Support | blueAPACHE Service Desk & Client Portal

Key facts

Support channels

Phone. Call 1300 135 548 within Australia or +61 3 8696 9369 from outside Australia and select option 2.

Email. support@blueapache.com is monitored by the Service Desk and is provided for registered managed services customers.

Client portal. emPOWER clients log in at portal.blueapache.com to lodge and track requests, review updates and communicate with the team. Customers who should have access but lack login details are told to contact us.

Remote access. blueapache.rmmservice.com.au/connect opens a guided remote session with a service specialist. The support team initiates this when a request requires it.

Proactive monitoring. Managed Services describes predictive capacity monitoring, while the Network materials describe access to the monitoring and management tools we use. Confirm how alerts are assessed, escalated and communicated under your support arrangement.

Hours and scope, per service

Who is on your account team

Each managed services customer is assigned a team with four distinct accountabilities. Knowing which one to approach saves a round trip.

Commercial questions and contract changes go to the Account Executive; service quality, reporting and escalation go to the Service Delivery Manager; technical design and platform questions go to the Technical Account Manager. Day-to-day incidents go to the Service Desk rather than to any individual, so they are tracked and prioritised against your matrix.

Under the General Terms each party also appoints an Account Representative with authority to make binding decisions on day-to-day matters, and the parties meet every 6 months to review the services.

How to raise an incident and what happens next

1. Contact the Service Desk with your details, affected systems, when the issue began, any error messages and the business impact. Call for an urgent or business-critical issue.
2. The desk classifies the incident against the customer's priority and escalation matrix. The Managed Services materials describe a matrix developed with each customer to prioritise incidents, with business-critical systems receiving higher prioritisation.
3. Our Level 2 consultants and specialist engineers work to resolve your incident, escalating when required.
4. We measure Service Levels using our own tools and, under clause 3 of the General Terms and Conditions, the results are final and binding on the customer; Service-specific credits and remedies should be checked in the applicable Schedule. The General Terms also provide remedies, including a pro-rata prepaid-fee refund under clause 3.28 for a qualifying termination following a material Service Description change; clause 27.8 addresses cumulative rights and remedies.
5. Service Level failures caused by a Reasonable Excuse, including an Emergency interruption, are excluded.

If you are dissatisfied with a particular individual's performance or conduct, raise it with our project manager. Under clause 3.2 you may then require that person to be removed from your services, and we must promptly replace them at our own cost.

Monitoring, reporting and what you can see

Managed services customers get access to a managed services portal and toolset covering monitoring, alerting and capacity baselining. The published functions are:

• Management and reporting — system monitoring reviews, system resource usage, and reporting across servers, desktops and networks, co-authored by our experts rather than generated unattended
• Lifecycle management — network, server and desktop management across the full lifecycle of infrastructure and devices, from provisioning through patching to maintenance
• Environment reviews — regular reviews highlighting key issues, with predictive capacity monitoring to manage growth before it becomes a constraint
• Remote monitoring and management — tooling for servers and endpoints that drives automated patching and compliance

Separately, the General Terms require us to provide standard reports on performance against key metrics, including Service Levels, within 5 Business Days of the end of each month. Samples are available on request, and additional reports can be agreed at additional fees. We must also keep books and records for the term and 7 years afterwards, and you may audit those records on 5 Business Days' notice, or 1 Business Day where a regulator or legislation requires it.

Planned maintenance and emergencies

The published terms require best efforts to carry out scheduled maintenance within the Schedule’s window or, at other times, with at least three Business Days’ prior notice and minimum disruption. Emergency notice and restoration follow separate provisions. In an Emergency we provide as much notice as is practical; the service may be unavailable and restoration is on a best-efforts basis.

Clause 3.26 separately permits suspension or cancellation on specified grounds, including reasonable grounds to consider that continued service would compromise our environment’s security. It requires as much notice as reasonably possible, best efforts to identify and propose a solution and no fees for the affected service during suspension or cancellation. The service agreement page explains the distinction from breach-related suspension, where different conditions and payment rules apply.

What a new customer should expect during onboarding

Under clause 8 of our General Terms and Conditions, transition-in begins after the Service Commencement Date. We confirm commencement, perform due diligence, configure monitoring where applicable, provide support documentation, agree a meeting and reporting schedule, and notify you when the services are ready. You provide the information, access and timely documentation approvals needed for that work.

Two customer-side obligations start at the same time. You must comply with our security policies and directions as reasonably requested by our security manager, and promptly report any suspected security compromise. And unless a Service Description says we are responsible, you must install, configure and operate anti-virus software on all equipment interfacing with the services.

At the end of the Service Period, clause 9 obliges us at no cost to remove or delete customer software and data from our environment and perform the listed disengagement steps; the customer is solely responsible for taking a copy of all Customer Data before expiry or termination, and additional disengagement services are quoted separately. The General Terms do not state a grace period before deletion, so an exit data window should be negotiated on the Service Order.

Keeping the operational record useful

Retain business impact, affected systems, timestamps, approvals and the point of restoration. Compare the record with the agreed service scope and measurement rather than treating generic support hours as a response target. Billing and contractual disputes have separate notice and evidence requirements. The reporting and dispute provisions explain those paths; an operational escalation should not be assumed to preserve every contractual deadline.

Related

• Contact
• Managed services
• Managed service bundles
• Connectivity
• emPOWER Cloud
• Managed detection and response
• Service agreement
• Support and service levels
• Privacy policy
• Archers case study

How do I contact the blueAPACHE Service Desk?

Call 1300 135 548 within Australia or +61 3 8696 9369 from outside Australia and select option 2. Registered managed services customers can also email support@blueapache.com or lodge a request in the emPOWER client portal at portal.blueapache.com.

Is support available 24 hours a day?

For emPOWER Managed Services, unlimited 24/7 help desk support, staffed in Australia during business hours and by our global team after hours. For emPOWER Connectivity, the service desk operates 7am to 7pm on business days while network monitoring runs 24x7. Your own agreed support hours are in your Service Order and Schedule.

What is the response time for an incident?

Managed Services describes a customer-specific priority and escalation matrix. Confirm the response and restoration commitments, covered incidents and escalation contacts in your agreement. The General Terms provide for measurement using our tools; generic support hours are not an incident response target.

Who should I contact about what?

Commercial and contractual matters go to your Account Executive, service quality and escalation to your Service Delivery Manager, technical delivery to your Technical Account Manager, and individual incidents to the Service Desk so they are tracked and prioritised.

How do I report a business-critical outage?

Phone the Service Desk rather than emailing, and state the business impact and urgency.

What reporting do I get?

Standard reports on performance against key metrics including Service Levels, within 5 Business Days of month end, plus the managed services portal covering monitoring, alerting, capacity baselining, lifecycle management and environment reviews. Additional reports can be agreed at additional fees.

What can the help desk help with?

The Managed Services offering describes access to technical experts across desktop, server, telephony, networking, cloud, backup and security. Your service agreement defines the supported systems and responsibilities.

Do you outsource your help desk?

The Managed Services materials describe an in-house help desk, with Australian business-hours staff and global after-hours coverage. Confirm the support arrangement for the services you purchase.

Can I have a particular engineer taken off my account?

Yes. Raise it with our project manager first. If you remain dissatisfied you may require that individual to be removed, and we must promptly replace them at our own cost under clause 3.2.

What happens in the first weeks after signing?

Transition In Services start immediately after the Service Commencement Date: confirmation of the start date, due diligence on your systems, monitoring configuration, documentation on how to use support, an agreed meeting and reporting schedule, then notice that the services are ready. You will be asked for network, firewall, credential and procedural details promptly.

How much notice do you give for maintenance?

The published terms require best efforts to carry out scheduled maintenance within the Schedule’s window or, at other times, with at least three Business Days’ prior notice and minimum disruption. Emergency notice and restoration follow separate provisions. In an Emergency, notice is as much as practical and restoration is on a best-efforts basis.

What if I cannot log in to the client portal?

Portal access is for emPOWER clients. If you should have access but cannot log in, contact the Service Desk for assistance.

Can I get my data back when I leave?

You are responsible for taking a copy of all Customer Data before the agreement expires or terminates; we then delete it from our environment at no cost. Customer Records must be provided within 10 Business Days of a request during the term. Negotiate a specific exit data window and format on the Service Order because the General Terms do not state one.