Firefighting support
Dedicated engineers to help your infrastructure team
Running your own environment takes confidence. Firefighting Support puts a dedicated team of experts behind you. Get a video call within the hour for Severity 1 incidents. Plus, quarterly hours to plan migrations, upgrades, and other key moments for your business. You stay in control, we’re here to help.
Two kinds of readiness, one dedicated team
Firefighting Support is an enhanced response for the immediate incident and reduces the chance of the next one. Severity 1 incidents already get a one-hour first response under Ubuntu Pro + Support. Firefighting Support adds a video call with a Canonical engineer within that hour.
On top of that, a quarterly allowance of planned coverage and consulting hours with our engineers (Ops Consulting) is included. The same team helps you plan migrations, architectural changes, launches, peak-demand events, and more, before they become incidents.
From reactive response to strategic planning, one team has you covered:
- Video call with a Canonical engineer within the hour for Severity 1 incidents
- Up to 30 hours per quarter of planned coverage and Ops Consulting included, for migration planning, upgrade rehearsal, launch readiness, peak-demand prep, and more
- Ubuntu Pro + Support 24/7 included for all other severities, at standard SLAs
- Dual-team model: Support and Managed Solutions engineers work your cases
- Keep control of your environment – we don't need admin access
Need more planning time this quarter? Top up with additional Ops Consulting hours any time.
Is Firefighting Support right for you?
Built for teams who manage their own environment, by choice or by regulation, and want a dedicated team behind them for incidents and for the changes they’re planning.
Government clouds
Regulatory restrictions mean we can’t operate your systems directly. Firefighting Support gives you the safety net without the access requirements.
Highly private telecom networks
The workloads even a trusted third party can’t touch, backed by a team that’s ready when you need us.
Cloud upgrades
Go into your next version upgrade with engineers on standby. They fix what comes up, in real time.
Planned change and peak demand
Migrations, launches, seasonal traffic spikes: the moments where you want a second set of hands thinking it through with you.
Firefighting Support at a glance
1 hour
Engineer on call
Time for a Canonical engineer to join your video call, once a Sev 1 is flagged.
Up to 30
Quarterly hours
Planned coverage and Ops Consulting time included for planning ahead.
24/7
Support coverage
Standard Ubuntu Pro + Support for all severity levels.
Compare your options
| Feature | Fully managed solutions | Firefighting Support | Standard Support |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Canonical engineers deploy your environment and manage all operations. We maintain admin rights and a permanent connection. | Canonical engineers provide support in high-severity situations and guidance during key moments in your business, while you manage your operations. | Canonical engineers for around-the-clock coverage for break-fix and bug-fix issues. |
| Ubuntu Pro + Support | 24/7 included | 24/7 included | 24/7 or 24/5 |
| Incident management & Service requests | Unlimited, covering cases we identify ourselves or flagged by you | Video call only for one high severity case at a time. Unlimited ticket support for other cases | Unlimited, covering cases opened by you through the Support portal |
| Quarterly planned coverage & Ops Consulting | No | 5 hours for every 10 nodes, capped at 30 hours | No |
| Backup and recovery | Unlimited | Offered as advisory services | No |
| Software and package updates | Unlimited | Offered as advisory services | No |
| Capacity reports | Available | No | No |
| Admin access required | Yes | No | No |
Frequently asked questions
Still deciding whether Firefighting Support is right for you? Here is how it compares with other Ubuntu Pro add-ons, plus answers on eligibility, pricing, and product coverage.
How does it compare with Ubuntu Pro + 24/7 support?
Ubuntu Pro is the security, compliance, and maintenance subscription that extends security updates for Ubuntu LTS, adds hardening profiles, and provides access to trusted open source repositories. Ubuntu Pro + 24/7 Support is the break-fix and bug-fix foundation, with a one-hour first ticket response for Severity 1 incidents. Firefighting Support builds on that same foundation. It adds a Canonical Managed Solutions engineer on your video call within the hour. You also get quarterly planning hours, with a team that already knows your environment.
With Firefighting Support you get all the benefits of Ubuntu Pro + Support, plus additional incident response and guidance capabilities tailored to your cloud.
What is the difference with named support resources?
A Dedicated Support Engineer (DSE) or Technical Account Manager (TAM) is an ongoing relationship and your first point of contact for all support enquiries, day to day. Firefighting Support is more targeted: a dedicated team specifically for high-severity incident response, plus a defined quarterly allowance of planning time around specific changes, rather than day-to-day support ownership.
What is the difference with Ops Consulting?
Ops Consulting is pay-as-you-go time with our engineers. Book it whenever you need it, independent of incident coverage. Firefighting Support includes 5 hours for every 10 nodes of that same consulting time every quarter, as part of the subscription. It also includes a Canonical engineer on your video call within the hour for Severity 1 incidents. Need more planning time in a quarter? Top up with additional Ops Consulting hours at any time.
Can I get Firefighting Support if I already have Ubuntu Pro?
Yes, you can. Your cloud may need to undergo a cloud validation from our team, and you will only pay an additional upgrade fee to add Firefighting Support on top of your existing Ubuntu Pro (or Ubuntu Pro + Support) subscription.
How much does it cost?
This depends on the products you want to cover and the number of nodes. Our pricing model is simple, intuitive, and works on a per node per year basis, for your Infrastructure layer, your application layer, or both. Get in touch with our team to find out more.
Which products does Firefighting Support cover?
Firefighting Support covers Canonical’s Infra product portfolio (Charmed OpenStack, Sunbeam, Canonical Kubernetes, MicroCloud and Ceph, Landscape) and our entire Managed Apps portfolio on-prem or in public clouds.
Unlock Ops Consulting
Want to talk through your tech plans, learn to manage your environment yourself, or just understand your stack better? Talk to Canonical engineers through Ops Consulting: one-to-one calls with our topic experts. Available to customers with an active Firefighting Support or fully managed subscription, as a top-up to your included quarterly hours.
Upgrade support
We understand upgrading infrastructure or apps can be challenging. If we can’t upgrade it for you through Managed Services, our engineers can guide you through doing it yourself.
Operational experience
Get advice on avoiding common mistakes and fixing recurring problems, drawing on over 20 years of open source expertise.
Team training
Already confident in managing your own environment? We can still help with training material and best practices shared in consulting sessions.
Ops Consulting packages
Available to customers with an active Firefighting Support or fully managed subscription, as a top-up beyond your included quarterly hours. Hours don’t roll over, and you never commit for more than a quarter.
10h/quarter
$3,500
Occasional meetings for non-urgent matters, allowing you to discuss concerns and improve the efficiency of your operations.
20h/quarter
$6,000
Regular meetings that allow you to have in-depth discussions on pressing matters, or get baseline training in operational management for your products.
40h/quarter
$10,000
Daily or highly recurring meetings with engineers, helping you gain skills quickly or prepare for a significant change in your environment.
Ready for expertise you can count on?
Talk to us about Firefighting Support or contact us to compare support plans and find the best fit for you.