The Escalation Process for Managed Service Team(MST)
- Subrat Sandilya
1. Introduction:
Overview: The Escalation Process document outlines the steps and procedures involved in escalating issues from the MST to the Product Support Team.
Purpose: The purpose of this document is to provide a standardized framework for handling escalated issues effectively, ensuring timely resolution and customer satisfaction.
Scope:
Hosted AC Cloud Customers (Centivo, Hackbarth, Paychex, Karmak, Sunlife, SIC, Unum, AIG, Nuvem, Broadridge)
Solution Support Customers (Hussmann, AJG Affinity, Avery Dennison)
AIS to AC Migration Projects
Objectives:
Streamline the escalation process to minimize resolution time.
Ensure clear communication and documentation throughout the escalation lifecycle.
Facilitate collaboration between different teams involved in issue resolution.
Route the issue to various teams based on issue type.
2. Initial Troubleshooting by MST:
Steps Involved:
When an issue is reported, MST will conduct an initial analysis to route the ticket to the appropriate department or vendor.
After analysis, if the issue falls in MST scope then MST diagnoses, troubleshoots and resolves the problem.
Roles and Responsibilities:
Responsible for providing initial support and troubleshooting assistance.
Assists in troubleshooting more complex issues and escalates unresolved issues to the Product Support Team.
Escalation Criteria: Issues that cannot be resolved or require specialized expertise are escalated to the next level.
3. Review by Leads in MST:
Lead Review Process: Junior resources submit escalated issues to their Leads for review before further escalation.
Filtering Criteria:
Leads review the escalated issues to ensure they meet predefined criteria for escalation.
Only issues that require further attention from the Product Support Team are escalated.
4. How to Contact Adeptia Support
Ticket Creation
The existing MST ticket that is identified to be Transferred\Escalated to the Product Support Team needs to be shared from the MST Zendesk portal itself using the Sharing Option. This is shown in the below screen capture:
Key Points:
Automatic Ticket Creation: Any tickets shared from MST Support will automatically be shared on the Product Support team Zendesk Portal.
Issue Details: The details of the ticket shall be shared in an internal Note while Sharing the ticket. The tickets shall be shared in the template that is shown below in point 5.
Tracking: You can track the progress of your ticket directly in MST Zendesk portal.
Portal Access: Users can log in to their MST Zendesk portal to view and manage their submitted tickets.
Intra-Team Communication: Intra-Team communication shall only happen via the Zendesk Internal note feature.
Reporting Issues: All new issues must be initially reported via the sharing option provided and in the format or information shared in point 5.
The Product Support team will not address issues reported to the following email addresses:
Please ensure that all issues are reported via the sharing option.
5. Structured Format for Escalation:
Purpose: The structured format ensures that all necessary information is gathered and documented before escalating an issue to the Product Support team.
Components of the Format:
Email Subject: Indicates the nature and urgency of the issue.
Client Name: Identifies the client affected by the issue.
Issue Priority: Determines the urgency of the issue.
Issue Description: Provides a detailed description of the problem, including relevant error excerpts and screenshots.
Current and Expected Behavior: Describes the expected behaviour and how it differs from the current behaviour.
Error: Includes complete logs, object exports, configuration files, or related files for issue replication or justification.
Troubleshooting Steps: Documents all troubleshooting steps performed by MST.
Issue Replicability: Indicates whether the issue is replicable or not.
Environment Tag: Specifies the environment in which the issue occurred.
5. Escalation to Product Support Team:
Process Overview: Issues are forwarded to the Product Support Team for further investigation and resolution.
Interaction with the Product Support Team:
The Product Support team reviews the information provided and may request additional details if needed.
The Product Support team will identify if there are any troubleshooting steps or workarounds that are left and respond to the MST team.
Once deemed appropriate, the issue is raised on Jira, and a Jira Ticket ID is shared.
The issue is discussed with the Product team and assigned to the respective SME within the team for resolution.
6. Communication and Follow-Up via Jira:
Use of Jira: Jira is the primary tool for communicating, tracking, and managing escalated issues.
Stakeholder Responsibilities:
The Product Support Team should get the issue assigned to the Product team SME along with all the required information.
Once the issue is assigned to Product team SME, MST team can directly follow-up and communicate with the SME.
The stakeholder returns the issue to the assigned SME after providing their comments or information.
All further communication, follow-ups, and issue assignments are conducted through Jira.
7. Resolution and Closure:
Issue Resolution Process: The Product Team resolves the escalated issues based on priority and severity.
Closure Criteria: Issues are marked as resolved in Jira once the resolution is verified.
Communication: Stakeholders are notified of the resolution status, and the issue is closed in Jira.
Continued Communication: If additional information or clarification is needed, communication continues within Jira until the issue is fully resolved and closed.
8. Continuous Improvement:
Purpose: Continuous improvement ensures that the escalation process remains effective and efficient over time.
Review Process: Periodic reviews are conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the escalation process.
Feedback Collection: Feedback is gathered from stakeholders involved in the escalation process to identify areas for improvement.
Implementation of Changes: Necessary changes are implemented based on feedback to optimize the efficiency of the process.
9. Appendices:
Escalation Process Flow Chart: Includes detailed flow chart for Escalation of issues from MST to Product Support.
Sample Templates: Sample templates for the structured escalation format.
Subject: [Urgent] Escalation of Issue [Brief Description]
Dear [Product Support Team],
I hope this email finds you well.
I am writing to escalate an issue that requires your urgent attention. Below are the details of the issue:
Client Name: [Client Name]
Issue Priority: [High/Medium/Low]
Issue Description: [Brief description of the issue]
Current and Expected Behavior: [Description of current behavior and expected outcome]
Error Details: [Provide any error codes, logs, or relevant details]
Steps Taken: [Outline any troubleshooting steps already performed]
Replicability: [Specify if the issue is replicable or not]
Environment Tag: [Specify the environment where the issue occurred]
After thorough troubleshooting by our team, we have determined that the issue requires specialized expertise and further investigation from the Product Support team.
Best regards,
[Your Name]
[Your Position/Role]
[Your Contact Information]