[15] Christian Visser and Rini van Solingen. As an agency with many Ukraine-based staff members in February 2022, it was the kind of situation none of us wanted to believe would ever happen. Tools to support data security and encryption such as VPNs are also important. PjYIh$ 3lKPt[?7\p rNt[n@rS +@G9z|t- ]P$>(h)tQ c5+${._~;i$ X~,h XOjcL^W? 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. 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. As someone who has been working with the top 100 pharma companies, I know that preparation and planning are key. This can be achieved in a variety of ways. Cloud support model with customer responsibility. Carmel [6] argues that only the nature of some phases of the development cycle such as testing are well suited for FTS. The three teams consist of 2 micro-teams (composite persona [17]), with at least one person from each location. Another culture would not offer their help unless they were asked while the third considered that presenting the problem was a sufficient invitation for willing team members to jump in and help. Inverse schedules on an escalation policy - If you have two or more users that rotate primary and secondary on-call shifts, then you will want to create two on-call schedules and add . Three important companies which documented their experience is summarized below. When youve got teams working round the clock, your troubleshooting efforts become more efficient. Expertise from Forbes Councils members, operated under license. By staggering their support personnel start times across these key time zones, they are able to meet the service level-agreements theyve set for their customers. CNSC released the formal follow-up report to Sun Media, with the un . Most of the current code repositories are cloud based and accessible across geographies. Apart from the usual difficulties faced in globally distributed software development, FTS also has the additional challenges of managing daily job hand-offs. mobile handsets, firmware, e-commerce systems, and innovative supply chain management). And when the shifts switch, you'll have each site hand off work to the next shift. [20] ZONE, HOW INFOSYS MANAGES TIME. 0000067119 00000 n In addition, passing the work to a new group lets people see the problem from a new perspective. 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]. When compared to traditional global software development, FTS workflow is more difficult to achieve. For example, you may need skilled bilingual managers and associates to help with international communications. 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. It was developed so companies can provide round-the-clock customer service, literally following the sun around the globe. Stars, 16 Agency Leaders Explore The SEO Trends Impacting Their Work In 2023, 15 Smart Ways To Address High Employee Turnover, How Vietnam's Entertainment Industry Can Increase Its Global Reach, 6 Best Practices For CEOs And Professional Leaders Using LinkedIn. Handoffs management in follow-the-sun software projects: a case study. The "follow-the-sun" model is about providing the support that clients and customers need by way of a global workflow that literally follows the sun. Christian Doerr, 0000005432 00000 n WDSGlobal case study: In 2004 a study conducted within the company of WDSGlobal reported the following list of what worked in FTS software development (when doing Extreme Programming) [7]: The study reported the following lessons that were learned: The study involved teams from the USA, UK and Singapore. 2013. However, the distance between time zones of production can be an issue since the real-time communication between the teams can be very limited. Ultimately, the processes kept running, the staff were not forced to work overtime, and none of the offices were overwhelmed, and that is key when it comes to a successful business model. We operate a 24/7 global support team. Start off by asking key questions. 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. A novel approach to distributed concurrent software development using a follow-the-sun technique. 0000003713 00000 n Tiered support model with queries and system administrators. Now, what does this look like in action? Multiple teams may be working on the product over a certain amount of time, but one defined team is responsible for overseeing the process from start to finish. Major lessons learned in the study that could improve FTS from their experience include: It was also observed that hand-offs between different sites were especially difficult in the weekends. Your team needs to deploy a brand-new, process-defining software to all the computers and devices on your companys networks. They are required to fill in a request form through a portal. That's why as the assets are transferred to the next team, you need to ensure that detailed workflow documentation and technical tasks do not require further clarification. It was developed so companies can provide round-the-clock customer service, literally following the sun around the globe. At the same time, I can attest that it takes considerable investment, time and human resources. IBM in 1990s was probably one of the first companies to record the implementation of FTS in its software development teams globally [1]. I am talking about the follow-the-sun model, or FTS for short. The major benefit is the development duration or the potential in reducing the time-to-market. We have also elaborated in depth about the real world examples where FTS was applied. ITSM Support Model ITSM is built on the core belief that IT is a concept that needs to be delivered as a service. This theme is specifically for location selection and the impact of it. 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. Production sites involved in the software development are many time zones apart. IEEE, 2007. [5] Amar Gupta. Use Lucidscale to create a higher-level overview of your architecture diagram thats ready to present to stakeholders. 0000065007 00000 n 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. Documenting how many resources are available every month at the start of a new project will help your team determine accurate timelines and avoid team member burnout. Another documented case of FTS application was by Infosys [20] in 2005 where FTS was applied to small subsets of the project cycle. When you use a follow the sun model, round-the-clock IT support is provided by following the sun from time zone to time zone. The organization which we are using in our example has offices spread worldwide and the Follow the Sun support model works wonderfully well for it. 0000064539 00000 n 0000015792 00000 n This infrastructure must always be available on demand and accessible. Typical challenges such as coordination, communication and culture differences presents a bigger challenge to FTS than GSD, as FTS involves daily hand-offs. To make collaboration and handoff even easier, engineers and process owners can @mention each other to focus attention on specific shapes of the diagram. The above principles allow FTS to be used in any knowledge work (not just software development). This research [15] introduced a routing model, which supports the selection of geographical locations for Follow-the-Sun software development. The various composition features of this PowerPoint image like the design, color, text, etc. And due to these restraints, teams may have a tough time truly collaborating. Increase response time to solve problems more quickly, and reduce development and production times to get products and services to market faster. Oops! 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. These questions will help you determine if you have enough tickets coming in from each area in the world and if it's a standard practice to offer 24/7 support. This project involved five global teams distributed across five different countries. The geographically dispersed nature requires the use of software applications which facilitate tele-conferencing, VoIP calling, instant messaging etc. listed 36 best practices and 17 challenges found in literature [14]. Non-stop development can become a serious advantage when you need to reduce time to market or offer your clients better production, development and deployment terms. After considering your demographics and volume, could you make up some of the support volume by using a mobile app? In Management of Engineering and Technology, Portland International Center for, pages 24582466. In theory, FTS can increase time to market by approximately 60%, which seems attractive. 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. Subscribe to the Service Blog below. Follow-the-sun paradigm background reading. Most employees do not want to be at work 12 or 16 hours a day. Published: Follow-the-sun schedule - The follow-the-sun schedule is used by teams that may work internationally in different time zones, and ensures full 24/7 coverage. Figure 3: Comparing FTS model with other global workflows [1]. Tools for estimating and planning schedules, allocation of project tasks, sprint management, progress tracking are essential utilities for front line managers. We showed that there are three main research themes, namely challenges and best practices, location selection and hand-offs management. And that's where the follow the sun customer support model comes in. This in turn increases productivity. Since there is no overlap during the hand-off and the hand off happens, for example, via e-mail, instead of via the phone or other communication tool. 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. This efficiency further increases with the number of locations and shifts. The first one involved a software development project consisting of teams in the United States and Australia and met with high degree of success. Proceedings, pages 218{224. If communication issues are not addressed they will create significant challenges in FTS adoption. Opinions expressed are those of the author. 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 initiative was unsuccessful, and the project was ultimately implemented using only the essential principles of global software development. In addition, there is research about location selection and the effect of the number of selected locations. I went down the street to the 24-hour grocery store. Here are some major challenges that management should anticipate: FTS is much more complex than the shift method since the teams working on the project are normally disproportionate. If youre a small company looking to provide global support, consider what steps you can take now to achieve your longer-term support goals. Figure 5: Successful implementation of FTS depends on reliable software tools and utilities. And customers in one location do not get preferential or more support than any other location. Its hard to fill swing or overnight shifts. There exist several case and field studies over the years, which resulted in challenges and best practices of FTS. 0000007912 00000 n The follow the sun customer support model is designed to address customer needs without regard to geographic location or current time. 4KKq#VPd)M(*=X i d`rdadcNaVdnep!!!!|F_f0b 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. Adding more man power to the project is not of much interest in software development, because of the wisdom gained long ago from the seminal Brooks law adding manpower to a late software project makes it later [3]. Finally, communication is a key component for successful follow the sun implementation. For me, staying connected with clients in every corner of the globe was always important. HubSpot uses the information you provide to us to contact you about our relevant content, products, and services. 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. With this intuitive, cloud-based solution, everyone can work visually and collaborate in real time while building flowcharts, mockups, UML diagrams, and more. The ability of project management tools to integrate with development tools can help reduce the duration of project cycles in FTS. Organization Support: Role Communications Manager (CM) Description Coordinates emergency communication strategy across teams: customer success, marketing, legal, etc. FTS feasibility study: In 2013 there was a feasibility study of FTS in the industry [18]. [12] Miguel Jimnez, Mario Piattini, and Aurora Vizcano. To manage the workflow efficiently the principles shown in Fig. 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. You can, however, start planning for it. The most popular online Visio alternative, Lucidchart is utilized in over 180 countries by millions of users, from sales managers mapping out target organizations to IT directors visualizing their network infrastructure. What could shorter department turnaround times mean for what youre trying to achieve globally? Keeps Support and the business informed so IC can focus on resolution. [4] AGupta, Amar. If you have an online business or SaaS product, you probably sell your products or services globally. Federal Republic of Germany, 2017. endstream endobj 134 0 obj <>stream 0000013744 00000 n 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 handoffs can be applied to any software development task. Because they have sites spread across the world, companies using the follow the sun model will find it difficult for everybody to be in the same room at the same time. Most agile practices emphasize face-to-face communication. Selecting locations for follow-the-sun software development: Towards a routing model. IEEE, 2009. Follow the Sun (FTS), a sub-field of globally distributed software engineering (GDSE), is a type of global knowledge workflow designed in order to reduce the time to market, in which the knowledge product is owned and advanced by a production site in one time zone and handed off at the end of their work day to the next production site that is The FTS approach is based on the principle of handing-off unfinished work to the next location at the end of work day. System Sciences (HICSS), 2014 47th Hawaii International Conference on, pages 331339. With many sites all working on the same project, the daily handoff can become a bottleneckespecially if the other team doesnt understand the problem or if their work introduces a new problem. Follow the Sun is a support model which works best for service desks that work around the clock, i.e 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Figure 2: Calendar Efficiency in different Working Modes [1]. Establish goals: Define your goals around your customer's needs in each location you service. The number of sites had only a small impact on the accuracy. 1. Calculation, effects, and prevention tips, Streamline call center BPO management with data-driven WFM, Why great CX is the doorway to success with open banking for financial services firms. In its early days, this customer service approach only seemed feasible for big companies that had the resources to open and staff multiple offices around the world. It is also known under different names such as 24 hour development or Round the clock development. Follow-the-sun support model is a very common paradigm for enterprise support companies wanting to deliver round the clock critical support for business critical applications. Modern day software development is spread more and more across national and international boundaries. As well, such expansion can always have a positive impact in terms of brand development and brand promotion. [6] Carmel, Erran, Yael Dubinsky, and Alberto Espinosa. ](Ohg2jFy0tz H`?d/r_@IEPCZGr H But other companies may determine that they can meet their global support needs with other tactics. 0000065082 00000 n Zuora uses private comments in Zendesk tickets to help communicate important details to team members picking up issues already in progress. 0000069194 00000 n What about the companies your business aspires to emulate? Their teams are based in Honduras, Romania and the Philippines. 0000065843 00000 n Implementing follow the sun methods in your global organization can be challenging. Shifting to a remote-based model streamlined our FTS approach with the ability to provide client services without opening an office location first. They also need to train employees on how to use the software and then respond to any service tickets upon deployment. Agile seems to be the best and most suitable for FTS based approaches because the principles of Agile anf FTS complement each other. [10] Eoin Conchir, Helena Holmstrom Olsson, Par J Agerfalk, and Brian Fitzgerald. In addition to verbal communication, teams can also use visual documentation, such as flowcharts, kanban boards, and Gantt charts as part of their daily hand-offs. Some sites could feel isolated and out of the loop. 2008. To visualize, we created the diagram below: Global customer support might not be necessary for every company, but it's important to begin using a global customer service model if you have international customers who are submitting tickets while you're asleep. Response times are increased, delays in problem-solving are reduced, and customers are satisfied. What in the world is the "Follow-the-Sun" support model? 0000063868 00000 n FTS is a global software development strategy. Managing international teams may be a challenge. In case of any issues with the blog, please contact: guledalprashanth@gmail.com or berd.kreynen@hotmail.com. A part of this may be attributed to the availability of efficient tools and enabling technologies for implementing the FTS model. FTS has many challenges associated with it and it also faces same challenges of GSD as it is a part of GSD. Thank you for subscribing to our email communication. So how can companies of different sizes utilize that to their advantage? There are claims that FTS is being used at General Motors and at OfficeTiger [4] [5]. Slide 1 of 2. By its basic definition, "follow-the-sun" means that support literally follows the sunit's a type of global workflow in which issues can be handled by and passed between support locations in different time zones to increase responsiveness and reduce delays. Is a follow the sun model right for your IT and cloud teams? 42nd Hawaii International Conference on. Many companies are looking for efficiency in software development in terms of quality and development time. Many companies. 0000016106 00000 n To do this from a single office theyd have to aggressively staff up. 0000002089 00000 n Regardless of where the bulk of customers are located, if you know that youre receiving a lot of tickets outside of your standard support hours, then its time to start thinking about a rotational support model. 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]. Since hand-offs are such an important aspect of Follow-the-Sun software development, recent research studied hand-offs management. FtVz:-zn>\M~J/CeTb{POj"}"yX-hD]0)u&Z?C4SX0;53mHp 8Q[M#A.l{ GrhhXE3rVY)^a. + endstream endobj 135 0 obj <>stream 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. Project handoffs are done on a daily basis at the end of each shift. Make your own animated videos and animated presentations for free. To get a proper picture of the background on FTS, there is a need to understand a development pace and its associated concept of time to market, which are the main drivers of the development of FTS. 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. In reality, setting up a Help Center doesnt have to be a monumental task, and by offering community forums, you can give your customers the chance to help each other. Follow the Sun: Introduction (1 of 3) The Sun's apparent path across the sky for each day of the calendar year - from sunrise roughly East to maximum altitude (or "culmination") exactly South to sunset roughly West - has been observed and thought about for at least the last 5000 years. 8. Overall it was found that increasing the number of sites in a daily cycle increased the working speed. There is only one site that owns the product at any point in time. A feasibility study of follow-the-sun software development for gsd projects. For instance, I could post for the other team to monitor a ticket I have opened. CX is a top priority for financial services providers, and for good reason. If possible, these meetings could be conducted during the hand-off so that the team can better communicate and share knowledge with each other. See pricing, Marketing automation software. Managing and continuing recruiting and growing regionally helped implement the FTS model for all departments and reinforced the ability to provide top-notch customer service. 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. working only during daylight hours. Knowledge transfer and sharing of project critical information with concerned parties is essential for smooth operation of the project. Pearson Education India, 1995. 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. 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]. 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. In In an Agile based methodology, all major development activities (design, code, test and integrate) are carried out in every iteration cycle. 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. PowToon is a free . Follow the sun: distributed extreme programming development. Deriving Mutual Benefits from Offshore Outsourcing: The 24-Hour Knowledge Factory Scenario. (2007). HWn1WLKZE In this distributed model, the CIA [8] (the triad of Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability of service and data) assumes paramount importance. Following the sun: Case studies in global software development. IBM Systems Journal 45.4 (2006): 773-783. They meet their global support goals by working together, providing a combined 18 hours a day of coverage. Figure 4: Agile is a perfect choice of software development methodology for FTS. You can update your preferences or unsubscribe at any time. 0000004606 00000 n Customers who aren't in your timezone won't have to wait for you to wake up to receive service. 128 0 obj <> endobj xref 128 43 0000000016 00000 n 0000001156 00000 n [18] Josiane Kroll, Rafael Prikladnicki, Jorge LN Audy, Erran Carmel, and JudeFernandez. 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. The follow the sun model is certainly not a new concept - nor is it unique to corporate travel management or the travel industry. In Agile Conference, 2005. 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.. Some companies go with the more traditional application of follow the sun: which means providing anytime, anywhere, 24/7/365 support. Employees hand off work at the end of each shift to the next site that is beginning a new shift several time zones to the west. You will need to determine which agile methodologies are best for the various global teams that help you to track work, allows for continuous integration, keeps team members accountable, and facilitates work hand-offs.. There was a 30 and 60 minutes overlap between locations to enable the daily handover of tasks. IEEE, 2005. [9] Rini van Solingen and Menno Valkema. Every time you learn you have a new customer base, you find someone to support them. A systematic literature review of best practices and challenges in follow-the-sun software development. We have underlined some of the essential concepts of FTS such as use of Agile for FTS, tools required and learnings from past experiences for the efficient implementation of FTS. Although these regions share the English language, there were cultural differences, for example, one culture has more emphasis on self-sufficiency; therefore they tend not to ask for help when problems come up. Businesses can reduce the amount of time it takes to progress from ideation to planning and development when a team is working on the project on a 24-hour schedule. If the workdays among satellite offices overlap, work can be passed from an office that is shutting down for the day to an office that is still open or just starting its day. Your plan needs to include specific roles, processes, and training necessary to meet customer expectations. Lucidchart is the intelligent diagramming application that empowers teams to clarify complexity, align their insights, and build the futurefaster. One of the principal benefits of the FTS model is the opportunity to speed up processes and reduce time to market. ppt.gc.ca. Our offerings for Salesforce include the same 24x7x365, follow-the-sun support with a guaranteed response of under 10-minutes for P1 critical issue . Follow the sun software development: New perspectives, conceptual foundation, and exploratory field study. System Sciences, 2009. You can turn light-speed production and service delivery into one of the signature advantages of your brand. This Presentation graphic is eloquent and useful for the IT students, IT researchers, and IT specialists from various fields. Employee turnover is the number of workers leaving your business at any given timeincluding voluntary and involuntary exits. The implementation of FTS, if not practiced correctly, may result in failures and projects going over budget [10]. Agile has several characteristics which support FTS adoption [6]. 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). It may take more time than anticipated to ask questions and receive answers. Some key assumptions in deriving the above principles are listed below: Follow the sun approach involves daily handoff of the work which suggests that there will be some reduction in the project duration. 0000001891 00000 n Do we get enough tickets from each timezone to support a customer service agent. It's a model that provides support for clients at all times of the day or night, every day. Technology Tools and Infrastructure to Support FTS. Open Scholars support emerging Open Learning alternatives<br />In-Class Support in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania!
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