Unusual Arrangement Spurs HP Computer Sales in Australia
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THE INSIDE STORIES FEATURES Customer support-the 24·hoursolution 3 The Worldwide CUSlOl11lT SUppOrl Operations translates into a comprl i tin" ad\'anta,e:c for HP and ncarly onr-fifl h or f('\'C"IlLLC . What a Mickey Mouse way to start a company 8 Oncr upon iJ I irne Bill and Da\'e sold their /irst audio OSCillators to Walt Disnev Co 10 make rnnl[Jsia: tht'n Hill <lnd Oan.' pageS and all 93.000 ..mp)ovees )in-d happilv n .. r aflPf Cover pilolD by Lialle Enke)is. Palling together to win in the marketplace 12 It takt.'s 51 rategic alliancl's. joint \'ent ul"es and con~ort ia ror HP and IlS (('i;llllnW(es 10 cOl1lpetr SlIl'l'("SSflllly Steve Martin-a wild and crazy HP fan 19 A former novice turned "computer head' has a passion for HI' The"other" Apono landing 22 ThE' HPIApollo mergt'r crealrs a !l('W No.1 in works! at ions. DEPARTMENTS page 12 ElrtraOrdinary People 16 Your1'llrn 20 Letter from John Young 25 ElrtraMe....ure 26 MEASURE 1::.1 nor l~r""'Jlhh dt"'-'~IIt'r (.tlllt ,-Un Illtr.,. l Hl ul.lIitHl Jay ("(l1,·m,1II ·1 hmrub.J_ BrOil'" U~ D'l'mh r) 1<01 ,~" Fla"",_", Shirl('\' Cillhert /\rt Din'l'lor: Associate editor: Jean Burke Hopp(> Annt't t (' Ya \m' j ['- lit-I l \' Gerard HailS KUt'nuil! rV1aurt'l'll SchiC'k~1 J\~1\::Sufe '~OuC'.'she-::J Sf) tlr. e~ G .,ee' :CI errOI;::... et:>s ';~I<J o ..!.t• .clr.::le~ 0\ "~w ~r- p,): ~')''l Cc'--,n':JI"l" Pr:)-;juce:::i 0\1 CorpOl'O'C :>uO Ie Re'o' r ~ 'err,:: C;J'lIn\·Jn.ecl on Do::-(X;rtrno;>!'" a·o.:. .::... t.....o'" Mcr.3ge' j.aa·~S5 corr~DVnClerce ':::. ·,.fe-::,... ·'" f--1ewle" P3::k::;r:::COrT,pan, .!O?" C ?,(;, (1201 POI.;) :".1-:" Ce' ':.)rr:r:; 94.3JJ-JeQ:) page 29 UY- :d15J 857 .j1.l<l ";leper -,<]1 gesc' 3dore'>S ';:. ,Ol;r .eCJ' o,:;·r~::'cnr.~ occ..:::-trr,erl Hew'el' Pac~oro C:mpt':;0, ~ Gr~ '1"'1el[,,01101"'01 rT'c"lU'acl'JI,?' c' rT>€CJsu'en'E:"n: ana ·:c,rnpul'J'18:1 p·c.-ouct~ one sys'elT,s recog'"1"ed TOI excelience Ir qclolltv ond supp:)'1 The CO"'l'OO'"1, S pr:xJuC:s ~)n,j ~er.'lce5 8f9 used In IndusTry tyJv'e~s engineer r'g SClenC0 'T1edIClr"'E' c'1d eduCO'lon In apprC~lmalely 10.] courilies ~ou'lded In mO. HI'" co,.O'O'''g ," 5'·"', acn"e"",, ·n" yee' HI' empl.)y, ma'o ,",an OJ DJO oeople woddw,do (!(';) 2 MEASIJRE .. ~ ....... .. ...... "C'day, Bill." Ihe Aussic voice nC;lrly 8,000 miles away Customer craddl's OJ I I h e 01 her (' Jlei or I he Il'Iephone lint:, "G'day, mal ~ , " Bill DUll n allswers cheerru \ly, even Support I hOll,t!;h i l's the III iddIe of Lhl: a Itemnon on I he rOll rth of,J ulv a I I h t' MoullI <I i II View, CaIi 1'0 I'llia, Nor I h AlIlt'ri C<I II the24·hour I<csponsl' Cen(('r. "I low ('dll I help you 10rlay'J" "We'n' ilaving InHlble rclrievillg some liles," says (\w solution systems 'ujJervisor for Marlin COllllllllllicCllions LId.. a Sydney, Auslralia, m<Jnufaclurcrofprintccl -Circuil boarcls, "Can YOli help?" Bill WilsIe;; 110 lillle, I Ie lise:,; ilis loc;t\ svslcm, cilt'cks his solu I iOl1s clat abase alid s i lIIulaIt's I hl' ('US I0 Iller's problclll- all while most California n s arc baskillg ill I ileartcrllOOIl s un, "TilaI 's ,greaI." comes I ill' t rClII S- Pal' i tic respO lise ' "Wc'rt' up alld J'llllllin,!.UIgaill, Thanks," II's a rallliliar roll' for Hill. an HI-' support engineer 1'01' te 'hlliC'al applieal ionsallile ITSpOnS('l'l'lltl'L As;.! l'IIS IOlller-suppor l Cl lgillC(,], h e's parI lifeguard, parI sleut h, "You il'<Jrll to <Isk it zillion qll('slions," Hill says, ~'( ' I )I ' - I)II W I (JI 11,11t · 1 I ~)!~(' 3 "Irs like a n i nvesti~at or piecing together the eVidence. You focus in on the cus tomer's knowledge and your knowled ge of their system to come up with the right solution." BUlls part of a 15.000-person HP con ti ngent called the Worldwide Cus tomer Support Operations (WCSO ). How importa n t Is s upporl? HP service for equ ipment. systems and peripher a ls genera ted S 1.85 billion in revenue in 1988-19 percent of the compa ny's to131 revenue. But s uppo rt is much more than jus t a significant profi t center. It 's a way of life. "Go back to the corpora te objectives and you'l1 see that HP has had a clear focus on its cus tomers from the beg;in n ing."says Mike Leavell, formerWCSO vice p resident and general manager "Support is an exciting business because it's so diverse and HP custorner-educatton centers like Itte one (above) at WCSO ~dquarters in Mountain View, Icomplex." CaUlomla, help customefS gel the most !rom their networi< • . an d newly named d irector of U.S. Field About 1. 100 employees are in tht> Operations . "Ou r mission IS (Q pro.... ide WCSO's new Mountain View. Califor products and services of the highest nia, headquaners- a 450,OOO-square Worldwide Customer qua lity and the greatest possible value fool. two-building complex which on('{' SUpport Operations to our customers. and that enables u s \,..·as a shopping ('enlcr to get a nd h old their respect and loyalty. The faCIlity houses group head ataglance "Those a ren 't j ust words Bill Hewlett quarters. an HP Response Center. 15.000 employees a nd Dave Packa rd made up 30-some HP Customer Education Center. HP 32 response centers Hnklng years ago: it's a p hilosophy HP has MultlvendorSupporl Operation. the 400 supportoffices worldWide practiced for decades." Application Supporl Division. the 9O-plus countries And it's m ore than maintenance and Product Support Division and four $1.85 billion In revenue (19% of repa ir, Mike adds. Support encompas support research and development HP's total revenue fOT fiscal ses everything from helping customers activillCS. 1988) select the righ t s ys tems, installing the Lmked with 400 support offices sys tems. tra ining cus tomers to ensure and 32 response eenlers worldwide. WCSO structure maximum productivity and helping WCSO offers customers 24-hour-a-day. AppHcation Supporl Division maJntaln the systems night and day. 365-day-a·yt"ar support. Product Support Division "Support is an exciting business And when it ('om(>s to support. Response Center Operations because it's so divers e and complex." tht>re's nothing mor(> imporlant these Support Matertals Operation says Roger Costa. genera l ma nager of days than network suppOrl. Networks MultlvendorSupport Operation the Product S upport Divis ion. "We see Hnk a Wide variety ofequipment within SupportSystems Laboratory the full rangeofHP-R&D. manufac· offices and across ('Olllinents. Servic U.S. CustomerSupport turing. ma rketing and so for th . Tha t ing such diverse net\\'orks is. effect i\'t'ly. European Customer Support presents a n intellectual challenge to a competitive advantage. Intercontinental Customer Support kn ow and deal with all elements of the company." " MEASU RE Giant car-rental company Hertz International uses HP's NetAssure support program to handle large rental volumes, process transactions faster and maintain high customer satisfaction throughout Europe, HP's Network Support program, for your system over a maze of telecom InternatIOnal Ltd" "The payback we get example. inc1udes: munications services. from that investment is measured In How do you support such a web of terms of('ustomer satisfaction, how • Worldwide .Dpport~ HPcovers (he diverse products a nd services from fast we prQ('ess our transactions and world with consis tent. limeJy s upport. multiple vendors? By offering a range the fact we arc able Lo handle much of network-support services which cov more volume without adding a lot • Comprehensive services. It can ers all phases of a customer's network of manpower. " help ('ustomers through the planning. needs from d esign to Implementation. HP eqUipment and network support design and implementation phases. For example, one ol'these servIces also help keep the Singapore Stork is HP NetAssure. This gives customers Exchange operat ing smoothly. • MuitiveDdorsupport and problem a single contact point to identify and "In a trading day, we can do 8100 mil managemeat. HP plans multivendor correct problems- even if lhe problem lion to $200 million worth of shares in networks and helps Implement. main is in another vendor's eqUipment. a four-hour trading period, ,. says Paul tain and opera te them. "Basically. that mean. that HP is Phillips, data-processing manager for monitoring our lines and all ofour tele the exC'hange. "Irthe network is down • EzperieDce and expertise. In communications ha rdware." says Joe ror one hour, it could cause 825 million addition to its recognized leadership Bournat. management-information to S50 million worth of lost trading. in customer-support satisraction, HP services director for Hertz Europe Ltd.. which could transla te to hund reds of provides extensive training for its the giant car-renlal company. thousands or mtllions ofdollars worth network specialists. " In tht" event ofany failure:· he of commiSSions }os l in the industry.