INTRODUCTION
Development and marketing of a product involves a lot of research, manpower resources, infrastructure, technology, market reach and the money for investment. The size of each of these basic requirements will vary depending on the scope of the product. A product with limited scope could be developed in a short time and would involve limited resources. Products for ERP, Supply Chain etc, have a very large scope and take greater planning, time and resources. But development and marketing of a product are not the only factors that help a Software Product Vendor remain competitive. Another major factor is Customer Support. In other words, after a product is delivered and installed, Customers expect proper maintenance services. For example, when a Customer identifies a problem/bug in the product, he/she expects a quick response from the Vendor. Delays leaves the Customer frustrated and may be a cause for suing the Vendor or dumping the product. So, for a Software Product Vendor, it becomes imperative to provide, fast support to the customer and forms an important part of Customer Relationship Management (CRM).

CUSTOMER SUPPORT
For a Software Product Service Provider, Customer Support Services could cover both the End Customer as well as the Product Vendor. Support to Product Vendor directly could involve development of extensions, Migration and Alpha Testing etc. Support to End Customer (on behalf of the Product Vendor) could involve First, Second and Third Level Support. The first level is the hotline support. In this support, Customers are allowed to raise their product based problems by calling the Vendor directly. These direct calls can be made to specifically dedicated phone numbers that are attended to by multiple operators. These operators, based on the product identified, would re-direct the call to the appropriate On-Call Support Team. In some cases, the answers are immediately provided to the user while in other cases, these are logged on the computer. The logged on cases are then picked up by the regular Support Team who then analyze the problem and provide a solution to the customer. These solutions can be in the form of:

· A simple clarification on the usage of the product.
· A work around in case the product does not meet the User's specific need.
· A temporary bug fix.

In short, what is achieved in this process is a quick response to the customer's need. Sometimes, there could be a delay in providing a solution to the customers but the fact that the vendor is

immediately attending to his/her requirement will go a long way in giving a comfort feeling to the customer.

OFFSHORE CUSTOMER SUPPORT
Having emphasized the important of Customer Support, we now look at the advantages of providing such a service from an offshore facility. Listed below are some advantages that a Product Vendor could benefit from:

· Greater (Global) Coverage
· Improved Service Levels
· Increased Time Coverage
· Backlog Management
· Better focus on high priority Customers
· Attrition rate management
· Competitive Cost

Greater (Global) Coverage
Assuming that the Vendor is based in one part of the globe (for eg: the US) and also that the Vendor has customer's all over the world, a offshore support facility which is geographically located on a different part of the globe, would provide the support service required for this part of the globe. So with the Vendor handling one half of the globe, the other half can be handled by the Offshore facility to provide global coverage to the vendor's Customers.

Improved Service Levels
This is another major advantage to the Vendor. For instance, a Customer might report a problem during the closing hours of the Vendor's day. Under normal circumstances, the vendor might take a minimum of twenty-four hours before he gets back to the Customer. But with a Support Center at an offshore facility (located in a different time zone), the problem can be passed onto them for a fix. For eg: The closing hours in the US would be the starting hours for Brunei. Hence, though a customer would have reported a problem in the late hours of the previous day, a solution could be made available to him/her the very next morning. This support is particularly advantageous when service levels with quick turnaround time is committed to the client.

Increased Time Coverage
Sometimes a customer who does not fall in the Vendor's time zone (for eg: US Vendor with Customers located in the far East and in the Asia Pacific region) may have a need to talk to the Support Center. This may not be possible, as the US offices would be closed. The Customer would then have to choose an appropriate time slot (which would be outside his normal working hours and might also attract an overtime cost for the Customer) to match with the working hours of the US center. But with an Offshore Support Center (facility), the Customer has quick access to talk to a support person.

Backlog Management
Many Product Vendors find it difficult to cope up with various issues identified by its Customers. This amounts to a large backlog and is a cause for dissatisfaction to the Customer. Some of the reasons for the backlog could be:

· Additional Product Features
· Euro Issues
· Location based Extensions
· Complex Bugs involving the OS or other tools

Though many of the Vendors claim that their product works on specific platforms (O.S), issues could arise because of platform upgrades (reasons that are not directly product related). This could cause a steep increase in the number of support requests made. Also, whenever a new Product Version is released, in which new functionalities have been added to the base product, or when specific modules are included to handle say the Euro issue or when country based extensions are introduced, these would also cause a substantial increase in the number of support requests made. Hence, for one reason or the other, the service requests could get piled up, which brings down the impact of the Support Center. To meet such a need, an additional support center that works across a time zone would be a great boon in bringing down the backlog.

Focus on High Priority Customers
Most Vendors provide special support services based on service levels, and special rates are charged based on the service level provided. In such situations, the Vendor could provide fast responses by working twenty-four hours using both the onshore and offshore Support facility (assuming that the offshore facility is located in a different time zone). Alternately, the Vendor can focus on such high priority customers while the offshore support team could take up the low priority issues.

Attrition Rate Management
Response to Customer also depend on the having the right people for the right job. Sometime Vendors face a situation when its Support team member leaves the Organization. This will definitely have an impact on its service levels. Such situations can be resolved by re-locating personnel from the Offshore Support facility.

Competitive Cost
Choice of offshore facility is to be made taking into consideration the time zone advantage, availability of infrastructure, people as well as the Cost. In certain countries, its possible to have a large support team as compared to having a similar sized team in the Vendor's country.

OFFSHORE SUPPORT MODELS
Different Operational Models could be followed to provide support from the offshore facility. Some of them are given below:

· To provide Second Level Support to all End Customers. (Please see the diagram shown).
· To provide Third Level Support to the Vendor
· To provide First Level Support (Call Center) to Geography Region based End Customers
· To provide Support at all three levels

CONCLUSION
Now that one has understood the work content in Customer Support, the need for the same (as a key element for Customer Relationship Management) and the advantages of offshore service, Product Service Providers could look forward to seeking such an opportunity in their respective product service areas. One could first develop the knowledge base, make the customer's realize the benefits of offshore support and explain how it can provide such a support. One could also develop web based tools to help strengthen their pitch and to state how they are well positioned to provide such a support.