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The Support of Software Products
An Introduction


Prof. David Bernstein
James Madison University

Computer Science Department
bernstdh@jmu.edu

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What Is Support?
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  • A Narrow View:
    • Interaction between a stakeholder and another person for the purpose of improving the stakeholder's experience
  • What About User Documentation?
    • Some people include it in support
    • We will view it as an alternative to support
Types of Support
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  • Professional:
    • The person interacting with the stakeholder is employed by (either directly or indirectly) the provider of the software product
  • Community:
    • The person interacting with the stakeholder is another stakeholder (or has appropriate expertise for other reasons)
  • Hybrid:
    • A community system in which the professionals participate
Methods of Providing/Delivering Support
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  • Channel:
    • Telephone
    • Electronic Mail
    • Chat/Messaging
    • Social Network
    • WWW "Forms"
  • Interaction:
    • Synchronous
    • Asynchronous
Support Tracking/Management
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  • Purpose:
    • Accept, prioritize, assign, track, and log requests for support
  • Common Terminology:
    • Call Management System
    • Ticketing System
Support Arrangements/Contracts
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  • Free:
    • The stakeholder is not charged for support services
  • Fee-Based:
    • Per "Call"
    • Time and Materials
    • Block of Hours
    • Unlimited
    • Managed Services
Levels/Tiers of Support
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  • The Concept:
    • Provide different levels of support services to different stakeholders (usually for different fees)
  • Defining Tiers:
    • Hours of Support (e.g., 24/7, M-F)
    • Time to Engage (e.g., within 5 minutes, same-day)
    • Priority/Severity of the Request
Designing/Implementing with Support in Mind
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  • Motivation:
    • Users often do not have the technical expertise necessary to explain their situation so it can help if the product itself can help
  • Support-Oriented Features:
    • Remote Control
    • Logging/Diagnostics
There's Always More to Learn
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