“Building a Web Self-Service Portal: Keys to Success”

Paul M. DooleyPrincipal

Optimal Connections, LLC

www.optimalconnections.com

Agenda

• The Trend toward Customer Empowerment

• What’s in It for You and the Customer?

• Popular Portal Applications

• Key Steps in Implementing Your Web-based Portal

• Keeping it Going for Continued Success!

• Q&A

The Trend Today: Customer Empowerment

• The trend today is toward globalization, 7 x 24 coverage, and multi-channel support. Customers are asking for…

– Choices – support how and when they want it– Convenience - right channel for the issue– Availability - avoid problems in the first place!– Empowerment - be informed– Return on Investment - to get the most from

their system

• People – rather than big media - are taking a big part themselves in creating and driving news and information (witness youtube.com and similar destinations)

• Traditional media is rapidly migrating to an online format and leveraging this “new media”

• In fact, any business without a respectable web site is like a business without business cards – its just plain expected these days!

The Web is “Power to the People”

• More than ever, its power to the people - with new web trends such as …

– Wikis – where the people publish the content themselves under the guidance of a hosting organization

– Blogs – web logs where individuals share their thoughts, opinions and advice via online journals

– Personal websites – MySpace, Facebook, etc., are forming new communications platforms for people

• For today’s IT organization, the need is for us to function more like a business– Where end-users are treated like “customers” and the emphasis

is on minimizing costs, while maximizing productivity, customer and employee satisfaction

• One important way to take advantage of these trends, and accomplish this three-fold purpose is to deploy an effective web self-service portal

What’s in It for Customers?

• Access support anytime – a web support portal is available whenever customers need help – 7 x 24.

• Better understanding of IT service & support – with easy access to SLAs, policies, and info, expectations are more accurately set.

• Increased availability of solutions to known errors – customers enjoy increased and faster access to common solutions

• Higher system availability – fast access to solutions leads to higher uptime and customer satisfaction

• The ability to collaborate with other customers – a web portal can provide the ability for chat communities

• Ability to influence service quality – by submitting feedback, requests for enhancements

What’s in It for IT and the Service Desk?

• Makes it easy for customers to do business with you– Be accessible 7 x 24

• Publish services and set accurate expectations– Service catalogs and SLAs

• Collaborate with customers as “support partners”– Empower them to get answers to simple questions,

resolve low priority incidents• Make it convenient for customers to submit service requests

– Planned activities, handled more cost-effectively via a portal• Facilitate Problem Management: inform customers so as to avoid problems

– Status updates, advisories regarding solutions to “known errors”– Provide standard pre-approved changes

• Reduce cost, increase customer satisfaction– By empowering users, raising productivity for the service desk and users– Reduce incidents through self-service, proactive problem management– Do more work with the same level of staff

• Operate Like a Business: Market your value!– Display your mission, publish successes, and promote your value

Popular Web Portal Applicationsand Sample Portal

• Automated Status Reporting• Web incident entry/update for customers• Answer “How to” questions and provide solutions to

simple known errors• Process routine service requests• Provide proactive advisories• Download center for updates• Fast access to online documentation• Enable customer collaboration with

chat• Publish service levels and a service

catalog• Keep customers informed about

policies

Popular Web Portal ApplicationsAutomated Status Reporting

• Most help desks & service desks don’t do an effective job at providing status regarding incidents/requests in process

• More timely status reporting is an opportunity for improvement in most support centers

– By maintaining a ‘user profile’ and integrating it with your SMS, your portal can keep customers informed about their incident status

– Report by number, location, date, and other criteria. – Summary information and drill down reporting should be available

• Benefits:– Set expectations more accurately, and keeps customers informed– Maintains customer satisfaction levels– Averts incoming calls for status, lowering costs and ensuring higher

productivity• Challenges:

– Analyst writing skills– Quality incident logs to capture timely & accurate incident status– Web integration with your SMS to automate the process

Automated Status ReportingProactive Status Updates

Popular Web Portal ApplicationsLog or Update Incidents

• Customers enter/ update incidents by themselves for lower priority incidents. Higher priority incidents phoned in (guidelines)

• Tip: enforce a search of the KB first before allowing entry!– Otherwise you risk unnecessary incidents (a solution may already

be available) – Key: if no solution, then allow electronic incident entry

• Route incidents and requests to your normal queues– Avoiding the need for special monitoring– Establish metrics for service requests as well as incidents!

• Benefits: – More cost-effective way of handling low priority incidents and

requests– Convenient access and empowerment for customers– Forms-based entry provides superior formatting over email

• Challenges:– Web integration to SMS– Metrics, monitoring and reporting for quality assurance

Log or Update IncidentsSample Entry Screens

Popular Web Portal ApplicationsProvide Answers and Solutions

• Provide fast answers to the top Frequently Asked Questions• Access to simple, re-usable solutions and answer common

questions– Through easy, fast access to an integrated,

effective knowledge base (KEDB)– Facilitates Problem Management

• Benefits:– Quick answers to common questions, users

resolve simple repetitive incidents– Empowers customers, lowers avg incident

cost according to HDI 2008 study• Challenges:

– Integrating KEDB to your Service Mgt System & web portal– Effective processes (Knowledge Centered Support (KCS),

Problem Mgt and Incident Mgt)– Providing access to only “customer

ready” solutions– Knowledge Monitoring

Incident cost: Self-Service vs. Phone

12.44

24.37

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Web Self-Service Phone

Series1

Providing Answers and SolutionsSample Screen

Top Solutions

Popular Web Portal ApplicationsReset Passwords

• One of the biggest sources of repeat incidents!– 30-50% of calls, in fact, indicates a recent IDC study *.

• A significant potential cost saving for many help desks– Since many end-users could easily reset their own passwords if

equipped.– Deploy one of the many software solutions through your web portal to

enable customers, freeing your staff for more pressing incidents• Benefits:

– Empowers customers to resolve these simple service requests faster, while freeing up your staff for other work.

– Lowers costs and improves staff productivity• Challenges:

– Integrating password reset tool to your web portal– Providing for security policy compliance– Encouraging, educating and training users to use

Reset PasswordsSample 3rd Party Password Reset Tool

Sample apps:

•P-Sync

Popular Web Portal ApplicationsEnter Service Requests

• 7 x 24 support for routine service requests • Reserve valuable phone support time for processing higher

priority unplanned incidents– Position the web as a vehicle for Request Fulfillment, and

optimize your handling of routine service requests – Examples: Standard change requests, requests for upgrades or

upgrades, documentation & media requests, enhancement requests• Benefits:

– Conserves valuable analyst phone time for handling incidents– Can be an integral part of implementing ITIL V3 Request Fulfillment– More cost-effective, automated handling of service requests– Convenient 7 x 24 hour access for customers and users

• Challenges:– Monitoring responsiveness to the channel for efficient service request

processing, so as to meet customer expectations– Service catalog integration, automated fulfillment on back end

Popular Web Portal ApplicationsDeliver Proactive Advisories

• Keep customers informed about known errors and ways to avoid potential problems through timely “service advisory” bulletins – Timely bulletins describe reported known problems, and include

advice on how to avoid the issue– Can link back to support web page for next steps– A component of proactive “Problem Management”

• Benefits:– Supportive of ITIL Problem Management, this practice helps

customers avoid problems in the first place – ensuring higher productivity, uptime, and customer satisfaction

– Also lowers support costs by avoiding incidents in the first place• Challenges:

– Implementation of a supporting Problem Management process– Standard forms and supporting procedures, automation

Popular Web Portal ApplicationsDeliver Proactive Advisories

Popular Web Portal ApplicationsProvide Standard Pre-Approved Changes

• Leverage your web portal to cost-effectively provide access to pre-approved standard changes (minor updates and upgrades) – Avoid sending out CDs or DVDs, and reduce costs– Provide updates or upgrades to software cost-effectively via a

“downloads” center.

• Benefits:– Reduces cost for the service desk, while providing convenient 7 x

24 access to popular updates and upgrades. Relieves the administrative burden of processing standard change requests.

• Challenges:– Only use for pre-approved, low risk updates and upgrades.– More complex or critical software updates require Release Mgt

assistance to ensure trouble-free installation and configuration.

Provide Routine UpdatesSample Screen

Popular Web Portal ApplicationsDeliver Online Documentation

• Customers want access, and we want them to be informed about how to use the services we provide

• Examples:– Publish your service desk support policies. Set customer expectations.– Your analysts need the customer to refer to a user guide, manual, or

other set of instructions from time to time – why make things difficult?– Provide HTML and PDF access – HTML enables search, and PDF provides easy download

• Benefits:– Speeds incident resolution and lowers cost – no searching for the right

manual! – An easy way to ensure the customer always has the proper manual for

the job at hand! • Challenges:

– Integration with a document management system– Timely updates to ensure accuracy

Popular Web Portal ApplicationsDeliver Online Documentation

Popular Web Portal ApplicationsEnable Customer Collaboration

• Enable interactive, real-time two-way chat with customers– Extends self-service web portal to assisted service– Some audiences prefer this method (ie, gaming)– Can be integrated with Click-to-Talk, making it easy to

transition to phone• Analysts can handle multiple sessions simultaneously• Benefits:

– Positions you as flexible, ‘customer-centric’– Decreases cost per incident*, as some

incidents transition to chat– Can boost analyst productivity through multi-

tasking, ‘canned’ replies– Ensures self-service experience is successful

• Challenges:– Lacks ‘tone of voice’, handling emotions– Integrating with a SMS to log, track sessions– Requires that analysts have typing, multi-tasking skills

Incident Costs: Chat vs. Phone

19.92

24.37

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

1 2

Chat

Phone

HDI 2008 Survey

Enable Customer CollaborationSample Chat Screen

Sample apps:

•LivePerson

•InstantService

Popular Web Portal ApplicationsPublish Your Service Levels

• Negotiating and documenting Service Level Agreements (SLAs) doesn’t do anyone any good if the contents of those agreements aren’t communicated to customers, end users and the help desk!

– Customers and users need to know what to expect– Staff need to know at what level to deliver depending on the customer– Provide a link to “Your Service Levels”, informing users about the

contents, terms and conditions of their SLA.• Benefits:

– More effective communications of SLA contents– Expectations more accurately set, enabling higher customer satisfaction– Service Desk staff better positioned to deliver accurately

• Challenges:– Be sure that any changes to SLAs are reflected in a timely fashion – Empower Service Level Management/Catalog Management to make

changes and updates as needed to reflect agreements and service levels in force

– Integration with a complete, web-based Service Catalog

Popular Web Portal ApplicationsDeploy a web-based Service Catalog

• Go further than just the SLA: let customers know about your services!

• Start with basics: listing the various services you provide and informing customers in business terms

– Describe services not in “IT Terms”, but in terms customers understand– Include name, description, typical user, features/benefits, availability

• Include other helpful information with your service catalog to help customers in deciding which services they need

– Providing pricing information if appropriate(value)– Link in the relevant supporting SLA detail – Eventually provide links so that once a customer has selected a given

service, they go directly to automated service request entry!• Benefits: more customer and business centric – making it “easy to

do business” with the service desk and IT• Challenges: planning your catalog; defining and documenting your

“services”; building, deploying, promoting and maintaining the catalog

Provide a Service Catalog

Sample apps:

•newScale

5 Key Steps

to Implementing Your

Web Portal

Step 1: Develop and Present a Business Case Before You Do Anything!

• Why? Sets expectations for management on what to expect (and not expect)

– Defines a mission, clear goals and objectives, a time table, and milestones in the development and deployment of your portal

– Lays out projected costs with a Cost/Benefits Analysis, proposed investment (people, hardware, software, etc.), a projected Return on Investment (ROI), an Action Plan and a projected timeframe for roll-out.

– Defines Key Success Factors, so you’ll know when you’ve arrived!– Simply good business practice – reinforcing the notion that you “run

your support center like a business”

1. Complete a situation analysis Document the current situation with respect to customer self-service Establishes a “baseline” for later evaluation

2. Define your Goals and Expected Benefits– Identify and prioritize the key goals for your portal. Identify the biggest

quick “wins” – prioritize these, and implement those features first to gain early successes in the rollout

How to Develop and Present a Business Case

• 3. Summarize your proposed solution:– Provide an overview of the design, features, and functions. – Summarize costs and project timeline– List assumptions and risks, with contingencies– Spell out goals and benefits– Provide cost justification, with ROI projection

• 4. Quantify cost savings expected to be realized– Provide projected estimates of cost savings, based on achieving the

expected goals and realizing the benefits– Convert each projected benefit – performance improvement or cost

reduction - into a dollar figure. Include a simple table to illustrate your assumptions and estimates

– Example:

Reduce incoming incidents for simple repetitive incidents users can resolve themselves (“How to” FAQs, simple solutions).50 calls per week, x 52 weeks = 2600 incidents, 2600 incidents x average cost of $12/incident = $31,200 savings/Yr

How to Develop and Present a Business Case

• 5. Estimate Development and Deployment Costs – Itemize project costs; compare total projected costs to estimate savings

Examples of costs to factor in: Projected support team costs software costs, hardware costs, annual hosting costs, professional services, on-going admin and support costs

• 6. Assemble Your Business Case– Assemble the output and document a logical business case, with supporting

and information. Include costs, benefits, and savings over time to illustrate ROI

• 7. Moment of Truth: Present Your Case to Management– Secure management commitment, support and funding

Next Step? Lay the Ground Work!

Step 2: Lay the Ground Work!Assemble Your Team & Plan

• Like any other strategic initiative, this one deserves..– A focused cross-functional team of Subject Matter Experts– Budget commitment of people, time and resources– A project lead & well defined project plan

• Incorporate Team Best-practices• Engage your Marketing Department

– Don’t ignore your marketing dept! – Usually responsible for the “image” to the business, customers and

marketplace– Can be a valuable source of expertise and resources, plus ensuring your

initiative is in line with corporate policies and standards• Involve Your Web Team

– A valuable resource for technical support, resources, and on-going maintenance

– Make them part of your team so you can work together to make the portal a reality!

Lay the Ground WorkEnsure Quality Processes

• Provide for Quality in Your IT Support Organization– For a web self-service portal to be successful, you must have solid

supporting processes in place within your support center– These must be positioned to effectively support the customer portal

(foundational) – Otherwise you seriously compromise your success

• Key elements for support within the center include:– Service Desk function, with adequate resources & capabilities– Quality support processes (Incident, Request Fulfillment and Problem

Management)– Knowledge Management process, system and repository – Business style writing skills– Quality logging of incident and service request (standards, QA process)– A Service Mgt System that supports web integration– The ability to budget supporting resources – tools, people, technology

Step 3: Develop Based on Best Practices

• Align it with Your Organization’s Web Site– Should have the same “look and feel”– Your portal is your image – make it look professional!

• Make it FAST!– Why users are going to your site? Searching for a solution.– Response and resolution time are key customer satisfaction drivers– Beware of fancy features which slow performance! – Emphasize fast display, fast loading, and fast response

• Integrate it into your systems to minimize manual updates• To manage, establish metrics & tools to measure and report on:

– Number of page visits, unique visitors, repeat visitors– Most popular pages, least visited pages– Knowledge base effectiveness; % growth in solutions; % of visits

successful; solution re-use; most popular authors– End-user satisfaction levels with portal

• Identify “gaps” and address in a continuous improvement program

Develop Your Portal Based on Best Practices

• Keep it Simple and Easy to Use– Be compatible with the parent site– Pay attention to easy navigation and usage – If you can “personalize” it, so much the better

• Make it Engaging!– Keep all critical resources 1-3 clicks away – Like your analysts, your portal should greet the customer!

• Make it Easy to Find via the Search Engines!– “If you build it, they will come”. Not true.– Most people arrive at a web sites through a search engine – about

80%; only a small percentage by knowing the URL.– Make your web support site easy to locate!– Optimize your site so that search engines rank your site

at the top of the list when someone types a relevant search phrase

Step 4: Treat RolloutLike a Product Launch!

• Once you’ve designed, developed and tested your new web self-service portal, you’re ready for roll-out.

• This is “the moment of truth”, so we suggest managing your rollout just like any important new product or service.

– Done right is can be very effective and successful. Reduced costs, increased productivity and customer satisfaction.

– Done wrong, and you end up with disappointed customers, and a difficult recovery (first impressions matter!).

Treat RolloutLike a Product Launch

• Establish a “Product Manager” and support team• Develop a Release Plan• Rollout it out in Phases to ensure success

– Internal rollout in the Support Center first– Beta phase (to key customers and users)– Early adopters– Full rollout

• Consider “branding” your portal• Position it properly as an “expansion of services”• Assess feedback as you go, and communicate successes

early and often!

Step 5: Keeping it GoingEnsuring Continuing Success!

• This is now one of your key support channels - don’t neglect it!

• Market it on an on-going basis– Play a recording to promote it while customers on are ‘hold’

– Promote its use via your analysts (during silent time)

– Offer a free web-based or CD “demo”

– Post the URL everywhere!

• Keep it current through automated updates and effective management

• Report success to your staff, management, and customers• Assess your ROI against your initial “baseline” and move

ahead into the future!

It’s Up To You: Take it to the Next Levelwith Your Web Portal!

• You’ll be more Customer and Business Centric – making it easier for customers “to do business” with you

• You’ll Lower Costs – by enabling customers to solve many incidents and log requests themselves

• You’ll Raise Productivity – helping customers avoid problems in the first place, resolving simple issuesquicker. Higher uptime results, along with higher productivity.

• You’ll Be More Proactive – staff will have more opportunity to engage in proactive Problem Management, eliminating the source of problems

• You’ll Differentiate Yourself from the Competition – by virtue of the fact that you offer an effective, proactive “one stop” web channel to assist customers around the clock.

What are You Waiting for? – Get Started!

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Paul M. DooleyPrincipalOptimal Connections, LLCE: pmdooley@optimalconnections.comW: www.optimalconnections.com