鈥淐ustomers undergo a cloud transformation because they want to accelerate their time to realize business value and they want to take advantage of innovations faster,鈥� says Rohan Patel, global vice president, Customer Support and Innovation, Product Support 鈥� Procurement, 麻豆原创. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what helps them maintain a competitive edge. And they want to do this while decreasing overall cost and minimizing risk.鈥�

This is where from 麻豆原创 can add real value. In this conversation, Patel gives insight into how 麻豆原创 support can benefit procurement customers.

Q: How are you supporting procurement customers on their journey to the cloud?

A: Support in the old, on-premise world is what I like to call 鈥榖reak-fix鈥� support. When something failed, the IT department submitted a ticket for support, the problem was fixed, and communication ended until another issue arose. Being a break-fix support provider doesn鈥檛 work in the cloud environment. Support requires speed and foresight. Support today identifies problems and optimizes products before customers even notice something鈥檚 not working as it should.

麻豆原创鈥檚 strategy is predictive and proactive. We want continuous dialogue with customers to provide insights and guidance that are a value-add so we鈥檙e there long before something breaks. Success in the cloud requires adoption outside of the traditional IT environment. Business end users and lines of business, like procurement, supply chain, and HR, expect easy-to-use support portals that are intuitive and quickly anticipate user needs.

Can you share some examples of how 麻豆原创 is using data to enhance predictive support?

The tools we use not only help us deliver a great experience to our customers, they also continue to improve the 麻豆原创 solution itself. Consider the cloud health monitoring tools within , our application lifecycle management solution that helps streamline the way our customers implement and operate their cloud and hybrid environments across the entire business.

These tools can analyze what鈥檚 happening at the customer experience layer 鈥� for example, how long it takes a specific page to load, how long a user needs to complete a task, and any delays that could frustrate users, hinder adoption, and slow business outcomes. We act proactively at the engineering and cloud operations layer to help continuously improve that user experience.

We also use knowledge and data to improve the support experience, such as with , which has millions of active trading partners. This business-to-business network of companies connecting, transacting, and partnering with numerous shared processes and information expands the 麻豆原创 footprint well beyond the four walls of traditional operations.

Equally important is that our consumers today aren鈥檛 just IT support users, but rather work in departments throughout the clients鈥� operations. We鈥檝e taken steps to help meet the needs of all those different user types. We can provide quick, easy-to-understand guidance and answers to their questions using intuitive, personalized, and real-time channels driven by both humans and artificial intelligence (AI). This recommendation engine can provide guided answers based on who the users are, what they鈥檙e doing in the application, or what questions they ask. Users can quickly get useful and relevant content for answering their questions. The data from those guided-answer experiences is then fed into the product road map to help make the entire user experience more optimal and eliminate problems before they happen.

What have procurement customers seen in 2023 from 麻豆原创 support?

Our procurement coverage in 2023 hits two themes: harmonization and Real-Time Support. Let me begin with the harmonization perspective. We鈥檙e taking significant steps to create a customer support experience that鈥檚 consistent across all 麻豆原创 solutions 鈥� most notably a single entry point to 麻豆原创 support with . 麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions went live on 麻豆原创 for Me case management in March 2023, and 麻豆原创 Ariba solutions and 麻豆原创 Business Network will soon follow. The 麻豆原创 for Me portal can give users the information and answers they need, specific to the solution they鈥檙e using. Earlier this year, procurement support went live on , where our business and IT users can access blog posts, tips, and connect with experts. Even customers and partners can provide an additional layer of insights and guidance, especially to a specific industry.

This year we have been working to bring our Real-Time Support concept to reality for procurement. When I talk about Real-Time Support, I mean support that is always on, continuously evolves, and adapts to customer needs. This can be direct access to support experts for business-critical processes when and where customers need it. It鈥檚 the live support channels such as , Ask an Expert Peer, context-sensitive help, , and AI-driven self-service access to a vast knowledge base and user community.

What do you see in the future of support for procurement?

I envision a day when customers don鈥檛 need to see or hear from us because we鈥檙e already working behind the scenes to give our customers a seamless, reliable, and delightful experience. The ultimate vision is preventative support with the help of AI and machine learning 鈥� in other words, self-healing IT systems.

Of course, there will always be times when customers need us. In those times, 麻豆原创 is prepared to offer as simple of a support experience as possible, such as with and direct access to experts or a quick call to solve an issue the moment it occurs. We also continuously look to disrupt ourselves by using new technologies such as ChatGPT to enable self-help or self-guidance and provide the best possible customer experience.

What sets the 麻豆原创 support experience apart in the industry?

麻豆原创 mindfully takes steps that help give customers the best support experience possible. We can provide a cohesive array of support channels, self-service tools, and cloud health and integration monitoring. Even with these successes in hand, 麻豆原创 will continuously push the boundaries of customer support with new innovations, help ensure support interactions are delightful, and offer Real-Time Support that can bring ambition to life.

Follow Rohan Patel on .

Regina Postman is part of Customer Support and Innovation Communications at 麻豆原创.

鈥淚t鈥檚 important we provide customers with a true feeling of being supported on their journey,鈥� states , senior vice president and global head of Product Support, 麻豆原创 Concur. 鈥淟ive interactions between our customers and our support engineers not only get cases solved faster, but they also work to build better relationships and understanding of how customers use our 麻豆原创 solutions.鈥�

In this interview, Vollan provides insight into the live, Real-Time Support interactions customers should tap into.

Q: When would Real-Time Support make sense for customers and 麻豆原创?

A: Most support-related questions can be more effectively resolved through . Whether customers have an urgent issue or even an easier, quick question, Real-Time Support can give customers an opportunity to reach out to 麻豆原创 in real time, right in the moment needed, or later through a portal case, depending on what is most convenient for them. Real-Time Support can be especially useful for very urgent issues. In those instances, customers might feel the need to connect with a person on the other end through a live support channel to make sure their issue is heard and acted on right then.

Let鈥檚 take a priority one issue, for example. The customer might have anxiety around when they鈥檒l hear from somebody. With Real-Time Support and its live channels, they can reach out to an 麻豆原创 support engineer immediately. Whether in or by using the service for some solution areas, these real-time channels can give customers the comfort in knowing they鈥檙e being helped quickly. This direct interaction can avoid the back-and-forth that is common in a portal case interaction. When you have a chat or a phone call, you can get to the heart of the matter a lot more quickly. This applies to any support-related issue.

What鈥檚 so special about Real-Time Support?

In our live support channels, the issue might get resolved immediately if the support engineer can see what鈥檚 going on through a screen share while speaking with the customer. This form of interaction helps build empathy between the customer and support engineer. The customer can feel and hear that we really care. The customer is at the heart of 麻豆原创 support. Our focus is to build up the connection through such conversations. It helps build loyalty and trust with the customer.

One of the most important things to customers is time. It鈥檚 essential for the support engineer to quickly understand the issue with as little effort as possible from our customers.

There are different ways customers can have that Real-Time Support experience. Could you touch on a few of those?

Yes, absolutely. The Expert Chat service can be extremely powerful. It can be very quick to access a support engineer live. Should the issue turn out to be very complex, the support engineer can create a case to pull in another team, if needed. Customers can also schedule a set time to connect live with a support engineer at their convenience.

麻豆原创 support is also investing in technology that will anticipate customer needs before they ask. Within the tool, when we notice customers are having problems, we鈥檒l be able to suggest knowledge content from within the product to help. Our ambition is to proactively notify customers before they notice an issue.

Finally, we also have another way for customers to find an answer very quickly on their own, without needing to connect with a support engineer: our self-service engagement, which is also part of Real-Time Support. We鈥檙e investing to make searches engaging, contextual, and relevant through our knowledge enablement platform and search engine in 麻豆原创 for Me. Its underlying technology uses analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning to help make the experience for customers personal. When they do a search, it should contain the answer they鈥檙e looking for within the first three to five results.

Why do you feel this Real-Time Support interaction is so important?

Three words come to mind: easier, faster, and personal.

It鈥檚 easier: customers can get most of their concerns resolved with less effort, and reducing customer effort is one of our top priorities.

It鈥檚 faster: customers can see a more rapid resolution or response time for most of their concerns, especially on urgent or critical issues.

It鈥檚 personal: customers can speak with a support engineer to discuss and explore issues. Conversation creates better context and understanding, both of which are particularly useful when issues are complex.

Real-Time Support helps customers and support engineers quickly find out what the issue is and what the impact and the urgency of the issue are.

What should customers remember about Real-Time Support?

Customers have many ways to interact with 麻豆原创 support in real time and support is always available 24/7. We offer relevant, contextual, personalized support though our knowledge base and Built-In Support to help speed case resolution for many issues. For complex issues, having opportunities for customers and our support engineers to interact in real time is the best way to build a connection and to resolve an issue. Holding a real conversation about an issue often leads to a much faster and better understanding of the challenges customers are facing. This can all lead to shorter resolution times.  

If we can give customers a positive experience with us every single time, show them we care about their issues, and do our best to resolve them, that can make a huge difference. Real-Time Support can give that great experience. Support is, at its heart, a people business.

Regina Postman is part of Customer Support and Innovation Communications at 麻豆原创.

鈥淭he support industry has been severely disrupted over the past decade, but much, much more in just the last few years since the pandemic started,鈥� stated Mohammed Ajouz, senior vice president and global head of at 麻豆原创. 鈥淲e have experienced more change in the last two years than we’ve had probably in two decades. We have watched support go from an afterthought to top of mind for CIOs, as they have seen how vulnerable their business could be with unforeseen or unpredicted crises.鈥�

The need to transform is further accelerated by the abundant availability of new technologies 鈥� such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, Big Data, in-memory computing, and hyperconnectivity, to name just a few. All these changes also have an impact on customer support. Having an outdated support model is no longer an option. In this interview, Ajouz describes why it鈥檚 key to give immediate support, why it鈥檚 important to predict potential issues before they could occur, and why an enterprise support organization needs to be more proactive in providing bidirectional support.

Q: Why is Real-Time Support valuable for customers?

A: Let me first provide some context around the disruption in the support industry. Technology is more complex and integrated. In the past, customers used to have a single mission-critical application. Today, most processes are mission critical and everything needs to be made available around the clock. What was once considered a luxury 鈥� such as offering 24×7 support 鈥� is now an expectation and customers are demanding their vendors take more responsibility for delivering business outcomes.

Customers today have much higher expectations of support, especially when it comes to real-time. Because expectations have changed so dramatically, creating a support case and waiting one or two days for a response is no longer an option. This is why 麻豆原创 created and fine-tuned with the basic objective of being available when the customer needs us most. That, in its simplest form, is the premise of what we鈥檙e doing with Real-Time Support.

Why is it important to strike the right balance between proactive and preventative versus real-time?

When a customer faces a problem, they expect 麻豆原创 to be there for them. Whether it鈥檚 through or , customers are working with the same pool of experts that typically process their cases. But we鈥檙e taking this one step further. What if we contacted customers before they even became aware of their problem? We are not only there in real time, but we are also pivoting from reactive support models to predictive and proactive support. The true value of those services lies in our ability to predict and solve customer problems before they cause any business interruption. This is the evolution of our Real-Time Support approach toward delivering better business outcomes.

We can tap into our vast repositories of information to analyze and understand the trends and patterns behind our customers鈥� system and software usage and drive differentiated customer experiences. The vast amounts of data about customer behavior and preferences previously collected but not effectively utilized is the foundation of our . The power behind the data lake, powered with AI, is our ability to incorporate this information into highly personalized customer experiences and learn from the past to predict the future. With access to this valuable knowledge, we will transform the support experience into one where support prevents an issue from becoming a business-impacting event.

Being proactive and preventative is our ultimate vision with Real-Time Support: not only to be there when you need us, but to be there before you even know you need us.

What will be the long-term impact of investing in real-time channels and in proactive, preventative support?

We expect our investments in Real-Time Support to improve our ability to better support the needs of our customers. Many market and industry studies have shown a direct correlation between customer loyalty and customer effort. As we reduce the amount of effort a customer experiences, the more loyal that customer is going to be. This relates to the as described by Gartner. This balance between effort and value becomes more critical with cloud customers. The reason? Cloud customers, unlike traditional IT departments, are business users and end users. We have simplified the interaction and made it easier and simpler for them to interact with support.

In the days of on-premise software, we communicated with IT power users who understood the technology and complications behind it. Those power users knew that a support case could take a few days to resolve. Our cloud customers鈥� expectations are significantly different and, as a result, our services have evolved to cater for these needs in the cloud. This is why Real-Time Support is so critical. It increases the value of solutions by lowering cloud customer effort to obtain them.

The premise of predictive and preventative support is a reduction in customer effort. And if there isn鈥檛 a problem because we resolved it ahead of time, that is the ultimate effortless experience we strive to deliver to our customers. Value and effort are directly correlated: more effort means less value, less effort means more value.

What are some recent enhancements of Real-Time Support?

Adding to the existing portfolio of Real-Time Support channels, we recently introduced . This service is supported by certified, external peers. This is ideal for asking non-critical questions and getting insights from experts outside of 麻豆原创. We initially started with 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions and recently expanded it to include some of our core enterprise resource planning (ERP) and 麻豆原创 Business Technology Platform products. We are seeing a lot of momentum building among our customers.

Another enhancement is with . It has been expanded to also include medium-priority tickets for those times where customers need to speak with a manager. And finally, with our migration from our to 鈥�,鈥� the new single-entry point to 麻豆原创 support, the support case creation process can be much easier and powered by cutting-edge technologies such as machine learning and artificial intelligence. This helps reduce the effort of our customers and ultimately provides them with an almost effortless experience.

Can you give us a sneak peek of what we can expect in the future of Real-Time Support?

Let me come back to the point that cloud customers expect a simpler, faster, and effortless experience in interacting with support. One of the key initiatives we鈥檙e working on is with . The basis of Built-In Support is to bring the entire support experience customers know from 麻豆原创 Support Portal or 麻豆原创 ONE Support Launchpad directly into the product. Rather than going to a portal to log a support case, query an existing case, initiate a chat, or search our knowledge base, we鈥檙e putting the power and full functionality of 麻豆原创 support within the product and at the customers鈥� fingertips.

Another aspect of our Real-Time Support approach is the move from the traditional unidirectional support 鈥� of customers reaching out to us when they need us 鈥� to bidirectional support. Not only can we communicate directly with customers, we can give them timely and relevant information about product issues or alerts, upcoming releases, product trainings, or any other information that enhances their experience with support at 麻豆原创. All this information would be relevant to the customer鈥檚 platform, product, or version and curated specifically to their personas. This is how we see 麻豆原创 support in the future: bidirectional, predictive, and effortless.

Follow Mohammed Ajouz on and .
Regina Postman is part of Customer Solution Support and Innovation Communications at 麻豆原创.