Originally posted by: ScottPeluso
The Internet is changing the face of product support. It is an
undeniable fact that the manner in which we attempt to resolve problems,
be they complex software applications or finding the closest Italian
restaurant, is entirely different than 10, 5, or even 2 years ago. In
all facets of our daily lives, how we search for answers to even the
simplest of problems have been forever changed through online technology
and capabilities. The Internet permeates all aspects of our lives; how
many readers of this blog post do not understand the phrase "Just Google
it"?
Nowhere is this more apparent than the emerging use of social
media in the business environment. Over the past few years, social
venues like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and others have transformed from
purely social offerings to bona fide business tools. For additional
insight into IBM's approach and use of social business in the
enterprise, I highly recommend following
Sandy Carter, the IBM Vice President of Social Business. Sandy is an acclaimed author, expert, and evangelist in this business context.
While
one might argue social business is still maturing and that the social
media landscape is still quite dynamic and reminiscent of the Old West
(anyone still have a MySpace account?). the commitment to social
business has seen tremendous growth in the halls of IBM Software
Support. This acknowledgement of the import of social business is in no
small part due to the explosion and popularity of these mediums as a
viable means to resolve issues through a collection(s) of peer users.
Community based, or to use the cool kid's lingo, crowdsourcing, allows
you to move far beyond traditional support models. Prefer a concise and
direct notification system? There is a Tivoli Support
Twitter page. Want to engage in a dialogue with your peers? Check out the just released IBM Tivoli Support
Facebook page. If you want to do more than just "like" the FB page, join the Tivoli Support Facebook
group. Are you a visual learner? The IBM Electronic Support Channel on
YouTube have generated over 50,000 views! There are hundreds of online instructional videos also available at the IBM
Education Assistant site.
Two of the most prominent IBM online offerings dedicated to problem resolution are the
Support Portal and
Service Requests
systems. The Support Portal is the gateway into resolving your product
issues. You can configure the portal and add any and all IBM Software
products your organization utilizes. From the portal, you can search our
extensive knowledge base, download product documentation, review
deployment and configuration best practices, and obtain product updates
and maintenance. Service Requests (SR) is the system where you can
easily create new PMRs, view existing tickets. Two years ago, less than
20% of all new PMRs were created through the use of the SR system.
Today, almost 50% of all PMRs originate electronically from the SR
system..
I could go on and on about our IBM eSupport initiatives and
will continue to focus and highlight online tooling in future posts. For
now, I hope you take the time to review some of these tools and
systems. I'm confident you will realize immediate value from these
offerings. I welcome all comments on any aspect of Tivoli product
support delivery. What works for you, and just as importantly, what's
not working or what's totally missing. Our constant and driving
objective is to continually improve the consistency and caliber of
support we provide and your feedback in these forums is crucial to these
goals.
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