Customer Journey
The journey maps below illustrate a typical customer experience, highlighting key stages, goals, and milestones organizations may encounter when working with us. It is intended as a guide to help set expectations and identify opportunities for success. Since every business is unique, your actual journey may vary based on your objectives, technology environment, and priorities.
How to read this map
Every Barracuda customer follows a similar path: onboarding, health check, support and customer success interactions, and value realization. The difference between Core, Plus, and Pro is the level of engagement available at each stage — who is involved, how support prioritizes responses, and how often mutual success planning occurs. Core gives customers a flexible, digitally guided experience. Plus adds scheduled human engagement at key milestones. Pro provides named, ongoing ownership across the full customer journey.
The shared path
Stage | Purpose | Teams that can engage |
| Get the product deployed, configured, and in productive use | Digital, Packaged Services, Training, Customer Success |
| Confirm the deployment is healthy and configured to intent | Digital, Customer Success, Packaged Services, Support |
| Resolve issues and keep the relationship moving day to day | Support, Customer Success |
| Prove outcomes, plan the next milestones, and renew confidence | Digital, Customer Success, Packaged Services, Training |
Core Journey
Core provides a flexible, digitally guided experience from onboarding through ongoing value realization. Support is included with the product, and customers can engage through self-service resources or by opening a support ticket when help is needed. Onboarding is digital, assurance reviews are self-service, and customer success guidance is delivered through digital motions. This plan is designed for customers who prefer to move at their own pace using available documentation, training, health signals, and standard support channels.
Stage | What the customer experiences | Teams engaged | Capabilities in play |
| A digital-only onboarding path: guided content, product documentation, and on-demand training the customer works through on their own schedule. No scheduled kickoff and no assigned onboarding resource. | Packaged Services (digital delivery only); Training (on-demand digital library) | Product Onboarding: Digital Only. On-Demand Product Training (Digital). Software downloads, updates, and maintenance. |
| Digital health monitoring runs in the background and surfaces signals to the customer. Any configuration review is self-directed against a self-service checklist rather than a delivered engagement. | Customer Success (digital motion, no named contact) | Health Monitoring (Digital). Assurance Review: self-service only. |
| The customer can open support tickets through available channels, 24/7. Cases enter at Level 1 and are managed through the standard support queue. Customer success guidance is delivered through digital communications and resources rather than a named account contact. | Support (Level 1 entry, standard priority); Customer Success (digital only) | 24/7 Multi-Channel Support. Support tier entry: Level 1. Priority handling: Standard. Customer Success Manager: Digital Only. |
| Customers realize value through their own adoption goals, supported by digital health signals, on-demand training, and ongoing software maintenance. Business reviews, milestone planning sessions, and advisory engagements are not included as part of Core unless purchased separately. | Customer Success (digital); Training (on-demand digital) | Health Monitoring (Digital). On-Demand Product Training (Digital). No Executive Business Review, milestone planning, or advisory credits included. |
Plus Journey
Plus is a one-year plan designed to help customers reach first value with guided engagement at key moments. Customers receive guided onboarding, an included assurance review, access to a pooled customer success manager, and business review and milestone planning sessions twice per year. Support is also elevated, with cases entering at Level 2 or 3 and a committed response time for severity 1 issues.
Stage | What the customer experiences | Teams engaged | Capabilities in play |
| Customers receive guided onboarding focused on reaching first value: the deployment is configured, and the first priority use case is put into production with support. Training is made available through the learning management system, with completion tracking and reporting. Two advisory credits are included for targeted expertise when additional guidance is needed. | Packaged Services (guided onboarding, advisory credits); Training (LMS team management and reporting); Customer Success (pooled CSM introduction) | Product Onboarding: Guided First Value. Advisory Credits: 2. LMS Team Management & Reporting. On-Demand Product Training (Digital). |
| Digital health monitoring is backed by an included assurance review — a delivered check of configuration and health rather than a checklist the customer runs alone. Findings feed a milestone planning conversation with the pooled customer success team. | Packaged Services (assurance review); Customer Success (pooled CSM, milestone planning); Support (Level 2/3 for issues the review surfaces) | Health Monitoring (Digital). Assurance Review: included. Success / Milestone Planning & Alignment: bi-annual. |
| Cases enter directly at Level 2 or 3 and are handled with high priority, including a 30-minute response commitment for severity 1 issues and standby coverage during office hours. Day-to-day success guidance is provided by a pooled customer success team, giving customers access to a real person from a shared team rather than a dedicated account owner. | Support (Level 2/3 entry, high priority, office-hours standby); Customer Success (pooled CSM) | Support tier entry: Level 2, 3. Priority handling: High. Severity 1 response: 30 minutes. Standby support: office hours. Customer Success Manager: Pooled. |
| Twice per year, customers participate in an executive business review and milestone planning session to review outcomes and align on next goals. Training completion data and available advisory credits can be included in that conversation, helping ensure the next plan is grounded in actual adoption and business priorities. | Customer Success (bi-annual EBR and milestone planning); Packaged Services (advisory credits); Training (LMS reporting) | Executive Business Review: bi-annual. Success / Milestone Planning & Alignment: bi-annual. Advisory Credits: 2. LMS Team Management & Reporting. |
Pro Journey
Pro is a one-year plan that provides named ownership across the entire customer journey. Customers receive a Technical Account Manager for the technical relationship and a dedicated customer success manager for success planning and advocacy. Business reviews and milestone planning occur quarterly, and support engagement becomes more proactive through ticket evaluation, resolved software issue notifications, and formal root cause analysis for significant incidents.
Stage | What the customer experiences | Teams engaged | Capabilities in play |
| Guided onboarding is focused on reaching full value across the intended scope of deployment, configuration, and adoption. The Technical Account Manager and dedicated customer success manager are introduced early in the journey. Four advisory credits are included for specialist support, and two training credits are available for instructor-led courses with certification. | Packaged Services (guided full-value onboarding, advisory credits); Support (Technical Account Manager from day one); Customer Success (dedicated CSM); Training (instructor-led training and certification, LMS) | Product Onboarding: Guided Full Value. Advisory Credits: 4. Technical Account Manager. Open Enrollment Instructor-Led Training + Certification: 2 credits. LMS Team Management & Reporting. |
| Customer health is supported through digital monitoring, included assurance review, proactive ticket evaluation, and notifications when relevant software issues have been resolved. The Technical Account Manager brings this context into quarterly milestone planning so health trends and upcoming priorities can be addressed together. | Support (TAM, proactive ticket evaluation, proactive notification); Packaged Services (assurance review); Customer Success (dedicated CSM, quarterly planning) | Health Monitoring (Digital). Assurance Review: included. Proactive Ticket Evaluation. Proactive Notification (Resolved Software Issues). Success / Milestone Planning & Alignment: quarterly. |
| Cases enter at Level 2 or 3 with top priority, a 15-minute severity 1 response commitment, and 24/7 standby coverage. The Technical Account Manager owns the technical relationship and provides formal root cause analysis for significant incidents. The dedicated customer success manager supports escalation advocacy, helping ensure customer priorities are represented throughout the engagement. | Support (Level 2/3 entry, top priority, 24/7 standby, TAM, formal RCA); Customer Success (dedicated CSM, escalation advocacy) | Priority handling: Top. Severity 1 response: 15 minutes. Standby Support: 24/7. Technical Account Manager. Formal Root Cause Analysis. Escalation Advocacy. Customer Success Manager: Dedicated. |
| Each quarter, customers participate in an executive business review and milestone planning session to confirm outcomes, review progress, and align on next commitments. Root cause findings, proactive notifications, certification progress, and remaining advisory credits can all inform the plan, making value realization an ongoing, structured process. | Customer Success (quarterly EBR and milestone planning, escalation advocacy); Support (TAM, RCA findings); Packaged Services (advisory credits); Training (certification progress via LMS) | Executive Business Review: quarterly. Success / Milestone Planning & Alignment: quarterly. Advisory Credits: 4. Formal Root Cause Analysis. Instructor-Led Training + Certification: 2 credits. |
For any queries for the Customer Success Team, please reach out to csleaders@barracuda.com