Consortium forService InnovationTM

Legato

� Legato, a division of EMC,delivers enterprise softwarefor information management

� Highly technical productsprovide information access,application availability, andinformation protection

� Award-winning SupportServices are a critical part ofLegato’s value proposition

The Challenge

� Customers are demanding,highly technical, and oftendealing with crisis

� Lack of an effectiveknowledge base resulted inslow incident resolution andlong hold times

� Customer satisfaction didnot meet target levels

What They Did

� Implemented Knowledge-Centered Support withexplicit commitment fromexecutives and keystakeholders

� Changed their incidenthandling processes to reuseand capture knowledge inthe process of deliveringsupport

� Leveraged capturedknowledge in a web-basedself-service offering

The Results

� Time to close and hold timesfell dramatically

� Customer satisfaction roseto over 90%

� Self-service deflected 25%of calls from the supportcenter

Legato Support ServicesKnowledge-Centered SupportSM

at Work

Key Benefits� Knowledge captured in the workflow

shortens time to relief, increasessatisfaction

� Knowledge sharing dramaticallyshortens time to proficiency forengineers

� Effective self-service deflectsincidents while satisfying customers

Complex Meets Critical: The Legato Complex Meets Critical: The Legato Complex Meets Critical: The Legato Complex Meets Critical: The Legato Complex Meets Critical: The Legato Support Challenge Support Challenge Support Challenge Support Challenge Support Challenge

Legato is a leading provider ofinformation management software.Standing behind its information access,information availability, and informationprotection solutions for complex andheterogeneous storage environments,Legato is held in a special position of trustby its customers, who are, in effect,buying peace of mind. Technicalcomplexity combined with thisenterprise-critical aspect of Legato’sproducts puts a tremendous burden onthe support organization.

A New Way of Solving Problems A New Way of Solving Problems A New Way of Solving Problems A New Way of Solving Problems A New Way of Solving Problems

In response to this challenge, Legatoembraced Knowledge-CenteredSupportSM (KCS), a set of practicesdeveloped by the Consortium for ServiceInnovation, to make support centers moreeffective at using and improvingknowledge. KCS improves the speed andaccuracy of response to customer issues.Using KCS, Legato has been recognizedby the SSPA and—more importantly, itscustomers—as a vastly improved providerof support and an industry leader.

Integrated in the Support Workflow Integrated in the Support Workflow Integrated in the Support Workflow Integrated in the Support Workflow Integrated in the Support Workflow

“We call it knowledge-centered support,but it’s baked into everything—it’sbecome what people do,” notes LynnLlewellyn, manager of knowledgecontent and key KCS implementationchampion at Legato. Through a processof training, coaching, and integratingknowledge tools with the CRMenvironment, Legato has injectedknowledge directly into the problemresolution workflow. As a result,knowledge improves analysts’ ability toresolve the vast majority of cases.

This is a contrast from the way knowledgemanagement is often implemented—as aseparate process with disconnected tools.This style of knowledge managementrarely succeeds because supportprofessionals are busy and don’t havetime for the additional set of knowledgeactivities. Using KCS, however, theLegato analysts have gained confidencein the knowledge-empowered problemsolving process,

“In the beginning, KCS was kind ofperceived as overhead, and people werealready under pressure from customers

with urgent problems,” observes LegatoProduct Support Engineer Srdjan Avlijas.“But now the feeling is more that KCS is auseful tool, not part of the overhead,based on the fact that analysts started tosee results.”

In particular, support knowledge is nolonger authored by a separate group, butis captured by analysts in the process ofdelivering support. As analysts talk withcustomers, they search for existingknowledge by capturing the customer’ssituation in the customer’s own words.Then, if no knowledge is found, thecustomer-provided information forms thebasis of a new solution. Instead of justwriting case notes in the CRM system, theLegato analyst captures the generic orreusable aspects of the fix or workaroundin the solution in a structured, actionableform. So, by the time the incident isresolved, its solution has already beenshared with other Legato analysts.

Assuring Knowledge Quality Assuring Knowledge Quality Assuring Knowledge Quality Assuring Knowledge Quality Assuring Knowledge Quality

Capturing knowledge in the workflowdramatically lowers the cost and increasesthe speed of knowledge development,but it raises questions about quality. Tomake sure that the knowledge is asaccurate as it is timely, Legato hasimplemented KCS best practices forknowledge quality assurance.

KCS coaches and “knowledgechampions” regularly sample theknowledge base to assess the quality ofspecific solutions and to provideconstructive feedback and mentoring tothe contributors. Also, coaches look atnew solutions, especially from analystswho are less experienced with KCS.Solutions that are frequently viewed orused become candidates for externalpublication on the website, and that

Consortium forService InnovationTM

Legato Support ServicesKnowledge-Centered SupportSM

at WorkBefore

A knowledge base was populated in anad-hoc fashion by a separate group

Knowledge was reused in fewer than 20%of cases

Product development had anecdotal inputfrom the support organization

Customers were frustrated by the lack ofuseful information on the support web site

After

Knowledge is developed and reused in thenormal course of delivering support

Over 80% of cases benefit from knowledgecaptured and shared through solutions

Customer support provides actionablerecommendations for productimprovements

Customers rave about their ability toaccess useful knowledge on their ownterms; 25% of costly customer incidentsare deflected

Applying KCS Principles in YApplying KCS Principles in YApplying KCS Principles in YApplying KCS Principles in YApplying KCS Principles in YourourourourourOrganizationOrganizationOrganizationOrganizationOrganization

Legato isn’t alone in seeing these kinds of resultsfrom implementing KCS. If you’re interested in howKnowledge-Centered Support can help yourorganization, contact us:contact us:contact us:contact us:contact us:

Consortium for Service Innovationinfo@serviceinnovation.orgwww.serviceinnovation.org+1.650.596.0772

Case study developed by DB Kay & Associates(www.dbkay.com) for the Consortium for Service Innovation

© 2004 Consortium for Service Innovation. All Rights Reserved.Consortium for Service Innovation and the Consortium for ServiceInnovation logo are trademarks of Consortium for Service Innovation.All other company and product names are the property of theirrespective owners.

publication process has its own editorialand review processes.

KCS proposes that responsibility forknowledge base quality is shared amongall users of the system. So, in addition tospecific reviews, any Legato analyst whosees content that is hard to understand,hard to find, or technically incorrect hasthe responsibility of fixing it or flagging itfor a subject expert to fix.

Enabling Self-Service Enabling Self-Service Enabling Self-Service Enabling Self-Service Enabling Self-Service

Legato’s customers are demanding andtechnically sophisticated, making themperfect candidates for self-service. An ITprofessional who feels he or she is likelyto get help with a simple web query willalmost always try self-service beforepicking up the phone or logging anelectronic incident.

Before KCS, Legato customers had littleaccess to knowledge on the web. Nowthat KCS has enabled Legato to createmore support knowledge more quickly,they are delivering the most frequentlyused solutions directly to customers viathe web.

As a result, customers are happierbecause they get their answers quicklyand easily. For example, a Legatoaccount manager recently told thesupport organization, “[The customer]loves the eKnowledgebase. It solves 90%of his issues. He says it’s the best thingLegato has ever done.” Customers whoare happy are more likely to be loyal. Andcustomers who solve 90% of their issueswith self-service will open far fewersupport incidents. In fact, Legato hasnoted a 25% call deflection sinceimplementing KCS-powered self-service.

Learning from Customers Learning from Customers Learning from Customers Learning from Customers Learning from Customers

Like all support organizations, whenissues arise Legato attempts to deliverfast and accurate solutions. Butcustomers would prefer that the issuesnever came up in the first place. KCSprovides Legato with insights aboutproduct reliability and usability issues.These insights empower productspecialists with actionable feedback forthe development group so they canimprove the products based on customerexperience.

“By looking at the solutions that arebeing created,” says Llewellyn, “we’re

figuring out patterns, clusters, and causesof support issues. We’re doing extensiveroot cause analysis.” This root causeanalysis leads to improvements inknowledge base quality, because multiplesolutions with a common root cause canbe consolidated. It also results in a streamof product enhancement requests, forwhich Legato support and engineeringhave developed a formal process.“Structured feedback is part ofeveryone’s responsibility,” points outAvlijas.

Next Steps Next Steps Next Steps Next Steps Next Steps

As pleased as Legato is with the results oftheir Knowledge-Centered Supportinitiatives, they’re continually improvingtheir service delivery processes by usingknowledge more effectively. Newinitiatives include an emphasis oncollaboration within the support center,implementing principles of theConsortium’s Adaptive Organizationinitiative. Legato is also looking toaugment the bottoms-up knowledgemanagement process emphasized by KCSwith more traditional top-down practices,including restructuring and normalizingcontent to make it more findable andusable.

Knowledge-Centered Support at Work Knowledge-Centered Support at Work Knowledge-Centered Support at Work Knowledge-Centered Support at Work Knowledge-Centered Support at Work

Legato’s knowledge managementpractices are an excellent example ofKnowledge-Centered Support. Legato’ssuccesses are based on strong executionof the following KCS principles:

� CapturCapturCapturCapturCapture in the workflowe in the workflowe in the workflowe in the workflowe in the workflow..... Legatosupport engineers at all tiers captureand share knowledge in the process ofdelivering support. This results in moretimely and relevant content at a fractionof the cost of a dedicated contentgroup.

� Just-in-time solution qualityJust-in-time solution qualityJust-in-time solution qualityJust-in-time solution qualityJust-in-time solution quality..... Allanalysts, not just authors or knowledgechampions, take responsibility for thequality of the information in theknowledge base. This removes the“single review path bottleneck” andinsures solution quality while enablingrapid publishing to the knowledge base.

� WWWWWorkfloworkfloworkfloworkfloworkflow..... Legato has explicitlyintegrated knowledge management intothe service delivery workflow; thisintegration includes connectingincident management (CRM) andknowledge management technologies.This means that knowledge is developed,referenced, or reused to the benefit ofthe majority of support incidents.

� Content vitalityContent vitalityContent vitalityContent vitalityContent vitality..... Through contentsampling, reviews of new submissions bycoaches, root cause analysis, andemerging standards for normalizingknowledge, Legato keeps the knowledgebase crisp, relevant, and up-to-date.

� Leadership.Leadership.Leadership.Leadership.Leadership. Continuous participation byLegato executives reinforced themessage that KCS was not a fad, but afundamentally new way of deliveringsupport. A cross-functional and cross-geographic KCS team provided depthand continuity to the leadership. Thisvisible leadership commitment enabledthe organizational and cultural changesrequired by KCS.