Subject Matter Expert – SQL Server | Microsoft

Problem

Microsoft developed SQL Server as one of its core enterprise database solutions. To support this critical product, Microsoft operates a dedicated Customer Service and Support (CSS) division, responsible for resolving technical issues raised by a global customer base.

Over time, the volume of incoming support cases began to grow significantly. This increase was driven by a range of factors—ranging from customer misconfigurations to complex product bugs. The growing backlog created pressure on engineering teams and threatened service-level commitments. High-priority issues, particularly from enterprise clients, demanded immediate resolution to maintain service reputation and contractual obligations.

Action

To address this growing demand, I played a key role in streamlining and resolving complex support cases by taking the following steps:

• Classified support requests into priority and severity tiers, ensuring that critical issues were addressed promptly and aligned with internal escalation policies.
• Mapped SLAs to customer categories (Enterprise, Professional) and ensured strict adherence throughout case handling.
• Troubleshot and resolved technical issues, ranging from performance bottlenecks to configuration errors. Solutions were documented in internal knowledge bases to enable reuse and scale internal expertise.
• Developed deep specialization in areas like performance tuning, data replication, and data recovery, becoming a go-to expert on the floor.
• Worked extensively on CritSit (Critical Situation) cases, the highest-priority support scenarios. As a Tier 3 (3T) Support Engineer, I collaborated with both customer-side technical teams and internal Microsoft teams including product-specific 3T groups (e.g., Active Directory, SharePoint) and Technical Account Managers (TAMs).
• Led internal triage sessions to capture learnings from each case and contributed to broader knowledge-sharing efforts across support teams.

Result

• Earned the highest customer satisfaction scores among peers.
• Significantly reduced turnaround time for issue resolution, even for the most complex cases.
• Was promoted to a 3T engineer within just a few months of joining, recognizing both technical impact and leadership in critical cases.
• Honored with the Power Player award, a recognition for high-performing individuals making measurable contributions to team success.
• Routinely managed 3–4 critical cases per day, maintaining 100% SLA compliance—many of them being CritSit cases.

Tags

#SoftwareDevelopment
#SQLServer
#PerformanceTuning #Replication #DataRecovery #IncidentManagement