Helping electronics and high-tech companies improve business performance through better service management and support

Helping electronics and high-tech companies improve business performance through better service management and support

Accenture and Oracle Corporation help electronics and high-tech companies improve their business performance by identifying potential gaps in their service management and support strategy that could contribute to a decline in customer retention and the added business that loyal customers create. Market leaders Accenture and Oracle bring together the powerful combination of business know-how and world-class technology to help companies create distinctive business capabilities. Accenture s strategy, people, processes and technology combined with the Oracle E-Business Suite family of Service Applications product expertise, delivers sustained performance improvements to leading electronics and high-tech businesses that help them retain customers. Why service management is critical to high performance As electronics and high-tech companies grapple with the challenges of a dynamic industry, they find that providing superior customer support and service has become a major determinant of market leadership. A recent Accenture global survey of high-tech equipment buyers clearly shows that service and support have a big impact on customer loyalty. 1 Service-minded companies have validated what Accenture s ongoing research has revealed: Bolstering the ability to connect with and retain profitable customers is a key factor in becoming a high-performance business. Service management is increasingly being viewed in the industry as a central component of a strong business strategy rather than as a peripheral discipline. Robust service management capabilities are becoming an important enabler for better product/service mixes, customer loyalty and, ultimately, financial performance. Accenture has found that a typical company implementing an intensive service management strategy is likely to gain tangible value. Benefits can include revenue increases of 10 to 20 percent from increased products and services revenue and improved spares fulfillment; reduced service costs of 15 to 30 percent from field force efficiencies and lower transportation, training and call center costs; and reduced working capital and capital expenditures of 10 to 25 percent from reduced spares inventory and lower warehouse costs. Accenture and Oracle team to deliver end-to-end capabilities for service management solutions Accenture and Oracle are teaming to help electronics and high-tech companies increase customer satisfaction and loyalty through proactive service management strategies and processes, and leading-edge technology. Their service management solution addresses the endto-end capability needs of electronics and high-tech companies, as shown in Figure 1: 1 Accenture research on customer service and support revealed that the reliability and availability of technical support are the primary reasons consumers select a branded product after form/function. In addition, nearly 80 percent of consumers agree that superior customer support increases their likelihood of making subsequent purchases, while poor customer support is one of the top three reasons for dissatisfaction with electronics and computing products. This last finding is even more compelling in light of the fact that 42 percent of customers have encountered service representatives who were unable or unqualified to solve their problems.

Service Management Solution Figure 1 Asset Management Service Parts Strategy and Analytics Customer Service and Support Repairs, Returns, Warranties Field Force Effectiveness Strategy and Analytics Define service management strategy Create and position service management offerings Assess and act on service management performance with dashboard and embedded analytics Asset Management Optimize asset capabilities and availability with multiple service delivery options Provide cradleto-grave product life cycle management with asset tracking Ensure service level agreement compliance with support for preventative maintenance and break-fix service Customer Service and Support Interact with customers and partners through agent-assisted and self-service channels Empower users to resolve issues using a knowledge and content repository Understand customer entitlements for proper service billing Cross sell or up sell at time of interaction Understand customer preferences with a 360-degree customer view Field Force Effectiveness Manage workforce by balancing reactive and proactive work Schedule and dispatch work while considering skills, territories, parts availability and service contracts Manage work escalations and exceptions effectively Enable field technicians with mobility options and functional capabilities including locationbased services and printing Repairs, Returns, Warranties Streamline reverse logistics and returns processing Support repair, refurbishment, remanufacturing and recall operations Manage warranties and process claims Service Parts Forecast demand and plan inventory for service parts Create orders and replenish warehouses and field technician trunk stock Manage inventory and execute logistics seamlessly

As electronics and hightech companies grapple with the challenges of a dynamic industry, they find that providing superior customer support and service has become a major determinant of market leadership.

How Accenture and Oracle collaborate to deliver value Oracle and Accenture deliver value through comprehensive technologies, strategic acumen, industry and functional knowledge, and implementation capabilities and assets to meet their joint clients unique needs related to service management performance. Oracle s robust platform equips technicians to provide proactive service, exceed customer expectations Oracle offers a complete suite of service management applications that can be implemented individually or in product families. These products provide a robust platform for managing service management-related information and processes through comprehensive integration of service delivery channels including Web self-service, agent-assisted service through a contact center, field service and in-house repair. Oracle applications help manage service levels at every step of the service management process. They have the capabilities to provide proactive service using intelligence based on a common data repository of customers, products and contracts. Oracle technology solutions enable true customer service by giving companies agents and technicians the tools they need to meet and exceed customer expectations, empowering them with information that is consistent, accurate and actionable. At the same time, Oracle positions organizations to drive revenue through up-sell and cross-sell strategies, cut service operating costs and improve the overall effectiveness of customer service operations. Accenture s experience and delivery excellence speeds development, improves outcomes Leveraging the Oracle E-Business Suite family of Service Applications and Oracle s product expertise, Accenture integrates strategy, people, processes and technology to create service management solutions. Accenture uses proven customer service and support methodologies and leading practices from across the industry, and carefully tailors these proven solutions to individual client needs. This enables Accenture to offer innovative service solutions that are more effectively planned, delivered, integrated and supported. At the front end of a service management improvement program, Accenture identifies and captures strong, measurable business cases. Then, drawing on its deep Oracle implementation experience, Accenture leverages approaches and tools that maximize reuse, lower costs and compress project timeframes during the development and rollout of Oracle solutions. For example, a key Accenture service management asset helps clients identify potential program benefits accurately and quickly, improving their prospects for realizing value. Accenture Delivery Methods, which is Accenture s core methodology, has been tailored to encompass the full lifecycle of an Oracle project. The Accenture Delivery Methods Estimating Model which uses flexible Excel-based templates with Oracle estimating factors has proven crucial in providing executive leadership with vital data to sponsor and manage large-scale development efforts. Accenture has developed multiple repositories for Oracle deliverables that provide guidelines, processes and templates to improve configuration quality and speed and the development of custom environments and technical architectures. Together, Accenture and Oracle have delivered sustained performance improvements to numerous leading electronics and high-tech companies, dramatically reducing their cost to serve customers while improving the overall customer experience. Their teamwork on service management for electronics and high-tech clients is another example of the companies close working relationship, which has spanned nearly two decades. A milestone in the Alliance relationship is the Accenture Innovation Center for Oracle, located in Redwood Shores, California the first and only center of its kind to be located within Oracle s headquarters. The center provides a central point for our companies to accelerate the development, commercialization and delivery of innovative Oracle-based solutions in service management and other functions vital to the success of electronics and hightech companies.

Service management solutions help EMC accommodate acquisitions and dramatic future growth A world leader in products, services and solutions for information management and storage, EMC wanted to build a more vigorous and scalable customer service information infrastructure to smoothly accommodate recent acquisitions and the expected dramatic future growth of the company. Accenture and Oracle teamed to help EMC initiate a comprehensive program that dramatically improved the integration between its customer support, field service, inventory logistics and contracts organizations. As EMC s primary systems integrator for the Customer Service Integration project, Accenture filled key leadership and execution roles in many project areas, among them: global program/project management, global prototype and business solution design, Oracle functional and technical designs, technical architecture and infrastructure, and business readiness and training design. The Customer Service Integration project scope included 29 key service processes from the call center, field service, inventory logistics, and contract administration functions. This includes: 1,200 call center agents handling 300,000 service requests per month; 5,000 field service technicians; and 3 million installed base records. More than 10,000 total users were directly affected across 50 countries. The project replaced 30 disparate legacy contract and case management systems with a single Oracle 11i application platform. Accenture and Oracle implemented six Oracle service modules and built 30 application interfaces to external systems, and implemented Oracle Projects to address the business processes in the professional services organization. Our team consolidated service request management and global processes across all service lines, and consolidated all contract management onto one system. Since the solution was released, EMC has: Presented one face to the customer for service. Created a common integrated platform across the enterprise. Enabled functionality to support an increasing software business. Provided a foundation for future growth and acquisitions. Enhanced reporting and data analysis accuracy and capabilities. Improved install base accuracy and integration with sales. Replaced aging IT platforms. Integrated with license management and electronic software fulfillment systems. Increased support for partner utilization to support strategic growth areas.

Using a high-spot review diagnostic to identify service management performance gaps Accenture developed a high-spot review for electronics and high-tech companies that seek a rapidly delivered, well-defined road map to better service management supported by Oracle Applications. With this diagnostic, companies gain a thorough understanding of their current service management performance; identify the best opportunities to improve related strategic, process, human performance and IT capabilities; and create master plans and priorities for next steps. This diagnostic provides an end-toend, objective assessment of service management performance across three dimensions: Service Strategy and Offering Development Focusing on the overall service vision and strategy, and the extent to which all parts of the company understand and operate according to the strategy. Service Offering Sales and Marketing Understanding the effectiveness of obtaining meaningful customer insights, creating marketing plans, developing campaigns and enabling sales forces (and channel partners) to sell new offerings. Service Delivery Measuring the execution of service offerings, covering functions such as event management (for example, call centers and e-support), repair and maintenance (for example, proactive maintenance, field repair and technical support), and spare parts and logistics. Integral to the high-spot review are several innovative assets. Accenture s service management process framework, for example, accelerates data-gathering and analysis activities with an inventory of typical industry processes. Service management benchmarks help show companies how their performance compares to leading business practices. Sample service management strategic frameworks provide structure and starting points for companies to refresh their overall approaches to service management. The service management high-spot review provides proactive companies with actionable insights the observations, measurements and recommendations they need as an effective starting point for taking service performance to a higher level. Increasing customer service satisfaction and retention to gain competitive advantage Accenture and Oracle help clients unlock the potential of customer service and support in whatever stage of planning or development they are considering or undertaking. By integrating leading service management processes and supporting technologies into a complete customer service and support framework, Accenture and Oracle help clients meet critical service-related challenges such as: Managing content for use by customer service representatives as well as customers themselves to solve service and support problems. Identifying and consistently delivering the kind of experience that pleases customers and keeps them coming back for more. Optimizing the use of customer selfservice channels such as websites and interactive voice response. By providing better, more cost-effective service and support enabled by Oracle Service Accenture and Oracle enable clients to boost customer satisfaction and retention, leading to lower costs, more revenue and greater competitive advantage. Contact For more information on how Accenture and Oracle E-Business Suite family of Service Applications and services can help energize your customer service and support capabilities, please contact: Rusty Witcher Accenture +1 720 359 5669 loftin.v.witcher@accenture.com Tom Dunn Oracle +1 650 506 7000 tom.dunn@oracle.com

About Accenture Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Committed to delivering innovation, Accenture collaborates with its clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. With deep industry and business process expertise, broad global resources and a proven track record, Accenture can mobilize the right people, skills and technologies to help clients improve their performance. With more than 158,000 people in 49 countries, the company generated net revenues of US$16.65 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2006. Its home page is www.accenture.com. About Oracle Oracle's business is information how to manage it, use it, share it, protect it. For nearly three decades, Oracle Corporation (oracle.com), the world s largest enterprise software company, has provided the software and services that let organizations get the most upto-date and accurate information from their business systems. With annual revenues of more than US$11.8 billion, the company offers its database, tools and application products-along with related consulting, education and support services-to the world's largest and most successful businesses and institutions. Copyright 2007 Accenture All rights reserved. Accenture, its logo, and High Performance Delivered are trademarks of Accenture. Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.