Improve Cloud Computing Service Quality with Five Simple Questions

Setting

Customer perception matters because customer quality of experience (QoE) is the most significant factor in delivering cloud computing services — and the key to your success. This brief explores a simple approach you can follow to ensure success.

Trigger

How can we manage expectations of our business and customers for cloud computing services we don’t own or operate?

What You Need to Know

Consumers develop perceptions and expectations for QoE based on their use of a service. Service consumers consider the following characteristics to determine quality:

Reliability: Consistency and dependability of the service; the ability of the service to perform its required functions under stated conditions for a specified period
Assurance: The level of safety and confidence felt when using the service; security, privacy, and risk play into assurance
Tangibles: The physical aspects of the service, including user interface device, manuals, hardware, etc.
Empathy: Making the consumer top priority by understanding consumer needs, offering convenient hours, being available for support when needed, etc.
Responsiveness: Prompt operation, service, and support.

What You Need to Do

Choose a service you deliver that has been brought to your attention for performance concerns. Ask the service owner the following five questions that take into account the RATER aspects of service quality. Ask for justifications for each answer. Implicit within these five questions are the assumptions that you have the means to relate customer perception and expectation with the service, you have a system or tool in place to measure customer expectations for the service, and you have some form of continuous service quality improvement process in place. If you don’t have these items, it’s fairly certain your customers are dissatisfied, and obtaining those would be the place to start improving QoE. The five questions in order of importance are:

1. Do you have an agreed plan of action to meet customer expectations for the five RATER service quality aspects? Ask to see the written plan as well as the documented service levels required for each aspect.
2. Have you blueprinted service standards to meet the agreed plan of action for each quality aspect? A service blueprint is a complete plan for the people, processes, products, and partners involved in this service. It identifies how each one must change, and to what degree, to meet your written plan of action. It should include job descriptions, new roles, process changes, automation, etc.
3. Were people, processes, partners, and products put into action as blueprinted? If you have a written plan and a blueprint, verify it actually happens.
4. Do the systems and people put in place deliver to defined standards? Validate that you have in place the means to measure your teams’ performance against the new requirements. These new requirements must align to employee development and compensation systems.
5. Are communications to customers about service quality standards correct? Ensure you’re delivering what you promised and what the customer expected, and ensure the customer’s perception matches yours.

Learn More

For more information about how our training solutions can improve productivity, enhance efficiency, and sharpen your competitive edge, visit www.globalknowledge.com/us-en/category/about-cloud-computing/, contact a Global Knowledge account manager at +1 (919) 463-7383, or email EnterpriseSales.NAM@globalknowledge.com.