Information management specialist EMC is bolstering the level of support that its clients can expect, with the addition of a key executive to its Managed Support Services team.
Millan Vallabh, who has extensive experience in the managed services environment, was recently appointed to the position of Area Service Manager at the company. He contends that while the EMC value proposition might be based on its products and technologies, it is the availability of an effective support network that ensures consistent performance in the field.
Describing his previous experience as encompassing everything from the break/fix aspect of support through to the full strategic spectrum of outsourced information technology, Vallabh says he has trained extensively on various aspects of service management. "This includes experience on implementing the best practices of the Information Technology Infrastructure Library [ITIL], while I also worked as Service Delivery Manager at Microsoft," he relates.
It is on the back of his experience and ability that EMC South Africa is providing added assurance and support to customers that depend on high availability storage subsystems and other technologies.
Explaining how his Managed Support Services (MSS) division operates, Vallabh says the organisation interacts closely with EMC's Sales and Technical Services Delivery operations. "While the Sales division is self-explanatory, the Technical Services Delivery people provide configuration and implementation expertise; across these functions, MSS handles anything that may happen from a break/fix point of view. In short, as soon as a sale of any EMC product is made, we are ready to support or repair it."
This close interaction includes being included as an integral component in the sales process from site visits to ensure the appropriate utilities are in place for the commission of EMC equipment, to the provision of support for solution delivery. "For example, we do a 'vanilla' initial start-up of gear to ensure it is ready for the technical services people to configure in accordance with the customer's specific requirements," says Vallabh.
"In line with best practice for fault or problem resolution, most remedies are delivered remotely; of course, our teams are also mobile and will conduct site visits when necessary," he adds. The MSS division is comprised of three teams located in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town from which it provides support to EMC partners and customers countrywide.
"There is a strong emphasis is on training and certification within the MSS division; EMC obviously has a considerable range of products and solutions, which we must be able to support effectively," says Vallabh. He says the division's 27 engineers are encouraged to cross-skill, a process that benefits the individual while improving EMC's service delivery capability.
Noting that EMC is focused on building its channel business with a view to substantially increasing the contribution to turnover from partners, he adds that the MSS division makes its services available in support of partner sales and initiatives, too.
"Our division may not be the centre of the EMC value proposition - that is reserved for the technology developers - but certainly, MSS provides the essential support that ensures customers get the expected value from their investments in our solutions over time," says Vallabh. "Customers depend on EMC for their information management needs - and MSS is responsible for ensuring that the reliability and availability we promise, is consistently delivered."
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