Event Summary
On August 25th, Dell Computer Corporation said it will provide, over the Internet, advanced customer support capabilities that will eventually help all Dell systems detect, diagnose and resolve most of their own problems automatically without human interaction.
Market Impact
Dell is getting in early on the overall electronic support marketplace, predicted to grow from $1.9B in 1998 to $10.4B in 2002, a growth rate of >45% per year (Source: IDC). Dell is trying to become the pacesetter in yet another area, which should eventually yield it significant payback in terms of sales and market share. (The other area is, of course, the direct-sales model.) This also appears to be a shot at Compaq, whose 1998 purchase of Digital Equipment Corporation, (ostensibly for its service/support division) has yet to yield the anticipated benefit.
User Recommendations
We expect Dell to do a good job in this area, as it has in implementing its direct sales vision and model, and so we expect customers will see significant benefits. However, as with any new model, customers should exercise a little caution in the early stages, and should make sure there are fallback processes in place before committing to this completely.