A new direction for IT user support (whitepaper) .PDF
- 1. IBM Global Technology Services Thought Leadership White Paper February 2016 A new direction for IT user support: Enabling an omnichannel experience in the cognitive era
- 2. 2 A new direction for IT user support: Enabling an omnichannel experience in the cognitive era Contents 2 Executive summary 3 Introduction 4 How does an omnichannel strategy apply to cognitive IT support? 6 Transforming transactions into interactions 7 Building upon systems of record to include systems of engagement 7 Personalizing the interaction by adding wants and likes: becoming cognitive 8 Constructing the customer contextual layer on top of SOA 8 Enabling the infrastructure for omnichannel support 9 Actionable insights produce a differentiated user experience 11 Starting your journey 11 Conclusion 12 For more information Executive summary Consumerization of IT and the Internet of Things (IoT) are revolutionizing how people live. Users are increasingly becom- ing accustomed to instant gratification when using technology in their personal lives, whether for gaming, shopping or managing their daily activities. And they want the same kind of immediate service when they go to work. To address this expectation, IT support needs to adapt, evolve and even revolutionize itself or become outdated. In short, IT support must reinvent itself into a friendly, proactive service that is tied directly to a business’ profitability. To meet these expectations, the IT support organization needs to be capable of delivering the right level of support to its users at the right time. This requires viewing the user as an individual consumer of IT services and addressing the immediate needs of that user in the moment. As the face of the IT organization, IT support must also be able to demonstrate quantitative improvements in user satisfaction, productivity and contribution to profitability while providing tangible and intangible cost savings for its organization. An “omnichannel” strategy can transform IT support environments and begin the journey to cognitive IT support. Omnichannel for IT support can be defined as IT support that is built on a multichannel strategy to allow access anytime, anywhere and on any device with a consistent experience across channels. It enables interactions across multiple user touch points where the IT support organization can capture intents, derive insights and personalize and optimize conversations. With omnichannel, IT support not only fulfills users’ explicit, individual needs, but it also anticipates their wants and likes and understanding that user in a cognitive way. This white paper describes omnichannel IT support, why it has become critical for a superior personalized user experience and how organizations can begin incorporating this more cognitive strategy into their IT support organizations.
- 3. 3IBM Global Technology Services Introduction Today’s mobile and flexible workplace is multilayered, intercon- nected and evolving rapidly. Multiple channels supporting today’s “anytime, anywhere and on any device” work style enable users to be more productive and thus have a greater impact on business profitability. According to IDC, the convergence of cloud, analytics, social and mobile technologies—combined with generational expectations—is presenting a hyperdisruptive cycle not seen in 20 to 25 years.1 In this complex and fast-changing workplace, users are demanding a superior and personalized support experience at work that is driven by the support experi- ences of consumers and the IT community. This mandate requires establishing a new support delivery mindset. IT support must reinvent itself into a friendly, proactive service that is tied directly to a business’ profitability. Some IT support organizations have taken initial, basic steps to enhance the user experience by adding support channels such as self-service and chat. However, users have raised the bar with their expectations. Nowadays, they—not IT—often dictate which technology they should have, how they will use it and what level of support they should receive. For example, they may want self-service for some issues and high-touch for others. This empowerment of the user is bringing about a shift in how support must be delivered. Enter a new strategy: Omnichannel for cognitive IT support. Empowerment of the user is bringing about a shift in how support must be delivered. Omnichannel implementations are not entirely new. Both the retail and banking industries have begun to realize expansive benefits from them. By transforming their consumer engage- ment models, businesses in these industries have been able to deliver seamless and personalized service for shoppers and banking clients. Using mobility, big data and analytics, these businesses have improved web, social, support and call center experiences.
- 4. 4 A new direction for IT user support: Enabling an omnichannel experience in the cognitive era For instance, retail shoppers expect and get consistency in brand interactions across channels. They also get relevant and timely offers based on their online behavior, purchase history, and “in-the-moment” experience, as well as on more personal or social events, such as holidays or anniversaries. Shoppers have visibility into available inventory and flexibility in how their orders are fulfilled regardless of which purchasing channel they use. When walking into a branch office, wealth advisors can immediately greet high-value banking clients and be at the ready with banking products personalized for that client’s needs at that specific moment in time. How does an omnichannel strategy apply to cognitive IT support In the past, IT support organizations were focused on handling service requests as transactions only. This meant resolving the issue, of course, but primarily delivering the least expensive resolution and driving the user towards it. Additionally, reducing total cost of ownership was an imperative. Without losing sight of costs, isn’t it possible to view the end user more as a “customer” or “consumer” of IT support and not simply as a “ticket?” Just as retail and banking customers vary in their needs and how they want to be treated, individuals seeking IT help have varying needs as well. Why couldn’t the same omnichannel strategy that has garnered such success in the retail and banking industries also be applied to IT support and become more cognitive? We believe that it can. Taking its cue from banking and retail, IT support can transform from being transaction centric to being customer driven. It can deliver a superior personalized user experience that provides clients and users with support that is relationship based, socially informed and proactive. Step by step, advances in mobility, big data, analytics and IoT are making it possible to derive knowl- edge of the user and their personal preferences from multiple sources, such as: ●● A user’s device(s) ●● A user’s past behavior at work and outside of work ●● Contextual, situational and location-based data. Cognitive IT support has the potential to use these sources to anticipate and deliver an exceptional user experience, including reducing user downtime and optimizing user confidence,
- 5. 5IBM Global Technology Services satisfaction and productivity. By understanding information from multiple independent engagement channels and individual opportunities, traditional IT support can transform into an inte- grated user engagement model. And it can deliver support consistently anywhere a user is working. This doesn’t mean throwing out the current single / dual chan- nel approach used by many IT support organizations. Rather, transitioning that environment to a more multichannel approach serves as the foundation upon which to build an omnichannel experience, as shown in Figure 1. Figure 1. An omnichannel strategy evolves from a multichannel approach Multichannel Omnichannel Allowing users to transact with IT support via multiple channels Allowing users to interact with IT support via multiple channels Try to understand what users want and like through analytics Based on system of engagements Based on user or company system of records Try to understand what users need through analysis Relying on SOA: Integration of application with messaging Relying on Big Data: integration of customer context Evolving from a multichannel to an omnichannel IT support organization involves four primary shifts: ●● Cultivating a new mindset to transform transactions into interactions and relationships ●● Building upon systems of record to include systems of engagement ●● Personalizing the interaction by adding wants and likes to needs, i.e., becoming cognitive ●● Constructing the customer contextual layer on top of the service-oriented architecture (SOA).
- 6. 6 A new direction for IT user support: Enabling an omnichannel experience in the cognitive era These topics are discussed in the following sections. Transforming transactions into interactions and relationships Today, end users may have a choice of many channels for getting IT support, such as a self-service portal, messaging or video chat, remote takeover, phone support and even, at times, face-to-face onsite support. These channels have served users well in the past by giving them a choice of support avenues, mostly at the behest of IT support. Users are required to engage a specific support channel as per the IT support model in use at the time. For instance, one company might require end users to access a self- service portal to initiate all tickets or service requests and to call the service desk only with Priority One problems. This helps IT support keep costs low, but it may not be the best way to service the user. It is definitely not a personalized service designed to further enhance user confidence, satisfaction or productivity. What if … We treated end users as consumers of IT support? IT support would then need to be more engaging and allow users to interact with them in a manner that the users preferred. They would also need to know which channel would optimize a particular end user’s experience, as well as better meet the company’s business objectives. In short, IT support would have to know more about the end user than just what hard- ware and software they might be using to do their job. In an omnichannel approach, IT support would augment that basic agent and channel knowledge with a range of big data such as: ●● Device monitoring and logging data ●● Information about how the end user has successfully engaged IT support in the past ●● Data about what the current IT environment is experiencing (for example, year-end reporting, quarterly sales cycle, virus attacks) ●● Information about other events, such as daily occurrences, weather and additional interactions with technology. An omnichannel encounter would use analytics based on big data to understand the end user, to know the end user prefer- ences and to reach out proactively to assist that end user. An example might be to alert an end user that a software update to a key application is available for downloading prior to the user developing month-end reports, or even proactively install- ing the update without the user needing to know about it. Or IT support might be able to sense that the user’s workstation is experiencing its third “blue screen of death” in the last two weeks and could offer the user an appointment with the client center (walk-up, face-to-face service bar) for a health check and device update as the end user passes by the client center location. External events could be incorporated so that, for example, users in the Southeast US could be alerted when the hurricane season starts that IT is available to perform backups for them. The fact that bad weather in general tends to increase calls to the help desk could provide an alert that additional agents need to be added to certain areas.
- 7. 7IBM Global Technology Services Excellent multichannel support is the must-have foundation to begin a journey towards omnichannel support. The IT support organization must first have the supporting processes, tools and skilled resources to be able to handle current transactional requests in a cost-effective manner that drives to first-call resolution. Building upon systems of record to include systems of engagement IT support systems of record, such as service management tool suites, interact with users on a case-by-case, ticket-by-ticket basis, recording accurate and necessary information about each transaction. However, they have neither foreknowledge about the user nor a means for conducting a proactive assessment of what that user might require in the near or long term. To sup- port an omnichannel experience, these systems of record need to be updated, augmented or integrated into a more client-oriented approach. They need to be able to recognize each user as an individual over time and to provide an actual customer record of the “soft” side of the support experience, rather than just categorizing users by ticket, problem or service request. To make this possible, either current systems of record need to be updated to employ an omnichannel approach, or a current system(s) of record needs to be integrated with a system of engagement, beginning with, perhaps, client relationship man- agement. This is the main challenge that businesses will face over the next three to five years. These combined systems offer a new class of support infrastruc- ture centered on a “consumer-first” perspective rather than on the traditional projection of IT and organizational constructs. It is enabled by four technology trends: cloud, analytics, mobile and social. By understanding the end user’s role, persona, assigned hardware and software, location, company calendar and environment, etc., IT support can design and implement rich, personalized user-centric support that integrates multichannel touch points to deliver more cognitive, relational and value- added support. Information captured by each user interaction can be saved, managed and acted upon using big data and analytics. This means that a financial analyst might be automatically granted additional storage space at the end of a quarter to accommodate the larger data needs of consolidating and saving large company reports. Or perhaps, the monitoring software could detect a problem that can be fixed using self-healing. This event would be recorded in the user’s system of engagement record, along with logging data to prevent comparable problems from occur- ring among other users with a similar infrastructure. Personalizing the interaction by adding wants and likes: becoming cognitive As consumers’ expectations of getting instant gratification increase, technology continues to respond. More and more simple, integrated technologies that consumers can use daily in their personal lives (such as Dropbox, Gmail and Skype) are being developed to give consumers the experiences they desire.
- 8. 8 A new direction for IT user support: Enabling an omnichannel experience in the cognitive era These same consumers are demanding similar experiences from their employers. Ideally, they want their personal and workplace technologies to converge. And they want to be able to handle their work in a fashion of their choosing while getting a more personalized experience. Making this happen takes a deeper understanding of how individual end users like to work and what makes them most productive, and then combining that understanding with business objectives, as opposed to focusing on IT support needs. For example, a user searches for information for a particular problem, and spends more than a couple of minutes doing so. Proactive sensors detect this problem then, depending on the user’s preference, initiate a service desk chat or proactively provide Watson-based results beyond the search. In another example, receiving proactive updates on the status of an issue resolution with estimated resolution time could help increase user satisfaction, confidence and thus productivity. Providing industry-relevant information or an experience or story that is germane to the user’s role could further increase satisfaction (or even create delight). And, finally, including external social information such as weather details or favorite sports updates while on the run could make satisfaction soar and produce highly focused results. After all, who wouldn’t be more produc- tive in a work environment that caters to individual needs and interests? Constructing the customer contextual layer on top of SOA Service-oriented architecture (SOA) is an IT architectural approach that supports integration of a business as linked, repeatable business tasks or services. Service orientation is a way of thinking in terms of services and service-based development and the outcome of services. It is this approach that is used to develop and implement a multichannel service management infrastructure. Be aware of the difference between a multichan- nel approach (which just gives the user a set of multiple ways to contact support) and an omnichannel approach which enables cognitive support for the user. SOA enables components to interact with each other in standardized ways and therefore allows for easier integration and greater reuse. But to capture intents, motivations and the context of conversa- tions, an omnichannel infrastructure needs to be built with different technologies and then tied to a strong multichannel SOA underpinning. Combining advanced technology with user activities (for instance, using speech analytics for voice conversa- tions) makes it possible to analyze behaviors and semantic texts in order to understand deep relationships in real time and to gain actionable insights, thus becoming cognitive—or rather, able to learn. Enabling the infrastructure for omnichannel support Delivering on such a promising new service model requires three activities: capture, retain and analyze. The first requirement is to capture the context of conversations, interactions and activities. Next, there needs to be a way to retain and manage the billions of data points that come out of these real-time activities. A big-data platform is needed to organize all of this information and access it at “in-the-moment” response time. Finally, once all of this experiential data is collected, it must be analyzed in such a way as to present cognitive and actionable insights. Figure 2 shows how these steps could apply in an IT support environment.
- 9. 9IBM Global Technology Services Context capturing and delivery mechanisms are set up across support channels recording into systems of record. This allows transaction data to be captured at each support channel interac- tion. Note that support channels have expanded to include environments, social, device usage and logs, weather and so on. The data warehouse logs this data in an effective and efficient organization—a system of engagement—that is capable of stor- ing and managing structured and unstructured customer and conversation data in order to derive user wants and likes. Advanced analytics and learning algorithms quickly intake the timely data artifacts and the system of engagement crafts a proactive response meaningful to the current user activity. Actionable insights might include, for example, segmentation, next-best actions and productivity alerts. The idea is to exploit existing information, information relationships and user prefer- ences to drive consequential insights, thus helping the user be more productive and satisfied with the response. Actionable insights produce a differentiated user experience Transformation of the user-IT support relationship requires a human-centric approach that is discernibly different from today’s delivery of IT support. Tomorrow’s cognitive, anticipatory and self-healing omnichannel approach must transparently manage complexities, diversity and technologies to assist users to be as productive and valuable to their employer as possible. Context acquiring Action delivery Systemof engagement Multi-ChannelManagement End users Mobile IT support Environmental logging and other data Service desk (chat, RTO, voice) Device monitoring Web-based self service Social Systemof records Actionable insights for enhanced productivity enhancement Capture/Sense Retain Analyze/Learn Figure 2. Exploiting data captured from all channels, including mobile and social is a prerequisite for gaining actionable insights.
- 10. 10 A new direction for IT user support: Enabling an omnichannel experience in the cognitive era The need for a human-centric approach in IT support is driven by the mobile user who has grown accustomed to support in the consumer world. Bringing it to fruition in IT support can best be accomplished in three waves of implementation, as shown in Figure 3. The first wave entails having a support platform that consistently handles transactional service requests in an efficient and cost- effective manner. This necessary transaction-driven foundation brings together optimized multichannel support and cost reduc- tions with closed-loop processes. Once this platform is established, systems of record can be integrated with systems of engagement to help deliver a more individualized service based on personas. This allows a user to be treated as a “caller” rather than a “call.” Predictive analytics that deliver insight into the user experience, the issues that they encounter and how support can best be provided are integrated into the IT support infrastructure. This second wave creates new levels of productivity and personalization driven by data and insights. Transaction driven Aggregate value and technology retained over each wave Data/Insight driven Experience driven TomorrowCurrent Valuedelivered • On-sight • Remote resolution • Self-serve • Automated problem resolution • Performance analytics • Integrate systems of record with systems of engagement • Segmented user support derived from data driven personas • Relate to caller versus call • Predictive analytics • Personal preferences recognized • All channels seamlessly enabled • Consistently “anticipates” needs • Metrics based on known value attributes for users • User is a “consumer” of IT services • Cognitive analytics Cost reduction, optimized multichannel support Productivity, personalization Discernable value, ubiquitous, omnichannel access Figure 3. Transform from transaction driven to insight driven to a superior personalized experience – the journey to omnichannel support.
- 11. 11IBM Global Technology Services The last and most important wave is when personal preferences are recognized through data derived from IoT and other tech- nologies that consistently anticipate an individual user’s needs and wants, and learns about the user by understanding. This is enabled by metrics based on known value attributes for each user and deep learning abilities using cognitive technologies. Thus, a user becomes an informed consumer of IT services. Applying cognitive analytics means the solution continually learns and adapts to support the end user as an individual. Users can deliver discernable value only when they are at their best. The sequential execution of these three waves transforms the vision of a superior personalized experience for IT support users into a reality. Starting your journey While systems of engagement are being developed and inte- grated with systems of record for IT support, IT organizations can elevate their current single- or dual-channel support into true multichannel support with today’s available tools, technolo- gies and skills. Here are a few steps to help you begin the journey: 1) Review your current infrastructure, including your network, and determine what is required to implement full multichan- nel support. 2) Verify that transactional service requests are being handled properly. 3) Confirm or develop end-user support profiles or personas; assess users’ support requirements and expectations; and align these with business needs, user workloads and opportunities (both current and future), including transactional, relational and value added. 4) Understand the need for agility and enablement in an omnichannel infrastructure, and determine your build or buy strategy. 5) Design and develop your omnichannel infrastructure. 6) Begin your implementation using a phased or staggered approach, and be aware of how well the user is accepting the selected omnichannel approach. 7) Keep abreast of cognitive technology, its increasingly rapid changes, and look for ways to apply it in your support environment. Key questions that can guide you on your journey include: ●● How well are you applying your multichannel approach to support your “transaction” service requests? ●● What issues are you facing in your support centers? ●● What do you envision your enterprise needing to meet end-user demands? ●● What other business needs or opportunities may impact how you deliver support? ●● What support capabilities have you identified to create a differentiated mobile experience? What will you need to do to implement these capabilities? Conclusion Today, creating a more effective and productive user experience is possible by using multichannel IT support, along with an optimized network, to manage the increased data workloads of monitoring, tracking and digitizing structured and unstructured data. Tomorrow, digital innovations such as big data, deep ana- lytics, IoT and others (many not even invented yet) can be intro- duced with agility once the foundational system of engagement is built and in service, delivering true cognitive support. These integrated components can transform IT support by driving current multichannel user support into a cognitive omnichannel user experience that can only enhance a business’ overall profitability. Buckle up for the ride!
- 12. For more information Excellent multichannel support is the must-have foundation to begin a journey toward omnichannel support. IBM has estab- lished the feasibility and advisability of moving IT support in an omnichannel direction based on its years of experience and knowledge within the omnichannel retail and banking environ- ments, as well as the user support environment in a cognitive era. To learn more about how IBM can help you on your jour- ney to an omnichannel experience, visit: ibm.biz/mobileclientcare Additionally, IBM Global Financing provides numerous payment options to help you acquire the technology you need to grow your business. We provide full lifecycle management of IT products and services, from acquisition to disposition. For more information, visit: ibm.com/financing About the authors Nicola McKenna is the Global Offering Executive for Mobile Client Care Services with the Global Technology Services (GTS) mobility services business line. She has extensive experi- ence in developing complex solutions, enablement of Sales and Delivery in the workplace and end user support. Dr. Linda S. Delbridge, PMP®, is a Global Sales Executive with the Global Technology Services (GTS) mobility services busi- ness line Center of Competency. She has extensive experience sponsoring innovative solutions to complex technical problems in workplace and end user services. Margaret Fetsko is Global Technical solution Architect with the Global Technology Services (GTS) mobility services busi- ness line Center of Competency. She has extensive experience in working with clients and delivering technical solutions to the field. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2016 IBM Global Technology Services Route 100 Somers, NY 10589 Produced in the United States of America February 2016 IBM, the IBM logo, and ibm.com are trademarks of International Business Machines Corp., registered in many jurisdictions worldwide. Other product and service names might be trademarks of IBM or other companies. A current list of IBM trademarks is available on the web at “Copyright and trademark information” at ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml This document is current as of the initial date of publication and may be changed by IBM at any time. Not all offerings are available in every country in which IBM operates. THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED “AS IS” WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND ANY WARRANTY OR CONDITION OF NON-INFRINGEMENT. IBM products are warranted according to the terms and conditions of the agreements under which they are provided. 1 IDC, “Four Key Trends Impacting Mobile Infrastructure Strategy,” August 2014. Please Recycle AZW03015-USEN-01