Resource Topic: Service Management

The Client

Over the course of four decades, this tech pioneer has grown steadily into one of the best-known providers of personal computers, peripherals, and infrastructure hardware, as well as a diversified range of related products and services. They now sit on the Fortune 50, bring in over $100 billion in annual revenues, and own a solid reputation in a highly competitive industry.

The Challenge: Data was there, but it was difficult to leverage

With the tremendous volume of hardware and software products the company produces, sells, and distributes worldwide, their services division naturally sees a high volume of issues coming in daily. From manufacturing defects to user error, these issues are inevitable. But, ensuring they are repaired, replaced, or otherwise rectified in a fast, convenient manner, is a top priority for the company.

A vast amount of data, but limited usability

Over time, the company had collected hundreds of thousands of data points around these issues, with a goal of identifying trends and better mitigating recurring problems. But, the bulk of that information was stored as freeform text within each Jira issue ticket the service department created.

As a result, identifying trends and drilling down to root causes was a highly manual process—both time consuming and labor intensive.

“The data was there, but it was hard to get at, and hard to make sense of,” says Morgan Luu, Solutions Architect with Cprime. “That was impeding the team’s ability to fully realize their committment.”

Committed to customer delight AND cost control

Recognizing the challenges the service department was facing, a new initiative was launched focused on establishing a tool-based way to efficiently leverage this vast bank of data to support root cause analysis. This, in turn, would support faster, more cost-effective resolution of customer issues, and a reduction in repeated problems. 

The timeline was tight, but that’s because the potential return on investment—both financially and in terms of customer satisfaction—was huge.

“Our organization spends millions of dollars monthly on technical support and service issues,” says the Technical Program Manager in charge of the initiative. “So, obviously there’s a cost issue. But, more importantly, every defect equates to a dissatisfied customer, vendor, retailer, or distributor. That’s why improving this program is such a high priority.”

“We had to develop and implement a solution in record time,” he continues. “Morgan and the Cprime team rose to the challenge and immediately started attacking the strategy and execution.”

The Solution: Customized implementation–ITSM using Jira Service Management–to make all that data instantly actionable

In discussions with other leaders within the organization, the Technical Program Manager was recommended to contact Atlassian—the maker of Jira Software—to see what they could suggest for adapting their existing Jira solution to accommodate this new initiative.

Atlassian, in turn, recommended Cprime—a long time Platinum Solutions Partner with over a decade of experience leading Atlassian implementation and optimization engagements. 

The first point of contact was Scott Steinmetz, a Cprime Account Executive. Scott, in turn, brought in Solutions Architect, Morgan Luu. 

Settling on Jira Service Management as the solution

Over parts of four months, the Technical Program Manager collaborated closely with Morgan and Scott to dive deep into the current state of the data, business processes, and goals of the executive initiative he was leading. In the end, he decided that Jira was not the optimal solution, but that Jira Service Management (JSM) fit the bill.

“With Morgan and Scott’s help, I could confidently choose JSM as the right solution for us,” he says, and adds, “I needed to be sure the tool was going to help us accomplish everything we needed, because it was going to be a large investment in time, effort, and money. But, even though it took time, I never felt pressured to move ahead with questions still outstanding, or to settle for second best.”

Establishing the optimal JSM setup

Over the next three months, the Cprime team performed a number of in-depth evaluations, a thorough gap analysis, and mapped out all the custom data fields that would be necessary to turn the wealth of information the client had collected into highly actionable data.

“One of the keys to success,” says Morgan, “was taking the business processes they already followed and helping translate them into workflows, notifications, and automation rules across the system, for a seamless boost in speed and efficiency.”

Launching the new system

From that point, four weeks of development and implementation work resulted in the final solution, which launched just eight months after the initiative began. This included:

• Standing up and launching a new instance of JSM Data Center, including creation and configuration of custom data fields and a corresponding database to support data analysis and reporting
• Installing and configuring Atlassian Assets—a native integration for asset management—that was used creatively to power some of the queueing and automation needs the solution required
• Development of custom integrations with other tools to support data gathering, reporting, and workflow automation
• Creation of a method for collaborating with vendors and other partners directly through the JSM portal so issues can be viewed and edited by the most appropriate contributor

The Technical Program Manager sums up what was accomplished: “This is an example of producing a highly valuable solution in minimal time with no detrimental impacts—it’s been stable since day one—and with minimal resources required from the IT team. And, importantly, it’s proven highly scalable: we’ve done 26 releases improving the product in the first month alone.”

The Results: Actionable data to support successful root cause analysis, reduced issue handle time, and huge savings

The customer service teams have already seen tremendous benefits with the new customized JSM solution, integrations, and templates.

• Faster resolution – Average handling time for each issue has been reduced by 15 minutes, allowing for greater productivity and boosting customer delight
• Greater data leverage – Every new issue adds to the growing database within ten defect types, all of which can be sliced and diced across dozens of custom fields to identify trends and root causes 
• Excellent scalability – The service teams are fully empowered to continue scaling the solution with new defect types and templates as needed
• Tremendous cost savings – These improvements combine to produce a forecast savings of millions of dollars annually

Based on a strong collaborative relationship

While the technical work and expert advice were invaluable, the Technical Program Manager feels the relationship Cprime established is the real key to the success of this engagement.

“It really all comes back to the relationship: working with Scott and Morgan has been incredible; without that relationship, this engagement would not have been such a resounding success,” he says. 

He sees Cprime’s way of working as a refreshing change from experiences he’s had in the past.

“I’ve worked with vendors in the past who want to be the keyholders to the knowledge and skills we need. Cprime has done the opposite: they’ve given us everything we need to continue scaling and improving this new solution.” 

And, although this engagement is finished, the relationship continues.

“Now that the engagement has ended, I can still rely on Morgan for further help because they have empowered us to continue building out the capabilities; if we need technical support and advice, we still get it.”

He concludes, “I can’t say enough about the value Cprime brought to the table here. I’m recommending them to everyone who needs help they can provide.”

Could your company benefit from results like these?

Cprime offers a host of services around business technology implementation, strategic consulting, and training to help businesses improve ways of working, just like we have for this client. 

If your organization could benefit from an upgrade in your customer service workflow, contact a Cprime expert today to discuss your uniqe needs. 

We have the people, partners, and expertise to both point you in the right direction and get you where you want to go—and beyond!

The Client

A multinational lifestyle retailer with a presence in North America, Europe, and the Middle East, this Philadelphia-based Cprime client is known for its eclectic and customer-centric product selection. The company has repeatedly staved off the sales declines that have affected its competition by targeting a young, dynamic customer base. 

In 53 years of operation, the retailer has established over 200 brick-and-mortar retail locations. Its success is built on its ability to understand the marketplace and always give its customers exactly what they crave, interpreting and capitalizing on consumer desires to create demand rather than relying on aggressive marketing.

Challenge: Reducing downtime by eliminating communications bottlenecks

With its large brick-and-mortar retail network and an international workforce of over 26,000 people, the lifestyle retailer struggled to maintain an effective IT service management (ITSM) and internal service desk and support infrastructure.

“The brand’s main challenge was supporting corporate staff and store workers in their physical retail locations,” explains Drew Garvey, Enterprise Solutions Architect at Cprime. “Between rotating shifts and irregular staffing arrangements, it was difficult to contact an employee that had filed a service request for additional feedback or troubleshooting help.”

Communications were the main bottleneck. Support staff struggled to follow up with users on the corporate and retail ends of the business, and users had no clearly defined channels for specific types of issues.

“They lacked a clear reporting method—everything went through a single service funnel. Routing each request to the appropriate support team required a lot of back and forth and unproductive churn,” says Garvey. “They needed to automate and improve their services to limit the downtime caused by delays in getting the right set of eyes on a problem.”

“The experience has been a great example of Cprime as a partner and an enabler—how we collaborate with our partners to give them the tools and soft skills they need to be effective.” — Drew Garvey, Enterprise Solutions Architect, Cprime

Solution: Cprime, an Atlassian ITSM Specialized Partner with a History of Jira Service Management Successes

To stay consistent with its investment in the Atlassian software ecosystem, the lifestyle retailer opted for Jira Service Management (JSM) to address its internal support issues and facilitate integration with its teams and existing infrastructure. The retailer chose Cprime—a long-standing Atlassian Platinum Solutions Partner with ITSM Specialization—to implement the solution and rapidly deliver better service experiences to its employees. ITSM Specialized Partners are exceptional service management professionals with strong roots in IT and service delivery processes, as well as in the deployment of Atlassian products for enterprise-level customers.

“Cprime has over 10 years of experience as an Atlassian Platinum Partner and a recognized reputation for experience in the Atlassian and Jira Service Management spaces,” says Taylor Dellostretto, Cprime Account Executive. “They chose Cprime because we brought expertise and an excellent solution to the table. Our history of success assured them we could deliver efficiently and affordably.”

Cprime’s ongoing relationship with the retailer as the licensing agent and reseller for its existing Atlassian services underscored its suitability for the project.

Establishing incremental requirements and scope of work

The retailer’s requirement was straightforward—work with the company’s main stakeholders to establish and implement support queues starting with its Facilities and Change Management and Approval systems. From there, Cprime was to take on the more complex Corporate and Retail Service Management systems. 

“We identified the order and scope of work based on adoption—the number of users affected and the extent of customizations needed,” says Garvey. “Starting with the low-hanging fruit, we progressively adapted to more rigorous requirements and established sanity checks and user acceptance testing. By the time we got to their largest and most complex group—retail, with hundreds of stores and thousands of users—we had established a set of processes and a strong rapport.”  

Cprime conducted extensive working sessions with the retailer’s teams to establish baselines and new requirements.

“Once we understood their current support structure, we established baselines to ensure they weren’t losing functionality,” says Garvey. “From there we worked together to leverage the best JSM features out of the box and establish a prioritized customization backlog to help them achieve their core goals.”  

Applying expertise to solve complex needs

The Cprime team called upon the full scope of their expertise to provide the lifestyle retailer with a custom IT service management solution tailored to its most complex needs. The resulting system achieves an unprecedented amount of context-specific automation and business intelligence. This provides support personnel with all the information they need to begin work without time-consuming follow-ups.  

“The system Cprime built either automatically provides or requires each user to supply detailed information to ensure a higher level of support,” says Dellostretto. “They can’t just send an email saying the network is down. We’re enabling a system that provides them with metrics and the information they need to react quickly to service requests and be forward thinking with asset management and preventative maintenance.” 

“Using our customizations and JSM’s asset management capabilities, the system associates each user’s login to the portal with their physical store locations, and individual objects down to each laptop or barcode scanner,” says Garvey. “That’s not something I’ve seen done before.”

“Cprime brought expertise and an excellent solution to the table. Our history of success assured them we could deliver efficiently and affordably.” — Taylor Dellostretto, Account Executive, Cprime 

Making the solution mobile 

Making the entire support system responsive on mobile devices was another non-negotiable feature Cprime delivered. Retail staff on the sales floor had to be able to report issues without leaving their posts and the support team needed easy access to service queues. 

“Mobile was a more seamless, intelligent way for employees to submit requests,” says Garvey, “For service staff reporting to a location in response to a maintenance call, having the service queue in their pocket was a game changer.”

Throughout the process, the Cprime team ensured that the customization and development of the retailer’s Jira Service Management solution was a collaboration rather than a one-sided basic implementation.

“As a partner, Cprime works to meet each customer where they are. We enable our customers to achieve their goals,” says Garvey. “The retailer didn’t want a baseline, out-of-the-box product. They wanted to leverage our expertise to create a solution comprised of best practices they could educate their team members to take ownership of.”      

Results: Traceability, Efficiency, and Accountability

As Cprime works with the lifestyle retailer to roll out their Jira Service Management solution across the organization, the improvements are clear.

“Communication and user adoption are already much better,” says Garvey. “The streamlined service request/intake process has significantly reduced the time it takes to direct the appropriate support team members to pending tasks.”  

From a management perspective, the system has improved reporting and provides the support team with essential information that allows them to respond proactively to issues, often anticipating them before they arise.

“Management can refer to snapshots of exactly what their teams are working on, and what they have prioritized,” says Garvey, “They also have metrics on outcomes and response times that clearly show team leads where their service bottlenecks are.”

Cprime has also helped the company establish accountability throughout its change management and change approval processes.

“The retailer didn’t want a baseline, out-of-the-box product. They wanted Cprime’s expertise to create a solution comprised of best practices their team members could take ownership of.”  — Drew Garvey, Enterprise Solutions Architect, Cprime

“Leadership wanted traceability, efficiency, and a better feel for how many requests each location raises. They now have an auditable solution that follows best practices through multiple steps of approval for their service requests and planned and emergency changes to their operations software,” says Garvey. “They can rapidly validate and ensure the appropriate stakeholder sees every request. They previously couldn’t report on or audit any of that.”

Plans for an ongoing engagement

Due to the success of the early phases of the project, the lifestyle retailer has extended the Cprime engagement. 

“What began as a limited-scope, three-month agreement to develop a customized proof of concept, has since been extended to go live within their corporate and retail workspaces. We are currently discussing a further extension with Cprime in a support role sharing foundational knowledge and promoting user engagement as the system rolls out,” says Garvey. “Overall, the experience has been a great example of Cprime as a partner and an enabler—how we collaborate with our clients to give them the tools and soft skills they need to be effective.” 

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