Support
Every Barracuda customer receives 24/7 technical support matched to the criticality of their environment. The table below compares the three support plans across the key service areas that shape your support experience.
Service Area | Core | Plus | Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
Your contact | Contact Center and Level 1 technicians | Priority routing to Level 2/3 technicians | Priority routing to Level 2/3 technicians with named Technical Account Manager |
How we engage | Standard queue-based support via phone, chat, email and portal | Priority handling with accelerated routing and high-priority queue access | Top-priority handling with proactive engagement, ticket evaluation and TAM access |
Response times (P1) | Initial response within 2 hours (no SLO) | Initial response within 30 minutes | Initial response within 15 minutes |
Response times (P2) | Initial response within 1 day (no SLO) | Initial response within 4 hours | Initial response within 2 hours |
Response times (P3) | Initial response within 2 days (no SLO) | Initial response within 1 day | Initial response within 8 hours |
Response times (P4) | Initial response within 3 days (no SLO) | Initial response within 2 days | Initial response within 1 day |
Escalation ownership | Standard escalation through tier structure | Accelerated escalation with internal follow-up | End-to-end TAM ownership with incident command for P1 events |
Standby support | — | Office hours | 24/7 standby for planned changes and critical events |
Root cause analysis | — | — | Formal RCA included for major incidents, if requested |
Proactive services | — | — | Proactive ticket evaluation and notification of resolved software issues |
Best suited to | Organizations with internal expertise needing reliable baseline support | Business-critical environments needing faster response and priority handling | Mission-critical environments needing dedicated resources and strategic technical partnership |
How our support tiers work
Tier | What it includes, when it applies |
|---|---|
Contact Center | Initial case intake and verification; information collection; case creation and routing; priority identification for Plus and Pro customers; 24/7 availability across all channels. |
Level 1 Support | Initial diagnostics and business impact confirmation; quick issue resolution for common problems; knowledge base guidance; escalation to Level 2/3 when deeper analysis is required. |
Level 2/3 Support | Advanced troubleshooting and deep technical analysis; complex configuration review; development escalations when code-level investigation is needed; direct handling of Plus and Pro accounts. |
Technical Account Manager (Pro) | Named senior technical resource; end-to-end escalation ownership; incident command during P1 events; proactive ticket evaluation; coordination with Engineering and Product Management; technical governance and architecture advice. |
Severity definitions
Severity | Definition | When to use |
|---|---|---|
P1 — Major Outage | Main functionality of Barracuda product(s) is not functioning and more than 50% of users are impacted | Production down, business-critical impact, security breach in progress. Must be reported by phone. |
P2 — Critical | Primary features of Barracuda product(s) are not functioning and a significant number of users are impacted | Major functionality impaired, significant business impact, no workaround available |
P3 — Moderate Impact | Non-critical functionality is not working as expected or performance is degraded across a small group of users | Minor functionality impaired, workaround available, limited user impact |
P4 — Low Impact | Minimal impact to product functionality with available workarounds, or general questions about Barracuda product(s) | How-to questions, feature requests, documentation inquiries, minor issues |
Support channels
Channel | Availability | Best for |
|---|---|---|
Support Community Portal | 24/7 | Case submission, tracking, knowledge base, collaboration |
Phone | 24/7 | P1/Critical issues, urgent matters requiring immediate engagement |
Live Chat | 24/7 | Quick questions, non-critical inquiries |
24/7 | Non-urgent inquiries, documentation requests |
Primary entry point: Barracuda Support Community
Phone support: Regional contact numbers
What to include when opening a case
Clear description of the issue and business impact
Product serial number, version, and deployment details
Initial investigation and troubleshooting performed
Mitigation actions already attempted and observed results
Relevant logs, diagnostics, or supporting evidence
Note: Cases that do not meet these standards may be placed on hold pending additional information.
Standby Support
Standby support provides scheduled access to a support engineer during planned maintenance windows or critical changes.
Plan | Availability |
|---|---|
Core | — |
Plus | Office hours (local business hours) |
Pro | 24/7 standby for planned changes and critical events |
When to use standby support
Planned firmware updates or migrations
Major configuration changes
Scheduled maintenance windows
Critical go-live events
How to request
Contact your Customer Success Manager or account team to schedule standby support at least 48 hours in advance.
Formal Root Cause Analysis
Pro customers receive formal Root Cause Analysis (RCA) documentation following major incidents, if requested.
Plan | RCA Availability |
|---|---|
Core | — |
Plus | — |
Pro | Formal RCA included for major incidents if requested |
What's included
Incident timeline and impact summary
Technical root cause identification
Contributing factors analysis
Remediation steps taken
Preventive recommendations
When provided
RCA is delivered following resolution of P1/Major Outage incidents, typically within 14 business days.
Proactive Notification (Resolved Software Issues)
Pro customers receive proactive notifications when Barracuda identifies and resolves software issues that may affect their environment.
Plan | Proactive Notification |
|---|---|
Core | — |
Plus | — |
Pro | ✓ Included |
What you receive
Notification of resolved defects relevant to your deployed products
Recommended actions (e.g., apply update, review configuration)
Links to release notes and documentation
How it works
Your TAM monitors resolved issues and proactively communicates those relevant to your environment, helping you stay ahead of potential problems.
To discuss which support plan best fits your environment, or to upgrade to Plus or Pro, speak to your Barracuda account team.