The Use of Technology in Providing Proactive Customer Support

1. The Use of Technology in Providing Proactive Customer Support By Eashwar Iyer IOUG-A Live! 2000, 11th May 2000, 11.15am Paper# 464

2. Goals & Objectives • Basics of setting up a Wide Area Network (WAN) • Using the Internet as an alternative • Look at a Case Study to see how a WAN, Oracle Application Server, Oracle Database Server and PL/SQL could be used effectively to provide Proactive Support to Customers with the help of a sample application at the end by Eashwar Iyer (eashwarsiyer@hotmail.com)

3. The Driving Factors • For a small Software Development House (SDH), wouldn’t it be highly desirable if a low cost, high speed WAN could be set up to: • Access the clients’ LAN • Access the clients’ Database • Without compromising the security of the network and database • If this is possible, it could be used to: • Distribute the developed application • Troubleshoot the implemented application and • Monitor the environment for possible bugs by Eashwar Iyer (eashwarsiyer@hotmail.com)

4. Wide Area Networks • Components of a WAN • LANs • Dedicated connections • Dial-up connections • Routers • Pros and Cons of setting up a private WAN • Highly Secure • High Maintenance • High Speed WANs are Costly • Dial-up WANs are Very Slow and Costly • Using Internet Technology as an alternative by Eashwar Iyer (eashwarsiyer@hotmail.com)

5. Using the Internet to Set Up a WAN: Pros and Cons • Pros • Very Cost Effective • High Speed Connections • High Availability • Secure • Cons • Security issues have to be worked out • High dependence on the Internet Service Provider (ISP) by Eashwar Iyer (eashwarsiyer@hotmail.com)

6. Using the Internet to Set Up a WAN - Three Examples • Using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) • Firewall • Encryption • Authentication • Using a Firewall or a Router • IP address filtering • IP Masquerading • Using a Linux box as the Internet Host • IP Masquerading by Eashwar Iyer (eashwarsiyer@hotmail.com)

7. An example of a VPN setup • Connects LANs of a Head Office, Branch Office, External Organization, Mobile users etc. • Uses VPN hardware and software for encryption and authentication • Following slide shows the Network Diagram by Eashwar Iyer (eashwarsiyer@hotmail.com)

9. An example of Firewall and Linux setup • Connects LANs of a Head Office, Branch Office and External Organization with Filtering Firewalls and Linux respectively • Firewalls filter the incoming IP addresses allowing only valid ones • Following slide shows the Network Diagram by Eashwar Iyer (eashwarsiyer@hotmail.com)

11. Putting the Technology to Use How setting up a low-cost WAN helps Software Development Houses (SDH)? • Some of the typical activities of a SDH include- • Develop Applications • Deploy Applications • User Acceptance Test • Bug Fixes etc. • Maintain the Applications by Eashwar Iyer (eashwarsiyer@hotmail.com)

12. Case Study Proactive Error Handling

13. User Acceptance Test: One of the Crucial Phases Error Handling in Applications - some important elements to store: • Application name • Application version • Program name • Program module • Error id • Error number • Error description • Date/Time • User-id by Eashwar Iyer (eashwarsiyer@hotmail.com)

14. Explore User-Id Naming Standards • Oracle User-Ids • Network/Domain User-Ids • E-Mail Ids? • Use E-Mail Aliases effectively by Eashwar Iyer (eashwarsiyer@hotmail.com)

15. Network Setup for the Case Study • Connects LANs of the Customer and the Software House with Filtering Firewalls and Linux as the Internet Host respectively • Customer’s LAN has a Firewall that filters the incoming IP addresses allowing only valid ones • SDH’s LAN has a Linux Internet Host with IP Masquerading that allows any of its workstations to access the customer’s LAN • Following slide shows the Network Diagram by Eashwar Iyer (eashwarsiyer@hotmail.com)

17. Error Monitoring • Monitor the stored data or “Error Logs” • Don’t wait for users to log the error or complain of problems being faced in the Application! • Take action • Contact users before and/or after taking action by Eashwar Iyer (eashwarsiyer@hotmail.com)

18. Error Handling System (EHS) - A Simple Web Application • EHS is • A PL/SQL Web application • Generated using Oracle Designer • EHS uses • A PL/SQL cartridge defined on the Oracle Application Server • A database link to the customer’s database defined on the SDH’s Database Server • EHS runs on • Any client machinewith a Browser in the SDH’s LAN by Eashwar Iyer (eashwarsiyer@hotmail.com)

19. Main Menu of the EHS The menu has hyperlinks to all modules

20. Query Screen for Viewing Errorlog Error Log can be queried from this screen

21. Screen for Displaying Error Log Records The query results are displayed on this screen. The user-id has a hyperlink through which the user can be reached via e-mail

22. Recording Actions • Actions taken after viewing the Errors can be recorded in the EHS • The recorded Actions can be viewed by the Project/Maintenance Manager • …All these being completely transparent to the users by Eashwar Iyer (eashwarsiyer@hotmail.com)

23. Conclusion • Low cost WANs can be setup using the Internet Technology. • WANs are important for SDHs enabling them to deploy and support their products. • Proactive Support could be provided to customers. • These were demonstrated by the EHS, a simple application, fully generated from Oracle Designer with minimal efforts. by Eashwar Iyer (eashwarsiyer@hotmail.com)

24. What Next? • The EHS can be extended to cover other requirements to provide proactive support to customers. • I would love to hear from you if you use this concept and/or add more functionality to this. by Eashwar Iyer (eashwarsiyer@hotmail.com)

25. uestions? by Eashwar Iyer (eashwarsiyer@hotmail.com)

26. Please spare a few minutes to fill the paper evaluation sheet. The Use of Technology in Providing Proactive Customer Support By Eashwar Iyer IOUG-A Live! 2000, 11th May 2000, 11.15am Paper# 464 by Eashwar Iyer (eashwarsiyer@hotmail.com)