SSPA Honors STAR Awards for Service Excellence Winners
Approva, Cisco, Dell, HP, IBM, SAP, StoresOnline,
Symantec, Tektronix, and Xerox
Cisco Systems, Inc. Inducted into Hall of Fame
SAN DIEGO, Oct. 2, 2007 –The Service & Support Professionals Association
(SSPA), the largest and most influential association for technology service
and support professionals, today announced that Approva, Cisco, Dell, HP, IBM,
SAP, StoresOnline, Symantec, Tektronix
and Xerox are recipients of the 2007 SSPA STAR Awards for Service Excellence.
The prestigious peer recognition awards honor companies that demonstrate an
ongoing high level of commitment to delivering world-class results in technical
support. Companies seeking the SSPA STAR Award undergo a rigorous evaluation
process against an extensive set of criteria, with the winners selected by the
SSPA’s Advisory Board members.
Winners were honored today during a luncheon awards ceremony at the SSPA Services
Leadership 2007 Conference in New Orleans, where Cisco Systems, Inc. was also
inducted into the SSPA Hall of Fame. This special recognition is
awarded to a select group of companies that have won five SSPA STAR Awards since
the program inception in 1989.
“Traditionally, the SSPA Service Excellence award winners have set the standard
for the industry by delivering world-class, value-added service and support
to their customers. This year’s group of winners was no exception and
the dedication of these organizations continues to impress us,” said Stephen
Smith, executive director, SSPA.
The 2007 SSPA STAR Awards for Service Excellence winners by category
are:
Service Excellence in Complex Application Support – Tektronix, Inc.
This category recognizes support organizations that deliver sophisticated technical
support for complex applications in mixed or otherwise complex environments.
An applicant in this category is typically identified as having senior level
technical support representatives with advanced degrees. These representatives
interface with senior level customers typically in engineering and/or scientific
fields.
Service Excellence in Consumer Support - StoresOnline
This category honors a company whose consumer-facing contact center or technical
support operation effectively handles high volumes of inbound and outbound customer
interactions, with an emphasis on problem avoidance, Web and voice self-service,
and streamlined incident handling.
Service Excellence in Continual Improvement – IBM System x, BladeCenter
& Intellistation (xBCI) Client Support
This award is presented to the company that has demonstrated exceptional service
levels and customer satisfaction for three or more years, with year over year
improvements and a plan in place for continual improvement in the future.
Service Excellence in Emerging Business Support – Approva Corporation
Applicants in this category provide technical support within emerging businesses
(defined as companies with under $500 million in total annual revenue) for which
exemplary customer support is important for company growth and is typically
provided with constrained resources. The winner has demonstrated
that their technical support effectively maintains customer satisfaction and
loyalty, and helps drive new business.
Service Excellence in Innovative Support – Xerox Corporation
Presented to a company who has embraced innovation in people, process and technology
to increase agent productivity, service levels and customer satisfaction; increase
problem avoidance, and effectively handle more interactions using unassisted
channels.
Service Excellence in Integrated Services – Xerox Corporation
The Integrated Services category recognizes support organizations that have
effectively teamed with the Education Services (Training) and Professional Services
Organizations to deliver seamless integrated support to their customers.
They offer blended services programs that ensure a positive customer experience
with the adoption, implementation and usage of the company’s products
Service Excellence in Mission Critical Support, Software – SAP AG
Service Excellence in Mission Critical Support, Hardware – Dell, Inc.
Honorees in this category provide technical support in mission-critical environments
where “system up-time” is imperative, typically for enterprise customers.
Technical support from these support organizations is a critical part of keeping
customers “up and running” 24/7. The winners have demonstrated how their
technical support effectively maintains their customers’ mission critical systems
in continuous operation.
Service Excellence in Outstanding Improvement – Symantec Corporation
This award is presented to the company that effectively demonstrates the greatest
increase in support quality within an underperforming operation. Key supporting
data include multi-quarter improvement in customer satisfaction scores and support
productivity performance metrics.
Service Excellence in Partner Management, Consumer – Hewlett Packard
Service Excellence in Partner Management, Enterprise – Cisco Systems,
Inc.
Many companies outsource service delivery to qualified partners, including outsourcers
and channel partners, to reduce costs and extend or augment their own direct
service delivery operations. This award is presented to a company who
excels at leveraging third party providers for the seamless delivery of service
and support with high levels of customer satisfaction.
More information on the SSPA Services Leadership conference and previous STAR
Award winners can be found at www.thesspa.com.
About the SSPA
The SSPA is chartered with bringing together the service and support community's
best and brightest minds to deliver a relevant blend of market research, programs
and certifications including the distinguished Excellence in Service Operations
program, as well as networking, media and analyst relations, education and other
information resources. SSPA's core constituents include the world's leading
enterprise and consumer technology companies as well as scores of innovative
small and mid-sized companies that serve to continually refresh the industry
by bringing new ideas and processes to the marketplace. The SSPA also partners
with thought leaders such as J.D. Power and Associates and the Wharton School
to create programs that benefit the industry. The SSPA is a member of a global
network of associations that includes the Technology Professional Services Association
(TPSA), the Association for Services Management International (AFSMI) and the
Electronic Supply Chain Association (ESCA). For more information, visit www.thesspa.com.
