The Calm Before--and During--the Storm
Sun Takes Proactive Approach to Help Customers Cope with Isabel
Days before Hurricane Isabel roared ashore along the Eastern Seaboard of
the U.S., Sun Services was getting prepped for action. Support engineers
were completing plans for helping customers cope with what was predicted
to be possible widespread damage from 100 mile-per-hour winds and
massive flooding. At the same time, procedures were initiated to make
sure Sun's employees were kept safe and its own operations maintained,
particularly customer support. By the time Isabel hit on Thursday, Sun
had already established its battle plan from its command center at its
Broomfield, Colorado, campus.
"We've rehearsed scenarios like this over and over, and we've had to
live through situations like 9/11 and widespread blackouts with our
customers," stated Tom Kelley, Vice President for Sun Services, Americas
support operations. "So, we have a well established game plan that we
can roll out quickly."
The initial stages saw Sun account teams contact their customers to
understand the customers' business plans/situations/requirements for
pre-storm, during, and after the storm time frames. At the same time,
employees and managers were establishing both routine and contingency
contact procedures to maintain command and control. In addition, a
schedule of continuous internal updates was established to keep everyone
on the Sun team current on conditions at both customer and Sun
worksites. Logistics plans were developed to address any increased parts
demand as a result of the storm.
Sun Services director Kevin Coyne was one of the key team members in the
eye of the storm for Sun. A veteran support engineer, he also had the
task of coordinating Sun's 9/11 response operations.
"We really have two jobs going on at the same time," Coyne explained.
"We have to help our customers, and we have to maintain our own
operations as a company. For example, we have a customer care center in
the area expected to be hit. So, we have to make sure our employees are
safe and our own business operations stay up and running."
By the time Isabel hit, Sun was ready.
The Battle Begins
On Thursday morning, the action started. Isabel smashed the coastline
with winds reported at 90 miles per hour. Sun Services began receiving
reports on customer office closings and operational status. At the same
time, it was monitoring its own offices along the Eastern seaboard.
Federal government offiices closed. Some Sun offices were closed. By the
end of the first full day, the news media reported that over 4 million
customers were without power, and 13 deaths were blamed on the storm.
Hundreds of air flights were canceled.
In the meantime, Sun was maximizing stockages of critical items such as
disk drives and power supplies. Sun also made an important commitment
early on for its customers: Its Customer Care Center would provide
service to impacted customers beyond their contracted support agreement,
due to the unusual circumstances of this storm.
Said Kelley, "You have to stand behind your customers, and critical
times call for a quick and appropriate response."
Call center traffic was still at normal levels, and the team expected
that activity to spike after the weekend, since many customer offices
were closed. Account teams continued to contact customers to assess
support needs. Sun began implementing its own backup plans as some of
its Eastern offices closed. In addition, Sun began to identify the best
ways to get any needed parts and supplies through to customers.
The story continues to unfold. As the East continues to do battle with
Isabel, we'll keep you updated on how Sun's elite emergency response
team meets the challenge for its customers.
Stay tuned.
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