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Join in for a #CommunityChat | March 14 | Uninterrupted IT, Unstoppable Business

Join in for a #CommunityChat | March 14 | Uninterrupted IT, Unstoppable Business
rashmi.nag
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Introducing #CommunityChat or as we call it ‘Courtside with community’, an informal conversation among community members over cups of our favorite beverage.
I am currently writing this post with a tall glass of iced coffee in my hand :coffee:

This time around, we will be discussing all things ITSM - 

Topic of the hour: How to use ITSM & ITOM together to make your business unstoppable.

 

Here’s a list of questions we’ll be tackling in this chat - 

  1. What are the top priorities for IT leaders in 2022?
  2. How do IT leaders make the leap from tech leaders to business drivers?
  3. How to transition from traditional IT to DevOps?
  4. How to create delightful technology experiences for agents and employees?
  5. What are some challenges organizations face when setting up their enterprise service management, and what are the different solutions required to address them?

How does it work?

  • To answer a question, tag the answer with the corresponding number. For example, if you are answering the first question Q1, start your answer with A1 and use the Quote option
  • You can reply to each others threads/ posts to keep the conversation going
  • Be polite and respectful of other people’s opinions
  • Feel free to add any questions/ doubts too if you have any. Our in-house specialists and other community members maybe able to help you.

We’ll see you on March 14, sharp at 9:30 AM PST

 

In the meantime, register for our virtual IT summit now!

 

Cheers, Rashmi || Team Freshworks

74 replies

vijay_2am
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Q3: How easy/tough it is to cope up with the other competitors like BMC/SNOW when compared to codeless application/innovation suites/BWF?

Regards | Vijay
manns
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A1. Another that’s more specifically for IT Leaders is trying to move the dial on the business perceptions of IT (and not just in terms of EX). I’m old enough to remember when IT was considered a “business innovator,” before it became “the custodian of the IT infrastructure.” It’s a harsh and gross generalization but, importantly, trends such as ESM, EX, and AI-enablement allow for the repositioning of IT teams as business innovators again :)

Cheers, Stephen || https://ITSM.tools
manns
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Keep those wonderful answers coming your way! :grinning:

Our next question in today’s conversation is...

Q2: How do IT leaders make the leap from tech leaders to business drivers?

To answer this question, start your answer with A2, signifying the answer for Q2.

I think my add-on answer to Q1. starts to cover this:

A1. Another that’s more specifically for IT Leaders is trying to move the dial on the business perceptions of IT (and not just in terms of EX). I’m old enough to remember when IT was considered a “business innovator,” before it became “the custodian of the IT infrastructure.” It’s a harsh and gross generalization but, importantly, trends such as ESM, EX, and AI-enablement allow for the repositioning of IT teams as business innovators again :)

BUT we also need to make a pivot from focusing on “what we do” to “what we achieve through what we do.” Some might call this a value or outcome focus (and EX sits here nicely).

 

Cheers, Stephen || https://ITSM.tools
vijay_2am
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Keep those wonderful answers coming your way! :grinning:

Our next question in today’s conversation is...

Q2: How do IT leaders make the leap from tech leaders to business drivers?

To answer this question, start your answer with A2, signifying the answer for Q2.

A2: The evolution of CIOs/CTOs is rapidly maturing into a strategic enterprise leader with critical knowledge across the technology ecosystem, which is core to company success,” says Craig Stephenson, managing director of the North America technology officers practice at Korn Ferry. “Some could argue that in the near future, when asked about succession, the executive with engineering, product, cloud, data, and security experience is certainly a succession candidate for roles beyond CIO and CTO. We are seeing this occur much more frequently

 

Source: https://www.cio.com/article/304341/cios-make-the-leap-to-business-leadership.html

Regards | Vijay
rashmi.nag
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A1. What’s also interesting to see is how IT priorities have changed in the last half decade (hopefully in line with business needs changing):

 

Love this representation and evolution of priorities over the years!

Cheers, Rashmi || Team Freshworks
manns
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A1. What’s also interesting to see is how IT priorities have changed in the last half decade (hopefully in line with business needs changing):

 

Interesting pattern. I’m more curious to know about ITSM “advanced”. Could you maybe shed some light on it, @manns ?

I can, and will, do :)

I’ll circle back to it once I’m back in line with everything else being posted.

Cheers, Stephen || https://ITSM.tools
manns
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A1. What’s also interesting to see is how IT priorities have changed in the last half decade (hopefully in line with business needs changing):

 

Thanks for sharing the image! Its easier to understand, interesting to see how the priorities have changed and to see ‘people’ move up the order!

Yes, you can map the changing interests to how the ITSM world has changed and continues to change. I’ll dig out what I’ve written on some possible causes.

Cheers, Stephen || https://ITSM.tools
zachary.king
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A2: To become a business driver, there needs to be an environment that leads customers to feel comfortable utilizing the available IT departments and resources. When companies can improve the relationships between IT and end users, both can really drive their business to succeed. This seems like a rather vague answer but ultimately we need to remove the stigma that IT departments create more problems than they solve.

- Zach / ITSM Solutions Engineer
vishnu.selvaraj
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A2: Here’s my take -

Market the importance of tech internally!

IT leaders should consider devising strategies to educate their peers on the importance of using tech to transform their business. How can they do it?

Explain how a tech upgrade or a new software application will have a positive impact on the company’s strategic direction and business goals. Quantify the gains in dollars. Put (big) numbers to it.

They can also host internal events to announce the changes in the tech stack. Conduct quizzes, meet and greets, pop-up stalls within the office premises, viral campaigns etc. The goal is to educate the employees on the benefits of IT/tech stacks, because IT is the business!

Leaders can also involve volunteer employees to test a new application within the company ecosystem. Create “change champions”, feature the employees in newsletters and public displays. 

Word of mouth >>» all marketing!

Isaac Thomas
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A1: In my opinion it is going to be shrinking the gap between employee experience and user experience. It is one thing to take industry leading platforms and make them available to your employees. But those technologies need to be easy to use and adopt into your organization. And then from there they should unite the employee and customer in a unified approach to solving problems.

Couldn’t agree more.

In one of my previous stint, we used a leading platform for marketing automation.

What we lacked was “Adoption”. The platform by itself was great, but without stakeholders using them, the whole experience goes for a toss. 

And some of the key elements for adoption is User Experience, Training, Engagement with product teams, World Class Support, etc… 

So yeah, Ease of Adoption & Experience should and would be one of the leading priorities for 2022 and beyond… 

-- Isaac
rashmi.nag
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Ahhh..we’re already mid-way through the session. Your next question is here:

Q3: How to transition from traditional IT to DevOps?

Begin your answer for this question with A3.

Cheers, Rashmi || Team Freshworks
manns
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A2: To become a business driver, there needs to be an environment that leads customers to feel comfortable utilizing the available IT departments and resources. When companies can improve the relationships between IT and end users, both can really drive their business to succeed. This seems like a rather vague answer but ultimately we need to remove the stigma that IT departments create more problems than they solve.

The last line here is important and the reason why we need to get better at measuring IT’s performance. Moving away from measuring the “mechanics” of IT support, say - how many and how fast - to focus on the difference that’s being made. Only then will we unearth the many hidden issues that the self-centric measurement of IT performance misses (e.g. lost end-user productivity caused by ticket bounces or ineffective self-service capabilities).

Cheers, Stephen || https://ITSM.tools
rashmi.nag
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A2: Here’s my take -

Market the importance of tech internally!

IT leaders should consider devising strategies to educate their peers on the importance of using tech to transform their business. How can they do it?

Explain how a tech upgrade or a new software application will have a positive impact on the company’s strategic direction and business goals. Quantify the gains in dollars. Put (big) numbers to it.

They can also host internal events to announce the changes in the tech stack. Conduct quizzes, meet and greets, pop-up stalls within the office premises, viral campaigns etc. The goal is to educate the employees on the benefits of IT/tech stacks, because IT is the business!

Leaders can also involve volunteer employees to test a new application within the company ecosystem. Create “change champions”, feature the employees in newsletters and public displays. 

Word of mouth >>» all marketing!

Love this. Educating your users is key! And this allows so much room for creativity and involvement from various stakeholders. When users are aware of what their IT does for them, chances are they’ll start using it more, using it better and reaping it’s benefits.

Cheers, Rashmi || Team Freshworks
manns
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Ahhh..we’re already mid-way through the session. Your next question is here:

Q3: How to transition from traditional IT to DevOps?

Begin your answer for this question with A3.

A3. First, I think it’s important to recognize that the required improvement is more than simply transitioning from old change/incident/design and delivery practices to DevOps.

Cheers, Stephen || https://ITSM.tools
Isaac Thomas
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A1. Each organization will hopefully have their own top priorities based on business needs but we can see groupings of what most interests ITSM professionals/leaders. This list is from a survey re ran at the start of 2022 (we were late in doing so), it shows most interest in:

  1. ITSM “advanced”
  2. Enterprise service management
  3. Digital transformation/digital workflows
  4. People (including attitude, behavior, and culture (ABC))
  5. Employee experience management

Versus for 2021:

  1. Digital transformation/digital workflows
  2. Artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning
  3. Automation
  4. People (including attitude, behavior, and culture (ABC))
  5. Enterprise service management and ITIL 4 (joint)

Source: https://itsm.tools/hottest-itsm-trends-2022/

INTERESTING is the word!

Personally I’ve been using the terms Automation, Digital Transformation and AI since 2016 extensively… And now after reading this, I’m like, “Damn”… When did I stop using these terms :thinking:  

Currently my over abused word :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: is “Experience”… And I guess it’s the need of the hour and hence most organizations are making “Experience” a priority... 

-- Isaac
manns
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A3. If we look at ITIL 4, it’s good to see how DevOps has been brought into this body of best practice guidance but it still highlights one of the biggest issues IT organizations face. It’s still seen as (IT) service management guidance by many and run-the-business (service delivery and support) and change-the-business (app dev) teams might still be trying to operate in functional siloes (and despite the other).

Cheers, Stephen || https://ITSM.tools
zachary.king
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A3: Like any type of methodology or practice, it is going to require testing, implementation, training, and support. This is not a light switch that organizations can just turn on. A smart move would be to network with other organizations that are implementing the same systems and discuss how they overcame their business problems. (a little plug for the Refresh Community!!! :joy: ) Unifying development and operation teams is a great way to practice unifying even further amongst the company. One way we currently do this is with company “Communities of Practice” where we can test systems and methods in a controlled environment and seek feedback.

- Zach / ITSM Solutions Engineer
rashmi.nag
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On a lighter note:

POV: Our #CommunityChat participants right now

POV: Our moderators right now

 

Cheers, Rashmi || Team Freshworks
rhea.desouza
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A3: Like any type of methodology or practice, it is going to require testing, implementation, training, and support. This is not a light switch that organizations can just turn on. A smart move would be to network with other organizations that are implementing the same systems and discuss how they overcame their business problems. (a little plug for the Refresh Community!!! :joy: ) Unifying development and operation teams is a great way to practice unifying even further amongst the company. One way we currently do this is with company “Communities of Practice” where we can test systems and methods in a controlled environment and seek feedback.

Love the “Communities of practice” piece! Ongoing evaluation and feedback will be crucial to ensure an easy transition

Cheers | Team Freshworks Community
Veena
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A2: Here’s my take -

Market the importance of tech internally!

IT leaders should consider devising strategies to educate their peers on the importance of using tech to transform their business. How can they do it?

Explain how a tech upgrade or a new software application will have a positive impact on the company’s strategic direction and business goals. Quantify the gains in dollars. Put (big) numbers to it.

They can also host internal events to announce the changes in the tech stack. Conduct quizzes, meet and greets, pop-up stalls within the office premises, viral campaigns etc. The goal is to educate the employees on the benefits of IT/tech stacks, because IT is the business!

Leaders can also involve volunteer employees to test a new application within the company ecosystem. Create “change champions”, feature the employees in newsletters and public displays. 

Word of mouth >>» all marketing!

Great take on this, Vishnu!

To quote our CIO, Prasad Ramakrishnan, “Technology out there is now like a utility. Everybody has an opinion, and everybody needs to participate in the process.”

To add on to your point, I think it also helps to run polls and surveys to check if the technology deployed six months ago is still relevant for the employees to do their jobs well. This way, you’re constantly assessing the tool’s features and functionality to make sure it’s still relevant. 

rashmi.nag
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Next up, question no. 4!

Q4: How to create delightful technology experiences for agents and employees?

To answer this question, start your answer with A4, signifying the answer for Q4.

Cheers, Rashmi || Team Freshworks
Isaac Thomas
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A2: To become a business driver, there needs to be an environment that leads customers to feel comfortable utilizing the available IT departments and resources. When companies can improve the relationships between IT and end users, both can really drive their business to succeed. This seems like a rather vague answer but ultimately we need to remove the stigma that IT departments create more problems than they solve.

The last line here is important and the reason why we need to get better at measuring IT’s performance. Moving away from measuring the “mechanics” of IT support, say - how many and how fast - to focus on the difference that’s being made. Only then will we unearth the many hidden issues that the self-centric measurement of IT performance misses (e.g. lost end-user productivity caused by ticket bounces or ineffective self-service capabilities).

True that!

IT management was earlier looked as a support function i.e. keep the ecosystem running…

Organizations have now evolved and are now looking at IT management as a revenue generator (through cost savings, most of the times).  

This leads me to think, HOW DO WE MEASURE this?

-- Isaac
manns
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A1. Circling back on ITSM “advanced,” it’s likely many things that are called out explicitly in the survey. That while it was intended to be “what we don’t do now” or “what we don’t do now because it’s too hard (or because we don’t need to)” we can see that it’s so much more.

For example, placing the focus on value and employee experience, through enterprise service management (or digital workflow enablement) opportunities to extend ITSM for the benefit of other business functions, to what could be considered the most critical area to address – people.

@vishnu.selvaraj 

Cheers, Stephen || https://ITSM.tools
vijay_2am
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Ahhh..we’re already mid-way through the session. Your next question is here:

Q3: How to transition from traditional IT to DevOps?

Begin your answer for this question with A3.

A3: As far as i have seen, its been a complete upside down when we compare it to how/what we used to do as an IT resource and what/how we do now using DevOps.

As they say “Change is the new Parmanent”.

Keep updating yourself

Regards | Vijay
alyssia.correa
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A1. What’s also interesting to see is how IT priorities have changed in the last half decade (hopefully in line with business needs changing):

 

Thanks for sharing the image! Its easier to understand, interesting to see how the priorities have changed and to see ‘people’ move up the order!

Yes, you can map the changing interests to how the ITSM world has changed and continues to change. I’ll dig out what I’ve written on some possible causes.

 

That would be interesting - look forward to reading them!

Ally, Freshworks Community Manager

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