improving the r&d/support relationship

Improving the Improving the R&D/Support R&D/Support RelationshipRelationship

Karen HerzogKaren HerzogVice President, Support ServicesVice President, Support Services

McKessonMcKessonSCP ShowcaseSCP Showcase

November 10-11, 2004November 10-11, 2004

In the beginning…..In the beginning…..

Not much understanding of each other’s Not much understanding of each other’s processesprocesses

Not much communication between teamsNot much communication between teams

No R&D time allocated to Support issuesNo R&D time allocated to Support issues

Poor prioritization of test suitesPoor prioritization of test suites

No informed prioritization of defectsNo informed prioritization of defects

R&D on

other

side

Support and R&D worked very hard to meet individual goals, however, Support and R&D worked very hard to meet individual goals, however, like most Support/R&D environments, those goals were not aligned.like most Support/R&D environments, those goals were not aligned.

Improving Support/R&D Improving Support/R&D CommunicationCommunication

Cross-Functional Design TeamsCross-Functional Design Teams QA Organization Reports through QA Organization Reports through

Support Support 25% R&D Time Allocated to 25% R&D Time Allocated to

MaintenanceMaintenance R&D ScorecardR&D Scorecard PCR Review ProcessPCR Review Process Severe Escalation ProcessSevere Escalation Process


Cross-Functional Design TeamsCross-Functional Design Teams Members are: Project Manager, Design, R&D, Members are: Project Manager, Design, R&D,

QM, Support, Technical Services and QM, Support, Technical Services and DocumentationDocumentation

Support representative responsibilities:Support representative responsibilities:– acts as the customer advocateacts as the customer advocate

– gain knowledge about the projectgain knowledge about the project

– identify potential areas of concern from identify potential areas of concern from a Support perspectivea Support perspective

– contribute opinions on the contribute opinions on the projectproject

– develop Support training develop Support training planplan


QA Organization Reports through QA Organization Reports through SupportSupport Formal handoffs:Formal handoffs:

– R&D to QAR&D to QA

– QA to SupportQA to Support Support participation in the QA processSupport participation in the QA process

– testingtesting

– risk analysisrisk analysis Building of e-answers Building of e-answers

articles articles



SupportSupport 25% R&D Time Allocated to 25% R&D Time Allocated to



25% R&D time allocated to maintenance25% R&D time allocated to maintenance Eliminates conflicts with enhancement projectsEliminates conflicts with enhancement projects Review of backlogReview of backlog

– analysis of backloganalysis of backlog

– recommendations to recommendations to address backlogaddress backlog

– monthly review of monthly review of backlogbacklog

25% allocation also 25% allocation also applies to QAapplies to QA

R&D Monthly ScorecardR&D Monthly ScorecardAs of: June 2004Product: HPM

Rel 7.1 Rel 8.0 Rel 9.0 Rel 10.0

Total Defects per 100 Development Hours

14.5 1.415 0.724 0.314

Total Severe Defects per 100 Development Hours

5.3 0.379 0.080 0.055

R&D Handoff to QM Variance 0.0% 0.5%

July 2003

Aug 2003

Sept 2003

Oct 2003

Nov 2003

Dec 2003

Jan 2004

Feb 2004

Mar 2004

Apr 2004

May 2004

June 2004

Total Defects Open Backlog (all) Reported by Customer Found Inhouse 9.0 Open PCRs 10.0 Open PCRs

22658

16825

20854

15425

19252

14017

18750

13717

18159

12214

18861

12716

19463

13120

19260

13226

18357

12623

20369

13436

19864

134n/a

20762

145n/a24

Total Defects Open Backlog (Severe) Reported by Customer Found Inhouse 9.0 Severe PCRs 10.0 Severe PCRs

12482

15872

12483

10372

7250

9451

9450

7250

10550

6242

725

n/a

121

11n/a

8

Total Defects Closed 42 65 55 58 53 55 9 12 35 46 11 19 Reported by Customer Found Inhouse

834

956

1639

1741

2033

2728

54

102

2015

2620

74

6013

Median Days until QM Handoff (downloaded PCRs)

6.28571 3.25 14.875 1.125 3.2 3.4 7.2 8 1 2 4.71429 1.4

Incomplete Fixes (Monthly) 0.0% 3.1% 0.0% 3.4% 9.4% 9.1% 11.1% 16.7% 2.9% 23.9% 27.3% 9.1%

Incomplete Fixes (Rolling 12 months) 0.0% 1.9% 1.2% 1.8% 3.3% 4.3% 4.5% 4.9% 4.7% 6.7% 7.3% 7.2%

Raw numbers: 33 divided by sum of "Total Defects Closed" Raw numbers: 7/5 Raw numbers: 1/11

Total Hours: 10819Total PCRs = 58Total Current = 34 Pre GA = 34 Post GA =GA =3 Mo After =

Total Hours: 10819Total PCRs = 14Total Current = 6 Pre GA = 6 Post GA =


PCR Review ProcessPCR Review Process PCR Review Team: R&D, QM, PCR Review Team: R&D, QM, SupportSupport, ,

Technical Services, DocumentationTechnical Services, Documentation Assign target build based upon customer Assign target build based upon customer

need/impact and internal constraintsneed/impact and internal constraints Prioritize defects to ensure R&D is focused Prioritize defects to ensure R&D is focused

on most critical issueson most critical issues Weekly review and assignment of PCRsWeekly review and assignment of PCRs

– review PCRsreview PCRs– review resolved PCRs for accuracy – R&D is review resolved PCRs for accuracy – R&D is

responsible for resolutionsresponsible for resolutions

Notification

- or -

Validation Plan (QM)

Support Analyst logs NEW PCR with

Severity = SEVERE

PCR Review Team escalates existing PCR to Severity =

SEVERE

Action Plan (R&D)

Within 1 Business Day R&D must respond with the following:

To: REPLY TO ALLSubject: Product Line: - Severe PCR # - R&D

Content: Areas Impacted R&D Resource Estimates Time Estimates - or – Time estimates for further evaluation Resources required

** RECEIVED IN QM by Team Leads **

Within 1 Business Day QM Analyst must respond with the following:

To: REPLY TO ALLSubject: Product Line: - Severe PCR # - R&D - QM

Content: Areas for Validation Time Estimates - or – Time estimates for further evaluation Resources required

To: DL APG PDS PCR Review Team (if PDS)- or -

DL APG AD/HBI PCR Review Team (if AD/HBI)- or -

DL APG TSTAR PCR Review Team (if TSTAR)

Subject: Product Line: - Severe PCR #

Content: Product Name Summary Description Desired Resolution Date

QM Team Leads

Assigns PCR to QM Analyst Forwards e-mail to QM Analyst assigned to PCR

Add note to PCR with detailed Action Plan notes. Subject = Action Plan

E-mail with contents of PCR note must be added to original e-mail, Reply to All, append “- R&D” to subject line

Add note to PCR with detailed Validation Plan notes. Subject = Validation Plan

E-mail with contents of PCR note must be added to original e-mail, Reply to All, append “- QM” to subject line

PCR is documented Support can communicate most current information to customer

SEVERE PCR ESCALATION PROCESS Quick response time to customer Everyone is kept “in the loop” via e-mail

Overall Goals

*** WHEN TESTING IS COMPLETE ***

E-mail is sent by the QM Analyst to appropriate PCR Review Team stating

that testing is complete.

*** WHEN CODING IS COMPLETE ***

Email is sent to the PCR Review team w/ ART in the subject line. This begins the

“Resolution Review process” between R&D and Doc.

Assignment of Target DatePCR Review team Support member evaluates info from R&D and QM

Enters Target Date Forwards information to PCR Review Team

The originator of the Escalation is responsible to Continually Update the SLA tracking document. \\amhmain\data\share\APG_Prod_Supp\Tracking_documents\SLA_Spreadsheet.xls

Support and R&D UniteSupport and R&D Unite

Additional ImprovementsAdditional Improvements

SWAT meetingSWAT meeting Initiated by SupportInitiated by Support Cross-functional team membersCross-functional team members Focused effort to resolve critical customer issuesFocused effort to resolve critical customer issues

R&D case processR&D case process During the instances of staffing shortages within During the instances of staffing shortages within

Support, R&D resources will be available to Tier-2 Support, R&D resources will be available to Tier-2 Support to help troubleshoot and resolve cases Support to help troubleshoot and resolve cases logged by customerslogged by customers

Support Beta customersSupport Beta customers Evaluate beta issues and prioritize for internal Evaluate beta issues and prioritize for internal

discussiondiscussion Enables R&D to work on specific customer issuesEnables R&D to work on specific customer issues

Additional ImprovementsAdditional Improvements

Release Planning MeetingsRelease Planning Meetings Bi-weekly review of hot customer issuesBi-weekly review of hot customer issues

Change Control BoardChange Control Board Assess impact of requested changes to the Assess impact of requested changes to the

release processrelease process

Maintenance Project ManagerMaintenance Project Manager Focus on resolving PCR backlog and customer Focus on resolving PCR backlog and customer

issuesissues

SummarySummary

It can be done!It can be done! Needs to be an organizational decisionNeeds to be an organizational decision Benefits:Benefits:

better all-around understandingbetter all-around understanding everyone has a role in customer satisfactioneveryone has a role in customer satisfaction team approachteam approach accountabilityaccountability better communicationbetter communication

Questions?Questions?

improving the r&d/support relationship

Documents

teamsno rd time

rd handoff

supportrd environments

backlog pcrs

hpm19 pcrs

development hoursmetric

total severe defects

individual goals