Smart Hands Support Plans

Benefits of a Smart Hands Support Plan

You can use Smart Hands services at a discounted cost (up to 40%).
You can customize your support plan by choosing the exact number of support hours to include in your plan (per month or per year).
You can accurately budget future costs for regular scheduled maintenance.
If you have an emergency and need assistance with your equipment immediately, you don't have to go through your company’s purchase approval process first.
You can use your plan hours in any IBX in the country for which the plan was purchased, or choose to restrict the plan hours to a single IBX.
You can reduce red tape by eliminating the need for individual internal approvals for support costs.
You can better reconcile your budgets by separating a financial expense (plan purchase) from day-to-day operational expenses (operations or support).
You can roll over unused monthly plan hours for 1 month (if you choose the Rollover plan).
You can choose from two payment schedules for your support plan: monthly or yearly.
Plan hours can be used during normal business hours or after hours.

Smart Hands Support Plan Packages

Monthly Smart Hands Support Plan (1 Month Rollover)

This plan provides on-site technical assistance for the number of hours stated on the contract.
After the Initial Term, the plan automatically renews for the Renewal Period stipulated in the contract.
Any unused hours remaining at the end of the applicable period will roll over for one additional 30-day period (“1 Month Rollover”). Hours from the current period are consumed first, followed by any rollover hours. Any rollover hours that remain unused at the end of the 1 Month Rollover will expire; they will not be refunded or roll over to the following period.

Monthly Smart Hands Support Plan (No Rollover)

This plan provides on-site technical assistance for the number of hours stated on the contract.
After the Initial Term, the plan automatically renews for the Renewal Period stipulated in the contract.
Any unused hours remaining at the end of the applicable period will expire; they will not be refunded or roll over to the following period.

Prepaid Smart Hands Hours Plan

This plan provides on-site technical assistance for the number of prepaid hours stated on the contract.
This plan is a one-time purchase of prepaid Smart Hands hours with a 12-month Initial Term. After the Initial Term, the plan does not auto-renew.
Any unused prepaid hours remaining at the end of the applicable period will expire; they will not be refunded or roll over to the following period.

Tip: With the purchase of any Smart Hands support plan, you can choose to restrict the use of prepaid hours and rollover hours to only the specific IBX data center for which the plan was purchased. If you do not select this option, the hours can be used at any IBX data center in the country for which the plan was purchased.

Discounted Hourly Rates

When you buy a support plan, the standard hourly rate for Smart Hands services is discounted based on the number of hours you purchase:

Monthly Support Plan

1-10 hours: 15% off
11-15 hours: 20% off
16-25 hours: 25% off
26-120 hours: 30% off
121-500 hours: 35% off
500+ hours: 40% off

Prepaid Support Plan

1-120 hours: 5% off
121-180 hours: 15% off
181-300 hours: 20% off
301-1440 hours: 25% off
1440+ hours: 30% off

Ordering a Support Plan

Note: To order a support plan online, you need the following Customer Portal permissions:

Ordering > Smart Hands Ordering
Smart Hands Support Plan > Order Smart Hands Support Plan

From the Orders and Tickets menu in the Customer Portal, select Smart Hands.
From the Smart Hands Catalog, click Smart Hands Support Plan.
Select a plan type:
- Monthly Smart Hands Support Plan (Rollover) – Billing is month-to-month. Unused hours can be rolled over for one additional month.
  
  Example: Hours for July can be used in July or August.
- Prepaid Smart Hands Hours – Support hours are paid in advance, and can be used anytime within the plan year.
Review the details under Plan Date. Your plan will begin the day you submit the order.
- Monthly plans are open-ended, and show only a start date.
- Prepaid plans are for one year, and show the start date and end date.
Under Plan Hours, enter the number of support hours to include in your plan.
- For Monthly plans, this is the number of support hours per month.
- For Prepaid plans, this is the number of support hours for the entire year.
Select a billing account from the Account drop-down list.
If the plan hours will only be used at a specific IBX, enable IBX Specific Plan and select the IBX from the drop-down list. (Otherwise, the plan hours can be used at any IBX listed on the selected account.)
Review the information under Pricing Details.
- Hourly Rate (Discount) shows the price per support hour, and any discounts applied.
- For Prepaid plans, One-time Charges shows the amount you will be billed for the plan year.
- For Monthly plans, Monthly Recurring Charges shows the amount you will be billed each month.
To associate a purchase order with this support plan order, click Add Purchase Order Number. Then you can either select an existing purchase order, add a new purchase order, or submit a purchase order exemption form. If the selected billing account requires a purchase order, the Purchase Order field is marked 'Required'; otherwise, it is marked 'Optional'.
Add Customer Reference information.

Many companies have an internal ticketing system to track issues or track items ordered from Equinix. This field provides a place to enter your internal reference information, such as P.O. numbers, ticket numbers, or descriptive text.

Tip: This information can be searched for on the Orders and Tickets History screen, and will also appear on any related invoices.
Click Next and review your order and your contact information.
Review the terms and conditions.
If the selected billing account requires a signature for the order, click Select Signature Options. Specify the person in your organization who is authorized to approve the order, then click Save. The specified approver will receive a signature request via email. The support plan will not begin until the order is approved.

or

If the account does not require a signature, click I Accept.
Click Submit.

Viewing Your Active Support Plans

From the Operations menu in the Customer Portal, select Smart Hands Support Plans to see your purchased support plans:

Tip: You can use the filter and search options to refine the list.

Included Fixed-Price Smart Hands Services

Except as listed below, Smart Hands support plans only include “time and material” Smart Hands support, and do not include any fixed-price Smart Hands services. The following fixed-price Smart Hands services (delineated as Part Number PS00040 or PS00041) are the only ones eligible to be included in the Smart Hands support plans:

IBX Access Activity Report (formerly known as the Cage Access Log)
IBX Access Permissions Report (formerly known as the Access Enrollment Report)
Power Consumption Report—non-BCM
Power Consumption Report BCM
Loaded Cabinet Move

Support Plan Terms

The discounted fees are based on the number of Smart Hands support plan hours purchased prior to the beginning of the applicable billing period.
Equinix measures support plan usage in 30-minute increments.
Smart Hands hours can be used at any IBX data centers within the country specified in the contract, unless otherwise specified by the user's selected Smart Hands support plan.
Any additional hours used over the plan allotment are charged at the current standard Smart Hands hourly rate.
As of the effective date set forth on the contract, users must pay the plan fees applicable for the Smart Hands support plan, at the rates listed therein.
The Equinix Smart Hands Support Plan Policy supplements and sets forth terms and conditions governing the use of the Smart Hands support plan by users. Any undefined terms have their meanings given in the contract or the MCA.
If you request Equinix to expedite your Smart Hands order, an additional fee is added to the order.
Equinix reserves the right to reject a user’s Smart Hands request if such rejection is reasonable, or if such service is not offered as part of Smart Hands.
Equinix reserves the right to require that a user’s Smart Hands instructions be given in additional detail and in writing (which may be by electronic mail).
Equinix reserves the right to perform Smart Hands services at the user’s expense if the user fails to act in a timely manner in regard to IBX policies (for example, regarding suite cleanliness, shipping and receiving, etc.).
The Smart Hands service is limited to visual and physical support of IBX hardware (for example, no application support), unless otherwise instructed by user’s IT personnel.
An authorized user representative must be available via telephone when services are performed (during the agreed-upon window of time).
Equinix Professional Services teams are available for management of data center components and issues not covered by the Smart Hands service.
For the Monthly Rollover plan, hours must be used within 60 days (30-day initial plan period plus 30-day rollover). Usage will first consume hours from the current month, then from the rolled over hours from the previous month.
For the Monthly plan without rollover, hours are forfeited if not used within the 30-day plan period.
For the Prepaid plan, hours do not roll over and are forfeited if not used within the 12-month plan period.
Once a plan is purchased, additional hours can be added, but hour reductions are not permitted during the contract term.

Note: For more details about our global policies, see IBX Policies.

FAQs

How does monthly rollover work?

Monthly hours can be used for 60 days (1 month rollover). Each month, the hours consumed are deducted from the current month first, then from the rolled-over hours. For example:

Month	Current Month Hours	Hours Rolled From Prior Month	Hours Used During This Month	Notes
May	10	0	4	Only 4 out of 10 hours were used, so the remaining 6 hours will roll over to June.
June	10	6	7	Only 7 out of 10 hours were used, so the 3 remaining hours roll over to July. The 6 hours rolled over from May will expire unused.
July	10	3	12	All 10 monthly hours were used, and 2 of the hours rolled over from June were used. The remaining 1 hour rolled over from June will expire.