Customer Support Consortium Publishes Version 1.0 of Solution Exchange Standard; Standard to Help Support Organizations Exchange Solution Information.SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 15, 1996--The Customer Support Consortium, an alliance of leading technology companies dedicated to shaping the future of customer support, today announced the availability of the Solution Exchange Standard version 1.0. The standard was designed to facilitate electronic exchange of solutions and incidents among technology vendors and third party support providers, like corporate help desks, resellers, systems integrators An individual or organization that builds systems from a variety of diverse components. With increasing complexity of technology, more customers want complete solutions to information problems, requiring hardware, software and networking expertise in a multivendor environment. , and IT organizations. Version 1.0 contains all data definition and transfer elements necessary for organizations to exchange solution information. The Solution Exchange Standard facilitates the sharing of information between cooperating parties by defining a set of shared meanings and protocols that allow companies to exchange and share information in a consistent and predictable fashion. The standard is open, vendor-neutral, and designed for flexibility and extensibility. Technology companies and service providers worldwide can use the standard with their existing systems to significantly improve how multi-vendor support is delivered. The Consortium's Solution Exchange Standard working group, comprised of leading technology vendors and support tools providers, has created the definitions that comprise version 1.0 of the standard. "The Consortium has developed a strategic business model, called Solution-Centered Support, that enables organizations to transform customer support by capturing, reusing and exchanging solutions to user problems. The standard is a critical enabler for this new support model and will help companies seamlessly exchange solution information," said Greg GREG Great Egg Harbor National Scenic and Recreational River (US National Park Service) Oxton Oxton could be
The standard targets one of the biggest, most pressing issues facing the support industry: How to share problem resolution information between organizations that use different customer support systems. Because of the current difficulty in exchanging information among vendors, industry analysts estimate that the cost of a support call that requires multi-vendor support increases more than 65 percent. "The development of the Solution Exchange Standard by the Customer Support Consortium enables the entire industry-customer care vendors, technology providers, outsourcers and end users-to enhance its ability to manage information technology resources," said Carter Lusher, vice president of research at Gartner Group (company) Gartner Group - One of the biggest IT industry research firms. Address: Connecticut, USA. . "We live in a world of multi-vendor customer service, and the only way companies can effectively manage customer support assets is through industry-wide cooperation." Support providers and customers alike are the real winners, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Tom Sweeny Swee´ny n. 1. (Far.) An atrophy of the muscles of the shoulder in horses; also, atrophy of any muscle in horses. , director of software services at Dataquest. "The Solution Exchange Standard provides a framework for service providers to collaborate on the rapid resolution of complex multi-vendor issues as well as benefit from the sharing of accrued ac·crue v. ac·crued, ac·cru·ing, ac·crues v.intr. 1. To come to one as a gain, addition, or increment: interest accruing in my savings account. 2. industry knowledge," Sweeny said. "This framework will help to fuel the growth of the support industry through exciting new service relationships and increased efficiencies in problem resolution, while providing vast improvements in services to customers." Standard Developed by Industry Leaders The Consortium has worked for over a year to define a core set of attributes for solution exchange. Microsoft, Novell, Lotus, Dell Computer, IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) and Silicon Graphics have been active in the Solution Exchange Standard working group, and several members have prototyped elements of the standard within their support processes and tools. Additionally, the standard uses a structured mark up language and an underlying protocol for data transfer. "Customer support organizations for years have been aware that every customer operates in a multi-vendor environment," said Mark Perry Mark Perry is the name of:
"The customer will be the biggest beneficiary beneficiary Person or entity (e.g., a charity or estate) that receives a benefit from something (e.g., a trust, life-insurance policy, or contract). A primary beneficiary receives proceeds from a trust or insurance policy before any other. of the Consortium's standards work," said Tom Best, vice president, world-wide support and product planning Product Planning is the ongoing process of identifying and articulating market requirements that define a product’s feature set. See also
Version 1.0 of the standard will be showcased at the Help Desk Institute's Service and Support Expo West in San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden on August 27 - 29. To learn more about the standard, stop by the Consortium's booth no. 116. About the Customer Support Consortium The Customer Support Consortium is the preeminent pre·em·i·nent or pre-em·i·nent adj. Superior to or notable above all others; outstanding. See Synonyms at dominant, noted. [Middle English, from Latin prae industry alliance for shaping the future of technology support. The Consortium was founded in 1992 and now has over sixty members, including Microsoft, Novell, Lotus, SOFTBANK, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Dell Computer, AT&T, SHL/MCI, Bay Networks, 3M and GE Capital. The Consortium has developed a breakthrough strategy, Solution-Centered Support, that redefines customer support by capturing, reusing and exchanging solution knowledge. Current working groups are focused on multi-vendor support, standards for exchanging solutions, knowledge management, and processes. The Consortium's managing partner is Primus. CONTACT: Customer Support Consortium John Chmaj, 206/622-5200 ext. 333 |
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