I use Linux extensively and whenever I run into trouble I use google for help. More often than not the information I need is available on forums, blogs and group emails (usually in that order). Most of the time, if not always, I end up finding solutions and solving problems on my own without taking expertise’s help. By doing this, I have managed to perform complex tasks on my own. For example, I managed to fix a bug (on my own) in a C code without actually knowing the code thoroughly. I have learned and used several products this way. This not only saves time and money, but also improves efficiency. This also reduces the learning curve. The ability to find information easily and use that to solve your problem is Self Support 2.0. Help 2.0 can be used here instead of Self Support 2.0, but the word Support is very important. For Self Support 2.0 you don’t pay any support charges. Your cost is zero. Self Support 2.0 is not limited to using Google to find your information, but searching, no doubt, plays an important role. This post is to illustrate the importance of Self Support 2.0 for any product development organization.
The success of Self Support 2.0 depends on how much information is available and how well accessible they are. Self Support quotient can be used to measure how well Self Support is for a particular product. Note, just placing documents/readmes/etc on the internet will not increase your Self Support quotient. That is where blogging, internet, web 2.0, etc comes into play. Blogging is one of the key factors for the success of Self Support 2.0. I can explain why maybe in another post, later. Self Support 2.0 is critical for any product development organization. Say, for example, an ERP company wants to sell their product. One of the key factors (often discussed widely) is how much cost goes into support and for hiring engineers to implement the product. Now here is where my theory comes into play, the cost of engineering or support is inversely proportional to the amount of Self Support 2.0 quotient the product has. So if a product has lot of information available widely on the internet and is accessible via Self Support 2.0, then the cost of engineering/support is low. Well, I can’t prove this, but if you think about it, it happens to be true. Take for example, Java professional are cheaper than Oracle Applications professionals. People might argue that this depends on demand supply. Yes, no doubt, but if there is something which is easy to learn then the learning curve is low. You can train your existing resources in no time to learn new products.
Self Support 2.0 will not replace the traditional Support, but will supplement it. 1 to 1 Support is definitely need for any enterprise class production environment. No doubt on that. But the value of Self Support 2.0 should not be underestimated. If I can get the information I need in 10 minutes by Google search, I won’t spend 1 hour just to log a service request. Which means I can learn quicker, and when I can learn quicker it means lower training costs, and in long term a win win situation for everybody – product development company, clients, developers, etc. More often than not, developers don’t have access to Support or cannot afford it (unless of course the company they work for has access to support). What do they do then? They either ditch the product or use something that is easy to learn. One of the reasons Eclipse is widely successfully is because Self Support 2.0 quotient for Eclipse is high. Try this exercise out – starting trying out JDeveloper and Eclipse. Both are more or less same in terms of basic features. You will soon decide to use Eclipse because you find information about it easily available – Self Support quotient is high. One may argue that Eclipse has plenty of plugins which makes tasks easy. True, but since people found Eclipse easy to use or information about it easily available, they build lot of plugins for it. Evangelism comes out of high Self Support 2.0 quotient. In the long term, Self Support 2.0 reduces engineering costs which is a key in the IT/ITeS industry as major costs are associated to engineering.
Many will disagree with me, but in the years to come, Self Support 2.0 will be more valuable than the traditional Support. Self Support 2.0 fosters Evangelism which is important for wide acceptance of a product. Again, I am not saying traditional support will be eliminated, but Self Support will be important for a product’s overall success in the future.
To summarize, the success of product depends on Self Support 2.0. In order to have an edge over others, product development companies should ensure that Self Support 2.0 quotient of their product is high.
