The FireBlog

Change for the better

They always say to look before you leap, right?  Well here at FireScope, we’ve listened closely to these wise words, and kept them in mind while creating the Change Management feature of CMDB.  

Change is chaotic - all too often a system enters maintenance without clear understanding of who will be impacted, if the change will be beneficial, or if it will disrupt other applications.  Whether it's new assets introduced to the enterprise or legacy systems being retired, changes need to be thoughtfully and thoroughly planned.  FireScope  CMDB’s pre-flight testing makes change structured and predictable, essentially letting you document, approve and organize your change so there are no surprises.  Experience the magic for yourself by downloading a free trial of FireScope CMDB!

 HIGHLIGHTS

•  Easy, straightforward process

•  Point-and-click change planning, reduces workload

•  Plan mode provides sandbox for evaluating change and impact.

•  Easy visibility into change impact on critical services

IT’s Role in Customer Service – Part I

Does IT have a role in customer service?  Well, let me ask this another way.  How many times have you given up trying to buy something online because the site was taking too long to load?  How many times have you walked away from a business after seeing ‘Out of Order’ on a kiosk?  Have you ever switched banks because their online banking was too painful to use?

These are just a few examples of how IT directly impacts your customers’ experiences.  In fact, it’s probably fair to say that your customers interact more with a business’ technology than its employees.  And a poorly performing or failed application can be just as damaging to the business as a rude or incompetent employee, if not more if you consider the scale.  So, in times like these, where every business is scrutinizing the bottom line, how you manage your digital customer experience is more important than ever. 

Consider these questions:
1.  Do you know ALL of the interfaces – websites, terminals, kiosks, applications, etc. – that your customers are using to transact business with you?  (Surprisingly, in many organizations this information is scattered, fragmented)
2.  Who is the first to notify you when customer-facing interfaces have failed, especially remote assets such as kiosks or terminals?  The fourth customer to give up?  Employees who happen to walk by?
3.  How quickly does it take on average to restore services once you’re notified?
4.  Do you actively measure the performance, from the user’s perspective, of customer facing interfaces?  Do you have thresholds for required performance, or processes to ensure performance?
5.  Do you track failed transactions?  Do you have processes in place to investigate the cause as part of a continual service improvement system?

The point of these questions is this – what are you doing to reduce the number of lost customers or lost opportunities?  Imagine the impact to your business if 15% of these damaging incidents could be avoided in a six month period, and 10% more in subsequent improvement cycles?

In this 3-part series, I’ll talk about how IT can start measuring it’s impact on customer service, the KPI’s of IT customer service, and the approaches FireScope customers have used to improve the quality of their customers’ experiences.  Check back next week for the second installment.