Support Terms

1. Overview

Partium Support for Partium software consists of operational assistance and technical support provided by Partium, in its reasonable judgment, during the term of Support procured by you. Partium will supply its software licensees who have enrolled in Support with Upgrades that are made generally available (“GA”) by Partium, together with any additional related Documentation.

Partium Support is offered for GA Partium software unless Partium specifically designates that software as not eligible for support or the software is licensed by Partium on an “as is” basis without warranties. You are only eligible to receive Partium Support if you remain current on all applicable licensing and support fees due and payable to Partium and are otherwise compliant with your applicable contractual obligations to Partium. Partium currently makes, and at Partium’s discretion Partium may make, other fee-based tiers of support or support offerings available that provide specific, customized, and/or more comprehensive forms of enhanced support. As a prerequisite to obtaining additional support through these offerings, you must be an active Partium Support customer.

Technical support will be performed in a timely and professional manner by qualified support engineers familiar with the software.

2. Support Services Overview

The following lists standard support programs available for Partium SaaS. All support is performed remotely and relies on remote access to the system provided by the customer for Partium engineers.  

All support communication must be in English.  

2.1 Definitions 

“Contract Period” is defined by the start and end date of the Support Contract. Within this period Partium will provide support under conditions defined in this document. Support Contracts will expire with the agreed end date. Open tickets remain deferred until renewal of the Support Contract.

“Software Updates” include provision and installation of patches and fixes within a certain Partium SaaS Release without upgrading the Partium SaaS’s Major or Minor Release version.

“Partium SaaS Upgrades” include installation of Major and Minor Release upgrades provided through Partiums regular release cycle.

Access Channels Availability of Access Channels depends on Support Contract type and Priority Level of the problem. (online/ phone)

“Support Contingent” for Support Contracts based on support contingents this defines the number of support requests or support hours the customer is eligible for. Support contingents with either the maximum number of tickets or support hours consumed (whichever is reached first) are considered depleted. Tickets not resolved after depletion of the Support Contingent remain deferred until the Support Contract is renewed. Any tickets (hours) not consumed during the Contract Period will expire at the end of the Contract Period without reimbursement.

2.2 Definition of Severity Levels  

Severity 1 is a critical problem. The customer cannot use the Partium SaaS or there is a critical impact on the customer’s operations which requires an immediate solution.  

Severity 2 is a major problem. The customer can use the Partium SaaS, but an important function is not available, or the customer’s operations are severely impacted for the majority of users of the customer’s organization.

Severity 3 has minor business impact. The customer can use the Partium SaaS with some functional restrictions, but it does not have a severe or critical impact on the customer’s operations

Severity 4 has minimal business impact: that is not significant to the customer’s operations. A non-critical software component is malfunctioning, causing minimal impact, or a non-technical request is made. The customer may be able to circumvent the problem. 

2.3 Response Times  

Partium is granting customers target time commitments on the initial response time depending on the problem priority. The response time is defined as the time from first customer contact (e.g. ticket creation or phone activation) to Phase 1 of the trouble shooting process. Response time commitments depending on the Priority Level of the problem are valid within Service Hours of the respective support contract type only:

Different access channels are available for different Priority Levels and contract types. Certain Priority Levels require certain Access Channels to be used. Response Time commitments are maintained with use of the appropriate Access Channel only.  

Access Channels are defined as follows:

Online

Online support is provided via the Partium Ticketing system. Customers need to create a ticket using the Web interface of the ticketing system to report a problem and activate support.  

Phone:

Phone support is available to entitled customers only and is provided via the Partium Support Hotline. This Access Channel allows for reporting of problems and activation of support out of Office Hours. To activate support via phone, it is mandatory to create an appropriate ticket in the Partium Ticketing System beforehand.  

Available Access Channels are defined by Contract Type and problem priority  

When activating Partium Support via phone, customers are required to provide the following information:  

Note that this implies the creation of a proper ticket before calling the Partium Support Hotline. 

Following the Partium Support Guidelines help to setup and maintain a highly efficient support relationship. 

3. Software Releases

Partium SAAS software release versions are identified by a Major and a Minor Release number. Major and Minor Releases are made available to customers within the Partium release cycle at the sole discretion of Partium. Partium will support a limited number of active releases. The phase out of obsolete releases will be announced in time (at least 3 months prior to end of support) in the Partium support system (https://support.Partium.io.).

Release upgrades are available from one Minor Release to the next only. 

Defined terms used in this policy include the following:

“Partium Hardware” means a Partium-provided pre-configured hardware appliance or server platform that is bundled with, and operates, a Partium software product.

“Documentation” means specifications, user documentation, and technical manuals and guides provided by Partium with Partium software.

“Fixes” means any change that Partium makes to the software, including changes made for purposes of maintaining system compatibility, error correction, improved operation and security and Workarounds that establish or help to restore material conformity to the specifications in the Documentation for that software. A “Fix” is generally an interim solution for a specific customer problem and is typically provided through a targeted point patch or hot fix. A “Fix” may also include any recommendations or advice provided to you including recommendations that you migrate to a current Version or Release, consideration of the incident in developing a future Version or Release of the software, or other steps to close an open incident in accordance with Partium support processes.

“Release” means a release of a Partium software product, which may contain minor new software product functionality, code, or compatibility and incorporates all previous Service Packs and Fixes (if any exist) since the last Version unless otherwise specified by Partium for a particular product, a Release is tied to the preceding Version and is designated by a number to the right of the decimal point such as 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, etc.

“Service Pack” means a set of cumulative Fixes for a particular Version or Release of the software, and typically does not contain new features or functionality. A Service Pack may be available either as a download from Partium Support Online or from Partium Software Cloud Platforms. It is generally installed as a software product overlay (also known as a patch). Service Pack nomenclature is tied to the related Version or Release. For example, a Service Pack relating to Version 1.0 would be designated as 1.0 SP 1, 1.0 SP 2, etc., and a Service Pack for Release 2.1 would be designated as 2.1 SP1, 2.1 SP2, etc.

“Upgrades“ include Documentation revisions, error corrections, software product enhancements, Service Packs, Versions and Releases for the Partium software for which Partium Support is provided, and do not include any options or software products that are licensed separately by Partium and are not derived from or based on the existing software product or Documentation. Sometimes Upgrades are referred to as “product updates” or “software updates”.

“Version” means a release of a Partium software product that contains major changes in software product functionality, code, or compatibility and incorporates the previous Release (if one has occurred), Fixes and Service Packs (if they have occurred). Typically, a Version requires a new installation, rather than an overlay to the already installed software. Unless otherwise specified by Partium for a particular product, a Version is designated by the number to the left of the decimal point such as 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, etc.

“Workaround” means an interim resolution of an incident and may include specific modifications to the software to address critical problems (sometimes also called “hot fixes”). In some cases, the incident addressed by the Workaround will be permanently resolved when you install the next Upgrade; the Workaround itself may be considered final if it materially reduces the impact of an error or defect.

4. Customer Responsibilities

In order to receive Partium Support, you must maintain a supported environment, which includes the current Versions and Releases and Service Packs of Partium Software as well as a valid Partium license and support contract needs to be in place. Either as part of the Partium Product Schedule or in a separate agreement.

In order to receive Partium Support, you must provide a technical support incident request in German or English that contains all information pertinent to the problem or incident, including but not limited to the site identification number, incident severity level, software/Release/Version/Service Pack or gen level, operating system/version, platform, a description of the problem or incident, and as available, log files/test case, memory dumps, and file listings. You must provide the name(s) and contact information, including email addresses and telephone numbers, for technical personnel who are familiar with the problem or incident and your environment. You must execute diagnostic routines if provided by Partium and inform Partium of the results. You agree to continue to communicate with Partium to verify the existence of the software problem and provide information about the conditions in which the problem could be duplicated. For severity 1 incidents, Partium may require that your technical contact be continuously available while the incident is at a severity 1 status to offer further documentation and resolution testing, in order for Partium to continue progress on addressing the incident.

5. Supported Software

(a) The latest Version or Release of the software made GA by Partium.

(b) At Partium’s sole discretion Partium Support may be provided for one previous Version or Release (“GA-1”) for a Partium software product that has not reached End Of Service (“EOS”) as set forth in Section 6 below.

Notifications of whether Partium will provide Partium Support for a GA-1 software product may be provided to you by letter or email, and/or by Partium posting such notifications on Partium Support Online.

Partium Extended Support for Partium software products, Releases and/or Versions which have been officially retired and have reached their EOS or EOL may be made available in Partium’s discretion through customized, fee-based Partium Support offerings.

5.Technical Support Limitations

On-site maintenance and support services are not within the scope of Partium Support. Partium may make on-site maintenance and support services available through separate fee-based support offerings and enhanced support maintenance tiers. If you do not have a separate agreement for on-site maintenance and support services and you request that Partium provide on-site support services in order to address a problem or incident with Partium software, Partium may determine in its sole discretion whether to provide on-site support services. If on-site support services are provided, Partium may invoice, and you shall, within thirty (30) days of your receipt of the invoice, pay Partium for such on-site support services charged at Partium’s then prevailing rates, including all associated disbursements and travel expenses incurred by Partium. Partium may decide at its own discretion to provide on-site support services at its own expense.

Partium shall not be obligated to provide technical support for non-Partium software, Partium software that is not used in accordance with the product Documentation, modifications to the Partium software, custom code provided by you or any third party or otherwise not part of the base software product functionality or problems associated with software products running on unsupported hardware, operating systems, or third party software. Any such service may be available on a fee basis, as determined by Partium. Should such support be provided, it may be limited to the provision of published Fixes for previously known problems with Partium software and will not include support for new installations or implementations of supported Partium software in unsupported third party environments or new releases of the unsupported hardware, operating system or third party software. Ultimately, you may be required to upgrade to a supported third party software product or release, hardware platform, framework, database or operating system configuration as approved or certified in Partium's published specifications to continue receiving technical support services from Partium.

Partium shall not be responsible for any changes in your hardware or operating environment that may be necessary as a result of a Workaround or Fix. You acknowledge that any changes you elect to make to your operating environment may detrimentally affect the performance of Partium software and, despite the technical support to be provided hereunder, Partium shall not be responsible for such effects upon, or any resulting degradation in performance of, the Partium software. Partium is not required to provide technical support if you do not perform your responsibilities as stated herein.

Consulting services are not provided as part of Partium Support. Partium Support does not include performing deployments, installations or roll-outs including but not limited to, deployment architecture design, review or validation, ongoing system operational duties, or staff augmentation activities.