1.3 What does GSV need to provide to the IT service provider to ensure that the ultimate customer is satisfied with the service being provided? As a global software vendor with a wellestablished range of desktop software products, GSV Software had developed a largely channelcentric model to meet its broad range of customer technical services requirements. Service and support were allied to specific software products and were delivered by third parties. GSV put most of its service and support efforts into selecting the right intermediaries to deal directly with its user base, and also into providing any product training required to ensure that the intermediaries were effective. The advantage of this approach was that GSV had a limited number of support relationships to deal with.

This strategy to develop and support the channels to customers was supplemented by the provision of a limited range of direct technical services targeted at large accounts or provided to those few customers who wanted to come directly to the GSV for ‘paid for’ support at premium rates. Individual customers normally dealt with GSV’s accredited agents or other partners such as value added retailers (VARs) for service and support