The document provides guidance for demonstrating the Customer Portal to customers. It recommends determining whether to use actual or demo data, customizing the demo based on the audience, and ensuring necessary preparations are made. The summary walks through demonstrating key features like invoices, service contracts, search, and entering new data. Emphasis is placed on integrating data from multiple sources and linking all records.

1. Customer Portal Demo Guide
Author: Chris Leger
Date: 01/06/05

2. Before performing a demo you should:
Determine whether you want to show the customer their actual data, or “demo” data.
If the customer is new, or hasn't bought Sun maintenance from us, consider
performing the generic demo.
Consider your audience. If you will be presenting to finance staff, you may wish
to place more emphasis on invoices, purchase orders, and other financial data
elements. If you will be presenting to IT staff, you may wish to emphasise
the asset management features of the Customer Portal.
Ensure that our finance department has reviewed their invoices and order history.
Ensure that our Service Sales staff have reviewed their service contract data.
Ensure that the customer has internet access at the site where you plan to perform
the demo. Some customers will not permit you to connect your laptop to their network,
so you may need to make other arrangements beforehand.
Ensure that you have a valid user name and password, and that it is bound to the
customer's data, if you will be using their data for the demo.
Preview the customer’s data to ensure familiarity.

3. Our WWW home page.

Explain that the
Customer Portal can be
accessed from our
home page via the form
at the lower right.

Enter username and
password, and hit the
carriage return key.

4. This is the Customer Portal’s native login screen.

Explain that the Customer
Portal can also be
accessed at
http://portal.______.com

Enter username and
password, and click on
“login” or hit the carriage
return key.

5. This is the Customer Portal home page.

Explain that the Status
Dashboard at the left of
the screen shows the time
remaining (if any) for the
customer's maintenance
contracts and software
licenses that are due to
expire soonest. Up to five
contracts/licenses from
each of our vendor
partners is shown. Each
individual graph is linked
to the detail for that
contract or license.

Briefly describe the 6 links
at the top of the screen,
as well as the links at
lower left, and the press
releases.

Next, click on the
“Invoices” button, and
display the Invoice
Summary screen.

6. The Invoice Summary screen.
This screen shows the customer's purchase history, comprised of a list of their invoices sorted in descending date
order. Each of the Invoice numbers is linked to that invoice.

Explain the three invoice
facsimile types:

Invoice numbers beginning with
“PS” are for professional
services.

Invoice numbers beginning with
“STDRTN” are returns/credits.

Invoice numbers beginning with
“INV” are for goods and
services.

Next, click an invoice number,
and show the invoice.

7. This is an Invoice Facsimile.

Describe the Invoice Facsimile
screen. Explain that the invoice
facsimile shown is not a substitute
for the actual hard-copy invoice.

Explain that unlike the paper
invoices, the invoice facsimiles in
the Customer Portal contain
additional data – device serial
numbers scanned at the time of
shipment, and the associated
service contract number, if any,
linked to that item's service
contract detail, where applicable,
all in one location.

Next, click on the service contract
number in the invoice facsimile,
and jump to the service contract
detail.

8. The Service Contract Detail screen.

Explain that the service contract
number from the invoice
facsimile is a link to that item's
record in the service contract
detail. Explain that the item is
highlighted for the user's
reference.

Explain that device hostnames
are shown to the extent that
they have been reported to Sun.
The customer may report the
hostname to Sun when booking
the device under maintenance.

Explain the rest of the data
elements.

Explain that the user can sort on
columns by clinking on the
column header.

Next, click on the small square
line item detail icon in the 4th
column, and display the line
item detail.

9. The Line Item Detail screen.
This screen contains all of the data elements present in the feed we get from Sun for this particular device.
Hostnames provided to us at the time of placing the initial order are entered into the support contract and are
available in the Customer Portal.

Explain the importance of the location field when
dispatching Sun staff to service or repair a device.
(Sun will dispatch staff to the location of record.)
Further explain that many customers have run into
situations where replacement parts have been
shipped to the wrong locations.

Explain that the service levels shown are only
“base level” and do not reflect any uplifts.

Emphasise that the link to the actual invoice
facsimile for the sale of the device itself is not
available anywhere else, as that datum is not
available to Sun. Explain that the link to the invoice
facsimile will enable to customer to see details
such as the customer’s original PO, when the item
shipped, and what else shipped with it.

Emphasise the value of joining service contract
records to purchase history. (The Customer Portal
has links to the original invoice from Corporate
Technologies.)

Next, click on “Technical Contacts” and display the
technical contacts screen

10. The Technical Contacts screen.

Explain that the customer
can quickly see who is
entitled to request service
under the terms of this
contract. Explain the
importance of verifying that
the person calling Sun for
service on a device is among
the technical contacts listed
for the associated service
contract.

Next, go back to the line item
detail, and click on a part
number.

11. The Part Number Detail screen.

Explain that all part numbers
throughout the Customer Portal
are linked to the part number
detail screen, where the user
can see all instances of that part
on record, with links to invoices
and service contracts for each.

Explain that a customer can use
this feature to identify other like
parts, and to find links to their
associated invoices and service
contracts. This screen enables
the customer to get a quick
count of like products, and to
identify gaps in service
coverage.

Next, click the same invoice
number you've been using, and
take the user back to the invoice
facsimile screen.

12. The Invoice Facsimile screen.

Again, explain that all
instances of an invoice
number will take the user
back to the invoice facsimile,
with that line highlighted for
easy reference. This principle
applies for many of the links
found throughout the
Customer Portal.

Next, leave this screen by
clicking on the “Purchase
Orders” button at the top of
the page and display the
purchase order summary.

13. The Purchase Order Summary screen.

Explain that this is a list of all
purchase orders, which will
likely be of primary interest to
the customer's finance staff.

Next, click on the “Service
Contracts” button at the top
of the screen, and display the
service contracts and
licenses summary.

14. The Service Contracts Summary screen.

Explain that this screen contains all
high-level “header” data for the
customer's service contracts and
software licenses.
− Contract number
− Start & end dates
− status and number of devices
− Link to Technical Contacts
− Scheduled reminders
− Part numbers
− Descriptions

Explain that it is from this screen that
the user can set email reminders to
avoid out-of-service charges, and that
they can enter service/change
requests for their service contracts, or
to request information.

Point out that such fully-integrated
data from multiple vendors, all in a
single place, is only available from us.

Next, click the “Change Request”
button and display the change request
interface.

15. The Change Request interface.

Explain that change requests
entered from this screen are
forwarded to our support staff,
where they are reviewed and
acted upon.

Explain that when a change
request is created, a tracking
number is assigned and the
tracking number and originator
of the request are displayed in
the Customer Portal.

Enter a service request, and
display the resulting link to the
service request.

Next, click on the “Scheduled
Reminders” button, and
schedule an email reminder.

16. The Scheduled Reminders creation interface.

Explain that the user can use
this feature to create email
reminders to send to
themselves, that can be
scheduled at any time prior to
the expiration of a contract, so
that the user can have sufficient
lead time to effect the contract
renewal prior to expiration.

Explain that we will
automatically send an email 90
days prior to contract and/or
lease expirations. Point out that
the Customer Portal’s
scheduled reminders feature is
flexible and can be used for any
purpose.

Submit the email reminder.

17. The Service Contracts Summary screen.

Show the user the resulting
email reminder (in this case, for
12/15/2004) notation that
appears in the screen. Explain
that the user can opt to delete
the reminder.

Next, scroll down to additional
partner data.

18. The Service Contracts Summary screen.

Explain that part of the value of
the Customer Portal lies in the
integration of data from multiple
vendor partners, a facility not
available elsewhere.

Explain that these software
licenses do not have associated
contract numbers, but rather
that they have individual serial
numbers.

Next, click on the detail icon and
show the line item detail.

19. The Line Item Detail screen.

Explain that this screen contains
everything reported to us by our
partner about this particular
software license. Explain that
customers can use this feature
to track the number of active
licenses they have in force at
any given time.

Next, click on the “Serial
Numbers” button at the top of
the screen, and display the
serial number summary.

20. The Serial Numbers Summary screen.

Explain that this screen shows
all serial numbers reported to us
by Sun, whether as part of a
service contract, or in our
shipment reports or nightly
Point-of-Sale reports.

Explain only our company can
provide this data in its entirety,
because we integrate data from
our nightly Point-of-Sale reports
with Sun contract data. Point
out that we keep a record of the
serial number of every device
we sell, whether covered under
a support contract or not.
Explain that this feature enables
the customer to identify gaps in
service coverage (as in the 5th
and 6th lines shown at left.)

“We’ll point out one part
number…” (???)

Next, enter a value in the
search field at the upper-right of
the screen, and hit the carriage
return key.

21. 
Explain that the user can search all
fields in the Customer Portal. Give
several examples of how they might
The Search Results screen. use this feature. Explain that they can
search on a partial serial number, part
number, or enter the name of a city to
find all devices on record at that
location. Explain that if a patch or fix
comes out for a problem with V880’s
for example, that the customer can
use the search feature to locate these
assets.

Explain that the search feature is
powerful - the customer doesn’t need
much information. Simply typing
“V880” will give the customer access
to invoice facsimiles, shipment dates
and associated service contracts.

Explain that using the Customer Portal
to find a serial number is in many
cases preferable to sending someone
into a data center with a flashlight to
read a serial number off the back of a
server chassis.

Explain that all results are linked back
to the applicable record. In this
example, the link is to the contract line
item, and the link at bottom center is
to the invoice facsimile.

Next, click on the “Leases” button at
the top of the screen, and display the
leases summary.

22. The Lease Summary screen.

Explain that this screen displays
leases, and that the customer
may enter and track their own
lease data, even if it is not
known to us, as when they use
a 3rd party to “flip” a device to a
lease, after the sale.

Explain that this data always
originates from the customer,
and is not managed by us.

Next, click on the “Add a Lease”
button, and display the lease
entry form.

23. The Lease Creation interface.

Explain the various elements in
the form used to enter lease
data.

Enter some representative data
in the form, and submit the new
lease. Display the resulting
lease record.

24. The Lease Summary screen, showing the resulting lease record.

Explain that leases entered in
this way are tracked in the
“Status Dashboard” on the
Customer Portal home page for
the customer's easy reference.
Point out that this feature is
financially beneficial to
customers, as customers who
lose track of their leases and fail
to note expiration dates can
incur costly lease extension
fees.

Next, click on the “Home” button
at the top of the screen, and
display the home page.

25. The Customer Portal home page.

Point out the new “Lease” graph
that appears in the Status
Dashboard.

Next, click on the “Contacts”
button at the top of the screen,
and display the customer's
contact data.

26. The Contact Details screen.

Explain that this screen shows
the contacts for a particular
customer. Explain the role of
each of our internal staff
members listed.

Explain that the sales contact is
responsible for overall account
management, but that if a
customer’s question is
specifically related to service,
they should call a member of
our support team.

Explain the Sun Service-related
language and link to Sun's On-
line Support Center, and explain
that Sun’s on-line support
center enables the customer to
enter a support call.

Explain the importance of
verifying that the user placing a
support call is listed among the
technical contacts for the given
contract, available from the links
at the bottom of the screen.

27. Security, Administration, and Support considerations
Explain that the Customer Portal is secure – all interaction over encrypted SSL. All security
tokens are managed and stored in the HTTP session, and continually referenced by application
code.
Explain that the role-based security features of the Customer Portal will enable key contacts on
customer's staff to grant access and administer grants on all aspects of the Customer Portal's
interface in granular fashion. The key contact can add/update/delete as many user accounts as
desired, and can grant access to data at the screen element level – obscuring acquisition cost
from junior IT staff, for example.
Explain that our vendor partners supply a large percentage of the underlying data, and that all
data is retrieved and loaded nightly. Any EDI exceptions are caught and handled gracefully – the
data is rolled back to the prior day's, and our systems staff automatically notified.
Explain that the Customer Portal is highly-available, with database replication, failover, and
redundant hardware – 2 Sun V65s with dual independent processor modules and multiple hot-
swappable drives.
To showcase our PS and applications expertise, stress that the Customer Portal was developed
entirely in-house, and built using the same best-of-breed technologies that we recommend to our
customers – pure Java (J2EE,) Sun hardware, Sun platform software (JES,) and open-source
development tools.