Let's talk about providing 24-hour support without overwhelming one location and forcing staff to work overtime. You may unsubscribe from these communications at any time. Follow-The-Sun Model: How To Overcome Challenges And Discover - Forbes Response times are increased, delays in problem-solving are reduced, and customers are satisfied. 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. What could shorter department turnaround times mean for what youre trying to achieve globally? Following the sun: Case studies in global software development. IBM Systems Journal 45.4 (2006): 773-783. IBM Software Group Rational softwareRational User Conference 2003 Presentation Overview Changing Times - The trend towards globalisation . These questions will help you determine if you have enough tickets coming in from each area in the world and if it's a standard practice to offer 24/7 support. Is a "follow the sun" model right for your company? Theres no reason to leap forward with global support if most of your customers are in only one or two regions. The ability of project management tools to integrate with development tools can help reduce the duration of project cycles in FTS. IEEE, 2009. Organization . For me, staying connected with clients in every corner of the globe was always important. Although these regions share the English language, there were cultural differences, for example, one culture has more emphasis on self-sufficiency; therefore they tend not to ask for help when problems come up. IT architecture and the people who program and maintain the architecture can make or break a companys daily operations, particularly for companies with a global presence. The FTS approach is based on the principle of handing-off unfinished work to the next location at the end of work day. And customers in one location do not get preferential or more support than any other location. 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. Additionally, you won't have to hire any customer service reps to work a night shift -- meaning you'll have happier employees who are working reasonable hours. What is the follow the sun model? Advantages + strategy - Zendesk This schedule is determined by global stock exchange hours. Managing international teams may be a challenge. The handoffs can be applied to any software development task. 0000064464 00000 n Now that youve done all the groundwork of defining workload capability, visualizing infrastructure, and hammering out the handoff process, youre ready to get your new model signed off by stakeholders. Calculation, effects, and prevention tips, Streamline call center BPO management with data-driven WFM, Why great CX is the doorway to success with open banking for financial services firms. There are several major differences between traditional globally distributed software development and the FTS approach. Figure 3: Comparing FTS model with other global workflows [1]. [8] Christian Doerr. uyLY@= 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. Background, main ideas and principles behind FTS were discussed followed by a brief review on Agile for FTS, advantages and limitations of FTS. 2008. You most likely wont need to open multiple offices, especially at first, but perhaps a small remote office or a representative located remotely in a key area or time zone may satisfy your customers needs. 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). [3] Frederick P Brooks Jr. Its a great way to optimize your support. For some, it may make more sense to have people in the office rather than working from home to expand and grow without opening an office first. It's a model that provides support for clients at all times of the day or night, every day. 0000064539 00000 n To get a proper picture of the background on FTS, there is a need to understand a development pace and its associated concept of time to market, which are the main drivers of the development of FTS. She is a leading digital transformation evangelist for the pharma and life sciences industries.
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