Adobe 2003 Annual Report Download - page 19

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19
For information regarding our market segments and segment revenue, geographic areas and significant
customers, please refer to Note 16 of our Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
Order Fulfillment
The procurement of the various components of packaged products, including CDs and printed materials, and the
assembly of packages for retail and other applications products is controlled by Order Fulfillment operations. We
outsource our order fulfillment activities to third parties in the United States, Europe, and Asia.
To date, we have not experienced significant difficulties in obtaining raw materials for the manufacture of our
products or in the replication of CDs, printing, and assembly of components, although an interruption in production
by a supplier could result in a delay in shipment of our products. The backlog of orders from customers, as of
January 30, 2004 and January 24, 2003, was approximately $13.8 million and $16.1 million, respectively.
Services and Support
Adobe provides professional services, technical support and customer service to a wide variety of customers
including consumers, creative professionals and business users. Our service and support revenue consists primarily
of consulting fees, software maintenance and support fees, and training fees.
Services
Adobe has a global Professional Services team dedicated to developing and implementing solutions for
enterprise customers in key vertical markets and to transfer technical expertise to our Solution Partners. The
Professional Services team uses a comprehensive, customer-focused methodology to develop high quality solutions,
which in turn deliver a significant competitive advantage to our enterprise customers. A portfolio of technical
training courses is also available for desktop and server-based products to meet the needs of our enterprise
customers and Solution Partners.
Support
A significant portion of our support revenue is composed of our extended Enterprise Maintenance and Support
offerings, which entitles customers to the right to receive product upgrades and enhancements during the term of the
maintenance and support period, which is typically one year. Regional Support Centers are charged with providing
timely, high quality technical expertise on Intelligent Documents products and solutions to meet the growing needs
of our customers.
Our support revenue also includes support for our desktop products. Adobe offers a range of support programs,
from fee-based incidents to annual support contracts. Additionally, Adobe provides extensive self-help and online
technical support capabilities via the Web, which allows customers quick and easy access to possible solutions.
Adobe provides product support through a combination of outsourced vendors and internal support centers.
Adobe also offers Developer Support to partners and developer organizations. The Adobe Solution Network
(“ASN”) Developer Program focuses on providing developers with high-quality tools (Software Development Kits),
information, and services.
As a registered owner of the current version of an Adobe desktop product, customers are eligible to receive
complimentary person-to-person support on certain matters. Support for some products and in some countries may
vary.
Training
We inform customers about the use of our products through on-line informational services on our Web site
(www.adobe.com), and through a growing series of how-to books published by Adobe Press pursuant to a joint
publishing agreement with Peachpit Press. In addition, we develop tests to certify independent trainers who teach