OFF: Description of the Office Deployment Advisory Service (297033)

SUMMARY

The Microsoft Office Deployment Advisory Service is designed for IT professionals who do not require the traditional on-site consulting or sustained account management services available from Microsoft Solution Providers, Microsoft Consulting Services (MCS), or Microsoft Premier Support.

Microsoft Office Deployment Advisory Service engagements focus on assistance and guidance in customizing deployment of Office 2000 and Office XP, typically do not exceed 40 billable hours in duration, and are delivered remotely from Microsoft offices throughout North America.

These services are offered on a fee basis of $210.00 per hour. Payments can be billed to a credit card or purchase orders.

If you are billing to a purchase order, please fax a copy of the completed purchase order, along with the signed service agreement.

Also, please make sure that each of the following is reflected on the completed purchase order:

Payment terms are Net 30 days.
An authorized signature is required.
The name of one technical contact and one billing contact must be included.
The complete billing address must be included.
Sequential purchase order numbers must be printed on the purchase order.
A description of the support account purchase must be included.
The total dollar amount of the purchase must be included.
Use this Microsoft remittance address:
Microsoft Corporation
Professional Support Sales
P.O. Box 844510
Dallas, TX 75284-4510

If, after reading the information provided in the "More Information" section of this article, you want to speak with an Office Deployment Advisory Service support professional, please call the following number:

(800) 936-5200

NOTE: The Office Deployment Advisory Service was formerly known as the Office Developer Consult Line (ODCL).

MORE INFORMATION

What Is the Difference Between Office Deployment Advisory Service and Microsoft Consulting Services?

The Office Deployment Advisory Service is a complement to services that are already provided by MCS. The Advisory Service fills a gap by providing targeted customers with short-term consulting needs, versus on-site or longer-term project consulting that MCS provides.

Types of Issues and Supported Technologies

The following can be performed by a support professional in an Office Deployment Advisory Service case:

Discuss general deployment methods and techniques
Discuss deployment techniques and considerations related to migration
Create an administrative installation
Assist, in whole or in part, in the creation of transform files using the Custom Installation Wizard (CIW)
Assist, in whole or in part, in the creation of .cmw files using the Custom Maintenance Wizard
Customize Proflwiz.ini (Office 2000) or Opw10Adm.ini (Office XP) for the Office Profile Wizard
Customize the Setup.ini file
Create registry keys to be included in a transform
Create batch files, if required, to implement a deployment solution that cannot be provided through other means
Create VBScript scripts, if required, to implement a deployment solution that cannot be provided through other means
Assist, in whole or in part, in the creation of custom .opc files to be used by the Office Removal Wizard
Create a custom .adm file (policy template) for the System Policy Editor
Discuss troubleshooting methods and techniques for generic installation problems
Assist with deploying patches to network clients and/or administrative installations

If additional items need to be covered in your deployment, please consult the support professional assigned to your Office Deployment Advisory Service case.

Office Deployment Advisory Service Process and Policies

For the first hour of work, $210 is charged to your credit card. A Microsoft Support Professional will contact you within four hours to discuss the work that you want to have performed. At that time, an evaluation will be made to determine how many hours the project will require. If the project will require more than one hour, additional work will be done on a contractual basis. This added work will be documented in a contract and billed at the rate of $210 per hour. Your credit card will be billed for this added work when the contract is fulfilled.

The following items outline policies specific to the Advisory Service:

Contracts are limited to 40 billable hours.
Work can only be completed remotely. Microsoft Support Professionals perform all work via telephone, e-mail, or fax.
Work is limited to Office 2000 and Office XP products localized in the English language.
If you are using Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) to deploy a custom Office package, an additional, separate Systems Management Server case may be created, based on SMS entitlement.
If you are using the Microsoft Internet Explorer Administration Kit (IEAK) along with a custom Office package, an additional, separate case may be created, based on IEAK entitlement.

Resources

Use the following resources to clarify issues with this service or to help you with issues not offered by the Office Deployment Advisory Service:

To find out more about Microsoft Consulting Services, please contact your Microsoft account representative. For contact information for Microsoft offices in the United States, browse to http://www.microsoft.com/usa/. For worldwide Microsoft offices, browse to http://www.microsoft.com/worldwide/.
Third-party consulting services: To find a Microsoft Certified Solution Provider in your area, browse to http://mcspreferral.microsoft.com/ or http://microsoft.com/office/deployment/experts.htm.
For information about Solution Providers in your local area, contact the Microsoft Solution Provider Sales and Information line at (800) 765-7768 in the United States or (877) 568-2495 in Canada. For information about support in other locations, contact a local Microsoft subsidiary.
If you require a book about Office deployment, browse to the following Web site:
http://www1.fatbrain.com/partners/msoffice/
Office Setup/Deployment White Papers:

http://microsoft.com/office

http://microsoft.com/office/ork

http://microsoft.com/office/deployment/default.htm

Office 97 Deployment

If you require deployment services for Office 97 (or earlier), you might want to consider upgrading to Office XP instead. Please browse to the following Web page for information about the features offered in Office XP:

http://www.microsoft.com/office/evaluation/indepth/xpguide.htm