"Support automation software reduces the cost of IT support"

Cadir Lee, chief software officer, SupportSoft, talks to AKHTAR PASHA about how enterprises are investing heavily in automating and personalising not only customer support but also support for employees and partners

* What is support automation in an enterprise set-up?

Companies are spending their shrinking IT budgets on support and services issues. In many cases, the cost of providing support to customers, partners, and employees is placing an increasing burden on corporate profitability. This trend is forcing companies to look at new ways of meeting IT support requirements through innovative automated service and support solutions.

We define support automation as the technology, solutions, methodologies, and procedures that let organisations address the needs of customers, employees and partners. This technology can be deployed as a point solution, or it can complement or enhance earlier investments in customer relationship management (CRM).

As a point solution, support automation applications help enterprises create seamless integration between self-service and assisted support. It also improves the enterprise’s ability to manage the increasing complexity of IT support while servicing the end-customer who may come from any channel.

These applications are being used to enhance self-service, assisted service, and problem diagnosis and resolution. For example, Comcast is a high-speed broadband connectivity service provider to homes and businesses, and has almost five million subscribers.

To keep this large customer base satisfied, Comcast proactively resolves problems in real-time. This could be anything from the automated installation of a broadband connection to ongoing problem resolution though self-healing to real-time chat-based support for services such as setting up new accounts, configuration of e-mail settings and account activation.

Subscriber Agent, a SupportSoft application, is a desktop application that lets users self-heal common problems. It eliminates the majority of complaints at the source. If the problem is not resolved it connects users to assisted service.

The biggest value Comcast has derived from using our support automation software is that though its subscriber count doubled in the last year it has been able to keep its support headcount steady. By moving into real-time support, Comcast has reduced subscriber support calls by 30 percent and cut call-handling time by 20 percent.

* Your clientele includes large enterprises such as P&G, GE, Cisco, Bank of America and BT. What pain areas do these enterprises solve by automating their IT support and service?

Support and services account for 70 percent of the total cost of ownership of an enterprise’s PCs—the hardware cost is a mere 30 percent. 2.5 million computer users call manufacturers for assistance every year. Employees waste over one week each year tending to computer problems. 70 percent of broadband users call their service providers to solve problems at an average cost of $15 per call. 25 percent of broadband installation costs are due to service calls, at a cost of $100-150 per call.

Software-related errors cost American industry $60 billion annually. These are real problems that enterprises are facing today. A Gartner report says that there’s an 80 percent chance that 75 percent of software-support incidents will be resolved using support automation technology in 2004. Enterprises are looking at investing in proactive, real-time support automation software to increase productivity, reduce the cost of IT support, and increase customer satisfaction.

* Can you explain the technology used in support automation? Are you using Web services?

The technologies used in support automation are XML, DMTF (Desktop Management Task Force) and DNA Probe. The last technology automatically identifies the characteristics of each user’s software applications and operating system components, and tracks them over time. This personalised data can be used to quickly sift through large amounts of information, compare historical data, and determine the root cause of a problem.

DNA Probe technology automatically identifies all the network settings of each individual user, including the network address, machine name, Internet configuration and the specific drivers for the network card. The advantage is that hundreds of network settings can be restored in seconds. That’s a tremendous cost saving for an enterprise.