CompTIA sizes up service for the local IT consumer

The Services Section wing of the Computing Technology Industry Association recently conducted a national survey in a bid to understand and record customer expectation.

CompTIA`s Services Section creates a forum for IT companies involved in service and support. The forum is a means by which these organisations can jointly discuss common issues of concern, and then work towards possible solutions, or set standards to solve issues.

Launched in July 2001, the SA Chapter of CompTIA`s Services Section voted "Understanding Customer Expectations" as one of the most important local issues. The purpose of the survey conducted by Service800 Inc, was to ascertain what frustrates SA customers, what value-added services they would like to see from their IT service providers, and lastly, which customer service aspects they rank as most important.

The telephonic survey recorded views from a variety of decision-makers and end-users, and resulted in a number of thought-provoking ideas concerning service in general. Local customers rated response time as the most important aspect of service. In close second was the skills level of service and support staff, while communication and the quality of parts and equipment also ranked among the top ten.

"This survey showed that the majority, almost 80%, of South African consumers say the quality of service `meet expectations` rather than `exceed expectations`. A typical reply of `okay` was given to interview questions," says Loraine Vorster, Sales and Marketing Executive at CompTIA.

Customers placed the erosion of service quality as one of the top five frustrations with local IT service providers. A lack of communication and service completion was also highlighted.

"The survey results stressed the need for regular customer surveys, which is an ISO requirement as well," says Vorster. CompTIA`s Service Metric Program, allows members to engage Service800 Inc to keep members in touch with their customers. Benchmarking your service level against your competitors is also important to ensure that you do not reach a complacent attitude to service.

"The survey also highlighted the conflicting opinions customers had to what terminology such as 'down time`, 'response time` and 'MTTR` really meant," says Vorster. "We are proud to announce that CompTIA`s SA Services Section worked on, and published, definitions for all these typical SLA terms as a South African standard."

To see a summary of the SA Customer Survey results, or to view the SA standard SLA terminology, visit the Web site www.comptia.co.za.