Established in 1979 and with 2005 revenues of $9.66 billion, EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) is the world leader in products, services and solutions for information management and storage that help organizations extract the maximum value from their information, at the lowest total cost, across every point in the information lifecycle. They are the information storage standard for every major computing platform and, through their solutions, serve as caretaker for more than two-thirds of the world’s most essential information. EMC helps enterprises of all sizes manage their growing volume of information—from creation to disposal—according to its changing value to the business through information lifecycle management (ILM) strategies.
Situation
Widely regarded as the benchmark for support excellence in the IT industry, EMC Customer Service has direct service presence in 75 countries and service partners in 28 countries, representing every major region of the world.
To incorporate the fundamentals of the Service Capability & Performance (SCP) Standards into the daily practices of every support center, EMC implemented various programs and procedures, including the creation of an SCP Program Management Office (PMO). The PMO drives consistency, improving overall support center procedures, as well as enhancing and streamlining the annual audit process.
The EMC Customer Service organization was facing two major challenges: implementing changes from feedback provided by the annual SCP audit, and making the audit process part of their everyday business. “We were getting all this great feedback (from the audit) but we didn’t have a systematic way of dealing with it,” said Kathleen Feasel, an EMC Business Operations Analyst.
Business Solution
The PMO is comprised of two Global Technical Support (GTS) Senior Directors, a Business Operations Analyst and a Senior Program Manager, both from the GTS Operations group. The PMO focuses specifically on streamlining the audit process and incorporating the audit results into the business. The PMO was created to ensure GTS is taking full advantage of the SCP Standard and audit findings.
[pullquote]No matter what product a customer calls about, they’re going to get consistency in service.” – Kathleen Feasel, EMC Business Operations Analyst[/pullquote]
“The SCP Standards are really about best practices, and we needed to make it a part of the way we do business,” said John Goulding, Senior Director, Hardware Technical Support.
Preparation for the annual October audit now starts at the beginning of the year, with dedicated section leads assigned to each of the 12 audit sections by early February. Section leads are responsible for pulling in the appropriate resources needed to produce necessary documentation and posting data to the eRoom (a rapidly deployed and easily adopted Web-based collaborative workspace that enables the team to work together more efficiently). They are also responsible, in conjunction with the Operations group, for devising a plan to incorporate recommended practices into daily business. In addition, EMC has introduced quarterly internal audits to prepare for the year-end audit. The internal audits also help drive consistency and keep the ideals of the annual two-day SCP audit in front of every team member.
Incorporating the SCP Standard into Daily Business Improves the Bottom Line
EMC led the worldwide storage software market in total revenue for the 11th consecutive quarter (through the third quarter of 2005). During the third quarter, EMC also led the storage replication market with more than twice the revenue share of the next closest provider, and the storage resource management market with more than four times the revenue share of the next closest provider. Source: International Data Corporation’s Worldwide Quarterly Storage Software Tracker, 3Q 2005.
Even as the storage software industry leader, EMC continues to strive for improvement. By implementing the SCP Standard, EMC is able to pinpoint weaknesses in any area of the organization and focus on solutions.
“This year, the week before the audit there was a calmness that we hadn’t seen before, because we were ready. We had made things happen throughout the year that insured our readiness. As people learned some of the best practices, they started to see more value in (the SCP audit),” Goulding explained.
SCP Best Practices Create Consistency, Streamline Communication
EMC’s GTS infrastructure includes more than 4,700 technical and field experts serving customers in more than 75 countries. This global infrastructure ensures a service presence in every major region of the world—with more than 35 strategically located support centers working together to deliver “follow-the-sun” support.
With so many offices, consistency and communication are vital. After the PMO implemented SCP audit recommendations, communication greatly improved between technical support and its cross-functional teams.
“All of our section leads are from different parts of the GTS business globally and functionally. We have people from hardware and software. We also have people from marketing involved in the audit. It makes everyone see the things that need to be done similarly in the business, and we’ve become more of a cohesive group. No matter what product a customer calls in about, they’re going to get consistency in service,” Feasel said.
About EMC
Established in 1979 and with 2005 revenues of $9.66 billion, EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) is the world leader in products, services and solutions for information management and storage that help organizations extract the maximum value from their information, at the lowest total cost, across every point in the information lifecycle. They are the information storage standard for every major computing platform and, through their solutions, serve as caretaker for more than two-thirds of the world’s most essential information. EMC helps enterprises of all sizes manage their growing volume of information—from creation to disposal—according to its changing value to the business through information lifecycle management (ILM) strategies.
Learn More About SCP Standards
The world’s leading service providers use Service Strategies’ Service Capability & Performance (SCP) Standards as a roadmap for service excellence and a qualitative and quantitative measure of success. Read more about SCP Standards.
For additional information email info@servicestrategies.com, or call 858.674.4864, toll free in North America 800.552.3058.
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