{"id":1473,"date":"2016-12-06T21:02:53","date_gmt":"2016-12-06T21:02:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radcom.com\/?p=1473"},"modified":"2024-06-23T10:24:06","modified_gmt":"2024-06-23T10:24:06","slug":"independent-customer-experience-assurance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radcom.com\/independent-customer-experience-assurance\/","title":{"rendered":"Independent Customer Experience Assurance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Probing question: how impartial is your CEM data auditor?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Remember this perturbing question from the iconic graphic novel\u00a0Watchmen<\/em>, or from Juvenal\u2019s Satires<\/a>: \u201cWho watches the watchers?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What happens when a customer experience management<\/a> (CEM) solution has a business partnership with the same network it\u2019s meant to be monitoring?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A CEM examines how network performance and infrastructure affect the end user\u2019s day to day experience. If Joe is using an iPhone with his local service, the CEM should be running checks on his local network software, his local network hardware, and on how the iPhone interacts with his local CSP (communications service provider) in general. Joe doesn\u2019t care what\u2019s going on behind the scenes, he just wants his phone to do its thing. He might easily get frustrated and switch networks if his calls keep dropping while he\u2019s talking to his boss, or if he can\u2019t log into Facebook from his phone. It would be the CEM monitor\u2019s job to let the network know if his problem was network-related, if a given phone model had its own unrelated glitch, or if the phone wasn\u2019t playing nice with specific network technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hypothetically, if a company running a CEM were closely associated with a hardware manufacturer, there could be quite a serious concern. Could a vendor supplying both network equipment and CEM assessment provide completely transparent and reliable reporting on how equipment and network interact? Even with the best of intentions on the part of the company carrying out the CEM probe, it would be challenging to ensure that the resulting conclusions would be wholly impartial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then there\u2019s the question of hardware agnosticity. If you haven\u2019t already started moving your CSP business towards NFV (Network Function Virtualization), you\u2019re likely about to. Your OPEX and CAPEX demand it. Even if it happens as part of a slower process, NFV or NFV-hybrid optimization is the goal for many CSPs (communications service providers). And that means rejecting proprietary hardware acquisition in favor of commodity or COTS hardware: inexpensive, easy to find, and easily replaceable. You\u2019re going to need your CEM analytics to integrate fully and agnostically not just with NFV, but with vendor-neutral hardware infrastructure. Will a vProbe built to vendor-specific standards have total flexibility? Maybe. But it\u2019s also possible that it will work best with its home turf hardware.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What about vProbe monitoring? With any monitoring or management system, there is a need for checks and balances. From the endpoint perspective, could a network ultimately rely on its CEM probe reporting if that CEM\u2019s operating company had a business alliance with the manufacturer of the hardware under analysis? How dependable could a watchdog agent be in this slightly sticky situation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ideally, any customer experience assurance<\/a> agent is neutral, aimed at all targets equally, or at least as equally as packet processing will allow. We\u2019d like to think of ourselves, as well as our analogs, as white hats riding for the brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since we don\u2019t live in a perfect world, let\u2019s take a brief moment to weigh agent independence versus partnered agents, with specific reference to vProbes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Adaptability<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Independent CEM auditing agents are compelled to stay current with every active and developing tech, and to keep their performance as level as possible across platforms. Evolve or perish, indie agents, because start-ups and new tech like NFV wait for no-one. Adaptability and vendor agnosticity are key: if they can\u2019t switch-hit, they might not get near the ball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Partnered monitors may make a genuine attempt at versatility. But, the bottom dollar being what it is, there will be some greater weight given to partnered tech. Their probe will be looking for either known issues with the specific hardware or software, or possible vulnerabilities within their given structure. Crucial flaws could wind up missed or ignored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Reliability<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Independent performance management must provide point-and-shoot service: identifying and solving problems. The crunched analytics should then be as transparent and readily understandable as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intentionally or unintentionally, partnered service assurance providers may miss some red flags. Or they may bury them once they\u2019re discovered. Highlighting the shortcomings of partnered tech is awkward. This information may be revealed internally, rather than customer-facing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Customer Happiness Assurance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You already know that offering and maintaining the very best quality service possible is not just fundamental ethics, it\u2019s vital business practice. That\u2019s what pumps in a steady, growing flow of revenue instead of the reverse. Unhappy customers simply leave, often without warning. They are also likely to do what they can to demolish your company\u2019s reputation, especially in an increasingly service-oriented culture. You don\u2019t need those angry tweets and comments, and you really don\u2019t need more churn. Happy users tend to be brand-loyal and will often refer friends in person and online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a service provider, it\u2019s worth taking the time to consider your choice of customer experience assurance oversight. What will best secure your service and reputation? From a compatibility angle, probe partnering may make customer assurance feel more easily handled. Your data probe is focused on you and your home tech. And that\u2019s great if you believe optimal results are most likely to manifest in your comfort zone. But are they? In terms of cold, hard, intelligent results, data watchdog independence has its own value. A maverick may be your most solid bet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Probing question: how impartial is your CEM data auditor? Remember this perturbing question from the iconic graphic novel\u00a0Watchmen, or from Juvenal\u2019s Satires: \u201cWho watches the watchers?\u201d What happens when a customer experience management (CEM) solution has a business partnership with the same network it\u2019s meant to be monitoring? A CEM examines how network performance and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[93],"tags":[],"go-to-home-category":[],"class_list":["post-1473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"yoast_head":"\nIndependent Customer Experience Assurance | RADCOM<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"New article by RADCOM: Independent Customer Experience Assurance\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/radcom.com\/independent-customer-experience-assurance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Independent Customer Experience Assurance | 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