McAfee
Company: McAfee, Inc, Santa Clara, California
Company Description: McAfee proactively secures systems and networks around the world from known and unknown threats. Home users and businesses alike trust our unmatched security expertise and comprehensive solutions to block attacks and prevent disruptions. McAfee ensures companies of all sizes stay protected and online; our technicians support their valuable infrastructures around the clock.
Nomination Category: Organization Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best Support Organization
Nomination Title: McAfee Reinvents the Customer Support Experience
1. Tell the story about what this nominated organization/department achieved in the past year (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:
At McAfee, our passion for security is only matched by our passion for our customers. Our team of over 1,000 support professionals services 250,000 Corporate customers and 25 million Consumer subscribers, totaling 5.1 million
support contacts annually. Our Mission Statement--For McAfee customers to feel “Confident I'm covered”--captures the spirit of our support organization. Our business is listening to customers, and we build unique solutions they
truly appreciate: specialized tools that are safe, effective, and always on. Our innovations in self help and automation not only set McAfee apart, but improve our bottom line.
The McAfee support websites are designed to be the "first step" for McAfee customers for technical support, product updates, training, and demonstrations. Last year, the sites underwent major enhancements. Based on customer feedback, we took a fresh approach to presenting Self Service, introduced a number of new solutions, and delivered them all simultaneously.
McAfee Virtual Technician diagnoses and resolves common issues without engaging technical support. If further assistance is required, gathered data is passed to an agent. Previously, MVT was English-only and incompatible with non-Microsoft browsers. The 2006 version supports nine languages without browser-specific dependencies. New solutions were added, and MVT now resolves 45% of customer issues. In Q4 2006, MVT resolved 200,000+ issues, a 177% increase over 2005.
Our KnowledgeBase houses over 10,500 articles that are accessed ~2 million times per month. Key to the 2006 KnowledgeBase enhancements was improving the quality of the content and search capabilities, resulting in a 56% increase in documents read between Q2 and Q4 2006.
The Global Solutions Lab--a truly original concept in the industry--debuted in early 2006 for training, evaluations, and testing. Anyone can learn about McAfee products over the web in real-time virtual environments. Customers use
the GSL to validate configuration changes or new product deployments. Customers without viable test environments feel more secure after "playing in our sandbox". McAfee has created over 20,500 scenarios. We invest $1.5M yearly in the GSL, and have realized $16M in related business.
The Deployment Assistance Program utilizes dedicated support engineers and remote assistance to provide expert hardware setup, ensuring uniformity and proper configuration. In complex environments, customers see faster return on investment using DAP, and require less phone support from McAfee technicians. In 2006, new products were added to the DAP, and usage grew 62% to 1,135 deployments globally, an increase from 700 in 2005.
Our satisfaction initiatives have reinforced what customers find important: resolution timeliness and self-help tools. After implementing remote assistance and a new support escalation model, customer satisfaction has risen
dramatically. Notably, "time to reach" at 12%, and "resolution timeframe" at 7.5%.
As support contacts increase with company growth, McAfee continues to invest in support technologies and self-assistance options that manage costs and improve the customer experience. We transformed our support business
beyond "transactions", and instituted key differentiators for customer satisfaction. McAfee won multiple awards and recognitions in 2006 for our online self-help services, our mission-critical offerings, and our support
technologies.
2. List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:
Corporate Support Homepage:
https://mysupport.mcafee.com/eservice
Home User Support Homepage:
http://mcafeehelp.com
McAfee Virtual Technician (MVT):
http://amiuptodate.mcafee.com/mvt/index.asp
Global Solutions Lab (GSL):
http://www.mcafee.com/gsl
Video detailing McAfee's innovative use of Citrix GoToAssist for our Intrusion
Prevention solutions:
http://citrix.com/English/aboutCitrix/caseStudies/videoLibrary/videoCustomer.asp
?customerName=McAfee%2C+Inc%2E#top
Press Releases:
McAfee, Inc. Named One of Web's Best Online Support Sites:
http://mcafee.com/us/about/press/corporate/2006/20060504_175525_k.html
McAfee, Inc. Voted a Best International Support Web Site:
http://mcafee.com/us/about/press/corporate/2006/20060206_192800.html
McAfee, Inc. Launches New McAfee ServicePortal for Enterprise Customers:
http://mcafee.com/us/about/press/corporate/2006/20060501_181010_w.html
McAfee, Inc. Technical Support Honored for Best Use of Technology:
http://mcafee.com/us/about/press/corporate/2006/20060614_174510_y.html
McAfee, Inc. Technical Support Chosen as Finalist in SSPA STAR Awards for
Service Excellence:
http://mcafee.com/us/about/press/corporate/2006/20061113_191010_j.html
McAfee, Inc. Global Support Lab Provides Customers and Partners On Demand
Access to Products:
http://mcafee.com/us/about/press/corporate/2006/20060612_175320_w.html
McAfee Technical Support Named Finalist in the 2006 American Business Awards
(SM):
http://mcafee.com/us/about/press/corporate/2006/20060516_181010_x.html
3. Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of the nominated organization/department:
Barry McPherson--McAfee's Senior Vice President of Worldwide Technical Support and Customer Service--is responsible for driving ever-evolving Corporate and Consumer initiatives, such as expanding support contact options and improving self-assistance over the web. His leadership in these areas has led to increased customer satisfaction levels, higher self-assistance rates, and reduced business costs.
Before McAfee, Barry spent six years at Juniper Networks in Global Operations, Business Development, Channel, and Region positions, as it evolved from 300 to 4,000 employees. Prior to Juniper, Barry held sales, support, and operational management roles at Bay Networks, Stream, Siemens, and GE Capital.