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Building an Effective Support Relationship
To get the most from any support service, both the customer and support representative must communicate and work together effectively. Our representatives have a deep understanding of the Cayosoft software portfolio and will do their best to ensure mutual success. The purpose of this support guide is to help ensure the interaction with Customer Support is as successful as possible. Cayosoft strives to ensure your success by delivering world-class support.
Best Practices
- Pre-deployment planning – Before deploying Cayosoft products, it is beneficial to review technical and training documentation. We also recommend that you carefully define your project plans and include adequate test time and a “crisis” plan to ensure your administrators know how to contact all vendors involved.
- Assign appropriate resources – Individuals assigned to deploy Cayosoft products should be experienced in the installation, configuration, and maintenance of the Windows Server on which the products are installed, as well as the environment in which the product operates. Ideally, two administrators should be assigned: one as primary and another as a backup. If appropriate resources are not available, Cayosoft may delay the support case until an appropriate technical resource becomes available.
- Utilize self-help resources – Organizations can take full advantage of Cayosoft training videos and documentation available on the Help Center. From our support resources page, you can find links to technical documentation and Knowledge Base solutions, discuss issues with other administrators in our community forums, and review our white papers, technical notes, and compatibility guides.
Support Levels
Standard Support (Included with Paid Software Subscriptions)
Included with all software subscriptions. Standard Support provides access to a wide range of support activities, including answering questions, access to the knowledge base, and assistance with standard and critical break/fix situations.
Benefits
- Email support, with web sessions upon Cayosoft’s request
- Assistance with product issues and general questions
- Software updates
- Support, upgrade, and service notifications
- Access to Cayosoft’s Learning Management System
Professional Support (Additional Purchase Necessary)
Includes everything provided in Standard Support, plus the following additional benefits.
Benefits
- 24x5 support Monday through Friday, Eastern Standard Time
- Email and web sessions as preferred
- 24x7 support for Severity 1 Production Active Directory Full Forest Recovery scenarios only. See Disaster SLA below.
- Proactive monitoring – Continuous monitoring of Guardian Forest Recovery backup jobs to confirm recovery readiness
- Failure notifications – Our support team notifies you of any backup job failures, ensuring issues are caught promptly
- Zero-hour outage guidance – Immediate support and guidance during outages to minimize downtime and mitigate impact
- Disaster SLA – 1-hour response time, 24/7, for Severity 1 Production AD Full Forest Recovery scenarios
- White-glove upgrade assistance upon request
- Professional Services for deployment, up to 8 hours
Enterprise Support (Additional Purchase Necessary)
Includes everything provided in Professional Support, plus the following additional benefits.
Benefits
- Named Technical Account Manager – Direct relationship for tailored help
- Cayosoft Executive Sponsorship
- Invitation to Customer Advisory Board
- Proactive upgrade planning
- Monthly checkpoint calls with Technical Account Manager
- Reduced SLA response times. See Table 1 below.
- 24x7 support for Complete Product Outage scenarios
- Cayosoft Administrator Public API access to documentation and support
- Professional Services for deployment, up to 40 hours
Business Hours
The times defined below are in Eastern Time. Major US holidays are excluded.
| Tier | Standard Business Hours | Weekend / After-Hours Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | Mon–Fri, 8AM - 8PM | None |
| Professional | Mon–Fri, 24 hours | Priority 1 Full Forest Recovery only (1-hour response, 24/7) |
| Enterprise | Mon–Fri, 24 hours | Any Priority 1 Complete Product Outage (1-hour response, 24/7) |
Complete Product Outage Definition
A condition in which the Cayosoft product is entirely unavailable or non-functional across the customer environment, resulting in an immediate and complete interruption of core business operations, with no viable workaround, including using native Microsoft tools, available.
Qualifies as Complete Outage
- Product services will not start
- Admin/Guardian UI is inaccessible for all administrators
- All provisioning and recovery operations fail
- Forest recovery features are unavailable during an active incident
Does Not Qualify
- Single job type or automation failing
- One tenant or forest affected
- Performance degradation
- Reporting or auditing features unavailable
- Issue with a workaround, even if manual
Contacting Support
Our primary support channel is located on the web at support.cayosoft.com. At the top of this portal, anyone can submit a support request by clicking the Submit a request link and completing the Support Request Form. Please enter all data into the form and provide as many details as possible to open a case. Upon submitting the case, you will receive an electronic confirmation with a unique case number sent to your email address. You will also be able to see the case in the open cases list.
In the event of an Urgent Priority issue, as defined below, we encourage you to submit a case and also call us at +1 (614) 423-6716.
Support Priority Level
Priority levels provide an indication of the urgency of an issue and help Cayosoft provide a rapid and effective response. Incorrectly assigned priority levels may hinder the case resolution process and can adversely affect you. When submitting a support case, you are able to select a Priority. Priority definitions can be found below. You have the option to change the priority level of an issue as business conditions change. Cases submitted via email receive a default priority of Normal.
Response goals are intended to provide a target for the initial response to an issue or question. Table 1 defines the priority levels and the targeted initial response time for Cayosoft Support. It is helpful to clearly explain the business impact of your issue when you contact us.
Upgrade/downgrade of Priority level – If, during the service request process, the issue either warrants assignment of a higher priority level than currently assigned or no longer warrants the priority level currently assigned based on its current impact on the production environment, the priority level can be upgraded or downgraded accordingly to the priority level that most appropriately reflects its current impact by the assigned support agent.
Support Request Resolution
Closing a request – Service requests remain open until you are satisfied that the issue has been resolved. Exceptions to this policy apply to requests for product enhancements and product defects.
Closing a request due to lack of customer response – Providing fast and accurate resolutions to support requests is critical for maintaining superior customer service. It is therefore Cayosoft’s policy to close support requests when customers are non-responsive for more than six (6) consecutive business days.
Reopening a request – You can reopen service requests that have been closed within 4 days of the close date. If you attempt to reopen a closed service request after 4 days, a new service request is created with a link to the original case. You can reopen your closed service requests from the My Service Requests section of our Support Portal.
Table 1 – Support Priority Levels
| Priority | Description | Standard / Professional Initial Response | Enterprise Initial Response |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urgent (1) |
A business-critical software component or a Cayosoft-managed system is inoperable or unavailable; the production system is down; or there is an emergency condition. Requires an immediate workaround or solution. Examples: excessive abnormal terminations impacting all users, monitoring, reporting, schedules, or a down/offline production system. |
2 business hours | 1 hour |
| High (2) |
Adversely impacting Production operations, but the production system is not down; the product operates but is seriously restricted. Examples: production application response times or system performance are slow, but the system is available. Some users, monitoring, or reports are impacted. |
6 business hours | 3 business hours |
| Normal (3) |
A non-production issue; the majority of functions are still usable; or a limited condition that can be readily circumvented. Examples: non-Production application response times or system performance are slow, but the system is available. Some application functionality is intermittent with low user impact. |
12 business hours | 6 business hours |
| Low (4) | Minor issue or question that does not affect product function and can be readily circumvented. Examples: “How to” questions, the text of a message or page of documentation is worded poorly or misspelled, general feedback, or feature requests. | 24 business hours | 12 business hours |
Customer Satisfaction Surveys
Cayosoft is constantly working to improve both products and services. After each support request has been closed, a brief survey will be sent to the user who opened the support request. This survey is to assess the representative’s performance and the overall satisfaction with the support request process.
Product Lifecycle Policy
The level of support provided for a specific product depends on the specific version of the product for which support is being requested. Eligibility for product patches, also known as fixes, upgrades, and version downloads are directly tied to the version and when it was released. Current versions of the products are eligible for full support, including support services and updates/fixes, while support for older versions may be limited.
Cayosoft’s policy is to provide support for the specific product version for 12 months from its release date: 9 months of mainstream support, followed by an additional 3 months of extended support.
Please see the details in Cayosoft Administrator Lifecycle Matrix.
Support Policy for Trial Users
Cayosoft offers trial user support for evaluation purposes only. Support requests during the trial or POC period will be conducted with the Cayosoft Sales and Sales Engineering teams.
Support Policy for Customization
Customizations are features added to the Cayosoft product and are not covered by Cayosoft Support. Cayosoft may, at its sole discretion, offer help with customizations by offering the customer additional paid services. Customizations can include created or modified scripts used within products. For more information, visit Cayosoft.com/support.
Copyright
© 2026 Cayosoft Inc. All rights reserved.
This guide contains proprietary information protected by copyright. The software described in this guide is furnished under a software license or nondisclosure agreement. This software may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of the applicable agreement. No part of this guide may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording for any purpose other than the purchaser’s personal use without the written permission of Cayosoft.
If you have any questions regarding your potential use of this material, contact:
Cayosoft Inc.
470 Olde Worthington Road
Suite 200
Westerville, Ohio 43082
For more information, visit www.cayosoft.com.
Updated – July 2026
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