A4: One way we can improve this is to open our ears and truly seek solutions to the issues our agents and employees are presenting to us. Be willing to find reasonable ways to include them in the process that gives them some insight into the process of adopting new technologies or improving existing ones. It all hinges on clear communication and visibility.

A4: One of the main contributor i think is “Chatbots”.

Customer service isn’t just managing inquiries and answering calls; it’s about building a relationship with customers. And while emerging tech — like AI-driven chatbots — has allowed member experience departments to resolve issues more efficiently and quickly, people still want to speak to a real person. 

A 2020 study by Deloitte found that person-to-person service interactions were the most common factor cited by customers when discussing whether they felt "valued" by a brand.

A1. Circling back on what the priorities trend data means, here are a few “story arcs” that might be true here:

•  Anticipation for ITIL 4 started at the end of 2018 before the early-2019 launch of the ITIL 4 
• Interest in AI dropped for 2019 but rebounded as ITSM tool vendors began to include machine learning and natural language understanding (NLU) capabilities in their solutions
• The global pandemic hitting in Q1 2020 drove the need for digital workflow enablement and caused digital transformation (DX) to jump to the top spot for 2021
• Interest in ITIL 4 dropped in 2020-2021 as organizations focused on the digital transformation required for business continuity during the pandemic
• Automation was in a slow descent and finally dropped out of the top spots for 2022 – it’s not that automation isn’t essential, but likely that our readers now view it as “AI and automation” or “intelligent automation” or as something they already know enough about due to their real-world actions
   

@alyssia.correa 

A4. I think the simplest starting point is to stop assuming that you know best!

A3. Your agent and employee experience should definitely take the front seat for anyone looking to grow their business in the current times.

1. As @vishnu.selvaraj mentioned earlier - Educate them or communicate as much with them to help them really understand what’s going on, how will it impact them, how can they make the best out of it and how can it help them grow in their career paths (if applicable).
2. Hear it out from them - Again cannot stress on how important communication is. I know of many places that collect feedback but never review them or act on them. Act on agent/ employee feedback and communicate to them the progress and status
3. Know their top issues and work (probably along with them) to find solutions to them that are actionable and achievable.

Can’t wait to hear it from the others!

Last question for today’s #CommunityChat!

Q5: What are some challenges organizations face when setting up their enterprise service management, and what are the different solutions required to address them?

To answer a question, start your answer with A5.

A4. Once the right perspective is being taken (based on demand rather than supply-side views) we can start to look at what’s needed, how well we are currently doing, and what’s need to close the gaps (and ensure that we continue to improve in line with changing needs and expectations).

This is where all the lovely ITSM trends such as the focusing on value, employee experience, enterprise service management (or digital workflow enablement), people development, AI-enablement, metrics reassessment, etc. can then play a part.

TOTALLY!

I would always prefer speaking to a Person than a bot… 

Bots too have evolved quite a bit. They seem to often mislead me into thinking I’m speaking to a Person.. And when my bubble bursts, I end up feeling “Screw You, You Bot” 

A3: 

Over the years, Enterprise Service Management (ESM) has been evolving steadily to cater to changing business demands. From being called IT Service Management (ITSM) in the early days, it now comprises flexible and user-friendly service management solutions that support both IT as well as non-IT use cases.

As businesses become more digital, the reach of IT extends to almost every business function and process within the organization. Hence, an integrated approach to ESM, versus ITSM, becomes more important than ever. The traditional IT service catalog has evolved to focus not just on handling IT tickets, but on providing a holistic bouquet of services such as resource tracking, repair handling and more.

Today, IT plays a bigger role than ever before in enabling employees to perform their day-to-day tasks. A user-centric view of service management with a focus on superior experience can tremendously boost employee morale and productivity.

Industry trends have also led to the evolution of ESM. For example, with IT development processes such as DevOps gaining popularity, there is greater pressure on infrastructure and ESM teams to be more involved in supporting DevOps processes.

As per the HfS Blueprint Report on ServiceNow Services 2018, organizations now seek robust out-of-the-box and bespoke solutions that are relevant to their operations. In response, providers such as Infosys, are starting to offer high-value, end-to-end solutions. A number of these solutions are highly verticalized and come with strong use-cases.

A5: The challenge will be to get away from the one size fits all mentality. What works from one department may not work for the entire organization. Will be interesting to see how organizations scale their service management in effective ways

Thank you all for today, gotta jet into another meeting. Take care 

A5. We can start with the most common ITSM challenges as a base because they are still relevant here:

Remembering that these differ across organizations and interestingly across geographic regions:

• Africa “changing scope/expectations”
• Asia “lacking the right people”
• Australasia “poor communication”
• Europe “lack of buy-in from senior management”.
• The Middle East (a three-way tie, likely caused by the smaller sample size) “changing scope/expectations”, “lack of buy-in from senior management”, and “unrealistic budgets/resources”
• North and South America (a two-way tie) “inefficient work practices” and “ITSM doesn’t have enough influence”.

These are from a forthcoming AXELOS Benchmark Report.

How fun this was! I’m in awe with the amount of knowledge we’ve all shared in the last one hour and been able to help and learn from each other. 

It does not end here, keep those answers and questions coming your way.

For those of you who were not able to join us LIVE, this thread will stay open for you to share your answers when you’re free. Looking forward to reading them.

I’d like to thank all those who contributed to today’s discussion, making it valuable, engaging and a resource we could refer to at any point! 

@manns @zachary.king @vishnu.selvaraj @Ishan @alyssia.correa @Isaac Thomas @rhea.desouza @Veena @vijay_2am 

See you next time!

Bots are trained to answer your technical queries and it depends on how you configure it. If we don’t do so, as you say said i agree “ **** you Bot”

We invite all of you to be a part of Be Unstoppable – a virtual summit for IT leaders to explore strategies for shaping IT into an unstoppable force in 2022 and beyond. 

Be Unstoppable offers in-depth analysis into trends, best practices, and technology solutions that help deliver uninterrupted IT, effortlessly, so IT leaders can champion employee delight and propel unstoppable business.

What to expect

Key sessions include conversations, practical tips, and actionable strategies on: 

• Combining forces of AIOps and ITOM for always-on IT and unstoppable business. 

• Moving IT from a centralized department to infusing tech into every business unit. 

• Delivering a delightful technology experience for agents and employees. 

Benefits of attending

• Access to Freshworks executives, product experts, and industry leaders 

• Pick up tricks, best practices, and lessons learned from Freshworks customers

• Sneak peek into emerging IT trends, foreseeable challenges, and the way forward. 

 Save your spot now:

If you have questions about this Summit, post them here. @vishnu.selvaraj and @Veena are here to help you out with it.

Thank you once again everyone!!

I was looking forward this session and in deed it was wonderful.

A5: 

Over the years, Enterprise Service Management (ESM) has been evolving steadily to cater to changing business demands. From being called IT Service Management (ITSM) in the early days, it now comprises flexible and user-friendly service management solutions that support both IT as well as non-IT use cases.

As businesses become more digital, the reach of IT extends to almost every business function and process within the organization. Hence, an integrated approach to ESM, versus ITSM, becomes more important than ever. The traditional IT service catalog has evolved to focus not just on handling IT tickets, but on providing a holistic bouquet of services such as resource tracking, repair handling and more.

Today, IT plays a bigger role than ever before in enabling employees to perform their day-to-day tasks. A user-centric view of service management with a focus on superior experience can tremendously boost employee morale and productivity.

Industry trends have also led to the evolution of ESM. For example, with IT development processes such as DevOps gaining popularity, there is greater pressure on infrastructure and ESM teams to be more involved in supporting DevOps processes.

As per the HfS Blueprint Report on ServiceNow Services 2018, organizations now seek robust out-of-the-box and bespoke solutions that are relevant to their operations. In response, providers such as Infosys, are starting to offer high-value, end-to-end solutions. A number of these solutions are highly verticalized and come with strong use-cases.

Q5. Then there are specific ESM challenges to consider and address when needed. For example that we try to sell ITSM when business functions want digital enablement or efficiencies. Or who is going to pay for all this ESM improvement? Another big one that I’ve just written on is how we seem to be sharing suboptimal ITSM capabilities via ESM rather than taking the time to optimize them first :/

So much more that could be added here.

Love the you back your response with amazing stats and infographics!!! 

That’s a good point you’ve brought up @zachary.king. Would love to hear other’s thoughts on this.

Thanks for joining in and contributing today :)

Glad to hear that @vijay_2am. Thanks for joining us.

That was so rapid that I can’t help think I might have missed responding to something/one. Please reply again if I’ve left something hanging :)

Thank you @manns for your detailed, data backed answers to our discussion. These were easy and insightful to understand and also ponder over. 

Are you looking for a way to connect with other business owners in your community? Look no further than the #CommunityChat scheduled for March 14! Uninterrupted IT, Unstoppable Business will be hosting the conversation, and we hope you'll join in!