Smarter Support Leadership

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Insight 2014 is only 37 days away. While the Smarter Support team gets ready for the event of the year, we connected with the Smarter Support leadership team to get their take on the event and what Smarter Support is all about.

The Smarter Support leadership team includes:

• Al Martin (AM), Vice President, Information Management Worldwide Client Support
• Andrew Lee (AL), Vice President, Business Analytics Customer Support & Success
• David Churchill (DC), Director, Global Enterprise Content Management Client Support
• John Dewey (JD), Director, Software Sales and Client Success

Let’s get started:
 

What is Smarter Support?

(AM) Smarter Support is about driving better business outcomes through world-class support. It is about ensuring business continuity, reducing risk, uncovering savings, and improving processes for our clients.

(AL) Smarter Support is the combination of all our IBM capabilities to drive client outcomes in our clients' Cloud and OnPremise deployments. Leveraging IBM Smarter Support as a trusted partner not only helps to fix software problems and deliver the most innovative software in the world, it also increases time to value and saves money.

(DC) Smarter Support is an opportunity for our clients to experience the excellent support offered across IBM, and to bring together our support teams to share best practices which will enhance and strengthen how we deliver support to our clients today and into the future.

(JD) Our clients define success as their ability to cost effectively build, run and maintain their I/T environment. Through advancements in our products and superior customer support, we provide enhancements that improve security, reduce risk, lower operational expenses, and improve performance with industry-leading innovation. That, to me, is Smarter Support.

Describe Smarter Support in three words:

(AM) World-Class, Differentiator, Advocacy

(AL) Empowered, Successful, Smart

(DC) Commitment, Integrity, Teamwork

(JD) Client Success, Innovation, Optimize

What aspect of Technical Support or Subscription & Support would you like to highlight for clients at Insight?

(AM) I’d like our clients to be aware of the many ways they can engage with Support, including the IBM Support Portal and other Electronic Support Tools. We offer Follow-the-Sun Support to ensure high priority issues are worked on 24/7 until they are resolved. Our global team of Smarter Support experts is truly committed to the success of our clients. 

(AL) We have great people in all areas of Smarter Support. From the Technical Support Experts, Services Teams, Cloud Operations, Proven Practices, AVP, Cloud Engineering, and Product Development, they are all focused on innovation and delivering value -- IBM's greatest resource is the knowledge of our people.

(DC) It is critically important for our clients to protect their software investment by staying current with software versions. Current versions enable clients to gain access to productivity and performance updates, plus product enhancements (minor releases) every 3 to 6 months.  We can also help clients stay informed by receiving automatic Product and Lifecycle Notifications, easily customized to target only their specific product line.

(JD) Clients often don’t realize the depth of enhancements IBM provides in new releases of our products. Nearly every point release and version upgrade includes security enhancements, performance improvements, ease of use enhancements and new industry-leading innovations.   Benchmarks show that clients who stay current on the latest releases and versions of our products are 20% more efficient than those who don't.

Why should clients engage with Smarter Support? What is the value?

(AM) Smarter Support is a key differentiator for our clients – we’re always there. Our technical experts are committed to working with clients, day and night when called on, to make sure they can use and are getting value from their IBM solutions. Smarter Support is about partnering to make sure our clients are getting the most value from their investment in IBM.

(AL) Our clients invest annually in Subscription & Support. Smarter Support delivers a return on that investment though software innovations and access to technical experts and information when you need it, increasing your time to value, reducing down time and driving your success.

81. Partnering with IBM Smarter Support brings cutting-edge offerings, services and tools to the forefront.  Clients will experience support delivery that is continually evolving and improving to meet and surpass their expectations.

(JD) Smarter Support has two primary elements. First, IBM's award-winning support organization has a vast array of resources and capabilities available to help our clients succeed. Second, access to the latest releases of our products can transform our clients’ businesses, by reducing their operational expenses, improving security and reducing business risk. 

Tell us three things you'll be doing at Insight 2014:

(AM)

1. Meeting with clients and partners - Every year, I look forward to connecting with clients and partners from around the world at this event. Having time to sit down, face-to-face, is invaluable.
2. Attending keynotes and other breakout sessions - There is no better place than Insight to learn about the incredible technology from IBM. I learn something new in each session and always walk away feeling proud to be an IBMer.
3. Visiting the EXPO and Smarter Support - I'm looking forward to checking out the 50+ workshops in the Smarter Support Hands-On Lab. I'll also be visiting Watson, Mobile, Social, and Cloud in the EXPO.

(AL)

1. Meeting with clients and partners -- being on site gives me the perfect opportunity to meet face-to-face with as many of our customers and partners as I can.

2. Learning – I will continue to grow my understanding of what our partners are doing with our software, what clients are saying about us, and what we should be thinking about to constantly improve our client experience.

3. Being present in the Smarter Support Zone -- I'm thrilled that our Smarter Support teams have created 50+ hands-on workshops for attendees to experience and that Smarter Support Analysts will be available for one-on-one meetings.

(DC)  

1. Attending the General and ECM Keynote sessions: IBM ECM: Bringing content to life
2. Meeting with customers at the Executive Center to share the value of a strong support partnership and to address any specific support concerns.
3.  Visiting the Smarter Support Zone, where clients will have an opportunity to explore IBM Case Manager, IBM Content Navigator and Navigator on Cloud through hands-on workshops. Plus, clients will be able to schedule a face-to-face Q&A with a Support Professional to address specific support questions.

(JD)

1. Meeting clients to discuss how their investment in Subscription & Support renewals provides a positive, hard dollar ROI.     

2. Connecting with Business Partners to talk about Subscription & Support.  

3. Sharing the value of Smarter Support throughout the conference.

Thanks to Al, Andrew, David and John for sharing their perspectives with us as we gear up for Insight 2014!

Find us at Insight in the Smarter Support Zone, booth 405.

https://bitly.com/smartersupport

@ibmsmartersupp or #smartersupport