Personal computing hardware has come a long way since the days of mainframes that used to take up entire rooms and bulky desktop PCs that required ugly pieces of workstation furniture that never seemed to match the home decor. The new personal computing paradigm is centered on mobility, portability and affordability. Smartphones and tablet computers are quickly replacing desktop PCs, and low-end, functional and incredibly cheap computers are becoming commonplace. There are a number of cheap Android tablets that sell for under $100, including the $42 Aakash, made in India. California firm Cherrypal specializes on cheap Linux and Windows netbooks, which once sold for as low as $99. Thousands of schoolchildren in Costa Rica will receive a free laptop next year thanks to the One Laptop Per Child initiative which produces $100 portable computers for education. The reigning king of the cheapies is Raspberry Pi, a smart British outfit that manufactures a $25 computer for charitable use.

With so many low-cost options available, you’d think that there would be little interest in shelling out more than $2000 for desktop PC these days. That’s about the retail price of the new Aurora desktop from Alienware, a Miami outfit that specializes in high-end computer systems made for hardcore gamers who demand high performance and powerful hardware. The Aurora is definitely not the right system for someone who just needs to check his or her Facebook status. This is a desktop that comes with 8GB of RAM in its most basic configuration, but can be upgraded to 16GB and overclocked to 3.9GHz. It is meant to give gamers an edge during marathon Call of Duty: Modern Warfare sessions.

Alienware in Costa Rica

Alienware desktops and laptops are extremely complex devices, and thus require a highly specialized level of technical support. Nothing can be more disheartening to a hardcore gamer than seeing their prized Alienware automatically shut down as a precaution against overheating while in the midst of solving an intricate puzzle in the latest Tomb Raider episode, or finishing a mission in Grand Theft Auto IV. When something goes wrong with an Alienware machine, customers are urged to immediately call customer support rather than attempting to resolve the problem themselves. That phone call is invariably answered by a Tico technician near La Aurora in Heredia.

Alienware is a subsidiary of Dell, Inc. that has deep ties to Costa Rica. The company has been around since the mid 1990s, and is headquartered in Miami, near the edge of the Florida Everglades. The Alienware concept is to mass-produce high-performance gaming computers that would otherwise be custom-built from different parts at expensive boutique PC shops. Alienware has a strong following around the world; to the extent that high-profile professional athletes have taken time to rave about their systems. The Alienware culture is full of neat references to cool extraterrestrial lore, something that’s inspired by the Cuban-American founders’ love of the suspense and science fiction television series The X-Files. Previous Alienware systems have been named Hangar 18 and Area 51. The styling of the Alienware computer chassis and peripherals is legendary, as they tend to resemble parts of exoskeletons or spaceships.

Alienware customer support moved to Costa Rica in 2002. While it’s easy to speculate that cost-savings factor behind this decision, there’s the far more important issue of customer satisfaction. Hardcore gamers can be difficult customers, as they probably should be. The computer and console gaming industry has become an important engine of the worldwide economy; it is expected to produce about $68 billion in 2012 and keep many people employed. Gamers can spend quite a bit on hardware, and if they are purchasing the Ferrari of computers, they expect Ferrari-type customer support. Keeping gamers happy can be a delicate exercise in diplomacy well-suited for Ticos who grew up seeing former President Oscar Arias defuse the Central American Cold War powder keg of the 1980s.

Eduardo Matos Sanchez was instrumental to the establishment of Alienware in Costa Rica. He began his career at the age of 15, packing boxes at the Miami shipping warehouse. When the company moved to Zona Franca America (about 600 meters north of Plaza Real Cariari), Eduardo Matos followed. He stayed with Alienware through the Dell acquisition in 2006, and by 2007 he was a vice-president of sales and operations. In a 2007 interview with El Financiero, Eduardo explained the reasons why Alienware moved its crucial customer support operations to our country: The most important business resource Costa Rica has now is her intellectual human capital. This is a result of the attention given to education in the 1960s and 1970s, and that’s why the country is in the position it’s in now (to bring companies such as Alienware, HP, Dell, and Triquint). Eduardo now works at Dell.

Keeping Gamers Happy

For Ticos working at the Alienware technical support department, keeping Alienware customers happy has not been an easy task. After the Dell acquisition the company decided to discontinue production of its XPS line of gaming systems, leaving Alienware to become the world standard in PC gaming. Dell also has a customer support and sales facility in Costa Rica, but Alienware is often considered their elite support division.

Hardcore gamers aren’t run-of-the-mill computer shoppers. Lots of them are extremely tech-savvy who could actually build their own gaming rigs, but they look to Alienware for value, quality and expertise. They are also tinkerers who can figure out just how much taking apart they can do without voiding the computer’s warranty. Once Alienware set up shop at Zona Franca America in 2002, a typical support call would go like this:

“Hi. I just got my new Alienware and I didn’t like the positioning of the sound card, so I moved it to another slot. Then I noticed that you guys did not partition the hard drive how I wanted, so I reformatted and installed my own copy of XP Pro because your OEM was corrupted, and then I also noticed that you put 4 256MB stick of RAM, when I asked for 2 512MB sticks. The front LEDs are flickering, and when I benchmark the system it returns about 10 percent less than I expected. I need all this fixed before my next LAN party which is next week.”

Such were the phone calls received by Tico customer support agents. During Alienware’s first year of operations in Costa Rica the PC video gaming industry went through a period of explosive growth thanks to groundbreaking games like Warcraft III and Splinter Cell. Alienware sold record numbers of desktops and laptops, and efficient customer support became a priority. Not everything was a rose garden for the tech support agents. Gamers expected nothing but top notch service and prompt resolutions. Those who were not satisfied quickly took to online forums to voice their displeasure, such as this CD-R issue in 2003 which logged over 900 comments.

In the post-Dell acquisitions years, the tech support agents at Alienware in Costa Rica have managed to keep gamers happy despite increased competition, particularly from the advanced Microsoft Xbox and Sony PlayStation consoles. One of the keys to accomplishing customer satisfaction has been to recruit Tico gamers to answer the phones. Take a look at this Help Wanted from 2010, looking for new Level I Tech Support Agents:

“We are looking for fully bilingual agents with strong knowledge of computer maintenance and repair, particularly in PC assembly. We offer competitive salary, a relaxed atmosphere, and a great benefit in the form of an arcade and gaming room complete with Street Fighter 4. Ours is a gaming atmosphere in which our agents get to inspect the latest Alienware equipment.”

One of the urban legends surrounding getting hired at Alienware is whether applicants can identify the laptop that has appeared on the geeky TV sitcom The Big Bang Theory. In case you feel like dropping off your CV, the correct answer is: a red M17x-R2.