7 ways service management is changing – By Prasad Ramakrishnan, CIO of Freshworks
The past couple of years has radically transformed nearly every aspect of our world. Living through a global pandemic has brought about paradigm shifts in how companies operate and how people live. While industries coped with varying degrees of uncertainty, digital transformation became the focal point of information technology as it determined enterprises’ success. The quick transition to work from home, online education, and telehealth in response to a large-scale disruption is a reminder that digital technology and IT play an important role in crisis response and management.
According to a global survey report by McKinsey, “companies have accelerated the digitization of their customer and supply-chain interactions and of their internal operations by three to four years.” It is evident that IT has been stepping up quickly with organizations’ new and renewed reliance on technology, and has become an unstoppable force as it continues to reign its impact across people, processes, and technology.
However, in this new era of hybrid work culture and a scattered workforce, how does IT shape up? We can be confident of one thing – change is the only constant, and it is fast. How quickly IT adapts to the evolving world is the plasticity and flexibility that resilient businesses require to become successful and manage the economic downturn.
Let’s take a look at some of the IT trends impacting industries and enterprise IT teams, changing how service management is handled.
1. Apps reign supreme for customer service engagement
Our research shows that 68% of WhatsAppTM users report that it is the most convenient way to engage with brands. Both customers and employees prioritize messaging channels for engagements that are traditionally otherwise had via phone or email. Collaboration between customers and brands are moving away from the call center and into the app store.
2. Automating the mundane, humanizing the pain
As the pandemic pushed businesses online overnight, companies quickly scaled automation and self-service technology like chatbots and FAQs to deflect and resolve employee support issues. However, IT teams have a big opportunity to go beyond resolving tech requests and make it a delightful exchange that deepens relationships across the business. More companies continue to automate the mundane using Robotic process automation (RPA) so that businesses can continue to operate even when the employee is unable to gain access to the infrastructure. Companies are also rethinking employee service as a branding opportunity, using bot deflection for even the simplest conversations and exceeding delight with the human touch.
3. Customer data security will make or break brands
In 2021, most IT departments strengthened their endpoint protection, identity and access management, data loss prevention and perimeter security posture in response to the pandemic. These investments have a long shelf life and have set the foundation for enhancing the overall security posture for the new year – customers are sticking with brands they trust in 2022, as they cherish reliability overall in this ‘always on’ world. To customers, uninterrupted IT means unstoppable business.
4. Companies need to establish a complete “tech review” for employees
Every organization struggled to get all of their employees securely online after the world went remote. Companies need to implement a ‘tech review’ for each employee showing who and where they are, what role they play in the organization, what devices, tools, and apps they use and what level of access they need. This will enable IT to provide a more secure, seamless and frictionless experience for the end-user should the need to go remote occur in the future.
5. Beef up IT consumerization
We’re in the golden age of consumer-tech simplicity, and employees expect to see that same simplicity, instant gratification and autonomy in their workplace tools as they experience in their everyday lives. The continued deployment of Robotic process automation (RPA) tools, bots and smart applications are table stakes for businesses who want to keep their employees happy and minimize frustration or resignations.
6. Create a cloud infrastructure for the long haul
One positive outcome from the pandemic was the long-overdue corporate acceleration towards and adoption of cloud and SaaS platforms. Unfortunately, many architectures or solutions deployed in reaction to the pandemic were not ‘enterprise-grade.’ Organizations now need to reevaluate what technologies work best and which are sustainable for the long haul.
7. Enduring the Great Resignation
Many tech workers left the workforce due to burnout and retaining talent remains a priority for companies across all industries. The shortage of workforce created some challenges in recruiting and hiring talent. Companies need to step up on all fronts of employee culture, from pay to benefits to career development and adopting technology that is easy to use and makes working more delightful.
We have come a long way since the beginning of 2020. CIOs and leaders across industries are now re-thinking their strategic long-term plans in light of the unpredictable times ahead. Companies are expected to deliver user experiences that mimic the seamless digital experiences that employees have in their personal lives and proactively embrace and practice the highest data privacy standards for their customers to maintain brand trust. Small and medium businesses have realized their move towards cloud technology and infrastructure has provided more freedom in the way they can operate, grow, and expand in different areas.
Businesses and the workforce will continue to adapt as the hybrid workplace evolves and IT will be the catalyst for change that will cut across all business functions and operations.
In a world where the ‘anywhere operations’ model is slowly becoming a norm, where businesses can be accessed and enabled anywhere — where customers, employers, and partners operate, the onus then lies on IT to continue implementing various technologies to improve existing systems. Strong, reliable and uninterrupted IT services and practices enable organizations to stay competitive and help the world become digitally resilient to future large-scale disruptions.
