The focus is on using automated tools which simplify the repetitive tasks. Companies large and small are able to provide 24-hour service without putting the burden on one site and requiring employees to work late shifts or overtime. IEEE, 2009. Naturally, the language and culture barriers do not seem like such big obstacles these days. Where are our customers primarily located? Because of these reasons FTS is best suited for Agile. Additionally, it will help you determine the processes you currently use and if your customer support is robust enough -- do you offer email, phone, and live chat support? Agile places a lot of emphasis on continuous integration (using automation) encouraging every team to maintain an updated and testable version of the code which can be used by the next production site. Oops! 128 0 obj <> endobj xref 128 43 0000000016 00000 n Because it is always daytime somewhere in the world, you need a way to support customers around the globe no matter what time zone they are in and without too much delay. We identified three main themes, namely challenges and best practices, location selection and hand-offs management. But other companies may determine that they can meet their global support needs with other tactics. How do companies similar to your own handle support? Or, consider the approach at Solium, which provides an equity management platform that performs real-time trades 21 hours per day. 0000003713 00000 n [6] Carmel, Erran, Yael Dubinsky, and Alberto Espinosa. VX8pt@I:4QLBfbjT,m}66 Outline your company's customer journey and experience with these 7 free customer journey map templates. A handoff from one site to the other can be occasionally empty due to public holidays or emergencies. In the gaming and retail industries, for example, 24/7/365 support might be pretty standard. I went down the street to the 24-hour grocery store. Bugs and production problems are almost a certainty, this means companies need to organise resources and build capability to . We operate a 24/7 global support team. If you dont have international offices, create a plan that uses staggered start times to cover the time zones you are focusing on. Some other day to day tasks enabled by software include logging time spent by developers, issue tracking, real time reporting, code reviews, and documentation. The model you choose, develop, and refine should be the one that works best for you and your customers. The success cases in the Industry using FTS are rare, in part due to the lack of well-founded knowledge on applying FTS [9]. IEEE, 2014. 0000013744 00000 n We operate a 24/7 global support team - Microsoft Community 0000002089 00000 n Implementing follow the sun methods in your global organization can be challenging. Then, use a calendar to map out how many employees will work each shift in each time zone and how many hours are worked each week all together. ppt.gc.ca. Most agile practices emphasize face-to-face communication. follow the sun model - French translation - Linguee There is only one site that owns the product at any point in time. Do we get enough tickets from each timezone to support a customer service agent. IBM Software Group Rational softwareRational User Conference 2003 Presentation Overview Changing Times - The trend towards globalisation . Hand-offs are the central idea of the FTS approach. One of the ways to evaluate the efficiency of FTS is to compare the time taken to execute a project using traditional software development approaches vs FTS. Knowledge transfer and sharing of project critical information with concerned parties is essential for smooth operation of the project. Which begs another question your team should consider when evaluating options: How would you categorize your customer base, and does your customer service teams approach require variance between all of them? With this model, none of your locations are neglected or receive better customer service. Follow-the-Sun (FTS) is a strategy in Global Software Development (GSD) focusing on software development twenty-four hours, seven days per week with physically distributed teams. The war in Ukraine also impacted us personally. Overall it was found that increasing the number of sites in a daily cycle increased the working speed. An optimal FTS configuration could raise the calendar efficiency as high as 71.4%. IBM in 1990s was probably one of the first companies to record the implementation of FTS in its software development teams globally [1]. The process of hand offs must be smooth and conflict free. Challenges and improvements in distributed software development: A systematic review. For example, you may need skilled bilingual managers and associates to help with international communications. The term calendar efficiency helps in understanding the analysis further. FTS could provide significant benefit in dealing with these aspects. [11] Siri-on Setamanit, Wayne Wakeland, and David Raffo. One shortcoming of this article is that we have only investigated the effect of FTS on speed, not on the product quality because of lack of suitable documented references. Although this seems like such an intuitive idea to work with, it is not practiced widely, misunderstood often and has had few documented industry success cases. Follow the sun: distributed extreme programming development. 5 are applied in practice. Because of the hand-offs, work is owned by and worked on by one site at a time. Federal Republic of Germany, 2017. Pearson Education India, 1995. When I got there, the guy was locking the front door., I said, 'Hey, the sign says you're open 24 hours. Having multiple subteams on deck to keep a project moving along 24 hours a day empowers your entire IT department to set realistic short-term deadlines, avoid working overtime, and complete roadmaps more efficiently., Think about what your IT team is really trying to accomplish on your roadmap for the next year. If youre a small company looking to provide global support, consider what steps you can take now to achieve your longer-term support goals. In theory, FTS can increase time to market by approximately 60%, which seems attractive. By submitting my personal information, I consent to Zendesk collecting, processing, and storing my information in accordance with the, By submitting my personal data, I consent to Zendesk collecting, processing, and storing my information in accordance with the, The value of agent education and training during economic slowdowns, What is employee turnover? Start small so that you dont overpromise what you can actually deliver. FTS has many challenges associated with it and it also faces same challenges of GSD as it is a part of GSD. Learn how to use a follow the sun model for your IT and cloud teams. The specifics of this model require team managers to have constant control over the workflow because delays may result in the poor coordination of teams. And that's where the follow the sun customer support model comes in. This way, the problem remains a priority and is worked on until the customer is satisfied. Although there were very less successful cases, some companies still showed positive intent in applying FTS model. time zone difference and hand offs management), communication and culture. I understand I may unsubscribe at any time. I am talking about the follow-the-sun model, or FTS for short. If you plan well and start slowly to see what works and what doesnt, you can more easily scale your efforts and ramp up services until you meet your goals and satisfy customer expectations. Your team needs to deploy a brand-new, process-defining software to all the computers and devices on your companys networks. Let your superior service and personalized support work as a marketing advantage to find new leads and sales. [2] Murray R Millson, SP Raj, and David Wilemon. The follow the sun customer support model is designed to address customer needs without regard to geographic location or current time. Based on these observations and the results presented in literature, it can be said that FTS approach is not widely used in practice because of its limitations and challenges. [19] Treinen, James J., and Susan L. Miller-Frost. They meet their global support goals with these two teams working together, giving them 18 hours a day of coverage without having to staff up aggressively. With so many architecture models out there for you to base your system designs on, what makes a follow the sun model stand out? The follow the sun model is a service and support method that is designed to address and satisfy customer needs without regard to geographic location or current time. 0000065082 00000 n To help decide whats best for you, your team, and your customers, ask the following questions: When youre small, youre actively jumping to meet the needs of customers. A feasibility study of follow-the-sun software development for gsd projects. Expertise from Forbes Councils members, operated under license. mobile handsets, firmware, e-commerce systems, and innovative supply chain management). This will help avoid any confusion on who ultimately owns the process., Take stock of all the team members available to maintain your IT architecture. Sign-up and get customer insights, trends, and more in your inbox. Cameron [13] highlights the example of FTS application at EDS (now a part of HP). 0000015792 00000 n Software tools used for actual FTS implementation must include both managerial and technical aspects, to adapt to the changing requirements of the software development process. Follow-the-sun paradigm background reading. FTS feasibility study: In 2013 there was a feasibility study of FTS in the industry [18]. Adopting a follow the sun support methodology can help you provide high-quality, on-time service and support when your internal and external customers need you.. 0000002842 00000 n If not, determine what you are able to provide customers right now as you work toward your long-term 24-hour service. Improving global software development project performance using simulation. What Is the Follow the Sun Model? | Lucidchart Blog Others, such as Gupta [5], also make similar observations and propose that FTS is very well suited to support core agile practices. With follow the sun model, support timings are always during the day which means all your agents will be able to perform much better without requiring to alternate shifts which can affect their productivity Global visibility: Follow the sun is a great way for your company to sell globally right from the start. Fourth IEEE International Conference This is because work happens almost round the clock, compared to just eight hour efforts in traditional software workflow. The efficiency of the number of hours per day spent on actual development is much higher in the FTS model when compared with traditional software development [1]. This can be done by evaluating when your customers need you most, and carefully considering how to meet them where they are. Follow-the-Sun Strategy: A Process for Global Software Development Slide 1 of 2. Agile stresses on the importance of automated testing to reduce time. Support Model - Slide Team In this distributed model, the CIA [8] (the triad of Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability of service and data) assumes paramount importance. It may take more time than anticipated to ask questions and receive answers. Follow the sun is also used in software, technology, and other sectors as a customer service model. Each production site works during the day as a subteam and it needs within-site coordination. 0000067119 00000 n 0000067800 00000 n 0000008134 00000 n For this model to work, all sites must be using the same tools and development methodologies (planning, bug tracking, version control, reporting, and so on). As support teams brace for an economic downturn, many are leaning on customer service outsourcing to cut costs. But it might not, and thats OK; there are other options that allow you to deliver anytime, anywhere service and get global, fastregardless of the size of your company. Proceedings, pages 218{224. Believe it or not, the Covid-19 pandemic certainly influenced the decision to bring this powerful idea to life with local client support branches and personnel on every continent. 2013. Rather than making the customer wait several hours until you can get back to working on a solution, follow the sun allows you to pass on the work to the next site. 1. -- Created using PowToon -- Free sign up at http://www.powtoon.com/ . For some, it may make more sense to have people in the office rather than working from home to expand and grow without opening an office first. Christian Doerr,

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