Microsoft Corporation Case

Microsoft Corporation: The Design of Microsoft® Support Network 1.0 1. What factors suggest that Microsoft's PSS Division needs a more comprehensive and flexible approach for its service offerings? There was an upward spike in customer service costs in periodic review of the division's Profit and Loss statement. It was projected that service expenditur es would become an acute problem in three years. At the same time, a PSS market research survey discovered that customers, particularly those that used several Microsoft products, were very confused and frustrated with Microsoft's technica l support services. Beside this, Microsoft's support services were not as good as those offered b y some competitors. Several factors contributed to the nondescript nature of Mi crosoft services. Previous support service policy had been determined at the pr oduct level. Annually, each product manager negotiated with PSS over the type, extent, and pricing of services to be offered to customers along with their prod ucts. Because Microsoft had 150 products, the result was a hodgepodge of servi ce offerings. Some products had no support services, some offered unlimited "f ree" service that was accessed by phone via a "toll" number, and still others pr ovided extensive telephone service "for fee". For customers, particularly those that owned and used several Microsoft products, the service offerings were conf using because it was difficult to know which service came with which product. M oreover, expert users felt that they were paying for services they didn't need o n basic applications. At the same time, they could not get sophisticated suppor t services on some of Microsoft's newly introduced line of highly technical adva nced systems, even if they were willing to pay extra. Because of all this factors it was clear that Microsoft s PSS Division needed a comprehensive and flexible support service. Bill Gates advocated that new appr oach was needed and that company was ready to invest... [continues]

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