December 20, 2019

December 20, 2019 | Chris Polston | Manager of Technical Support Services, JD Edwards

When I first applied to Spinnaker Support for the position of JD Edwards Technical Support, I was a bit worried.

For nearly 12 years, the mainstay of my success as a JD Edwards CNC (Configurable Network Computing, now called a systems architect by Oracle) seemed tied to my ability to log in to My Oracle Support (MOS) and open a ticket or browse document-by-document through the Knowledge Garden (I know, it’s not called that anymore, but old dog/new tricks <shrug>).

Wait…No My Oracle Support?

When Spinnaker Support made it clear that I would be the person who replaces My Oracle Support for customers, I had to take pause and really consider if this was a change I wanted to make.

I imagine this is what many CNCs and technical managers experience when they first hear that their organization is considering a move to Spinnaker Support. Accounting and procurement may get excited over the substantial cost savings, but IT users need to know exactly how third-party software support will deliver stability, fast issue resolution, and all the other support magic they expect.

A New Perspective

Now, after seven years at Spinnaker Support leading the team that delivers technical support services for OneWorld, World, and iSeries, I can state with confidence that this support model works. Here’s why:

  1. Our team is comprised of senior engineers, not junior technicians who need to refer to a manual for every task.
  2. We have all supported JD Edwards software for years (average experience = 19 years), meaning that we have lived through the changes in the software and hardware ecosystem.
  3. Our experience gives us an enormous body of knowledge about the software and how different server and network architectures impact each version, from B7.3.3.2 to E9.3.

And that is why, upon starting at Spinnaker Support, I quickly accepted that I did not need My Oracle Support as a constant crutch. The feared ‘What if something happens…?’ moment never came to pass.

Third-Party Support = Tailored Solutions

Learning my client’s system and unique business requirements means that I can give solutions to issues that are customized to fit each situation. My customers do not have to describe their system every time they have a question. We log in, get on the phone, and get ‘hands-on’ to assist or advise our clients.

At Spinnaker Support, I have not missed spending hours on end researching in My Oracle Support. My JD Edwards CNC team, my colleagues, and my own experience provide more than enough expertise to address our customer’s issues. I wrote a great example of this in a previous post. Check it out.