CTS Microsoft Simplifies Support for Essential IT Solutions

When a critical IT system goes down, it’s essential to have technical support that’s fast, knowledgeable and, ideally, familiar with the business environment. Organizations looking for this level of service for their Microsoft solutions can find it through CDW Technology Support (CTS), a prepaid contract for a set number of support hours.

CTS Microsoft gives organizations immediate access to our service desk via phone, email, or a support ticket in ServiceNow. When an organization calls in with a high-priority need, our service desk triage experts immediately connect the customer with our Microsoft-certified engineers. Our engineers are then able to start the resolution process right away for the customer’s particular issue.

Most CTS Microsoft contracts are for 40 hours per calendar year, and many service requests relate to tenant support for cloud solutions. We understand, however, that a low-priority solution for one organization might be critical for another. That’s one reason our service includes ongoing relationships with each organization that enable us to offer the support that’s most useful.

Speedy response is one of the most significant advantages of CTS Microsoft. We know that if Azure isn’t working correctly, a customer may be unable to process or store data. If SQL Server has an issue, that can have a huge business impact. For organizations that depend on sales data, Microsoft Dynamics is essential. 

For many organizations, especially those with remote employees, Microsoft Exchange, Office and Teams have also become crucial. As the foundation for communication, collaboration and even customer engagement, these platforms need to run smoothly. When they don’t, organizations need an immediate response. 

Speed isn’t the only priority, however. Organizations need the right engineer with the right expertise. We assign the best engineer for each situation to ensure everything runs optimally, from execution through resolution. When the situation requires support from Microsoft, we escalate the issue to the company on the customer’s behalf.

Another important aspect of CTS Microsoft is that a customer service manager is assigned to every organization. In addition to providing a direct line of contact, the manager performs periodic reviews that examine the organization’s support services for any systemic issues that might exist. Based on these insights, we can recommend other services to resolve issues for the long term. 

Even though technology tools may be the same from place to place, organizations often use them differently based on individual business models. Having the same manager creates continuity for an organization and lets us develop a deeper understanding of its unique environment. The manager relationship builds trust that we understand these needs and can effectively help an organization address its challenges.

To estimate how many support hours an organization is likely to need, we look at its typical number of Microsoft incidents and our historical data about how long it takes to resolve specific incidents. That allows us to come up with a custom quote that is generally more cost-effective and predictable than pay-as-you-go support.

If an organization has unused hours near the end of its contract, it can apply those toward support engineering to support a planned activity. For example, if a customer has an Office 365 upgrade or needs to migrate users to a cloud platform, untapped support hours could be used for a Microsoft-certified engineer to oversee these activities to ensure they run smoothly.