Browsing by Subject "SAP"

This research considers factors affecting customer satisfaction and value perception of ERP maintenance and support service. The research strategy is qualitative and it is carried out as a semi-structured interview study. In the study 12 experts working with maintenance and support services for ERP systems are interviewed. The interviewees represent IT vendor sales organization and service managers and the customer-side IT management, service managers and application experts. The theoretical framework of the research is primarily based on DeLone and McLean (2003) IS Success theory and framework of Critical Success Factors for ERP Maintenance Support by Law, Chen and Wu (2009). The theoretical framework is subsequently converted to ten themes which comprise the core of this research. The purpose of the research is to find out what factors affect the satisfaction and value perception of companies using ERP maintenance and support services and what is the effect of the research themes. The research sample is limited; however it provides in-depth insights into similarities and differences between viewpoints of people working in different roles related maintenance and support service. The study also considers how the viewpoints differ when the interviewee is working for an IT vendor or for a customer company IT organization. The conclusion of the research is that the interviewee viewpoints match with that of their counterpart at the customer or the vendor. To improve customer satisfaction, IT vendors should better involve parties representing customer business and end users in management of the service and in definition of service requirements, and not satisfied to collaborate between IT organizations only. Fulfilling contractual and written obligations is critical for realizing service value. IT vendors should be able to be flexible and adjust their service delivery according to customer requirements, regardless of if these requirements are captured in contracts or service level documents. Customers consider the vendor technical competence to be critical for service quality, in addition to which competence in customer business and processes is essential for realizing added value in the service. The physical location of service delivery does not increase the customer’s willingness to pay. The vendor should use efficient processes to minimize the effect of service delivery location and personnel turnover for service quality.