When support cannot fix it.
WHAT MAKES THIS DIFFICULT
Two teams with different priorities and vocabularies.
WHAT ENGINEERING NEEDS
A reproducible case Exact steps What was expected and what happened
Identifiers: account, ticket, time
Logs or references
WHAT WASTES THEIR TIME
A report with none of that.
WHAT SUPPORT SHOULD DO FIRST
Attempt to reproduce Establish how many customers are affected Check whether it is already known
WHY THE SECOND POINT
It determines priority more than anything else.
WHAT TO STATE CLEARLY
Impact, in terms of customers and money.
WHY IN THOSE TERMS
It is how prioritisation decisions are actually made.
WHAT TO AGREE BETWEEN TEAMS
A single route for escalations What information is required What response time applies Who decides priority
WHAT TO AVOID
Engineers contacted directly through personal messages Escalations with no record Support unable to see progress
WHY THAT LAST POINT MATTERS
Support must update the customer, and cannot without visibility.
WHAT TO PROVIDE SUPPORT
Visibility of the issue's status.
WHAT TO DO WHILE WAITING
Update the customer at intervals, even with no news.
WHAT TO NEVER DO
Go silent because there is nothing to report.
