Johannesburg, 24 Feb 2022
With smart IT Service Management and Operations Management tools behind them, IT can become an unstoppable force for unstoppable business.
This is according to Subhashree Veeraraghavan, product marketing manager at Freshworks, who was speaking during a Freshworks webinar entitled ‘Keeping the lights on vs. delivering employee delight’.
Speaking on key trends in 2022, she noted that change in the market was being driven by a number of factors: customers expect greater efficiency and speed, while organisations want to balance agility and reliability, therefore more organisations are embracing agile and DevOps, and automation and AI are the necessary backbone for this. In addition, businesses are moving away from siloed solutions, with unification of service management pillars such as ITSM and ITOM enabling higher uptime and availability. Employees also expect consumer grade service and tools, she said. “They expect tools to be intelligent, understand context and to provide fast and accurate solutions.”
“IT used to be just a support function, but it has become a business enabler. Enabling the future of hybrid work is the top challenge facing IT leaders this year, Veeraraghavan said.
Top challenges and objectives
She said research by Harvard Business Review for Freshworks had found that 80% of IT managers say modernising ITSM/ITOM capabilities is either critical or very important; and 82% say employees’ happiness on the job is significantly impacted by how well their technology performs. With remote and hybrid work still a priority, choosing the right ITSM tool is crucial, Veeraraghavan said. “However, rightsizing these tools according to your maturity level is important: Gartner reports that through 2023, I&O leaders will overspend by $750 million on unused ITSM tools,” she said.
Enabling the future of hybrid work is the top challenge facing IT leaders this year.
Subhashree Veeraraghavan, product marketing manager at Freshworks.
A poll of webinar attendees found that 40% felt redefining the future of work and the hybrid workforce was the biggest challenge for IT in 2022, while 28% said getting the right tools and technologies in place and 24% said seamless employee experience were the biggest challenges.
As the work environment changes, key technology objectives such as digital transformation, securing data and systems and maximising value from data remain key objectives for the 2022 agenda, Veeraraghavan said. Speed and time to value also remain crucial, she noted.
Shaping IT into an unstoppable force for an unstoppable business
With IT at the epicentre of business, organisations need IT to deliver uninterrupted business operations and delightful employee experiences, she said. However the workload of IT and the service desk had improved immensely.
“They must use intelligent technologies to deliver exceptional employee experiences, integrate service and operations management through automation, extend service management capabilities to other business units and make technology delightful for agents and employees to consume,” Veeraraghavan said. “ITSM tools do not need to be complex and clunky: modern ITSM such as Freshservice helps you achieve operational efficiencies and deliver an exceptional experience.”
She explained: “Freshservice is getting automation to do the heavy lifting and deploying AI and ML in every way. For example, we have a thank you detector that keeps open rates in check and ensures that loops are closed. AI in ITSM with Freshservice enables shorter ticket resolution times, enables employees to get 24/7 support from a virtual agent with advanced deflection capabilities, gives employees 24/7 support on the channel of their choice in natural language, and automates service requests.”
A poll of participants on what currently holds them back from implementing AI in ITSM found that 30% believe AI is expensive, 26% say implementation is complex and 42% lack skilled professionals.
“Freshservice has AI built in and is super quick to set up. You can get started in a day,” Veeraraghavan said.
She added that Freshservice ITOM helps IT to keep the lights on while also growing the business and keeping employees delighted in a changing environment. “Freshservice ITOM reduces noise, minimises downtime and keeps the business running, with alert grouping, alert intake and integrated operations and service management,” she said.
Freshworks’ global #BeUnstoppable virtual summit will be held on March 16, sharing insights on shaping IT into an unstoppable force in 2022 and beyond. For more information and to register, go to https://freshservice.com/events/virtual-summit
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