However, manually building the documentation from scratch could be a daysor even weekslong processan unnecessary burden when youre trying to implement a new model., We can help you visualize your cloud infrastructure in just a few seconds. A key observation from this study is that even after decade long progress of FTS, its challenges are not overcome yet and it may be relevant to notice that there are no substantial benefits to FTS, thus FTS achievability is an empirical question for which a necessary first step is a consistent definition. The focus is on using automated tools which simplify the repetitive tasks. This facilitates easy job hand-offs and fits nicely within the FTS model. And when the shifts switch, you'll have each site hand off work to the next shift. You may unsubscribe from these communications at any time. A systematic literature review of best practices and challenges in follow-the-sun software development. One of the important concepts evolved in the past decade or so is the Follow the sun (FTS) software development. Another consideration is the way you use technology. Follow-the-sun support model is a very common paradigm for enterprise support companies wanting to deliver round the clock critical support for business critical applications. In addition to verbal communication, teams can also use visual documentation, such as flowcharts, kanban boards, and Gantt charts as part of their daily hand-offs. I have a team that is 12 hours ahead so we're not online at the same time. 0000006358 00000 n Software developmentusing the 24-hour knowledge factory paradigm. In Global Software Engineering, 2009. Plus, with a follow the sun model established, your company will be better prepared to support customers around the world, allowing your business to branch into new markets. Selecting locations for follow-the-sun software development: Towards a routing model. If a system goes down or a major bug cripples workflows, employee productivity and customer experiences can plummet quickly., More than ever, customers expect instant action and response when they experience a technical problem with a product theyre using. Our offerings for Salesforce include the same 24x7x365, follow-the-sun support with a guaranteed response of under 10-minutes for P1 critical issue . Lastly, we showed that there was a study which researched hand-offs management. Picture this. Tools to support data security and encryption such as VPNs are also important. Project collaboration becomes immensely easier when the status of each task (and the progress made on the task) is clearly documented. I went down the street to the 24-hour grocery store. For example, you may need skilled bilingual managers and associates to help with international communications. 0000013744 00000 n The FTS model has proven its potential for decreasing time to market, accelerating product development and ensuring consistent client communication. One of the principal benefits of the FTS model is the opportunity to speed up processes and reduce time to market. 1 gives the relevant facts regarding various working schemes. Lucidscale connects to major cloud sources like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) to pull in data automatically. Free and premium plans, Content management software. In Agile Conference, 2005. PowToon is a free . Tools for estimating and planning schedules, allocation of project tasks, sprint management, progress tracking are essential utilities for front line managers. The number of sites had only a small impact on the accuracy. Sorry something went wrong, try again later? I am talking about the follow-the-sun model, or FTS for short. "Follow the sun" is a service and support model designed to address customer's needs regardless of geographic location or time-zone. 0000002842 00000 n The. VX8pt@I:4QLBfbjT,m}66 0000015792 00000 n We've got a true, "follow the sun" model, allowing access to support engineers [.] Free and premium plans, Customer service software. Deriving Mutual Benefits from Offshore Outsourcing: The 24-Hour Knowledge Factory Scenario. (2007). Several workflows seem to be using the FTS model, but in reality this is not always the case. While you wont all be in the same room for these meetings, video conferences are fairly easy to set up and schedule. They also divide their support to cater to two groups of customers: participants (employees at companies) and client administrators (HR teams administering equity and compensation). [5] Amar Gupta. Essentially, it's 24/7 support, no matter where the sun is up, without needing any customer service department to work late shifts. We showed that there are three main research themes, namely challenges and best practices, location selection and hand-offs management. Rather than making the customer wait several hours until you can get back to working on a solution, follow the sun allows you to pass on the work to the next site. In California, teams start in waves at 7am, 8am, and 9am (PST). Do you want to provide complete 24-hour service? Think of the home base as the product owner. Follow the sun 2011 - SlideShare 0000004606 00000 n What is the Follow the Sun Customer Support Model? One shortcoming of this article is that we have only investigated the effect of FTS on speed, not on the product quality because of lack of suitable documented references. A clear path will help your troubleshooting teams and engineers coordinate and get to the bottom of the issue faster., Mastering the handoff process (moving project tasks from one team to the next) is probably the hardest, but most crucial, element of successfully implementing a follow the sun model. 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. A follow the sun model can help your organization provide 24/7/365 support to customers across the globe, regardless of time or location. Employee turnover is the number of workers leaving your business at any given timeincluding voluntary and involuntary exits. If you plan well and start slowly to see what works and what doesnt, you can more easily scale your efforts and ramp up services until you meet your goals and satisfy customer expectations. That being said, we have a few tips for you if you decide to implement this model: Now, before you jump into a follow the sun customer support model, let's determine if it's necessary for your company. What could shorter department turnaround times mean for what youre trying to achieve globally? 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. This efficiency further increases with the number of locations and shifts. But other companies may determine Follow the Sun is a customer support method that focuses on providing consistent customer support without regard for geographic location or time restraints. The handoffs can be applied to any software development task. 2006. Journal of Management Information Systems, 27(1):17-38, 2010. z(nK9:QS%i$MEaab:a=KpLD;so@ Are the majority simple, transactional issues like password changes and processing returns, or are they more complex technical issues requiring more resources? FTS approach has only a handful of documented cases of industrial success because of its nature. The three teams consist of 2 micro-teams (composite persona [17]), with at least one person from each location. Finally, communication is a key component for successful follow the sun implementation. Knowledge transfer and sharing of project critical information with concerned parties is essential for smooth operation of the project. So how can companies of different sizes utilize that to their advantage? 128 0 obj <> endobj xref 128 43 0000000016 00000 n According to the FTS model concept, production and maintenance can be separated between locations in different time zones. There are claims that FTS is being used at General Motors and at OfficeTiger [4] [5]. What is the follow the sun model? Advantages + strategy - Zendesk Follow the Sun (FTS), a sub-field of globally distributed software engineering (GDSE), is a type of global knowledge workflow designed in order to reduce the time to market, in which the knowledge product is owned and advanced by a production site in one time zone and handed off at the end of their work day to the next production site that is I am talking about the follow-the-sun model, or FTS for short. The research focussed on two aspects: the optimal time zone difference and the natural ease of communication (i.e. Kroll et al. In Management of Engineering and Technology, Portland International Center for, pages 24582466. By checking this box, I agree to Zendesk contacting me with marketing-related communications about Zendesk products, services, and events. Research concluded that nine aspects of management are important for improving hand-offs efficiency [16]: improving communication quality, ensure knowledge transfer between team members and production sites, management of hand-offs information, developing teams trust before and along the project, ensure compliance of deadlines, establishing time rules, providing proper technology and tools, delegating responsibility and coordination of task allocation. 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. We operate a 24/7 global support team - Microsoft Community If the sun is shining over a region, be it San Francisco, Paris, Hong Kong, or Sydney, business is being conducted there. When you use a follow the sun model, round-the-clock IT support is provided by following the sun from time zone to time zone. Formal systems such as discussion forums or internal Wiki sites may prove to be useful. are manually changeable. IEEE, 2009. If youre a small company looking to provide global support, consider what steps you can take now to achieve your longer-term support goals. Carmel [6] argues that only the nature of some phases of the development cycle such as testing are well suited for FTS. This can be done by evaluating when your customers need you most, and carefully considering how to meet them where they are. It's a model that provides support for clients at all times of the day or night, every day. ', Successful businesses satisfy customer needsand for some businesses, especially those that have expanded globally, that means providing superior customer service and support 24 hoursin a row. The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering, Anniversary Edition, 2/E. Working normal daylight hours keeps employees happy, healthy, and motivated to work while your company is still able to offer round-the-clock service. The implementation of FTS, if not practiced correctly, may result in failures and projects going over budget [10]. Presentation Mode allows you to show off the specific parts of your design that stakeholders care about most., There you have it. Follow-the-Sun in Action One of our partners, a large mobile advertising and app monetization company that gets 20,000+ tickets each week, leverages the follow-the-sun model with a total team of 85 associates to support their customers around the world. That means customers requests and communications are coming in quickly and oftenand these businesses must meet that demand. Believe it or not, the Covid-19 pandemic certainly influenced the decision to bring this powerful idea to life with local client support branches and personnel on every continent. IEEE, 2013. Your team needs to deploy a brand-new, process-defining software to all the computers and devices on your companys networks. Expertise from Forbes Councils members, operated under license. [10] Eoin Conchir, Helena Holmstrom Olsson, Par J Agerfalk, and Brian Fitzgerald. 0000001891 00000 n 0000002089 00000 n Three important companies which documented their experience is summarized below. Your plan needs to include specific roles, processes, and training necessary to meet customer expectations. 0000003713 00000 n In any case, one thing is clear: To provide the highest level of customer service, your support team must decide when to be available. 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. Follow the Sun Support - SyncApps, the #1 Integration Cloud The FTS approach is based on the principle of handing-off unfinished work to the next location at the end of work day. Read world-renowned marketing content to help grow your audience, Read best practices and examples of how to sell smarter, Read expert tips on how to build a customer-first organization, Read tips and tutorials on how to build better websites, Get the latest business and tech news in five minutes or less, Learn everything you need to know about HubSpot and our products, Stay on top of the latest marketing trends and tips, Join us as we brainstorm new business ideas based on current market trends. Please select this checkbox if you do not wish to receive marketing communications from Zendesk. FTS is a special case of GSD which aims to achieve a 100% workday in software projects. The Follow the Sun model allows brands to spread customer support over multiple time zones, which provides the necessary support that customers might need at odd hours of the night, or if they themselves are living in a different time zone. The purpose of this article was to present a comprehensive study on the FTS model for software development. [8] Christian Doerr. This way, the problem remains a priority and is worked on until the customer is satisfied. They are required to fill in a request form through a portal. The first one involved a software development project consisting of teams in the United States and Australia and met with high degree of success. FTS feasibility study: In 2013 there was a feasibility study of FTS in the industry [18]. Because of the hand-offs, work is owned by and worked on by one site at a time. Within the FTS approach, one of the teams always plays a leading role, being responsible for strategic planning, quality assessment and much more. Treinen and Miller Frost [19] published a case documenting two cases of FTS implementation at IBM. PjYIh$ 3lKPt[?7\p rNt[n@rS +@G9z|t- ]P$>(h)tQ c5+${._~;i$ X~,h XOjcL^W? [4] AGupta, Amar. However, the distance between time zones of production can be an issue since the real-time communication between the teams can be very limited. This workflow model is specifically designed to help address customers' needs without regard to geolocation or time zone. A daily dose of irreverent and informative takes on business & tech news, Turn marketing strategies into step-by-step processes designed for success, Spotlighting bold Black women entrepreneurs who have scaled from side hustles to profitable businesses, For B2B reps and sales teams who want to turn complete strangers into paying customers, Get productivity tips and business hacks to design your dream career, Free ebooks, tools, and templates to help you grow, Learn the latest business trends from leading experts with HubSpot Academy, All of HubSpot's marketing, sales CRM, customer service, CMS, and operations software on one platform. Its also a great record to have on hand to show various stakeholders just how much your department can accomplish in any given window of time., Visualizing your cloud infrastructure in a centralized location that is accessible to all global team members will create an accurate and consistent picture of your follow the sun model from day one. Handoffs management in follow-the-sun software projects: a case study. Follow the sun: distributed extreme programming development. The traditional "follow the sun" model is a type of global workflow in which issues can be handled by and passed between offices in different time zones, increasing responsiveness and reducing delays. In fact, a study conducted by the CMO Council found that arranging technical assistance and 24/7 accessibility were the top two ways that companies could improve product experience for users.. Its also important to have daily stand-up meetings. Most of the current code repositories are cloud based and accessible across geographies. Implementing follow the sun methods in your global organization can be challenging. 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. Major lessons learned in the study that could improve FTS from their experience include: It was also observed that hand-offs between different sites were especially difficult in the weekends. That's why as the assets are transferred to the next team, you need to ensure that detailed workflow documentation and technical tasks do not require further clarification. HWn1WLKZE Organization Support: Role Incident Liaison (IL) Description For severity 1 incidents only. One of the important concepts evolved in the past decade or so is the " Follow the sun " (FTS) software development. Results are generally from case or field studies, resulting in identified challenges and best practices to improve the methodology. The truth is, follow-the-sun support is simply a method meant to satisfy customersregardless of time or location. That means you need global customer service. Or, consider the approach at Solium, which provides an equity management platform that performs real-time trades 21 hours per day. -- Created using PowToon -- Free sign up at http://www.powtoon.com/ . [6] Carmel, Erran, Yael Dubinsky, and Alberto Espinosa. Essentially, it's 24/7 support, no matter where the sun is up, without needing any customer service department to work late shifts. Regardless of where the bulk of customers are located, if you know that youre receiving a lot of tickets outside of your standard support hours, then its time to start thinking about a rotational support model. But these steps will add to the increase in cost due to burnout and fatigue [2]. Based on these observations and the results presented in literature, it can be said that FTS approach is not widely used in practice because of its limitations and challenges. How do companies similar to your own handle support? The top three best practices that were found in research are agile methods, the use of technology for knowledge sharing (e.g. 3 levels of support delivery model. To this end, the FTS research needs to be done comprehensively, so that companies start adopting it in real-time projects. See pricing, Marketing automation software. This can be achieved in a variety of ways. The follow the sun customer support model is designed to address customer needs without regard to geographic location or current time. [2] Murray R Millson, SP Raj, and David Wilemon. But not every industry really requires that. 0000065007 00000 n Overall it was found that increasing the number of sites in a daily cycle increased the working speed. Join 64,500+ Customer-Facing Professionals, Pop up for FREE CUSTOMER JOURNEY MAP TEMPLATES. Research in Follow-the-Sun software development has been done since 1990. Although there were very less successful cases, some companies still showed positive intent in applying FTS model. 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. The 24-hour knowledge factory: can it replace the graveyard shift? 0000002691 00000 n To say that life during the global pandemic has recentred our focus on health is an understatement. Still, it did, and that is where our plan and ability to coordinate staff remotely across the world helped keep all the processes running. One way to implement a follow the sun approach is to have customer support owned by one site at a time -- wherever the sun is up. Here's how to deliver an experience that meets people's high and evolving expectations. 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?
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