Support Policy

Cloud-Based Products

Minitab^® Statistical Software – Web App, Minitab Model Ops^®, Minitab Engage^®, Quality Trainer^®, Real-Time SPC Powered by Minitab^®, Minitab Connect^® and Companion by Minitab^™

Service Level Agreement Terms (SLA)

Error Classification

For purposes of this section an “Error” is defined below and classified as either Level 1 (High), Level 2 (Medium), or Level 3 (Low).

• Level 1 (High): Error that results in loss of all of the Service’s processing capability.
• Level 2 (Medium): Error that disables major functions from being performed and therefore affects the normal operation of the Service.
• Level 3 (Low): Error that disables only certain non-essential functions, does not affect normal operation of the Service, and does not have an impact on Your business operations.

Response Times to Errors

• Level 1 (High): We will immediately undertake a concerted support effort in accordance with industry standard best efforts to resolve the problem, if possible, until the Service is returned to operation. Level 1 Errors will be escalated to Our delegated support manager. As needed, We will provide You with regular ongoing status reports until the Service returns to operation.
• Level 2 (Medium): After Our ability to duplicate the Error, We will undertake a concerted support effort to resolve the problem, if possible, in accordance with industry standard best efforts.
• Level 3 (Low): After Our ability to duplicate the Error, We will review and evaluate the Error for determination of appropriate resolution, if any, in accordance with industry standard best efforts.

Desktop Products

Minitab^® Statistical Software  – Desktop App, Minitab Workspace^® and SPM^® – Salford Predictive Modeler

Error Classification

For purposes of this section an “Error” is defined below and classified as either Level 1 (High), Level 2 (Medium), or Level 3 (Low).

• Level 1 (High): An Error in the Software that results in a complete loss of operational functionality.
• Level 2 (Medium): An Error in the Software that results in a loss of major functionality affecting normal operation of the Software.
• Level 3 (Low): An Error in the Software that results in loss of only certain non-essential functionality and does not affect normal operation of the Software and does not have an impact on Your business operations.

Response Times to Errors

• Level 1 (High): We will immediately undertake a concerted support effort in accordance with industry standard best efforts to resolve the problem, if possible, until the Software is returned to operational functionality. Level 1 Errors will be escalated to Our delegated support manager. As needed, We will provide You with regular ongoing status reports until the Software returns to operational functionality.
• Level 2 (Medium): After Our ability to duplicate the Error, We will undertake a concerted support effort to resolve the problem, if possible, in accordance with industry standard best efforts.
• Level 3 (Low): After Our ability to duplicate the Error, We will review and evaluate the Error for determination of appropriate resolution, if any, in accordance with industry standard best efforts.

Statistical Consulting

If you need assistance using a statistical tool or understanding the output generated by the software, our technical support team can help. However, if you need help choosing an appropriate statistical tool for your project or interpreting the output relative to your process, you need the personalized support available through our Statistical Consulting service.

To help clarify the differences between technical support and statistical consulting, consider the following examples:
 

Technical Support Questions

• How do I create a fractional factorial design in Minitab?
• What does the number of distinct categories mean in the Gage R&R output, and how is it calculated?
• When I analyze my data using regression, I get an error. What does the error mean?
   

Statistical Consulting Questions

• Should I create a fractional factorial design for my project?
• I have four distinct categories, according to my Gage R&R output. Is this acceptable?
• Should I use regression to analyze my data?

In some cases, our technical support staff may provide assistance with statistical concepts as part of answering a question about software use. But questions that are clearly about statistical concepts are referred to our statistical consultants, all of whom are seasoned statisticians with years of quality improvement experience.
 

Statistical Tutoring

If you have a few general statistical questions related to an analysis in our software, our technical support team is often able to assist. However, the technical support team does not provide extensive statistical instruction. You will need to begin building a foundation of knowledge via a statistical reference that thoroughly covers the tool or topic of interest. You may also want to consider:

• Help Online
• Training
• Tutoring through our Statistical Consulting service

Questions that indicate a need for more extensive statistical instruction than our technical support team provides will most often be referred to one of the previously mentioned resources.