garmin-service-case-study[1]

Oracle Customer Case Study Garmin Plots a Path to Success with Premier IT Support and Guidance Copyright © 2007, Oracle. All rights reserved. Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. Published October 2007 Garmin International, Inc. Olathe, KS www.garmin.comIndustry: Consumer Goods Annual Revenue: US$1.77 billion Employees: More than 6,400 Oracle Products & Services: Oracle Premier Support Oracle Advanced Customer Services Oracle Priority Service Oracle Database Oracle Application Server Oracle Order Management Oracle Warehouse Management Oracle Financials Oracle iPayment Oracle Purchasing Oracle iSupplier Oracle Inventory Oracle Product Lifecycle Management Oracle Human Resources Oracle iRecruitment “Garmin is a technological innovator. We’re always applying the latest Oracle system upgrades, bug fixes, and features. Oracle Priority Service gives us the extra attention and fast response we need to keep our critical systems humming.” – Brandy Vandiver, IT Software Systems Manager, Garmin International It wasn’t long ago that Global Positioning Systems (GPS) were the exclusive domain of armies, airplanes, and automobiles. But thanks to companies like Garmin, today’s consumers can choose from a whole range of personalized GPS devices, from fish-finders to fitness computers to portable navigators. The result has transformed Garmin’s business, and put it on a path to triple-digit growth. To help sustain this growth, Garmin relies on Oracle technology, backed by Oracle Priority Service. One of Oracle’s Advanced Customer Services, Priority Service gives Garmin front-of-the-line response to resolve issues faster, expert guidance from a Priority Service Manager (PSM) to streamline communications, and preferred access to technical resources to keep systems running efficiently. For Garmin’s specific goals, which include improving time-to-market, adapting quickly to growth, and aggressively implementing technology enhancements, Oracle Priority Service is the perfect fit. Garmin Reduces Issue Resolution Time by 40% One of the biggest challenges facing rapidly growing companies is ensuring consistent and accurate execution of sales orders. For Garmin, shipping large volumes of product on a moment’s notice is a daily ritual, so rapid processing of these orders is an absolute necessity. “We have millions of dollars worth of sales transactions in our system,” says Brandy Vandiver, Garmin’s IT Software Systems Manager. “We can’t afford to let database or application issues Oracle Customer Case Study Key Benefits: 􀂃 Reduced issue resolution time by 40% on bug fixes with expert guidance 􀂃 Gained 20 man days of productivity through reduced service requests 􀂃 Minimized costs and risks with preferred access to technical resources a bottleneck for our fulfillment process. There’s too much at stake.” Fortunately, when an issue did come up this past spring, Vandiver was able to quickly contact her PSM. The PSM, recognizing the critical potential of the problem, escalated the issue to development straight away. “Our PSM was able to immediately connect an Oracle developer with our developers and analysts here,” recalls Vandiver. “We called this guy during his dinner, and he stopped what he was doing and wrote the code fix right then and there.” For Vandiver, this incident clearly demonstrated the bottom line value of Priority Service’s front-of-the-line promise in decreasing time to resolution for business critical issues. Not only did it get sales transactions moving again, it has also reduced the resolution time on all of Garmin’s service requests. In fact, since starting with the program, Garmin has seen a 40% drop in problem resolution times. Expert Guidance Provides Fastest Route to Productivity Gains Another benefit of Priority Service is the dedicated attention of a PSM. This highly skilled professional is Garmin’s single point of contact, proactively managing problem resolution and escalations 24/7. As Garmin’s internal advocate within Oracle, the PSM balances deep knowledge of Garmin’s business with deep skill in navigating Oracle’s support organization to ensure Garmin’s support needs are met. The PSM also provides expert guidance before, during, and after system upgrades. Vandiver explains that this was one of the primary reasons Garmin chose to go with Priority Service in the first place. “We signed up for Priority Service a few months prior to our E-Business 11.5.10 upgrade as a kind of trial to see what response we would get,” she says. “It really worked out well for us because we got great response on the issues we had, and we managed to get things resolved prior to our upgrade milestones.” With the Priority Service trial completed, Garmin planned its upgrade in a very tight time window during the Chinese New Year, which was the one weekend the company’s Taiwan manufacturing facility was idle. “We manufacture 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. So when we get any production downtime, it’s a Copyright © 2007, Oracle. All rights reserved. Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. Published October 2007 Oracle Customer Case Study “Garmin is a technological innovator. We’re always applying the latest Oracle system upgrades, bug fixes, and features. Oracle Priority Service gives us the extra attention and fast response we need to keep our critical systems humming.” Copyright © 2007, Oracle. All rights reserved. Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. Published October 2007 Brandy Vandiver IT Software Systems Manager Garmin International very hard and fast timeframe,” says Vandiver. “That weekend, we had issues with patching and our PSM really came through for us, getting all the needed parties together and facilitating conference calls to get the issues resolved quickly.” This allowed Garmin to hit its targets and deliver the upgraded system on time. The PSM also leads quarterly reviews to assess performance, discuss plans, and gather feedback. These presentations help Vandiver and her team understand the tangible impact Priority Service has on Garmin, and the value they’re getting from their Oracle investment. “It really opened up the communication channels between Garmin IT management and Oracle support,” says Vandiver. “We learned, for example, that this last quarter, Priority Service helped Garmin gain almost 20 man days in productivity from decreased service requests.” Technical Resources Help Garmin Steer Clear of Business Obstacles Productivity gains also come from the preferred relationship Garmin’s developers and analysts have with Oracle’s extended team of service delivery engineers, developers, and subject-matter experts. It’s one of the more exclusive benefits for Priority Service customers, and one of the most valuable. In addition to live webinars, Garmin staff have preferred access to Oracle experts through quarterly online chats, teleconferences, and invitation-only events such as Oracle OpenWorld and Oracle Applications Users Group. At each of these events, Garmin developers can network with peers, share business challenges and goals, and talk directly to the experts who are designing and maintaining Oracle products and services. The value in these knowledge transfer sessions and events shouldn’t be understated, says Vandiver. “Our team appreciates the opportunity to talk candidly with peers as well as Oracle developers and product managers. This gives us more information on how we might avoid future problems, how to better expand our Oracle footprint, and the best direction for upgrading to Application Release 12.” Oracle Customer Case Study Why Oracle? For Garmin’s specific goals, which include improving time-to-market, adapting quickly to growth, and aggressively implementing technology enhancements, Oracle’s Priority Service is a great fit. Vandiver says her IT department has achieved all the things it set out to do. “We’ve decreased time-to-resolution on issues, improved productivity, and increased confidence within Garmin that we get great response from Oracle Support and that Oracle truly understands our business and our goals.” Implementation Process Garmin first implemented Oracle E-Business Suite in 2002. Since then, the company has rolled out its Oracle applications to include everything from sales order management to customer service to human resources. In late 2006, Garmin enlisted Oracle Priority Service to support its upgrade from Oracle E-Business Suite version 11.5.9 to 11.5.10. The Priority Service team provided support during all phases of the upgrade. Today, with the help of Priority Service, Garmin is finalizing its upgrade to Product Lifecycle Management Suite version 11.5.10. Garmin International, Inc. is a member of the Garmin Ltd. (Nasdaq:GRMN) group of companies, a leading supplier of GPS-enabled navigation, communication and information devices and applications. Copyright © 2007, Oracle. All rights reserved. Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners. Published October 2007