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The quality of an organization's support services can be key to maintaining and extending its customer base and to its future survival. As such, support services need to be considered in software process improvement initiatives and not left as an afterthought or stand-alone effort. However, to identify areas in need of improvement requires a good understanding of the current process. To meet this need, we have developed a process modeling technique called LAPPI that documents current 'as-is' processes.This study explores whether the LAPPI can identify opportunities for improvement in the customer service process. LAPPI is applied, step by step, in a small-to-medium-sized enterprise. Results are validated through an analysis of customer satisfaction questionnaires administered before and after our LAPPI intervention. Applying the LAPPI highlighted several problems with the customer support service, which was subsequently streamlined. The validation shows an improvement in customer satisfaction in several areas, with significant improvement in customer response times and in customer query resolution.Software development organizations can use LAPPI to highlight where improvements are needed in support services. This study shows that making best use of support resources and ensuring customers receive prompt and clear help throughout the product's lifetime can improve an organization's image and future prosperity.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a life cycle phase of a software development project which is substantial for the success of the project. This paper visualizes the project start-up phase from suppliers’ perspective. Design/methodology/approach The method is a theory building from case studies. The data were collected from three software supplier firms by conducting process modeling separately in each firm. Findings The study resulted in a model of a supplier’s software project start-up which includes start-up practices and involved roles. The results indicate that project start-up is an integral and structured phase of project life cycle, which influences the execution of a software development project, especially from the supplier’s perspective in the project business context. Research limitations/implications The study focuses on the start-up phase of software development projects delivered to external customers. Therefore, developed project start-up model is applicable as such in software supplier firms. Practical implications The project start-up model presented in this paper indicates that project start-up is a complex and multi-dimensional activity in a supplier firm. This study suggests that if the project start-up phase is clearly defined, planned and followed in a supplier firm, it reduces confusion and miscommunication among the people involved in the project and helps to achieve the business goals of a project. Originality/value This study emphasizes that it is necessary to make a distinction between the perspectives of the customer and the supplier when studying projects in the project business context. The findings contribute the new knowledge for managing outsourced software development projects.