A subteam can consist of one or more members. Tools to support data security and encryption such as VPNs are also important. FTS has many challenges associated with it and it also faces same challenges of GSD as it is a part of GSD. Keeps Support and the business informed so IC can focus on resolution. The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering, Anniversary Edition, 2/E. 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. IT architecture and the people who program and maintain the architecture can make or break a companys daily operations, particularly for companies with a global presence. Its also a great record to have on hand to show various stakeholders just how much your department can accomplish in any given window of time., Visualizing your cloud infrastructure in a centralized location that is accessible to all global team members will create an accurate and consistent picture of your follow the sun model from day one. Essentially, it's 24/7 support, no matter where the sun is up, without needing any customer service department to work late shifts. As illustrated in Fig. At any given time only one team owns the product unlike other global configurations in which multiple locations can own different parts of the product. 0000013744 00000 n See how this model can benefit your IT department. You will want to standardize on the technology and tools you use to support your agile methodologies and implement, monitor, revise, and manage your follow the sun model. Hand-offs are the central idea of the FTS approach. Our offerings for Salesforce include the same 24x7x365, follow-the-sun support with a guaranteed response of under 10-minutes for P1 critical issue . You may opt-out by. 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. 0000069194 00000 n Read on to learn what a follow the sun model is and how to implement it at your company. There are numerous advantages if the FTS implementation is successful which are reduced time-to-market, reduced software costs, increased international relationships leading to better diversity among companies, etc. FTS could provide significant benefit in dealing with these aspects. User interface data decision support system model with arrows and icons. 7. Software development involving multiple global locations in different time zones is not always FTS if it does not satisfy all the criteria mentioned in the. Sure, this could mean 24/7/365. 0000065768 00000 n [20] ZONE, HOW INFOSYS MANAGES TIME. 2006. Unpublished EDS working paper, 2004. The handoff process can become the weakest point in your model due to technical, cultural, and communication style differences across each team., This is where Lucid can really help you shine. A follow the sun model can help your organization provide 24/7/365 support to customers across the globe, regardless of time or location. This research [15] introduced a routing model, which supports the selection of geographical locations for Follow-the-Sun software development. ](Ohg2jFy0tz H`?d/r_@IEPCZGr H The FTS model has proven its potential for decreasing time to market, accelerating product development and ensuring consistent client communication. They also divide their support to cater to two groups of customers: participants (employees at companies) and client administrators (HR teams administering equity and compensation). 0000067119 00000 n This in turn increases productivity. Here's how to deliver an experience that meets people's high and evolving expectations. [7] Monica Yap. HubSpot uses the information you provide to us to contact you about our relevant content, products, and services. For example, our customer and partner Zuora offers 24/7/365 support coverage. 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. 0000004606 00000 n Modern day software development is spread more and more across national and international boundaries. Follow the sun is also used by software development teams that are spread out across global sites. Federal Republic of Germany, 2017. 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]. Follow-the-sun paradigm background reading. FTS is a special case of GSD which aims to achieve a 100% workday in software projects. The Follow-the-Sun (FTS) strategy is a type of global development with the purpose of reducing the duration of the project development and hence, increases productivity. There is a common product repository which allows each site to be in sync with their work at the end of each workday. If your business proceeds with follow the sun, managers should do their best to schedule meetings when its most convenient for both locations, and IT should adopt video conferencing and cloud-based solutions for everyone to work together. CNSC released the formal follow-up report to Sun Media, with the un . 0000001891 00000 n This can be achieved in a variety of ways. Its hard to fill swing or overnight shifts. Its also important to have daily stand-up meetings. Figure 2: Calendar Efficiency in different Working Modes [1]. Well explain how to calculate and reduce turnover in your organization. One of the important concepts evolved in the past decade or so is the Follow the sun (FTS) software development. Based on the discussions in the Principles of FTS section which explains the minimum criteria for a work flow to be considered as a FTS approach, the following do not fit in this category [1]: Agile software development practice consists of a set of principles which advocate continuous improvement, adaptive planning, early delivery and flexibility in responding to change. Most of the current code repositories are cloud based and accessible across geographies. Software developmentusing the 24-hour knowledge factory paradigm. From our experience, I would like to point out the major ones: Under no circumstances should the FTS model be reduced to the distant custom support team. ). With rising customer expectations around better service in todays macroeconomic environment, its important to lean on customer education programs to boost agent knowledge and productivityand to help your business retain customers. These difficulties prove that a systematic approach is needed in achieving a quick time-to-market strategy, which in turn leads to the Follow the Sun software development scheme. Typical challenges such as coordination, communication and culture differences presents a bigger challenge to FTS than GSD, as FTS involves daily hand-offs. Linear sequential approaches such as the Waterfall model seem to be inefficient for the FTS approach. The research focussed on two aspects: the optimal time zone difference and the natural ease of communication (i.e. As support teams brace for an economic downturn, many are leaning on customer service outsourcing to cut costs. 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. In Initial handoffs mainly consisted of daily work summaries, which were later augmented by knowledge transfer activities. What could shorter department turnaround times mean for what youre trying to achieve globally? 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. The Follow the Sun model allows brands to spread customer support over multiple time zones, which provides the necessary support that customers might need at odd hours of the night, or if they themselves are living in a different time zone. As a result, the benefits of FTS tend to be concentrated around isolated phases rather than having an overall impact on the development cycle. Lucidchart is the intelligent diagramming application that empowers teams to clarify complexity, align their insights, and build the futurefaster. Sorry something went wrong, try again later? Free and premium plans, Content management software. PjYIh$ 3lKPt[?7\p rNt[n@rS +@G9z|t- ]P$>(h)tQ c5+${._~;i$ X~,h XOjcL^W? The table in Fig. Improving global software development project performance using simulation. Bugs and production problems are almost a certainty, this means companies need to organise resources and build capability to . If a system goes down or a major bug cripples workflows, employee productivity and customer experiences can plummet quickly., More than ever, customers expect instant action and response when they experience a technical problem with a product theyre using. Kroll et al. In fact, a study conducted by the CMO Council found that arranging technical assistance and 24/7 accessibility were the top two ways that companies could improve product experience for users.. Formal systems such as discussion forums or internal Wiki sites may prove to be useful. For example, in the United States, some of your employees could start the day at 6:00 a.m. to support the Eastern and Central Time Zones. If you dont have international offices, create a plan that uses staggered start times to cover the time zones you are focusing on. And when they are working together within the FTS model, it only doubles the trouble. 0000065082 00000 n It is also known under different names such as 24 hour development or Round the clock development. N#"$(591 = |% z#i{vXP!M^\`NVBq We would like some form of handover application within Microsoft teams to assist with a "Follow the Sun" support model. That being said, we have a few tips for you if you decide to implement this model: Now, before you jump into a follow the sun customer support model, let's determine if it's necessary for your company. To do this from a single office theyd have to aggressively staff up. A typical ITSM process can involve something as simple as an employee asking for a new laptop. And customers in one location do not get preferential or more support than any other location. Determine which services will be provided, when they will be provided, and what skill set will be needed to provide those services. But as you grow, you begin to standardize, build out streamlined processes, and build teams. We showed that there are three main research themes, namely challenges and best practices, location selection and hand-offs management. This Presentation graphic is eloquent and useful for the IT students, IT researchers, and IT specialists from various fields. [6] Carmel, Erran, Yael Dubinsky, and Alberto Espinosa. Your global customers will appreciate that bugs and other issues can be resolved quickly and that they dont have to wait for a team in a different time zone to fix the problem. ppt.gc.ca. In addition, team members in the Beijing office start at 7am, 9am, 1pm, and 2pm CST (China Standard Time). It can also be achieved in a variety of ways. trailer <]/Prev 478482>> startxref 0 %%EOF 170 0 obj <>stream Depending on the answer, you might just need a globally-accessible FAQ page or Help Center rather than a team of people always on call. The specifics of this model require team managers to have constant control over the workflow because delays may result in the poor coordination of teams. 'r( bU:nL,/C^=E#$c;kNaw ] ^6JaI-~5%)IScN8D!MZl1?/*8(Y 7 3go>".X@`kDe!K Follow-the-Sun in Action One of our partners, a large mobile advertising and app monetization company that gets 20,000+ tickets each week, leverages the follow-the-sun model with a total team of 85 associates to support their customers around the world. Zuora also employs a daily handoff model, in which open and pending matters are passed along to the next team when one goes off duty. IEEE, 2007. Start small so that you dont overpromise what you can actually deliver. 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. 0000013868 00000 n One of the cornerstone principles of FTS is that certain assets are repeatedly shared between the offices at the end of the production circle or a working day so that the second team can continue the production/maintenance. 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.. Global software development (GSD) is now the need of the hour more than ever. In Management of Engineering and Technology, Portland International Center for, pages 24582466. Free and premium plans. Every time you learn you have a new customer base, you find someone to support them. [1] Erran Carmel, J Alberto Espinosa, and Yael Dubinsky. In this article, based on my personal experience, I will point out some of the tasks the FTS model helps to solve best and what you should know about the FTS model to help your agency reach its goals. IEEE, 2005. However, if you implement a follow the sun customer support model, keep in mind that you'll want to make sure you have the right tools to ensure each site communicates with one another and can take effective notes on cases that need to be handed off. A daily dose of irreverent and informative takes on business & tech news, Turn marketing strategies into step-by-step processes designed for success, Spotlighting bold Black women entrepreneurs who have scaled from side hustles to profitable businesses, For B2B reps and sales teams who want to turn complete strangers into paying customers, Get productivity tips and business hacks to design your dream career, Free ebooks, tools, and templates to help you grow, Learn the latest business trends from leading experts with HubSpot Academy, All of HubSpot's marketing, sales CRM, customer service, CMS, and operations software on one platform. The effective utilization of code repositories and version control management systems is crucial to the success of the FTS approach. Slide 1 of 2. Business and operational support model. Tools for estimating and planning schedules, allocation of project tasks, sprint management, progress tracking are essential utilities for front line managers. It's a model that provides support for clients at all times of the day or night, every day. Finally, communication is a key component for successful follow the sun implementation. Plus, with a follow the sun model established, your company will be better prepared to support customers around the world, allowing your business to branch into new markets. Service and development sites are spread out across many time zones, allowing work to be passed from location to location. hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(53, '12501f7c-8e26-4e3c-9642-7afbe078156a', {"useNewLoader":"true","region":"na1"}); The follow the sun customer support model is designed to address customer needs without regard to geographic location or current time. Apart from the usual difficulties faced in globally distributed software development, FTS also has the additional challenges of managing daily job hand-offs. And when the shifts switch, you'll have each site hand off work to the next shift. This project involved five global teams distributed across five different countries. time zone difference and hand offs management), communication and culture. In Global Software Engineering Workshops (ICGSEW), 2013 IEEE 8th International Conference on, pages 1823. A customer service platform with mobile access might allow you to stagger your shifts between home and work, and to cover different time zones, without having to hire a remote representative. [4] AGupta, Amar. [5] Amar Gupta. In any case, one thing is clear: To provide the highest level of customer service, your support team must decide when to be available. [11] Siri-on Setamanit, Wayne Wakeland, and David Raffo. Another consideration is the way you use technology. The FTS approach utilizes distributed team members spread across time-zones to achieve a single project outcome with the main objective of gaining speed and reducing the time-to-market of a project [13]. As well, such expansion can always have a positive impact in terms of brand development and brand promotion. HWY1S%lI^t#ByFwOC+aPvrsjL Determine when your customers need you the most so you can define your goals around their needs. For others, keeping all major communication and production processes in a single office or at least legislation may make more sense. The focus is on using automated tools which simplify the repetitive tasks. Agile methodologies fit well with follow the sun models because all work is completed within set iteration cycles. IBM Software Group IBM Software Group Rational software Click to edit Track Number on Title Master Reducing Time to Market Using Follow-the-Sun Techniques Alex Cameron EDS Alex.Cameron@eds.com. This means that one team takes over the task when the first team is over. Theoretically speaking, if n sites are working on this scheme, their development speed could be increased dramatically by systematically organizing the work tasks sequentially on a daily basis and optimizing the coordination costs [1]. 5 are applied in practice. The "Follow-the-Sun" support model is a structured model that works best for service desks that work around the clock. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 9(1):53-69, 1992. This infrastructure must always be available on demand and accessible. It is quite possible that hundreds of software developers and testers can be working on a project in cycles. The main reasons to use this approach are that you'll have faster problem solving, consistent levels of customer service, reasonable work hours, and you'll be able to branch into new markets. Background, main ideas and principles behind FTS were discussed followed by a brief review on Agile for FTS, advantages and limitations of FTS. Oops! HVKn0Hi[dh;>~K@ HhD^ @)+{J:=,q&U^yZVf|7Gv1$[l3/ S 29= 25~xZOFXO_/Y 9vO,sI:bqgj-1`tIfZ{L#D9t5@R\B/PN=@7c8@T5jF/0'?daCE]7K'e%JtQSe,86^8Gv8[G@2S7 ^fH!7x%7Zo>.Wckhb|j\p{>K"N{cn; Agile stresses on the importance of automated testing to reduce time. But other companies may determine With follow the sun model, support timings are always during the day which means all your agents will be able to perform much better without requiring to alternate shifts which can affect their productivity Global visibility: Follow the sun is a great way for your company to sell globally right from the start. y&[vx_TsrbV_[tQoMPDv2[%Xq?>R ,&$[f5_vv=EW\p6{`A7ejw@aAs]9#~;.#%hw AVC$+p( [9] Rini van Solingen and Menno Valkema. Entertaining and motivating original stories to help move your visions forward. You most likely wont need to open multiple offices, especially at first, but perhaps a small remote office or a representative located remotely in a key area or time zone may satisfy your customers needs. The geographically dispersed nature requires the use of software applications which facilitate tele-conferencing, VoIP calling, instant messaging etc. Additionally, if you have a site for each area around the sun, in different timezones, you'll be able to acquire more leads in that location because you'll be delighting your customers with consistent service. In this post, we'll learn what the follow the sun customer support model is, the benefits, best practices, and how you can decide if it's the right model for your business. Global business processes such as call centres or help desks are not counted under the FTS umbrella. The ability of project management tools to integrate with development tools can help reduce the duration of project cycles in FTS. The war in Ukraine also impacted us personally. Most employees do not want to be at work 12 or 16 hours a day. And due to these restraints, teams may have a tough time truly collaborating. 0000001156 00000 n A clear path will help your troubleshooting teams and engineers coordinate and get to the bottom of the issue faster., Mastering the handoff process (moving project tasks from one team to the next) is probably the hardest, but most crucial, element of successfully implementing a follow the sun model. 0000007912 00000 n Stand-up meetings: Hold stand-up meetings right when shifts are switching from one site to another, so your employees can give the new reps an overview of what's happened, and any outstanding issues that need to be addressed. [8] Christian Doerr. Network Security in Theory and Practice. This type of customer support can help you provide quality, on-time support to customers 24/7. IEEE, 2013. If communication issues are not addressed they will create significant challenges in FTS adoption. Presentation Mode allows you to show off the specific parts of your design that stakeholders care about most., There you have it. Theres no reason to leap forward with global support if most of your customers are in only one or two regions. With so many architecture models out there for you to base your system designs on, what makes a follow the sun model stand out? uyLY@= 3 levels of support delivery model. This schedule is determined by global stock exchange hours. The traditional "follow the sun" model is a type of global workflow in which issues can be handled by and passed between offices in different time zones, increasing responsiveness and reducing delays. 0000063943 00000 n This is where FTS potential gains a lot, as is evident in the bottom rows of the table. That means you need global customer service. It is always noon somewhere, right? Some companies go with the more traditional application of follow the sun: which means providing anytime, anywhere, 24/7/365 support. Several reasons such as misinterpretation of specifications, multiple rework cycles, lack of proper coordination and communication between teams, time zone issues and cultural differences were attributed to the projects failure. Two case studies reported on the application of FTS in software development is elaborated below. working only during daylight hours. Computer, 42(1):66-73, 2009. Opinions expressed are those of the author. 4KKq#VPd)M(*=X i d`rdadcNaVdnep!!!!|F_f0b 0000007104 00000 n follow the sun workflow in global software development. In this section we give a number of research themes within Follow-the-Sun software development research. FTS is a global software development strategy. 0000010855 00000 n 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. While you wont all be in the same room for these meetings, video conferences are fairly easy to set up and schedule. Provide tools: Get your system set up with the right tools so your customer service teams can collaborate and communicate easily. 0000009498 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). Cameron [13] highlights the example of FTS application at EDS (now a part of HP). Nurture and grow your business with customer relationship management software. Quarterly Executive. (2006). Test the plan before implementation to ensure that hand-offs between sites will run smoothly and make tweaks to the processes as needed. For some companies, it means providing anytime, anywhere, 24/7/365 supportthe original definition of the follow-the-sun model. However, if the communication within the system is poor, it may also end up in chaos, production delays and sufficient losses for the company. Forbes Agency Council is an invitation-only community for executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. 0000066494 00000 n Let's review the diagram below. [12] Miguel Jimnez, Mario Piattini, and Aurora Vizcano. Calendar efficiency can be increased in a simple way by working overtime (overload mode), but this only improves the efficiency by 6%. The top three best practices that were found in research are agile methods, the use of technology for knowledge sharing (e.g. For example, a baseline work week is 30 hours after taking into account non-task activities. The process of hand offs must be smooth and conflict free. When youve got teams working round the clock, your troubleshooting efforts become more efficient. 0000008134 00000 n Another important benefit of the FTS model is the opportunity to learn more about new markets and lay the foundation for the further development of the definite regional market. 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? Follow the sun: distributed extreme programming development. Tiered support model with queries and system administrators. Still, it did, and that is where our plan and ability to coordinate staff remotely across the world helped keep all the processes running. With this intuitive, cloud-based solution, everyone can work visually and collaborate in real time while building flowcharts, mockups, UML diagrams, and more. Do you also have self-service options like a knowledge database? Advances in Software Engineering, 2009:3, 2009. 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. A survey of major approaches for accelerating new product development. In theory, FTS can increase time to market by approximately 60%, which seems attractive. 0000067875 00000 n The first one involved a software development project consisting of teams in the United States and Australia and met with high degree of success. ', Successful businesses satisfy customer needsand for some businesses, especially those that have expanded globally, that means providing superior customer service and support 24 hoursin a row. The main criteria to go for FTS is the reduction in the development time or time-to-market.
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