Technical support: The tail end of the technology lifecycle or the beginning?

The concept of the inevitable ''decline'' and eventual death of a technology no longer exists as technologies have the potential to remain in the market so long as they keep getting reinvented, says Manish Sinha, managing director, Asia Pacific and India, customer service and support, Microsoft Corporation.

As unusual as it may seem, the laws of the universe can be applied to the lifecycle of a technology. In accordance with those laws, technologies are introduced; they attain maturity and eventually face obsolescence and are replaced, after a period of time, by the next generation avatars of every technology. At this stage, the existing technology is expected to gracefully exit the market, having run its course. Paradoxically, the decline stage is often the most critical phase in the lifecycle of a technology.

It is at this stage that technology can reinvent itself to meet evolving customer requirements. In order to achieve a 360-degree turn in the lifecycle of the technology in the final stage, a company must be able to envisage market needs. Technical support plays a pivotal role in predicting market needs to ensure that the technology lifecycle remains dynamic.

Customers today increasingly rely on technical support to resolve issues arising from their multi-vendor environments. To address intricate problems arising from these complex ecosystems, an effective support organisation will always ensure a symbiotic relationship between the support and development teams through a multi-tiered support process. This process is instrumental in paving the way for new and improved technologies, thereby providing existing technologies a new lease of life.

Technical support engineers have the unique advantage of being able to provide a direct feedback mechanism to their development colleagues about technology usage, based on their interactions with customers. This "feedback loop" extends the engagement of the development team with the technology, beyond its introduction to the market. Not only does this help resolve problems with the existing product, it also facilitates product innovation.

In a market where technology is continually upgraded, superior technical support is the key to a long lasting relationship with customers. The bell shaped curve depicting the product life cycle has therefore, now evolved to form what could be called an absolute circle. The concept of the inevitable ''decline'' and eventual death of a technology no longer exists as technologies have the potential to remain in the market as long as they keep getting reinvented.