Their teams are based in Honduras, Romania and the Philippines. Self-service is often the best place to start when building out global support, but some companies overlook self-service because it feels like there arent enough resources to build out a nice-looking repository of help articles. Hand-offs are the central idea of the FTS approach. [12] Miguel Jimnez, Mario Piattini, and Aurora Vizcano. By staggering their support personnel start times across these key time zones, they are able to meet the service level-agreements theyve set for their customers. Technology Tools and Infrastructure to Support FTS. Knowledge transfer and sharing of project critical information with concerned parties is essential for smooth operation of the project. This way, the problem remains a priority and is worked on until the customer is satisfied. The truth is, follow-the-sun support is simply a method meant to satisfy customersregardless of time or location. 0000067119 00000 n The number of sites had only a small impact on the accuracy. A survey of major approaches for accelerating new product development. RUC 2003 reducing time to market using follow-the-sun techniques Support Model - Slide Team Organize the data by cloud, region, compute instance, and more., Having this tool in your arsenal transforms project management and puts you in a better position to respond to security risks and downtime., Every piece of your infrastructure is laid out right in front of you, and you can easily filter diagrams based on the task at hand, removing unnecessary details, and even @mentioned specific users to direct them to the specific part of infrastructure that needs action to be taken. 0000067044 00000 n HWY1S%lI^t#ByFwOC+aPvrsjL The follow the sun model is a service and support method that is designed to address and satisfy customer needs without regard to geographic location or current time. Organization Support: Role Incident Liaison (IL) Description For severity 1 incidents only. Collocated multishift locations where labour is cheap and software development happens round the clock in eight hour shifts does not fit in this category. We operate a 24/7 global support team. There are claims that FTS is being used at General Motors and at OfficeTiger [4] [5]. To say that life during the global pandemic has recentred our focus on health is an understatement. Oops! 0000003713 00000 n Follow-the-sun schedule - The follow-the-sun schedule is used by teams that may work internationally in different time zones, and ensures full 24/7 coverage. December 20, 2021. Follow the Sun: Introduction (1 of 3) The Sun's apparent path across the sky for each day of the calendar year - from sunrise roughly East to maximum altitude (or "culmination") exactly South to sunset roughly West - has been observed and thought about for at least the last 5000 years. Many companies. Rimini Street Managed Services for Salesforce clients benefit from the responsive, client-centric support model that Rimini Street is known for with its Oracle and SAP enterprise software support. They meet their global support goals by working together, providing a combined 18 hours a day of coverage. FtVz:-zn>\M~J/CeTb{POj"}"yX-hD]0)u&Z?C4SX0;53mHp 8Q[M#A.l{ GrhhXE3rVY)^a. + endstream endobj 135 0 obj <>stream Outline your company's customer journey and experience with these 7 free customer journey map templates. The follow the sun model is a service and support method that is designed to address and satisfy customer needs without regard to geographic location or current time. The effective utilization of code repositories and version control management systems is crucial to the success of the FTS approach. Deriving Mutual Benefits from Offshore Outsourcing: The 24-Hour Knowledge Factory Scenario. (2007). Because they have sites spread across the world, companies using the follow the sun model will find it difficult for everybody to be in the same room at the same time. Additionally, if you have a site for each area around the sun, in different timezones, you'll be able to acquire more leads in that location because you'll be delighting your customers with consistent service. Combine all of this with an efficient follow the sun framework, and youll be delivering best-in-class service to all of your users. Which begs another question your team should consider when evaluating options: How would you categorize your customer base, and does your customer service teams approach require variance between all of them? With this model, none of your locations are neglected or receive better customer service. The follow the sun methodology can be a game changer., Teams working towards the same goals and maintaining the same cloud infrastructure can become extremely fragmented when located in different time zones. Are you using a tool that makes it easy to scale, and to quickly hand off support tickets? trailer <]/Prev 478482>> startxref 0 %%EOF 170 0 obj <>stream Pearson Education India, 1995. are manually changeable. The organization which we are using in our example has offices spread worldwide and the Follow the Sun support model works wonderfully well for it. What in the world is the "Follow-the-Sun" support model? For this model to work, all sites must be using the same tools and development methodologies (planning, bug tracking, version control, reporting, and so on). [13] Alex Cameron. By checking this box, I agree to Zendesk contacting me with marketing-related communications about Zendesk products, services, and events. These difficulties prove that a systematic approach is needed in achieving a quick time-to-market strategy, which in turn leads to the Follow the Sun software development scheme. This research [15] introduced a routing model, which supports the selection of geographical locations for Follow-the-Sun software development. . The truth is, follow-the-sun support is simply a method meant to satisfy customers, regardless of time or location, and that too can be a reality for even small- to mid-size businesses. 0000067875 00000 n 0000066494 00000 n Although the advantages presented above could take your business to the next level, adopting a follow the sun model comes with its own set of challenges and disadvantages. Multiple teams may be working on the product over a certain amount of time, but one defined team is responsible for overseeing the process from start to finish. Understand and optimize your cloud infrastructure today with Lucidscale. You can update your preferences or unsubscribe at any time. 0000065082 00000 n Several workflows seem to be using the FTS model, but in reality this is not always the case. It is interesting to note that there have been very few documented cases of successful FTS application in the software industry. If your teams are separated by 12 hours, no time is perfect to schedule regular meetingsno matter when the meetings are scheduled, one of the sites will be outside of regular business hours. In addition, passing the work to a new group lets people see the problem from a new perspective. Figure 3: Comparing FTS model with other global workflows [1]. Cloud support model with customer responsibility. Fourth IEEE International Conference The University of Dar es Salaam Computing Centre is going to offer you in-class facilitation of all of the openEd 2.0 course modules against a moderate fee.<br /> 28. The various agile methodologies such as Scrum, Lean, Kanban, Extreme Programming (XP), DSDM etc., share much of the same characteristics and practices and are widely practiced in Globally Distributed Software Development. Agile methodologies fit well with follow the sun models because all work is completed within set iteration cycles. If the workdays among satellite offices overlap, work can be passed from an office that is shutting down for the day to an office that is still open or just starting its day. Since there is no overlap during the hand-off and the hand off happens, for example, via e-mail, instead of via the phone or other communication tool. Cameron [13] highlights the example of FTS application at EDS (now a part of HP). They do it by starting a team in Colorado at 8am (MST). The most popular online Visio alternative, Lucidchart is utilized in over 180 countries by millions of users, from sales managers mapping out target organizations to IT directors visualizing their network infrastructure. With this intuitive, cloud-based solution, everyone can work visually and collaborate in real time while building flowcharts, mockups, UML diagrams, and more. Well explain how to calculate and reduce turnover in your organization. IEEE, 2005. We operate a 24/7 global support team - Microsoft Community Here are some major challenges that management should anticipate: FTS is much more complex than the shift method since the teams working on the project are normally disproportionate. The sun never sets for businesses that rely on remote support, and global support, for customer service. In Global Software Engineering Workshops (ICGSEW), 2013 IEEE 8th International Conference on, pages 1823. How to use a follow the sun model for your IT and cloud teams - Lucidchart As someone who has been working with the top 100 pharma companies, I know that preparation and planning are key. It is defined as the percentage of all of the calendar time (e.g., 24 * 7 = 168 hours available per week) that is used productively for work, so, a 40-hour workweek utilizes 23.8 percent of the calendar workweek, showing that there is a lot of room for calendar efficiency improvement. The 24-hour knowledge factory: can it replace the graveyard shift? Slide 1 of 2. Business and operational support model. Challenges and improvements in distributed software development: A systematic review. This infrastructure must always be available on demand and accessible. 8. If all the IT teams within your company use a follow the sun model, the project could be completed in days. Software development involving multiple global locations in different time zones is not always FTS if it does not satisfy all the criteria mentioned in the. This will help avoid any confusion on who ultimately owns the process., Take stock of all the team members available to maintain your IT architecture. In reality, setting up a Help Center doesnt have to be a monumental task, and by offering community forums, you can give your customers the chance to help each other. And when the shifts switch, you'll have each site hand off work to the next shift. This type of customer support can help you provide quality, on-time support to customers 24/7. 0000065768 00000 n By its basic definition, "follow-the-sun" means that support literally follows the sunit's a type of global workflow in which issues can be handled by and passed between support locations in different time zones to increase responsiveness and reduce delays. This Presentation graphic is eloquent and useful for the IT students, IT researchers, and IT specialists from various fields. One of the principal benefits of the FTS model is the opportunity to speed up processes and reduce time to market. 0000013868 00000 n Tools to support data security and encryption such as VPNs are also important. Why 2023 Gold House A100 List Has Starbucks CEO But No Michelle Yeoh, Parent PowerED: Parents Powering Solutions In Education, Conversations Across Generations: Shawn Dove And Peter Storey, Empowering Young Adults Through Tech With Sandee Kastrul Of i.c. Document what has been accomplished so each site can avoid repeating work. Modern day software development is spread more and more across national and international boundaries. ITIL Study Guide: Introduction to the Service Desk | Pluralsight Entertaining and motivating original stories to help move your visions forward. The handoffs can be applied to any software development task. Open Scholars Know How to License Their Work for Maximum Impact<br /> 29. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Communication through emails and Slack with 16+ hour gaps between responses can lead to deployment missteps, security breaches staying open longer, and IT engineers completing redundant work., With a follow the sun model, on the other hand, daily handoffs of projects and tasks build better communication lines between global offices and their network engineers. FTS is a global software development strategy. Companies large and small are able to provide 24-hour service without putting the burden on one site and requiring employees to work late shifts or overtime. It must also ensure that all the required information and reports to continue the work are visible and easily accessible. If youre using a customer service platform with great analytics, youll be able to make data-driven decisions about the right time to expand globally. Follow the Sun is a support model which works best for service desks that work around the clock, i.e 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Heavy overload still improves the efficiency by just 12% but it is not an effective long term strategy due to employee burnout. Because of the hand-offs, work is owned by and worked on by one site at a time. And that's where the follow the sun customer support model comes in. [15] Christian Visser and Rini van Solingen. This is a BETA experience. Follow-the-sun - Wikipedia Implementing follow the sun methods in your global organization can be challenging. Software tools used for actual FTS implementation must include both managerial and technical aspects, to adapt to the changing requirements of the software development process. [19] Treinen, James J., and Susan L. Miller-Frost. Health Program Analyst Skills For Your Resume And Career - Zippia This efficiency further increases with the number of locations and shifts. Figure 1: Follow the Sun approach follows a 24h task hand-off based approach to software development. HICSS09. There was a 30 and 60 minutes overlap between locations to enable the daily handover of tasks. Follow the sun software development: New perspectives, conceptual foundation, and exploratory field study. System Sciences, 2009. One of the important concepts evolved in the past decade or so is the " Follow the sun " (FTS) software development. The success cases in the Industry using FTS are rare, in part due to the lack of well-founded knowledge on applying FTS [9]. uyLY@= Journal of Product Innovation Management, 9(1):53-69, 1992. 0000005432 00000 n The follow the sun customer support model means that you have customer service representatives available whenever the sun is up -- so as it becomes daytime for different parts of the world as we orbit around the sun, you'll have various customer service sites beginning their day and handing off their issues to another site. Prashanth G.L, Santosh Malagi, Laurens Van Den Bercken, Ade Setyawan Sajim and Bernd Kreynen are the authors of this blog. What could shorter department turnaround times mean for what youre trying to achieve globally? Now, what does this look like in action? In Management of Engineering and Technology, Portland International Center for, pages 24582466. Essentially, it's 24/7 support, no matter where the sun is up, without needing any customer service department to work late shifts. The main reasons to use this approach are that you'll have faster problem solving, consistent levels of customer service, reasonable work hours, and you'll be able to branch into new markets. Consider these basic steps and questions you need to ask before diving into a follow the sun methodology. 2013. 0000063267 00000 n [7] Monica Yap. [6] Carmel, Erran, Yael Dubinsky, and Alberto Espinosa. But as you grow, you begin to standardize, build out streamlined processes, and build teams. In Agile Conference, 2005. Because it is always daytime somewhere in the world, you need a way to support customers around the globe no matter what time zone they are in and without too much delay. A part of this may be attributed to the availability of efficient tools and enabling technologies for implementing the FTS model. Zuora uses private comments in Zendesk tickets to help communicate important details to team members picking up issues already in progress. Picture this. HubSpot uses the information you provide to us to contact you about our relevant content, products, and services. hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(53, 'dfcc1cf6-fca7-455f-9c43-26ff2fba10ed', {"useNewLoader":"true","region":"na1"}); Get expert insights straight to your inbox, and become a better customer success manager. As an agency with many Ukraine-based staff members in February 2022, it was the kind of situation none of us wanted to believe would ever happen. An optimal FTS configuration could raise the calendar efficiency as high as 71.4%. 0000002728 00000 n However, one slight difference is that Agile stresses on face to face communication, whereas in FTS inter-site communication between production sites is maintained at the bare minimum by using automated tools. listed 36 best practices and 17 challenges found in literature [14]. When you keep everyone on the same page, service ticket times go down, security gets stronger, workflows become more seamless, and customers receive a better technical experience. [3] Frederick P Brooks Jr. Our offerings for Salesforce include the same 24x7x365, follow-the-sun support with a guaranteed response of under 10-minutes for P1 critical issue . Formal systems such as discussion forums or internal Wiki sites may prove to be useful. This model ensures that none of your service locations are neglected or receive preferential treatment, especially if you work at a global company. You will need to determine which agile methodologies are best for the various global teams that help you to track work, allows for continuous integration, keeps team members accountable, and facilitates work hand-offs.. We've got a true, "follow the sun" model, allowing access to support engineers [.] See pricing, Marketing automation software. The second case study involved three distinct projects with development sites in the United States and India, and met with drastic failure. Improving global software development project performance using simulation. follow the sun model - French translation - Linguee The most popular online Visio alternative, Lucidchart is utilized in over 180 countries by millions of users, from sales managers mapping out target organizations to IT directors visualizing their network infrastructure. The result was that the project was completed in 5.5 weeks, while it was estimated to be completed in 6 weeks in non-FTS mode, so it reduced time. If the sun is shining over a region, be it San Francisco, Paris, Hong Kong, or Sydney, business is being conducted there. Agile also provides an opportunity for every team to maintain a sustainable pace of development i.e.
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