Ignite talk at #cfgmgmtcamp 2018, Ghent

1. The problem of becoming "3rd line support”
(and why Swarming is a better alternative)
Jon Hall
Principal Product Manager, BMC
Configuration Management Camp 2018, Ghent.
@jonhall_

2. @jonhall_
Adoption of new practice in established enterprises
“Startup-like”
teams.
Emergent products
Ad-hoc support.
Established products
Mainstream support.

3. LEVEL 2 SUPPORT LEVEL 2 SUPPORTLEVEL 2 SUPPORT
LEVEL 3 SPECIALISTS LEVEL 3 SPECIALISTS LEVEL 3 SPECIALISTS LEVEL 3 SPECIALISTS
LEVEL 1 SUPPORT
Classic “Tiered” Support Structure
@jonhall_

4. LEVEL 2 SUPPORT LEVEL 2 SUPPORTLEVEL 2 SUPPORT
LEVEL 3 SPECIALISTS LEVEL 3 SPECIALISTS LEVEL 3 SPECIALISTS LEVEL 3 SPECIALISTS
LEVEL 1 SUPPORT
Escalation
Escalation
Classic “Tiered” Support Structure
@jonhall_

5. LEVEL 2 SUPPORT LEVEL 2 SUPPORTLEVEL 2 SUPPORT
LEVEL 3 SPECIALISTS LEVEL 3 SPECIALISTS LEVEL 3 SPECIALISTS LEVEL 3 SPECIALISTS
LEVEL 1 SUPPORT
…when the answer is here… …or here.
Issues may spend time here
@jonhall_

6. LEVEL 1 SUPPORT
LEVEL 2 SUPPORT
LEVEL 3 SPECIALISTS
When tickets
eventually escalate…
…they frequently
bounce back
@jonhall_

7. LEVEL 1 SUPPORT
LEVEL 2 SUPPORT
LEVEL 3 SPECIALISTS
LEVEL 1 SUPPORT
LEVEL 3 SPECIALISTS
LEVEL 2 SUPPORT
SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT
The system encourages “heroes” (not in a good way)
@jonhall_

8. It’s not very agile
• Work-in-progress queues
• Asynchronous communication
• Single role teams
• Individual burnout
• Poor knowledge transfer
@jonhall_

9. Tiered “Funnel”
• Siloes & Hierarchies
• Directed
• Linear, rigid
• Measured on activity
Intelligent Swarming
Dynamic network
Collaborative
Dynamic, loopy
Measured by value
Enter “Swarming”…
@jonhall_

10. Severity 1 Swarm – “Rapid Responders”
Severity 1 Swarm
PrioritiseNew issues
@jonhall_

11. Swarm lead
Communications
Other members
Research, coordinate, test
• 3 agents, 1-week rotation
• Respond immediately
• Fix as soon as possible
Severity 1 Swarm – “Rapid Responders”
@jonhall_

12. Dispatch Swarm - “Cherry Pickers”
Specialist Product Teams
Severity 1 Swarm
Dispatch Swarm
Prioritise
@jonhall_

13. Dispatch Swarm – “Cherry pickers”
• Meet hourly (ChatOps)
• Fix immediately resolvable stuff
• Validate other tickets and assign
Experienced
analyst
Less-experienced
analyst
@jonhall_

14. Backlog Swarms – Global fixers of troublesome issues
Local Specialist Product Teams
Backlog Swarm Backlog Swarm Backlog Swarm
Local Specialist Product Teams
@jonhall_

15. Backlog Swarms – Global fixers of troublesome issues
• Meet Weekly
• ChatOps
• Focus on challenging issues
Experienced analysts Product line specialists (e.g. devs)
@jonhall_

16. • Suggest Swarm participants based on contributions
• Encourage and reward
• Learn from each interaction
• Improve reliance of next interaction
Making it Intelligent
@jonhall_

17. A much better fit for agile and DevOps
• Autonomy (guidelines, not rules)
• Knowledge & skill development
• ChatOps, not email
• Prevents work queue buildup
• Protects individuals from burnout
@jonhall_

18. • 25% median resolution time improvement
• Cust.sat. +8 points
• More issues closed in under 2 days
• Significant backlogs reduction
• 50% faster onboarding
• Freed people to innovate
Results at BMC
@jonhall_

19. “I have probably doubled my knowledge of the
products in a year because of Swarming, and I
have been here a long time”
- Senior Support Analyst at BMC
@jonhall_

20. medium.com/@jonhall_serviceinnovation.org/intelligent-swarming
Some more information
@jonhall_