“Augmenting a New Era of IT Service Management” Webinar Recap

Bright Pattern’s joint webinar with HDI on “Augmenting a New Era of IT Service Management” was a success! The webinar featured the insight of industry veterans and experts like Chris Chagnon of WPI, Kevin Smith of the IT Transformation Institute, and Andrew Gilliam of HDI. In case you missed it, here are some of the main takeaways from the webinar:

How to Innovate?

Innovation is a word that comes up frequently in the world of technology, and especially in the world of IT service management. But what is true innovation, and what is the correct way to innovate?

The key to innovation is to focus on a need that exists and find a novel solution to it. According to Chris Chagnon, innovation focuses on finding “a novel solution where value can be added to a new or existing market”. Innovation drives change and mixes up day-to-day work, fueling learning in the workplace. Innovation should also focus on the user. Chris continued, mentioning that “Products must be adapted to the customers. We must think about how customers think, how they feel, and what they do.”

A couple of ways to drive innovation in the right direction is through using strategies like creating personas and mapping the user journey. Personas involve modeling, summarizing, and representing a user that would be using your product or services. Journey mapping involves creating a framework that maps out the stages of your customer’s lifecycle. Using these strategies can give you a clear understanding of what the customer’s needs are, and how you can target specific needs and drive innovation in the right direction.

The Omnichannel Strategy

Omnichannel is the next step for many IT service management organizations. On a traditional, multichannel strategy, customers get different experiences with each channel. Different groups of analysts handling different channels provide different experiences. An omnichannel solution combines all digital channels into one, seamless experience. According to Chris, “Omnichannel consolidates practices, reduces training, and empowers your staff to solve problems.”

Rather than feeling like a transaction, customer support calls feel like an experience instead of an omnichannel system. Channels like SMS, text messaging, voice calls, chat bots, video calls, and more can be handled on an omnichannel system, and switching between channels provides immense flexibility for industries like IT service management, which require flexibility and around-the-clock service.

Automation for Around-the-Clock Service

The need for automation in IT service management has become greater than ever. Kevin Smith, leader of the IT Transformation Institute, discussed the importance of automation during the webinar. Kevin talked about the 90 Rule from his book, The IT Imperative. The 90 rule, as he puts it, is “automating 90% of ITSM delivery by 2025”. Kevin continued, saying “We have to automate because it is the only way we can scale and upgrade around the clock. New demands from customers and clients creates pressure on IT and enterprise service management to be effective around the clock. It’s what the customers demand and expect.”

The best IT service management teams, according to Kevin, are the ones that are prioritizing automation. The teams that implement automation and automate basic functions, like outbound notifications, password resets, and more, are the ones that are able to provide around-the-clock support and ensure client satisfaction, even after the help desk closes.

For the full guide on how to turbocharge your IT service management, check out Bright Pattern’s newest ebook “How to Turbocharge Your IT Service Management”.