Users Guide

How SupportAssist Enterprise works
When SupportAssist Enterprise is setup and the devices to be monitored are configured correctly, SupportAssist Enterprise
receives an alert whenever a hardware event occurs on any monitored device. The received alerts are filtered by using various
policies to determine if the alerts qualify for creating a new support case or for updating an existing support case. All qualifying
alerts are sent securely to the SupportAssist server hosted by Dell, for creating a new support case or for updating an existing
support case. After the support case is created or updated, SupportAssist Enterprise collects system information from the
device that generated the alert and sends the information securely to Dell. The system information is used by Technical Support
to troubleshoot the issue and provide an appropriate solution.
You can also use SupportAssist Enterprise to only collect and send system information from your devices to Dell. By default,
SupportAssist Enterprise automatically collects and sends system information from your devices at periodic intervals and on
case creation. If required, you can also manually start the collection and upload of system information to Dell.
NOTE: To experience the automatic case creation and system information collection capabilities of SupportAssist
Enterprise, you must complete the registration. Without registration, you can only use SupportAssist Enterprise to
manually start the collection and upload of system information from your devices to Dell. For more information about
the restrictions that apply when using SupportAssist Enterprise without registration, see Using SupportAssist Enterprise
without registration.
NOTE: SupportAssist Enterprise does not create a support case for every alert received from a monitored device. A
support case is created only for a device that has an active service contract, and if the alert type and number of alerts
received from the device match with the predefined criteria for support case creation.
NOTE: SupportAssist Enterprise sends you automatic email notifications about support cases, device status, network
connectivity status, and so on. For information about the various email notifications, see Types of email notifications.
SupportAssist Enterprise capabilities available with
Dell service contracts
The following table provides a comparison of the SupportAssist Enterprise capabilities available with the ProSupport,
ProSupport Plus, ProSupport Flex for Data Center, or ProSupport One for Data Center service contracts.
NOTE:
Completing the registration is a prerequisite to receive the full benefits of SupportAssist Enterprise for your Dell
devices. For information on registering SupportAssist Enterprise, see Registering SupportAssist Enterprise.
Table 1. SupportAssist Enterprise capabilities and Dell service contracts
SupportAssist
Enterprise capability
Description Basic
Hardware
ProSupport ProSupport
Plus,
ProSupport
Flex for Data
Center, or
ProSupport
One for Data
Center
Proactive detection of
hardware failures
SupportAssist Enterprise receives alerts for
hardware events that occur in monitored
devices and proactively determines if the
alerts indicate a hardware failure.
Predictive detection of
hardware failures*
Intelligent analysis of system information
collected from a monitored device is used to
predict hardware failures that may occur in
future.
Automated collection of
system information
The system information required for
troubleshooting an issue is automatically
collected from the monitored device and
sent securely to Dell.
12 Overview