Transcript Knowledge as a Product

Knowledge Management with a Purpose
Velocity & Variability
aka Lean Six Sigma
Gary Jones
Dir, Service Operations
• Manufacturer of data
storage products
• Balanced between OEM
and branded products
• Channel focused
• < 2,300 employees
• < $850m revenue
Quantum Global Service - Overview
• 3 Quantum enterprise call centers
• 2 partner staffed high-volume call centers
• 4 unique on-site Service Partners
in addition to Quantum personnel
(grows to 50+ in EMEA and APAC regions)
• 10,400 support calls per month
• 80% responded to by a Service Partner
• 1,100 field support responses per month
• 37% responded to by a Service Partner
The Challenge
• Highly leveraged support model
• Multiple partners, regions, & languages
• Not a significant revenue resource for
any of our service partners
• Quality could vary depending on the
Service Partner
• Score high on expertise >> other categories would follow
• Loyalty scores (buy again, recommend) also followed the
expertise curve on our periodic surveys
• The challenge: Managing the expertise of all these vendors!
In Search of a Direction
• We believed we were out-performing
our CSAT scores
• Predictability was showing up as a
significant component of expertise –
• If presented with the same information,
would all Service Partners respond the same
way, rapidly
• The variability of our global performance and the velocity of our
global service processes had to be addressed – head on!
• Once we recognized how predictability influenced expertise, our
KM initiatives had direction
Knowledge as a Product
• We linked our knowledge management
process to the principles and philosophies
of a franchised business:
• Produce a product with a repeatable
and predictable result
• Deliver a product with minimal variability
• Abide by a continuous product improvement
process based on rigorous quality metrics
• Base the business on a common set of resources
and traditions inclusive of leading practices
• For Quantum Global Services, our product is knowledge
Driving Predictability
• Knowledge management - knowing what to
do and how to do it, is the cornerstone of
Quantum’s service delivery process
• Quantum manages its Service Partners
much like a franchisor would manage a
franchisee:
Variability
Value
Velocity
• Minimizing variability (six sigma)
• Maximizing velocity (lean)
• Providing value
• The franchise model clearly demonstrates scalability through
replication of knowledge and process, with a predictable and
measurable result
Knowledge Discovery
• Knowledge can be harvested from many
sources and events:
•
•
•
•
FAQ key-word misses
Conclusions from healthy forum discussions
Misrouted questions/emails from customers
Issues that don’t follow predictable product or
process behavior
• Internal help-me emails that have too many
people on the to: line
• Creeping confusion (normally surfaces at weekly technical
collaboration meetings)
• Requests for information that isn’t already available
• Quantum focuses content on topics that remove process
complexity and knowledge variability
Knowledge Gets an Early Start
• Global Services is an active participant
on all product development teams
• This model drives service design
requirements into early gates/phases
• Three main areas of focus:
• Knowledge Management & Transfer:
Assurance that current products incorporate
findings from past learning's
• Core Product Capabilities:
Ensure product can deliver meaningful management and diagnostic
data
• Data Capture & Mining Capabilities:
Ensure system-wide compatibility of all data elements for use in M2M
applications
• Early engagement in the product development process ensures
rich KM content early – when its needed most!
Knowledge Management Delivery
• Knowledge Management System (KMS)
• Pull-based, closed loop. 3 access levels:
Customer / Service Partner / Quantum
• Discussion Forum (Soon to be wiki-ized)
• On-line forum that encourages “what-if” discussions
• Learning & Education (LMS)
• Content mgmt; course monitoring; “who knows what”,
“when did they learn it”, and “where are they”
• StorageCare Guardian – (DRM)
• The ultimate KM solution that guides support personnel
to their next step
StorageCare Guardian
• Quantum’s latest technology investment for
attacking variability and increasing velocity
• Parsing engines remove two levels of variability:
• What a customer can communicate
• What the next step should be
Measuring Partner Expertise
Transactional Surveys
• Survey contains quick
links to call avoidance
tools
• Survey visually
communicates location of
call centers
Organizational Structure
Final Comments on Knowledge Mgmt
• Knowledge management is key to building and
maintaining a Global Service Network that
Quantum customers can benefit from
• Knowledge management is one of the most
critical elements of improving velocity and
variability in our service delivery performance
• Quantum focuses its investments on tools that
increase the velocity and decrease the variability
of service delivery
• Knowledge delivery tools require investment and a unique level of
commitment. Invest with a purpose in mind. Choices should
extend beyond content delivery itself
• Knowledge discovery takes many forms. Be creative and
purposeful. At Quantum, we have two key questions that drive our
knowledge growth:
• Why do people know the things they do (find out why and replicate it!)
• Why don’t people know the things they should (find out why and fix it!)
Contact Information
Gary Jones
Dir, Service Operations
Quantum Corp (NYSE:DSS)
[email protected]
(949) 466-3066
Outsourcing
2004, 2005, 2006
2004, 2005
2006