Case Study Product Support for a Media Advertising infrastructure solution provider ì THE CUSTOMER A niche provider of advertising infrastructure software, primarily Traffic, Sales and Billing systems for television and radio broadcasters, cable and digital display networks across US and Asia. Their product enables their clients to manage the advertising sales process and provides centralized traffic management. Aspire was chosen to provide L1, L2 and L3 product support for the ì THEIR customer’s APAC clients from India. NEED Product support services for their radio broadcasting clients in the APAC region, beginning with those based in India. In addition, they also wanted to augment their product support team in the US. ì OUR DEED Aspire provides email and telephonic product support services to end-users to resolve product related issues quickly. Starting with one major client (of our customer) in India, Aspire has hence supported several new clients acquired in the APAC region, covering more than 50 broadcasting stations totally. TRAFFIC, SALES AND BILLING SOFTWARE FOR THE BROADCAST INDUSTRY The customer’s advertising infrastructure software is a Windows-based solution that provides a complete workflow to manage the advertising sales process, from acceptance of an advertising order to the receipt of an invoice, in the broadcasting industry. The product provides centralized management of traffic and reporting from one location for multi-station groups and also helps its users arrive at the most appropriate pricing decisions for advertisements by tracking market history and market conditions. Following their success in the US, the customer started expansion in the APAC region and wanted to provide equal support to their Asian clients similar to that enjoyed by their US clients. Product Support Aspire was chosen to provide L1, L2 and L3 product support for the customer's APAC clients from India. The first client supported had radio broadcasting stations in 4 major Indian cities to start with. Within 10 months, they had more than 40 stations in India. Aspire’s product support team remained the same throughout the ramp-up. Product Support for a Media Advertising infrastructure solution provider 01 Product Support for a Media Advertising infrastructure solution provider During the first month of operation, a trainer from the customer’s in-house product support team flew to India to train Aspire’s team on the product and support process. The training was documented and used to train new inductees, as and when needed. The team was also given soft skills training, in terms of listening, presentation and teaching skills. Lifecycle followed Aspire Product Support LifeCycle Inputs Process Client e-mails a request to product support queue Contact Details available Outputs Yes Acknowledge the client with an e-mail No Update client details in CRM No Client calls support number Contact Details available Yes Research Information pertaining to service request Understand Gather Information pertaining to service request Observations Reproduce Analyze Root Cause Observations on service request Problem Provide the client with solution Resolution Need Escalation No Provide the client with solution Yes Send a mail to Directo/Manger of product support, updating the issue details in CRM Update the client about the service request escalation The Solution provided to the client is made available to all Support Engineers Product Support for a Media Advertising infrastructure solution provider 02 Product Support for a Media Advertising infrastructure solution provider Product issues, received through email or telephone, are resolved by Aspire's support engineers and the case history is updated in the issue tracking tool. The resolved issues logged in the tool undergo a peer review and a “defect ID” is documented for each issue in the call log report. Workflow followed for logging bugs: Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Log a detailed description of the problem experienced by the end-user Attach sources and other requirements related to the problem Attach screen shots (if useful) Attach error messages for major issues Add work around (if any) Simulation of Production Environment Aspire's product support team has a server configured with the production environment. This involves installation and configuration of the operating systems, configuration management tool, project management tool, CRM tracking tool, database, VPN, email and security systems running on the production server. The team also simulates the daily activities carried in production. Support challenges Ÿ Access to the end-client's servers through remote access in order to resolve support issues Ÿ End users had to be guided on the functionality of any new features added, if needed. This meant that the support team had to update themselves on all new product features released, even before it was installed for end-users. Ÿ Simulation of production environment and keeping it up-to-date. Key Benefits to the customer Ÿ Enhancement of the customer's client base in the APAC market due to the stability provided by the support team. Ÿ SLA based support contracts for the customer's clients Ÿ Ability to respond to users' requests faster through leveraging of 24/7 cycles due to time differences between the customer's in-house team based in the US and Aspire's India based team. Product Support for a Media Advertising infrastructure solution provider 03 Product Support for a Media Advertising infrastructure solution provider ABOUT ASPIRE SYSTEMS Aspire Systems is an Outsourced Product Development firm committed to helping our customers build software products better and faster. We work with some of the world’s most innovative Independent Software Vendors and software-enabled businesses, ranging from start-ups to established industry leaders, transforming the way software is built. Aspire provides complete product lifecycle services, ranging from new product development and product advancement to product migration, re-engineering, sustenance and support. Our product development teams are spread between our Global Innovation Center in Chennai, India and offices in the United States. For more information contact: Website : www.aspiresys.com E-mail : info@aspiresys.com Tel : +1-408-260-2076 USA : +44 203 170 6115 UK : +91-44-6740 4000 India Product Support for a Media Advertising infrastructure solution provider 04