Keys to a Successful Post-Implementation (Technical Support)
From AvectraWiki, the wiki of Avectra netFORUM
| Keys to a Successful Post-Implementation | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| By Tien T. Le - Customer Support Manager | |
| May 13, 2009 | |
 This article is the third in an ongoing series from Avectra's key staff. | |
The final stage in a netForum implementation is the transition to Support. You have signed a netForum contract. You have worked through development cycles, cuts of data conversion, and have gone live with the software. After going live you continued to work with Avectra to address lingering issues. Now you have reached the oasis. Your netForum implementation has reached maturity and it’s time to transition to Support. Welcoming you is Avectra’s Enterprise Customer Support department, a team dedicated to excellence, who routinely receives the highest ratings from our clients. Here are some insights on what to expect during your transition.
Transition date versus go-live date; what’s the difference?
The go-live date is when your system is ready for live transactions. After the go-live date, you continue to work with the project management team, along with a dedicated person from that team to assist you with any issues you may have. We expect you to use the live system for 30 to 60 days before your project manager schedules your official transition to support. The transition date is when you are scheduled to move to support and are fully supported by the Enterprise Support Department. This means you will have a primary contact in the support department in addition to other support representatives that will be assisting you with your issues.
The time period between go-live and transition to support is very important, because it allows the implementation team to work out any issues that would only come up when the system is used by all staff members conducting normal day to day business. This is also the time period where the Support Department will meet with the Project Management team to go over major customizations. It is very important that we are familiar with your key major customizations to be able to fully support it.
During this time period we also review any third party customizations implemented in your system, so we know if a customization was done by Avectra or by a third party. If a customization that was implemented by you or a third party contractor breaks at some point in the future and you would like Avectra to resolve the problem then this issue will go to the Consulting Department to provide you with assistance in getting the customization to work properly.
After the transition date we ask that you submit all issues to the Support Department. We will review any issues and will let you know if it is covered under the support contract or if it will need to go to the Consulting Department as new billable work. No work will ever be assigned to the Consulting Department without your approval.
Who is part of the transition call and what is covered during the transition call?
The people who are present for the transition call are the Project Manager that you have been working with throughout your implementation, a representative from the Support Department and a representative from the Consulting Department. During the call the Project Manager will explain to you that all outstanding punch list items submitted prior to the transition call will be resolved under the Project Manager’s supervision. Any new issues that may come up after the transition will be handled by the Support Department.
During the transition call, we discuss and establish who the primary contact will be on your end, any secondary contacts, and if so who they are. We prefer to keep the total number of contacts (i.e. staff who can submit support issues) to a minimum of two to three people so we don’t get duplicate issues submitted. We also would like these contacts to be the gate keepers of the issues on your end, so any issues should be submitted to them who in turn will review and submit them to us, the Support Department.
Similarly, you will also be assigned a primary contact in the Support Department. You will be informed who your primary contact is during the transition call. Your primary contact will work on the majority of your issues and will get other support representatives involved as necessary. The transition call will also include instructions showing you how to submit an issue to the Support Department through our www.avectra.com site. You will learn helpful tips such as how to prioritize your issues, or adding feedback and images to an issue.
Support looks forward to all transition calls because it gives us the opportunity to meet our clients that we will be working closely in the near and far future.
Working with Customer Support
Avectra’s Enterprise Support Department has grown through the years. We strive to provide you with the best support possible. We work hard and take whatever steps are necessary to resolve the issues you submit. To expedite this issue resolution process we have established three divisions within our department:
- Customer Support Division: This division handles the issues that directly tie to “how to” questions as well as troubleshooting issues with SQL in order to resolve the issue. Our customer support department is equivalent to most companies’ Technical Support Departments.
- Technical Support Division: This division has now been a part of the Support department for over a year and a half. This division has Technical Support Engineers who can dive right into the code and debug the issues that are more complex. All Technical Support Engineers are .NET Developers and have full access to all source code created by Avectra (custom and baseline) to resolve issues.
- Upgrade Division: This division handles all upgrades and service packs. They are also the front line for any issues that happen as the result of an upgrade. Upgrade issues may be discovered by the Upgrade Division but are not worked on exclusively by Upgrade Division staff members, and delegated as fit.
With the expansion of our department to the three divisions, we are stronger in knowledge and able to serve our clients faster. We can handle almost any issue from a simple “how to” question to a complex issue that happens deep within custom or baseline C# code, and we have improved the resolution time for our issues.
We do not merely work to resolve and close out your issues, but we strive to partner with you and do whatever it takes to provide the best service.
