Companies Say They Need Automation, Easy-to-Manage ITSM

A new study from Information Week and TeamDynamix shows companies are looking to invest in IT Service Management (ITSM) software that is simple to administer and includes codeless automation. When looking at top challenges, 44 percent of participants said their number one issue is administrative burden and the costs associated with it. Many are looking to move to codeless platforms that offer a lower overall cost of ownership. In addition, many say hidden costs in ITSM platform administration are causing them to look for more viable ITSM solutions that require less overhead.

Another top challenge, according to 41 percent of respondents, is the excessive manual processing and a lack of ITSM automation. Many are looking for an ITSM tool that provides better automation and workflow so IT teams are spending less time on repetitive, mundane tasks.

Prior to using TeamDynamix NaphCare, an Alabama-based company providing healthcare services and software to correctional facilities, was using a limited and less efficient platform to facilitate the delivery of IT service. The former IT Service Management platform wasn’t ITIL-compliant and lacked important features, like automation and self-service capabilities, that would significantly improve the delivery of IT service.

As NaphCare provides and supports software, they needed an effective IT support team with faster response times.

Switching to TeamDynamix has allowed NaphCare’s IT support team to build a self-service portal and automate key processes, resulting in faster, more efficient IT service—as well as happier customers.

With the help of TeamDynamix, NaphCare’s IT Service Desk team has been able to provide exceptional service with the same number of IT staff—without missing a beat.

Barry Bowden, NaphCare’s IT Service Desk manager, oversees NaphCare’s IT Service Desk team which supports technology for the 4,600 people who work for NaphCare, as well as the users of NaphCare’s electronic healthcare records (EHR) software, TechCare.

“The thing that shined for us was the self-service portal, which could be highly customized and was easy to use without requiring much administrative overhead,” Bowden says.

Another way TeamDynamix is helping NaphCare IT staff work more intelligently is by automating routine tasks.

Using TeamDynamix’s enterprise automation and integration tool, iPaaS, enables IT staff to create customized integrations and automated workflows between TeamDynamix and other software programs using a simple drag-and-drop process. The tool is codeless, meaning you don’t need to know how to code to build the workflows.

iPaaS allows TeamDynamix users to create highly customizable workflows for automating a variety of tasks and processes easily. “With iPaaS, we’re looking at automating tasks to take some of the things we do manually out of the hands of IT staff, so they can be more efficient,” Bowden says.

Using iPaaS, Bowden plans to connect TeamDynamix with Adaxes and build a customized workflow to create new user accounts from this information.

“That’s a full week of time I can get back to work on other things. That will be a huge benefit for us.”

Automating this process will enable it to be completed in under five minutes, he says, with very little human intervention needed—freeing up the IT employee responsible for this task to do more strategic work, “That employee can be reallocated to other areas to work on more complex projects,” Bowden said.

There are also plans to automate software provisioning for programs like Microsoft Office.

“It will take me a week, right now, to go in and install Microsoft office on all the accounts that request it. With automation in place, I won’t need to touch those requests unless there’s a problem. People will be able to go to our portal, put in the request and automatically get the software,” Bowden said. “That’s a full week of time I can get back to work on other things. That will be a huge benefit for us.”

Supercharging ITSM with Automation and Integration

In today’s age of digital transformation, automation and workflow management provide the foundation for ITSM success. ITSM groups that are able to manage the flow of service requests as effective project managers—and automate away the most time-consuming tasks—are the ones that maximize their resources in the pursuit of servicing end-users with minimal delay or frustration.

According to the study, most service organizations are also spinning their wheels when dealing with procedural and repetitive ITSM tasks like user management, onboarding/offboarding, name updates and so on. Approximately 52% handle these manually. Another 38% have implemented automation, but only through a patchwork of scripts and APIs. Just 10% of organizations say they’re able to leverage an integration and workflow platform to handle these tasks automatically.

By using an ITSM tool that includes integration and automation with iPaaS (integration platform as a service), you can free up your resources by automating the everyday, mundane tasks they normally have to complete before working on bigger projects.

Here are a few other ways iPaaS with ITSM can help reduce IT drain on an organization:

• Facilitate enterprise integration by using a single hub with pre-built connectors to systems that you use every day as well as a connector concierge for the creation of specific connectors. (Imagine being able to automatically change a username, add someone to a distribution group, or onboard an employee)
• Expedite creation of automation and workflows with a visual flow builder (codeless) that is easy to use, own and operate; reduce IT backlog of integration and workflow requests.
• Optimize resources across IT to allow for improved output and a higher level of service delivery to your internal and external customers by removing redundant data entry and manual processing.
• Reduce API risk with a single connectivity platform that will offer increased oversight and control

Shaner Hotel Group, a hotel management firm that oversees more than 60 properties across 15 states and four countries, achieves its success using TeamDynamix for IT Service Management (ITSM).

Prior to TeamDynamix, the hospitality business was using another help desk platform to manage IT services for employees. However, the program was “the most painful, complicated software I’ve ever used in my life,” says Vice President and Chief Information Officer Steve Shala.

With the prior solution, “we needed a dedicated programmer to make changes to our workflows,” Shala explains. Even creating IT support tickets wasn’t an easy process. Shala realized it was time to find a better system.

“This might be the platform’s nicest feature"

Since early 2022, Shaner Hotel group has used TeamDynamix to manage IT service for its 1,100 employees—and both employees and IT staff alike have noticed a huge difference.

Shala had used TeamDynamix at a prior job. “I loved it,” he says. So when the opportunity presented itself to bring TeamDynamix to Shaner Hotel Group, Shala jumped at the chance.

TeamDynamix allows organizations to set up automated workflows for handling critical tasks. This moves processes along more efficiently and ensures that nothing falls through the cracks, which is especially helpful for managing multistep processes.

For instance, fulfilling requests for new user accounts can be complicated, because it involves getting input and approvals from many people. New employees might need access to many different IT systems depending on their role with the company, such as networked security cameras or purchasing software. IT staff must work with multiple departments to get the right approvals.

The customizable workflows within TeamDynamix automatically trigger messages to the appropriate people asking for their approval at each step in the process, so there are no delays and no steps are overlooked. “This might be the platform’s nicest feature,” Shala says.

Not only can organizations create and manage fully customizable workflows within TeamDynamix, but this process is so simple that any authorized staff member can make changes without needing specialized programming knowledge. This feature allows Shaner Hotel Group’s IT department to be more agile and responsive to users’ needs.

Codeless, All-in-One Platforms Relieve Administrative Burden

Only a little over half of organizations polled say they engage in some form of resource planning and workload balancing. Just under half have a formal intake, prioritization and review process in place. What does this mean? Likely that many organizations don’t have a good grasp on what work is being done where and when. And in a resource-constrained world, this lack of transparency can create chaos and cause projects to run over budget and past deadlines while tickets go unanswered and get lost in emails.

Only 27 percent of organizations say they are able to manage all ITSM work on one platform, increasing administrative overhead and also the risk of problems flying under the radar or surprising the team at inopportune times. When combining the burden of administering a clunky service platform with an overall lack of built-in automation the hidden costs of legacy ITSM systems adds up – causing a much higher total cost of ownership.

When combining iPaaS with ITSM and PPM on a single platform you can automate both complex and simple tasks, as well as connect disparate systems throughout your organization.

And when you chose a codeless platform for this, you get the added benefit of anyone being able to use these tools – not just IT. By allowing lines of business to create their own workflows you can free up your IT resources to work on larger projects and eliminate the logjam when it comes to integrations within your organization.

Interested in reading the full study? Check out our State of ITSM and ESM Survey Report.