IBM Cloud will update the services it provides under its Basic Support tier, which will move to a self-service model in January 2026.
The Basic Support tier is free to all IBM Cloud customers. Big Blue describes it as “Basic business protection that is included with your IBM Cloud Pay-As-You-Go or Subscription account.” The service is well-named as it includes the ability to raise cases with IBM’s support team 24×7, but doesn’t include a guaranteed initial response time or a dedicated account manager.
In an email sent to customers, IBM advises the changes coming next year mean Basic Support users will lose the opportunity to “open or escalate technical support cases through the portal or APIs” but can “self-report service issues (e.g., hardware or backup failures) via the Cloud Console” and “open Billing and Account cases in the IBM Cloud Support Portal.”
The email advises customers that wish to stay on the Basic Support tier that they can continue using the watsonx-powered IBM Cloud AI Assistant that Big Blue upgraded earlier this year. The ancient IT company also promises that, come January 2026, it will launch a tool called “Report an Issue” that offers “faster issue routing”, and that an expanded library of support documentation will “provide deeper self-help content.”
The missive also suggests “If your organization needs technical support, faster response times, or severity-level control, we recommend upgrading to a paid support plan.” Prices start at $200/month.
IBM opens its email by stating “This no-cost support level will shift to a self-service model to align with industry standards and improve your support experience.”
We leave it to IBM customers to judge the veracity of the second assertion, but IBM isn’t remiss with the claim that its future low-end support offering is close to industry standards. The basic support tier offered by AWS and Google Cloud includes access to community forums, online docs, and help with billing. Microsoft’s basic tier adds an “Azure Advisor” that suggests ways to optimize use of its cloud based on consumption patterns.
The big difference here is that AWS, Azure, and Google are the world’s three leading hyperscale clouds, with 30 percent, 20 percent, and 13 percent market share respectively according to recent data from Synergy Research Group. IBM Cloud has two-to-four percent market share, a position that could mean it needs to cut costs by reducing free services, or that it’s just not interested in serving the kind of users that want free support.
If Big Blue has decided to ditch small cloudy customers, it’s not alone: China’s Tencent chose to stop working with customers who only use basic cloud services because they weren’t profitable. ®