Oracle On Demand Update

The Oracle Service Delivery Manager—Your IT Most Valuable Player
By John Papageorge

Imagine you're an Oracle On Demand customer with a new implementation and you want to make sure it's set up so that you get the results you need. Or you've hit a service problem that needs immediate attention. Or you're ready to upgrade, but don't know where to start. Who do you call? Someone like Manoj Gopi, an Oracle On Demand service delivery manager (SDM).

Manoj is the go-to guy for his customers, helping them turn their IT investment into 24/7 delivery of their business solution. On a typical day, he might wear a number of hats, as project manager, upgrade specialist, customer service rep, and more.

"I understand Oracle On Demand's services from top to bottom, and the next step is to understand the customer's requirements and meet them," he says. "When customers request services, we try to map what they have in mind to the services we deliver."

Turning Customers into Partners
Manoj sees his relationship with Oracle On Demand customers as a partnership rather than a vendor/supplier relationship. "Overcoming a customer's fear of change and learning to trust each other during the implementation and migration phase is always the biggest challenge," he says. Having someone on your team that knows Oracle and has been through the processes before lowers risk and makes customers more comfortable." He believes daily meetings help. "Explaining the process and what customers can expect to see as they become Oracle On Demand customers is helpful," says Manoj. "I always say that if you hit a roadblock, give me a call and we'll figure it out."

Manoj believes that the more an SDM is engaged in the early planning phase of customer projects, the greater value he or she can bring to the project. Getting involved at the development stage allows him to coordinate service delivery teams and resources to meet projected goals and objectives. "I ensure a project's success by adding structure and context to a customer's requests so that the rest of the Oracle team can execute for the customer," he says.

A Virtual IT Team
Manoj sees his responsibilities—and the role of every Oracle SDM—as those of a virtual team responsible for helping customers interested in leveraging Oracle On Demand services. "What new customers may not be aware of is the strategic role of the SDM in a customer's planning stage," explains Manoj. "Getting plugged in and gaining the customer's trust as part of the core team allows you to proactively meet their needs. One of the real benefits to the customer is my role as an advisor."

Manoj believes his technical background as an applications DBA helps him understand his customers' needs. Recently, one of his accounts was planning a business intelligence reengineering project. Manoj provided the customer with information about the direction of new Oracle technology releases, which helped guide more strategic decisions, saved time and money, and helped plan a more complete solution using the right technologies.

When another customer was having performance issues, Manoj used his knowledge of that customer's system and product to recommend additional control and change-management mechanisms to ensure higher stability for critical business systems.

"My function is to coordinate all resources, manage delivery of service, and make sure my customers reach their business objectives," he says. "When you look at the bottom line, the customer's success is the only goal."

John Papageorge is an independent business and technology writer.

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