
   • Country of Residence
   • Personal information
   
   
3. Click Submit at the end of the My IBM Registration form to save your information.
   

• Every PSTC was sent their company's ICNs via Proof of Entitlement emails and Welcome to Support emails (sent from Cognos Ask Support email address).
• If you can’t find your ICN, email IM Client Care at tsmail@us.ibm.com

1. Within 24 hours of creating your IBM Web ID you will receive an email confirming you are registered with the IBM Service Request (SR) tool. Once you receive this email, you have access to SR and can start using it.
2. If you do not receive an email within 24 hours, please contact the SR Help Desk (https://www-111.ibm.com/software/servlet/CustAssist?topic=esr) and include the following information in your help request:
   • Your email address
   • Your ICN(s)
   • Your IBM Web ID

1. Log in to the IBM SR Tool at http://www.ibm.com/support/servicerequest using your IBM Web ID
2. Choose Relationship administration from left navigation menu
3. Select "Add relationship"
4. Populate SSTC, Authorized User or Authorized Reader information
5. Click on "Submit"

1. Log into the IBM SR Tool at http://www.ibm.com/support/servicerequest using your IBM Web ID
2. Choose "Relationship administration" from the left navigation menu
3. Select "Manage new relationship requests" from left navigation menu
4. See request under "My pending authorized user relationship requests"
5. Select the type of caller from drop-down list (Authorized caller is the default)
6. After careful review of the requests to ensure the person nominated is a valid user for your company, select "Approve" or "Deny" under the "Action" drop-down list
7. Click on "Submit"

How to update your designated Primary Site Technical Contact

For details on how to request changes to your designated Primary Site Technical Contact please refer to the following document:
http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=3528&uid=swg21391305

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Tip #3b: Getting Access to the SR Tool – Secondary Site Technical Contacts & Authorized Users

Please Note: The SR Help Desk can assist you with problems and questions related to the SR tool. Please do not hesitate to contact the SR Help Desk by using the form found at this url: https://www-111.ibm.com/software/servlet/CustAssist?topic=esr .

For questions on your ICN or associated entitlements, please contact your Primary STC. If you don’t know your PSTC, contact Information Management (IM) Client Care at tsmail@us.ibm.com. This email address is a global address and is committed to replying to your inquiry within 2 business days of receiving your email request.


Follow these steps to set up your access to the SR Tool.

Step #1: Create an IBM Web ID

1. Visit https://www.ibm.com/account/profile, and click Register




2. Fill out the following fields on My IBM Registration form (2 pages) that appear
• IBM Web ID - recommend using your email address
• Password - follow Password guidelines
• Security question/answer
• Email address
• Country of Residence
• Personal information

3. Click Submit at the end of the My IBM Registration form to save your information

Step #2: Find your IBM Customer Number (ICN) & IBM Primary Site Technical Contact (PSTC) information
• The PSTC was assigned when the ICN was created – it is typically, but not always, one of the Cognos Insight Primary Technical contacts
• Cognos Insight Primary and Secondary received their company's PSTC(s) name(s) via Welcome to Support emails which were sent from the Cognos Ask Support email address.
• If you can’t find your ICN, contact your PSTC
• If you don’t know who your PSTC is email IM Client Care at tsmail@us.ibm.com

How to update your designated Primary Site Technical Contact
For details on how to request changes to your designated Primary Site Technical Contact please refer to the following document:
http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=3528&uid=swg21391305


Step #3: Request association between your IBM Web ID and Your ICN

1. Start at www.ibm.com/support/servicerequest

2. Sign in using the IBM Web ID you created in Step 1




3. For your first access you will need to choose the type of access you require and click Continue




4. Enter your ICN and your Country, and click submit.
• The ICN must be 7 digits - if you have a 6 digit ICN, add a zero in front of the ICN
• You are not required to enter an agreement number




5. If your request submission is successful you will get the following message.

The Primary Site Technical Contact will be notified, and you will get an email when you have been approved.




6. When you receive the email confirming that your request has been approved you will be able to open and manage service requests (also known as a problem management report (PMR)) and add and manage authorized users with the SR tool (site technical contacts only).


Step #4: Additional steps if you have multiple ICNs

1. Log in to the IBM SR Tool, and click the Relationship administration link in the left-hand navigation menu, then the Add relationship sub-menu item.
2. This takes you straight into Step 2 of the wizard...the "Identify your organization - Authorized user" screen - continuing the wizard at this point will request access as an Authorized User.
3. If you wish to request access in a different role (Secondary STC, or Business partner) you should click Cancel at this point to be taken to Step 1 of the wizard - "Select the type of access you need". Here you can choose the type of access and then continue as before.

1. Log into the IBM SR Tool at http://www.ibm.com/support/servicerequest using your IBM Web ID
2. Choose Relationship administration from left navigation menu
3. Select "Add relationship"
4. Populate authorized caller information
5. Click on "Submit"

1. Log into the IBM SR Tool at http://www.ibm.com/support/servicerequest using your IBM Web ID
2. Choose "Relationship administration" from the left navigation menu
3. Select "Manage new relationship requests" from left navigation menu
4. See request under "My pending authorized user relationship requests"
5. Select the type of caller from drop-down list (Authorized caller is the default)
6. After careful review of the requests to ensure the person nominated is a valid user for your company, select "Approve" or "Deny" under the "Action" drop-down list
7. Click on "Submit"

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Tip #4: IBM Service Request (SR) Tool: Help and Tours

The IBM Service Request (SR) application is used to open, update and report on service requests (formerly called Problem Management Records or PMRs) online. You may see SR and PMR used interchangeably throughout these tip documents.

You can use SR to report problems on nearly all IBM supported software products.

Use IBM SR to:

• Submit and manage service requests on demand: 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year
• Describe your software problem and environment in your own words
• Monitor and update all your open service requests, regardless of whether they were opened by phone or online
• Receive notification by email when an update has been made to your service request
• View closed service requests
• Manage your SR authorized user lists (feature available only to site technical contacts)
• Update your SR profile, including your name, email, phone numbers, time zone, and email notification preferences
• Attach files to your service requests


Step #1: Understand the SR Tool

Tour for Site Technical Contacts (approximately 10 minutes)

View this tour to be shown how the Primary and Secondary Site Technical Contacts (STCs) can:
• Manage their company's Authorized User list
• Grant their company's employees access to SR
• Manage their company's Business Partner (BP) relationships
• Grant BPs access to SR
• Approve per-incident Problem Management Records (PMRs) created by a BP
• Request a BP relationship to allow a BP to create and submit PMRs on their company's behalf.


Tour for Authorized Users (approximately 20 minutes)

View this tour to be shown how to:
• Request access to SR
• Access and navigate SR
• Open a Problem Management Record (PMR)
• Search for PMRs
• Run PMR reports
• Update PMRs and Update your SR profile


Step #2: Quick access to the SR Tool

Bookmark this URL: https://www.ibm.com/support/servicerequest


Step #3: Look at the other SR help resources available on-line

http://www.ibm.com/software/support/assistance.html


Step #4: Still have a question? Contact the SR Help Desk

Use this page to ask a question or report trouble with IBM Service Request (SR) or when accessing entitled documents in the IBM technical support knowledge base. The information you provide will be used only to research your issue and reply to you.

https://www-111.ibm.com/software/servlet/CustAssist?topic=esr

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Tip #5: SR Tool: Opening a New Service Request

Please Note: The SR Help Desk can assist you with problems and questions related to the SR tool. Please do not hesitate to contact the SR Help Desk by using the form found at this url: https://www-111.ibm.com/software/servlet/CustAssist?topic=esr

For questions on your ICN or associated entitlements and Primary STCs, please contact Information Management (IM) Client Care at tsmail@us.ibm.com. This email address is a global address and is committed to replying to your inquiry within 2 business days of receiving your email request.

To successfully use the IBM on-line Service Request tool to log a service request (SR), formerly known as a problem management report (PMR), the following steps are recommended.

Step #1: Log in to the IBM Service Request (SR) tool

• Go directly to IBM SR: https://www.ibm.com/support/servicerequest
• Log in using your IBM Web ID and password



Step #2: Initiate the “Open a new service request” wizard

• Click one of the Open a new service request links on your IBM SR home page, either in the left-hand navigation menu or just below the greeting.



Step #3: Select a product

• TIP: If you frequently submit service requests for a subset of all of the product components that you have support for, then you may wish to set up a preferred list of those components in your profile. This will save you time whenever you need to open a new service request for one of these components. Note that you can add a product/component combination to your preferred list as you complete Step #4, Select a component.




• Either select a product component from your list of preferred components, or select the most appropriate top-level product from the list displaying all of the products that you currently have active support for.

• TIP: If you are a named contact for a Premium support offering for Cognos software you should select "Premium Support for Cognos Software" from this list. There will be multiple product groups under the competent for you to select. These will route to the right support team and then the analysts will set the specific component one they are handling it.

• If you selected a product component from your preferred list you will be taken directly to Step #5, Complete contact information.

• TIP: The values here are pre-populated from your IBM Web ID profile, and any changes that you make here are only recorded for the service request being submitted.
• TIP: If you are submitting a Severity 1 issue because your production environment is unavailable please provide an Alternate and/or Mobile phone number in case our support analyst is unable to reach you on your main Daytime phone number.

• Choose the Severity that is most appropriate to your request. (Required)
• Severity 1 - Critical impact/system down: A business-critical software component is inoperable or a critical interface has failed. This indicates you are unable to use the program, resulting in a critical impact on operations. This condition requires an immediate solution. Applies to production environments only.
• Severity 2 - Significant impact: A software component is severely restricted in its use, causing significant business impact. This indicates the program is usable but is severely limited.
• Severity 3 - Moderate impact: A noncritical software component is malfunctioning, causing moderate business impact. This indicates the program is usable with some limitations.
• Severity 4 - Minimal impact: A noncritical software component is malfunctioning, causing minimal impact, or you are making a nontechnical service request.
• Provide a short description of how this issue is impacting your business. (Required)
• Check the System is down box ONLY if your production system is unavailable due to the issue that you are reporting. (Optional)
• Select the Request type that is most appropriate to your request. (Required)
• Of the five options available in this list the most appropriate for your Cognos software service requests is likely to be one of:
• Installation
• Software defect support
• Software usage support
• Select the Operating system that is most appropriate to your request. (Optional, but highly recommended)

• Enter a Customer tracking number for your own reference...perhaps the ticket number from your own internal help desk system. (Optional)
• Enter a Title for your request. This will be displayed alongside the SR in your list of service requests, and in any search result lists for SR searches that you perform. It is recommended that you include both the version of the software being used and any error code that might be returned. It should be meaningful to both you and your colleagues who also use the IBM SR tool. (Required)
• In the Problem description field provide detailed information about your issue or question. A more accurate description will help the assigned support analyst more quickly understand your request. (Required)
• If the 12KB limit on the Problem description field prevents you entering a comprehensive explanation of your issue then please provide a short description in this field and put a fuller description in a text file (.txt) or word processing document (.rtf, .doc., etc.), then attach that file to your request using the Select file to attach option that follows this field.
• If you have any supporting evidence for the issue that you are experiencing, such as log files, configuration files, output from IBM Cognos diagnostic tools or utilities (which may be found at http://www.ibm.com/software/data/support/cognos_diagnostictools.html), screen captures, etc., please attach these files using the Select file to attach option.
• TIP: If any of the files that you wish to provide is larger than 2GB please hold on to the file. When the support analyst assigned your request contacts you let him/her know that you have a large file of additional information. The analyst will provide you with details of how to upload this file via our external FTP site (or external secure FTP site, if you prefer).

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Tip #6: Contacting Cognos Phone Support

Telephone support access does NOT require web registration or access to the on-line IBM Service Request (SR) tool.

Step #1:

Visit http://www.ibm.com/software/data/cognos/support/contact.html for details of the IBM Support office providing Cognos software support for your country. Click on the country specific Planetwide link to locate the relevant IBM Information Management Software Support phone number.

1. Press 2 - All other business products and solutions
2. Press 2 - Assistance with Software is the appropriate selection
   (Do not use the Customers with a 5-digit Premium access number instruction)
3. Press 6 - All Information Management Products
4. At this point, you're routed to an agent and will need to provide your IBM ICN. Once your ICN has been validated the agent will be able to determine your customer details and type of support. The following information will then be requested (using the "Help-->About" within your product can assist in obtaining some of this information):
   • O/S version
   • Product Name and version
   • Severity of the issue
   • Description of the issue or question

1. Dial the appropriate Planetwide phone number for your location
2. Follow the instructions as prompted (if any)
3. You will be routed to an agent and will need to provide your IBM Customer Number (ICN). Once your ICN has been validated the agent will be able to determine your customer details and type of support. The following information will then be requested (using the "Help-->About" within your product can assist in obtaining some of this information):
   • O/S version
   • Product Name and version
   • Severity of the issue
   • Description of the issue or question

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Tip #7: Insight SRs Migrated to IBM SR

What happened to all of my Cognos Insight service requests?

All of your active service requests from the Cognos Insight system were migrated to the IBM Service Request tool.

Closed, cancelled, and recently resolved technical service requests were not migrated. Also, Cognos Insight service requests that resulted in a product enhancement or defect being created were not migrated. You did not receive details of the service requests that were not migrated.

If you would like a detailed report of some or all of these service requests, please send an email to the Information Management (IM) Client Care team at tsmail@us.ibm.com. Please include the following information in your request:

• Your old Cognos customer number
• Which SR detail to include - only SRs you owned or all SRs for this customer number
• If you are seeking details of only specific service requests then please include the SR numbers
• If you are not looking for only specific service requests then please advise whether you wish to include:

• closed service requests
• recently resolved service requests
• service requests for which a product enhancement or defect was created

Step #1
After the transition to using the IBM SR tool on June 1, 2009, you should have received an email from bi_support@ecurep.ibm.com providing details of a PDF file that had been placed on our external FTP server for you to access (along with a convenient URL for you to download that file). This PDF contains the activity history for your on-going Insight SR up to the point at which we stopped using Cognos Insight.

Step #2
If you did not receive the email please ask the analyst dealing with your request to email a copy to you.

Step #1
When an IBM PMR (problem management record, also known as a service request) was created for one of your on-going Cognos Insight service requests, you should have received an update email from insight@cognos.com detailing the PMR reference and the ICN that it was logged under.

Step #2
If you did not receive or cannot locate this email please check the activity history PDF file mentioned above – you should be able to view it using the URL provided in the email. The report header will contain the original Insight SR# and title. The title should be prefixed with the 3-part reference number of the corresponding PMR. If not, then the last part of the directory name given in the email message is the 3-part PMR reference number.

Step #3
If you did not receive or cannot locate either of these emails please call your local IBM support number and request that a new PMR be opened. Provide the agent with your IBM Customer Number (ICN) and details of the product that your original Insight SR was about. Tell the agent that you originally logged this with Cognos support before they moved to the IBM support systems, and you want someone to advise you of the new PMR number for your Cognos service request…providing them with the Insight SR# (or numbers if you have more than one that you need to find).

Step #4
Once you have determined the Insight SR# that corresponds to a specific PMR it is recommended that you log in to the IBM SR tool at https://www.ibm.com/support/servicerequest, find the PMR, and then update the “Title” field found in the Problem Information section of the “Update a service request” page.

We recommend that you put the Insight SR# at the start of this field. You might also want to copy-and-paste the original Insight SR title from the PDF file, or add a new descriptive title as a reminder of what this PMR is about. The title field is displayed in the list of service requests on your IBM SR home page, and in the result lists returned when searching in the IBM SR tool.

Note: the Title field on a PMR can only be updated by you our clients.

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Tip #8: Cognos Software Product Downloads

Step #1: Start getting your Cognos Product Downloads from IBM.com
Use the following links on IBM.com to download your IBM Cognos products:
• IBM Software and Services site - current products, select "Customer sign in"
• Cognos Legacy Downloads – back releases of supported product versions
• Service Packs, Fix Packs, Emergency Fixes, etc

You will need the following to access downloads on IBM.com:
• Your IBM Site ID
• Your IBM Web ID

If you have not yet been authorized to access the IBM Software and Services On-line tool by your site’s Administration Contact, then when you sign-in you will be sent to the self-nomination screen and will be prompted to enter your customer information and submit your self-nomination request. This request will be routed to your Administration Contact for review. You will receive an email notification from the Administration Contact when your self-nomination request has been processed.

Use these links to request Cognos 8 Migration Tools downloads:
• Cognos 8 BI Migration Tools 8.4
• Cognos 8 BI Migration Tools 8.3
• Cognos 8 BI Migration Tools 8.2


Step #2: Seek assistance
If you are having issues accessing product downloads on IBM.com, please contact eCustomer Care at https://www-112.ibm.com/software/howtobuy/passportadvantage/paocustomer/docs/en_US/ecare.html.

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Tip #9: How to Change the Language of Automated IBM Communications

If the Primary Site Technical Contact (PSTC) has received the automated "Welcome to Support" email from IBM Support and it is in the incorrect language, then your Primary/Business contact or Administration contact is able to request a change to the language of your choice. This change must be made in writing to eCustomer Care (https://www-112.ibm.com/software/howtobuy/passportadvantage/paocustomer/docs/en_US/ecare.html).

Please be sure to include all of the following information:
• Company name
• IBM Site ID
• IBM Customer Number
• Language of choice

Please note that you will have to submit separate requests for each site/ICN your company has been assigned.

Be aware that if you submit a request for changes and are not currently the designated Primary/Business or Administration Contact, you may be contacted to confirm that you have the appropriate authority within your organization to request such changes.

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Tip #10: What is an APAR and how do I view them?

An Authorized Program Analysis Report, or APAR, is a formal report to IBM development of a problem caused by a suspected defect in a current release of an IBM program. If IBM development is able to confirm the existence of the defect they will update the APAR with any known workarounds and perhaps an indication of which future release, if any, of the IBM program they intend to target for a formal fix to the defect and whether or not a Program Temporary Fix (PTF) is planned. The APAR will then be published so that it is visible to supported customers.

If a Service Request / Problem Management Record (SR/PMR) that you have submitted results in an APAR being created and published, or is related to an already published APAR, your support engineer will advise you of the APAR reference number. You can find the APAR by searching for it using the search box at the top of any page on the IBM web site. For example, this search...

...will return the following result:

To view the APAR you can simply click the title in the search result. Notice that the key icon indicates that registration is required, and if you are not already logged in to the IBM Service Request tool using your IBM Registration ID (also known as your IBM Web ID, or simply IBM ID) you will be prompted to do so when you click the APAR title. Note that you might have already logged in to the IBM web site using your IBM ID, but this does not automatically log you in to the IBM Service Request tool.

If you try to open an APAR and are prompted with a "Get Access" page, then you need to add a currently valid IBM Customer Number (ICN) for your organization in the IBM Passport Advantage software subscription and support section of this "Get Access" page...

Note that even though you may have already associated this ICN with your IBM ID in the Technical Support section of this page, the validation of your support entitlements for the display of APARs is done against the ICN(s) you list in the IBM Passport Advantage software subscription and support section.

You can also browse the published APARs by clicking the link found under the “Browse by document type” heading in the “Additional support links” section of the IBM Software Support home page for Cognos software, http://www.ibm.com/cognos/support.