IANA Gets ‘Distinction’ In Customer Engagement Survey

ICANN this week published the results of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) Customer Engagement Survey which measures customer satisfaction with the IANA functions. The overall score amongst all customer segments was 3.9 out of 5.

In the 2019 IANA Customer Engagement Survey, customers were
asked to rate the IANA team on 20 statements relating to responsiveness,
transparency, fairness, and attentiveness. Each statement was rated on a 1-5
scale, with one being the lowest and five being the highest level of
satisfaction. The overall score amongst all customer segments was 3.9, and
going back to this writer’s university days, such a score would have been a
distinction. In the previous six years, satisfaction was measured using a
percentage rating, and the team obtained results over 90 percent each year.

When asked about their confidence in the IANA team’s ability
to achieve its objectives, customers scored the team the highest, at 4.3.
Satisfaction with the transparency of the Key Signing Key ceremonies also
scored a 4.3. An average score of 3.7 was given to the team on statements about
innovation and sense of urgency.

While ICANN notes the results of the survey are consistently
positive, participation rates have dropped over the years. Six years ago, the
team saw an average response rate of 10 percent. Over the past two years there
has been a decline in participation, and after simplifying the survey, the
response rate for 2019 was three percent. The IANA team has implemented
additional mechanisms to receive and address customer feedback. These include
the post-interaction survey launched in late 2018 that encourages customers to
provide immediate feedback after receipt of service from the IANA team. The
IANA team dedicates resources to reviewing and responding to that feedback in a
timely manner.

“The annual engagement survey will allow us to evaluate
how we manage our relationship with the different customer groups and identify
improvements in that area in addition to the regular operational feedback we
receive through the post-interaction survey,” said Kim Davies, President
of PTI – the ICANN affiliate responsible for delivering the IANA functions.
“These two approaches together give us a broader view of both real-time
customer satisfaction and calibration of our longer-term strategy from
community leaders,” Davies added.

ICANN commissioned Echo Research, LLC, a global reputation consultancy, to administer the annual engagement survey. Stakeholders who oversee IANA functions performance (Regional Internet Registry managers, Internet Engineering Steering Group members, and the Customer Standing Committee) and direct customers who engage with the IANA team through request changes or during industry events (DNSSEC KSK ceremony participants and Trusted Community Representatives, top-level domain operators, the IETF Community, and the ccNSO and GNSO Councils) were invited to take the survey.

To view the customer survey findings in full, click here.