Support.com 2014 Annual Report Download - page 4

Table of Contents
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PART I
ITEM 1. BUSINESS.
Overview
Support.com, Inc. is a leading provider of cloud-based software and services that enable technology support for a connected world. Support.com is the choice of leading communications providers, top retailers,
and other important brands in software and connected technology.
Our technology support services programs help leading brands create new revenue streams and deepen customer relationships. We offer turnkey, outsourced support services for service providers, retailers
and technology companies. Our technology support services programs are designed for both the consumer and small business markets, and include computer and mobile device set-up, security and support, virus
and malware removal, wireless network set-up, and home security and automation system support. Most of our technology specialists work from their homes rather than in brick-and-mortar facilities. We are
compensated for our services on a per-incident, per-subscription or labor rate basis.
Our cloud-based offering, Nexus®, is a software-as-a-service (“SaaS”) solution for companies to optimize support interactions with their customers using their own or third party support personnel. Nexus
enables companies to quickly resolve complex technology issues for their customers, boosting agent productivity and dramatically improving the customer experience.
We also offer end-user software products including tools and apps designed to address some of the most common technology issues, including computer and mobile device maintenance, optimization and
security.
We market our technology support services primarily through partners, who resell the services to their customers or include them in their service offerings. Nexus is marketed through a variety of demand
generation programs. We market our end-user software products directly, principally online, and through partners. Our sales and marketing efforts are primarily focused in North America.
Industry Background
Technology has become an essential feature of the modern home and office. Products such as personal computers, printers, tablets, smartphones, digital cameras, gaming devices, music players and servers
have become ubiquitous. Each year, these products become more feature-rich, offering many new capabilities. Consumers and small businesses now depend on such technology for “must-have” information,
communication and entertainment.
Technology has also become increasingly connected, with networks now commonplace in the home as well as the office, and with the “Internet of Things” adding a diverse array of sensors that monitor, track
and automate the physical world. At the same time, technology has become increasingly mobile, with anytime/anywhere access to voice, data, video and applications becoming commonplace.
For consumers and small businesses, the complexity of the technology environment creates challenges in obtaining the benefits of the connected home and office. For customer support organizations it results
in more difficult problems to solve, including the need to support third-party products in addition to their own offerings. The proliferation of smartphones (58% of American adults own a smartphone, according to a
2014 Pew Research Study) and connected devices (the average US broadband home has seven connected devices, according to a 2014 Parks Associates Survey) compels customer support organizations to
fundamentally transform how interactive support is delivered. An Accenture survey finds that 83% of consumers encounter challenges using wearables, connected home systems, and connected vehicle products.
The biggest challenges consumers face are that the smart devices are too complicated to use, difficult to set-up, and did not work as advertised. These trends in number of devices, connected nature of these
devices, and the complex ecosystem requires that customer support organizations use modern tools and analytics to fundamentally transform how interactive support is delivered.
While important on its own terms, technology support is also becoming increasingly critical to the overall customer experience, not just for technology products but also for other products and services that
depend on technology to deliver the customer experience. According to the Temkin Group, “Research shows that customer experience is highly correlated with loyalty.” As a result, technology support solutions have
begun to address the parts of the customer experience that are mediated by technology.
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