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IBM Support Portal Provides a One-Stop Shop

The IBM Support Portal provides a single entry point for access to support information for IBM hardware and software products. It offers much more than a traditional aggregation site, which is typically just a collection of URLs. When you search for support information on a specific IBM product, the portal will pull data from multiple IBM support sites. The results are presented in a well-organized format with tabs for different types of support activities. You can even customize the portal with your specific products and platforms.

The first time you access the site, you’ll see a quick-start panel. On this screen, you’ll need to browse for a product that you want to work with. After making the selection and clicking “Continue,” you’ll reach the home page, which offers a variety of support information. Subsequent visits to the portal will take you directly to the main page, which includes the product you selected on the quick-start panel at the bottom.

As you navigate the site, the information presented is based on your selections from the product list. Each visit, you’ll want to focus on the “Choose a product” section on the left to make sure you’ve selected the products that you want to work with.

Managing Products

Because you probably work with more than one IBM product, you’ll want to expand the product list using the “Quick find” search box. Simply select one or more items from the search results and click the double arrow button in the middle of the screen. As you add software and hardware products, they will be saved automatically to your list for easy access on subsequent visits.

Once you’ve built a list of products to work with, you’ll need to select the specific ones you want during any given session. The site gives you the option of simultaneously accessing information for multiple products from your list or limiting access to just one of them at a time.

Your product list also includes “All” and “Active” features. Choosing “All” will expand the product list to show every item in your product list. Clicking “Active” will shrink the list to display only the items active for the current session.

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