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Get public cloud support

Understand your support options while working in the B.C. government public cloud. 

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How we can help

The public cloud team is here to answer questions and provide support as you onboard to the public cloud. We help ensure landing zones are secure, reliable and compliant. We also help protect applications and data within the cloud environment.  

We offer support across several areas within the landing zones, including:  

  • Onboarding. We guide new teams through the onboarding process for public cloud services 
  • Provisioning.  We enable teams to request new project sets and manage team access through the self-serve tool: Platform Product Registry
  • Security and privacy assessments. We conduct security and privacy assessments of our managed public cloud services before we make them available to clients 
  • Security and privacy guardrails. If B.C. government guardrails affect your ability to use certain cloud services, we can help you navigate the impact and find solutions 
  • Billing issues. We’ll investigate and coordinate with your public cloud service provider if you have invoice questions or suspect an error 

We do not troubleshoot application-level issues. For help with your application, contact Enterprise Support.  

Learn more about our support responsibilities in our shared responsibility model. 

Access support from the public cloud team 

We provide support on weekdays from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Pacific Time, excluding statutory holidays.  

We aim to respond to questions within 2 business days and do our best to address urgent needs as quickly as possible. Lead time varies depending on the type of the request and the completeness of information provided.  

You can reach out for support through the following options.

Submit a support ticket

Report an incident, request a new service or modify an existing one by creating a support ticket.  

Ask questions on Rocket.Chat

Join us on Rocket.Chat  to ask technical questions while working in the public cloud. Use your IDIR to log in. 

Rocket.Chat support channel  

  • Through the #public-cloud-general channel, you can discuss public cloud services, products, use cases, costs and more  
  • Use the #public-cloud-how-to channel for technical documentation and questions about how to use the public cloud services 
  • Get updates from the #public-cloud-alerts channel regarding maintenance, incidents, outages and changes in Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Azure landing zones  

Use GitHub 

Teams in the B.C. government can create and manage their documentation and code in the B.C. government’s GitHub organizations. The “bcgov” organization is for open code, while “bcgov-c” is used for closed code. This allows teams to determine which is the best fit for their needs. To access and contribute to repositories, including your own, you must have a GitHub account with two-factor authentication enabled. 

Additionally, the B.C. Developer Guide can help you manage code and collaborate in the open. It explains how to join the B.C. government organizations in GitHub, create repositories and follow best practices to keep your work secure and accessible.  

The Government of B.C. Stack Overflow group is a private space for BC Public Service developers and other technical roles. It’s a community-based group for developers, supported by developers within the government, who are working on projects across the BC Public Service. 

You can ask and answer questions and support your colleagues in the B.C. government developer community.

Enterprise Support

Each public cloud service provider offers Enterprise Support for teams using the OCIO-managed services. This support is included in the costs of the landing zones as part of our Enterprise Support offering.  

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

The AWS Enterprise On-Ramp support plan is available for ministry production accounts in the OCIO’s landing zone in AWS. This provides 24/7 expert support from the AWS support team. 
 
If you use a third-party vendor’s landing zone in AWS, you will not be able to leverage the B.C. government’s AWS Enterprise On-Ramp support plan for the applications hosted in the vendor’s landing zone. 

AWS support includes:

  • Troubleshooting AWS services in production applications 
  • Guidance on scaling and optimizing applications 
  • 24/7 access to AWS cloud support engineers  
  • Faster response time to open cases under the AWS Enterprise On-Ramp plan 

How to get AWS support 

  1. Log into the BC Gov’s organization in AWS with your IDIR. Only users with Admin and Developer roles can open support cases 
  2. Open a ticket in the production account. This is required to access Enterprise Support 
  3. Go to “Login to Console” > “Support” and follow AWS Customer Portal instructions. Logging in is necessary to view the content 

Microsoft Azure

The Unified Enterprise support plan is available for all ministry applications hosted in the OCIO’s landing zone in Azure. This includes 24/7 Microsoft support.  

If you use a third-party vendor’s landing zone in Azure, you cannot use the B.C. government’s Unified Enterprise support plan for applications hosted in the vendor’s landing zone.  

You may view the full list of services available to the ministries under the Unified Enterprise support plan. 

How to get Azure support 

  1. Log into the Azure Portal with your IDIR. Only users with access to applications in the OCIO-managed landing zone can use the Unified Enterprise support plan. New users may take up to 7 business days to gain access. If you need to open a support case before access is enabled, open a support ticket 
  2. Follow the step-by-step guide to open an Azure support request 
  3. Learn how to manage Azure support requests 

Training resources

Enhance your cloud skills with available training for AWS and Microsoft Azure. 

AWS training 

  • SkillBuilder. Access 500+ free training sessions for AWS services. Sign in with an AWS Builder ID or Amazon account (IDIR login not supported) 
  • AWS Workshops. These are created by the teams on Amazon Web Services (AWS). The workshops are hands-on events designed to teach or introduce practical skills, techniques, or concepts that can help you solve business problems 

Microsoft Azure training   

You can access free Azure training through Microsoft Learn by searching for the skills your team needs. Additionally, registered Services Hub users have access to free learning resources, where progress can be tracked by both learners and managers, and courses can be assigned. 

Training focus areas

Certifications focus areas

If you’re interested in Azure certifications, discounted options are available through the Enterprise Skills Initiative.  
 
The following certification courses are available:  

Azure workshops 

The Unified Enterprise plan offers Azure Workshops. The Customer Success Account Manager (CSAM) oversees the workshops with approval from B.C. government program sponsors. These workshops help you build skills, learn best practices and manage Azure better. If your team wants a custom workshop, contact the public cloud team by creating a support ticket. 

Technical documentation

The B.C. government public cloud – technical documentation is available for you to use and reference as you build, deploy, maintain and retire your application in AWS or Azure.  

Categories include:   

  • Overview of both AWS and Microsoft Azure landing zones 
  • Provision a Project Set  
  • AWS technical resources 
  • Azure technical resources  

You can also access the internal resources section for the public cloud. The access is restricted to (IDIR) and it’ll require you to login.  

Subscribe to service notifications

You can subscribe (IDIR protected) to receive notifications about important changes and maintenance activities that may impact your application’s performance or availability.

Join our community updates

Every 6 weeks, the public cloud team hosts a community-wide meeting, where we share team updates, general announcements about the service, and information about new features and releases.

We also schedule time for questions, so bring any questions you have to the meeting and we’ll do our best to answer them. 

Subscribe to get a calendar invite to the recurring community meetings and receive public cloud email updates.

Request access to review slide decks from past meetings.lock symbol