Transitioning From Fanatical Support to Fanatical Experience to drive real digital transformation

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Transitioning From Fanatical Support to Fanatical Experience to drive real digital transformation

Rackspace and Fanatical Support are synonymous with each other and we’ve forged considerable brand equity in that promise. But it’s always been difficult to envisage what this might look or feel like when you’re on the outside looking in. Over the last two years, it’s been a company mission to expand the concept of Fanatical Support to Fanatical Experience. Bringing to life the idea that every interaction with Rackspace – from initial engagement to recommendations around your cloud journey, ongoing management and optimisation – provide value and a partnership that thrives with you.  We've got a lot more skin in the game than ever before, which means we’re really invested in your operational model and how we can work with it to drive the desired outcomes. If you’re into analogies, Fanatical Support was like the insurance policy you took out for your annual holiday – peace of mind for when something doesn’t go to plan.  Whereas Fanatical Experience is your personal travel manager – planning and preparing your itinerary with an experienced hand that asks the pertinent questions around the why and what if’s.  It’s much the same when starting out on your cloud journey.

The time taken at the beginning informs the digital transformation.

In research conducted by Rackspace into cloud deployment, over 200 Australian enterprises were asked to cite issues encountered with their journey. Almost 1-in-2 surveyed, stated their company’s cloud migration had not met expectations. Not because of technology issues but from poor communication about what cloud IS and is NOT. The research also highlighted that the number one thing that CxOs wish they had done differently in their cloud migration was to obtain more information prior to starting with 62% wishing they’d started their journey differently. Proving that preparation is key.

Cue Fanatical Experience.

It starts from the beginning, with communication at the forefront. Taking the time to understand the business and to get a clear vision of what’s important to the customer and their journey is of utmost importance in building a solid foundation to cloud. Often what we see is the journey isn’t straightforward. However, with a clear plan, everyone has an understanding of where they’re going and what can and will be achieved along the way. So why Fanatical Experience?  Our customers have always been our biggest advocates when it’s come to highlighting our amazing support but as we’ve shifted to provide guidance and expertise on their journey to cloud, customers now illustrate our consultative approach in their feedback to us.  Our customer feedback guides us on what that entails. “An important part of Intershop’s early offering involved the digitalisation of retailers who previously only existed in the physical sphere. Using Rackspace, Intershop was able to open up a whole new avenue to its core customers, including selling and automating how the products are distributed to the end customer.  Rackspace and Intershop worked in tandem to assess the hosting solution, and with Rackspace’s expertise in the initial consultation phase it played a crucial role in the success of individualized configuration of solutions.”  Paul Giatras, Director of Service Delivery APAC- Intershop “We needed a trusted partner with deep technology expertise in order to oversee our successful digital transformation journey. One of the biggest issues we had was finding genuine technical flexibility — there were a lot of organisations claiming to be flexible but, we quickly realised that many out there are not. One of the things that I’ve absolutely learned in this digital transformation journey is to partner with the right people. Rackspace is a single vendor with skills across cloud offerings, including areas such as automation, that are vital to Pickles’ digital transformation.” Simon Meyrick, CIO of Pickles “Rackspace asked the right questions and never made a promise they couldn’t keep. We didn’t want to be locked into hardware that was inflexible or had an inability to scale up or down, and we also needed something with the least amount of complexity. We wanted the least number of moving parts to our system. Rackspace architected an elegant, simple solution for us and that’s when we knew they understood our needs perfectly and were giving us what we needed by listening to our needs. Having that bigger business and customer picture in mind was definitely what made this ambitious project such a success, especially in view of the tight deadline we had set.” Peter Poulos, Group Operations Manager, Poulos Bros Seafood Quite often what our customers are most surprised by when it comes to their Fanatical Experience is that we do what we say we’ll do. We live by our mantra, and that carries through from the simple things, such as no phone goes unanswered, but it also carries through to knowing what we can and can’t supply. Integrity means that we don’t take on things that we can’t fulfil. Starting out on the journey may seem daunting, but taking those first steps and time to plan will see you enjoy a successful migration on your cloud journey.  We’d love to be your guide.