The Horizon is Around the Corner

1. The Horizon is Around the Corner Erich Zirnhelt Livia Wilson

2. Industry Perspective – Where we fit Three types of Support Needs: Commodity/ Component Application Systems • Over 85% redundancy • KCS not applicable • Seed and Feed Strategy • Web-based support optimal • Over 60% “how to’s” • Many hand-holding interactions required • Less volatility – complexity drive by layers (i.e. OS/dependent components/compatibility • Release –driven KM strategy (cost driven down with release maturity) • High – content reuse • Complexity plus volatility driven by customer environments • Costs driven by exceptions not trends • Symptoms and causes classifications are in different areas – reporting skewed • Skill matrices not maintainable Soon Now

3. Business Concept : Opportunity and Background • Opportunity Statement: • Enable the support organization to support enterprise customers with: • Less escalations and critical situations • Up-to-date knowledge about emerging products • Lower resource burden for legacy/mature products • No redundant effort • Less management intervention • The business needed a new way to FOCUS on its work. Background: • EMC Software Group's Legato Software Support is a successful Knowledge-Centered Support organization.  • High complexity/medium volume, systems support business • Over 80 products, 80% mature, 20% driving large resource burden • Resources for managing knowledge not available • Momentum for being proactive was lost • Resources over-occupied with working cases and management as traffic cops

4. High level ISN Illustration – It Ties it Together – Creates Focus Just In Time - Expertise Access Regulated Collaboration using Profiles Knowledge Management Resource Management Integrated Solution Network Case Impact Values Reputation Model Knowledge Normalization Economic Model Performance Management

5. Business Context & Value Proposition Business Context: People realize all cases are not created equal and … learning is a key performance driver but … don’t have a means to… value case work, and learningappropriately. Value Proposition: What if: • We valued cases according to the impact of the problem (how complex, how severe, how much learning it drives) • We could let people “cherry pick” which cases they could best solve • We could tell engineering which problems had the greatest impact on our business – and how much it would cost us - if they don’t fix them • We could ensure problems were resolved in the most effective way by the most appropriate resource every time • We had a new valuation model for work that is not based on the “old way” of thinking about support

6. Traditional Metrics - Cases

7. Traditional Metrics - Calls

8. Successful KCS Adoption

9. Old Thinking • Good knowledge “use” statistics are good news - People going through the motions • Work is measured by time and quantity (content and cases in same model) • We are victims • Have a hard time justifying additional resources • Don’t get training early enough • Have to support “unqualified” Configurations • Are not a strategic resource

10. Mature Products Front line/Customer Teams Emerging Products QA, Support Planners, SMEs KCS Strategic Objectives ACT Identify and solve problem – look for resolution connections Improve Analyze impact normalize content/process Rethink Determines how to reset capacity of system Integration of Context and Content Aligned Stakeholder Values Connection of New to Known Proficiency Development Outcomes in Statistical Control

11. New Thinking • Quantify value of issue • Impact from all stakeholder perspectives • Severity, customer value, product and problem • Pull people into it efficiently • They are the best judge of relevance to their expertise • Let people who want to know – learn • Team approach new problems • Work the problem properly • Triage to get on right path, set relief, keep track of value • Quantify problems not cases

12. CreateResolution Paths Instead of separate content objects and focusing on content “standard”– work on the “logic” Network Issues

13. Case Value Complexity Severity Sensitive Product Hot Customer Severity 1 Customer Importance Cost (value lost) Case Value Time Set Single Focus Indicator – at a system level • Determine potential impact at case creation • 3 dimensions (only one is set through case worker) • ? Complexity • Single-product environment – problem-based • Multiple-product – product-based • ! Problem Impact (Severity) set through case worker by customer • $ Customer importance • Assess actual impact over time • Degrade value over time (using principles of games theory) • Level of erosion based on “gravity” of situation • Relief status slows down erosion • False relief resets from original point • Share value with participants

14. The calculated value is done by the system – not the user Knowledge Economy – How does it focus? Determined by Case Owner Set by PTS or Sales Set by Customer Set by Support Planners

15. Case Value Examples

16. Strategy For Adoption • Define and Document • Principles • Use Case • Socialize • Tiger teams • Roundtables • Brown bags • Trend in background to build history • Play a hand for free • Set targets bottom up • Socialize and Create pull • Keep score and replay

17. Results • Teams look at workload based on cumulative impact not volume – daily huddles • Management does not get blind sighted with: • Sales initiatives trying to cut in line • Hot Sites coming from the top-down • Comparison between teams’ perceived “productivity” • People working few hard cases versus lots of easy cases don’t feel slighted • No hiding behind lots of cases which are mostly in relief status • Junior people handle administrative work and closure

18. Next Stage • Teams build equity from cases worked effectively • Have senior people earn equity at a domain instead of case level • Have junior people on team for triage, case closure and leg work • Motivated to have them worked on the web and with lowest cost touch point • Team share best practices for working complex and high volume queues • Engineering and sales get projected cost views for problems they introduce • Problem Id’s are associated at back end of workflow • No more arbitrary categorization of cases at front end

19. Strategy and Change Management

20. New Goals = New Drivers