'Empowering customers in a digital world'

BANGALORE: A new era of communication is upon us. From shopping and social networking to business and transaction, our dependence on technology is at an all time high. As a result of our constantly evolving needs, our interaction with technology is undergoing a continuous change.

Today, people and businesses across the world operate in complex technical environments that function seamlessly to deliver business results. With the penetration of personal computers predicted to reach 27.5 billion by 2010*, this rapid uptake of technology is all set to accelerate further! With this overwhelming dependence on technology, the tolerance for downtime today is at an all-time low.

Customers across segments have varied technology requirements. While a home user may need a single PC or a gaming console, a small or medium enterprise (SME) may have business critical solutions running on small or medium-sized networks while a large enterprise requires thousands of networked computers with multiple complex applications running 24x7.

In the current scenario, technology providers are continually working towards providing a breadth of easily accessible product support services to ensure that all customer segments have easy access to technical support, tailored to their access costs and to their individual needs.

A home user's technical needs are quite different from that of an enterprise. Typically, a home user's problems range from installation glitches to application download errors that he/she may experience from time to time. Integrating feedback from technical support executives, today product companies are building in basic support into the product itself, in order to enable the home user to resolve his issue with minimal external assistance. In most cases, home user does not have to venture beyond the "help" section of the product itself to resolve a glitch.

The needs of SMEs can be more complex as they run time sensitive and business critical applications on their networks. An IT-savvy SME customer can turn to technical forums, resources on the Internet such as knowledge-based articles, blogs and newsgroups to find instant resolution. Product companies are leveraging this flood of knowledge available on the Internet to create support sites with targeted content and increased personalization. The customer can submit his queries online, download a diagnostic tool, read user guides and manuals online, access articles which provide a repository of past cases and visit the FAQ section where the solution often lies. For those who want real time support for their technical issues, live chats are an excellent medium. The options available to today's customers are indeed endless!

In the case of large companies, a strong emphasis on business continuity lies at the core of every successful business. Accessibility and performance of enterprise applications therefore, is the critical defining factor that lends a competitive edge to successful businesses worldwide.

Today's 24x7 business environments mandate non-stop access to data. Ironically, sophisticated technology environments present their own set of complexities and challenges too. In this scenario, technical support has emerged as the new superhero, enabling the delivery of a seamless technical experience to customers.

In a large enterprise, products and solutions from various providers interoperate, creating a complex ecosystem that is managed by a dedicated team of technology experts within the company. These engineers are responsible for troubleshooting problems that may arise in the IT environment of an enterprise.

In this age of digital convergence and seamless business transactions, product companies are increasingly moving towards conducting proactive 'health checks' to diagnose and resolve snags even before they can explode into full-blown problems. This 'preventive maintenance' is saving their customers millions of dollars of investment and hours of downtime.

Equipped with the extensive resources available online and the predictive technical support offered by product companies, today's customer is empowered to the fullest. Whether a home user with a single personal computer or an enterprise with thousands of networked users, problem resolution is literally at the customers' fingertips!

(* Worldwide and U.S. Media Center PC 2006-2010 IDC Forecast: Opportunities and Challenges in a Growing Digital Home Market)

Author: Manish Sinha is the Managing Director, Asia Pacific and India, Customer Service and Support, Microsoft Corporation