With the proliferation of technology across enterprises, IT teams face ever-growing demands on their time. Research shows that basic IT tasks like password resets can consume up to 40% of help desk capacity. As mundane requests pile up, IT staff get bogged down performing repetitive manual processes instead of focusing on more strategic initiatives.
Fortunately, a solution exists to liberate IT teams from the chains of repetitive tasks – self service automation. This emerging capability holds the promise of dramatically transforming IT operations in 5 key ways:
- Slashing IT expenses
- Accelerating issue resolution
- Enhancing productivity
- Improving employee satisfaction
- Enabling innovation
Across industries, leading organizations are already utilizing self service automation to revolutionize operations. This guide will explore what self service automation entails, real-world examples of transformational impact, technologies powering its capabilities, implementation best practices, key vendors to evaluate, and future outlook.
What is Self Service Automation?
Self service automation refers to the use of technology to automate the delivery, management, and support of standard IT services and queries – enabling employees to self serve their basic IT needs rather than continually relying on help desk tickets and IT staff assistance.
Through user friendly portals and chatbots, end users can carry out tasks like:
- Password resets
- Software installations
- Hardware requests
- Report generation
- Profile updates
Meanwhile, behind the scenes, intricate workflows handle activities ranging from identity management provisioning to device lifecycle processes.
Advanced self service solutions incorporate cutting edge capabilities like machine learning, natural language processing, and predictive analytics to deliver exceptionally smart, responsive, and customized experiences.
The 5 Transformative Business Benefits
Research indicates 60% of organizations view IT process automation as very important, with the 5 most impactful benefits being:
1. Slashing IT Expenses
Self service automation minimizes costly manual processes traditionally handled by IT administrators. With intelligent technology handling repetitive tasks automatically, organizations reduce expenses associated with:
- Help desk staffing/wages
- Training/onboarding
- Infrastructure overhead
According to projections, automation could lower IT operating costs by approximately 30% for many enterprises.
2. Accelerating Issue Resolution
Instant self service eliminates delays waiting for administrator assistance. At the same time, system alerts automatically trigger/escalate workflows to proper responders behind the scenes for faster remediation.
As an example, when self service password resets are enabled, Gartner research indicates over 50% of requests are typically resolved within the first 5 minutes – avoiding a flood of help desk tickets.
Accelerated issue resolution translates directly into improved employee productivity and customer experiences.
3. Enhancing Productivity
The hours saved from manual tasks and delayed resolutions compound to enable greater productivity across the organization.
Consider that prior to self service automation, end users could lose 15-30 minutes in work time for even the simplest password reset request. For a 2500 employee organization, that easily adds up to over 6000 lost person-hours per year – the equivalent of nearly 4 full-time positions!
Freeing up this capacity directly catalyzes employee focus, innovation, and business objectives. At the same time, self service enables new employees to become instantly productive rather than waiting days or weeks for system access.
4. Improving Employee Satisfaction
Employees today expect consumer-grade experiences – valuing independence, convenience, and instant gratification when it comes to technology. Self service delivers the responsive, automated experiences they demand.
Surveys show roughly three quarters of employees prefer solving simpler IT issues through self service. Enabling this while reserving help desk tickets for more complex matters leaves employees more empowered and satisfied.
Higher satisfaction translates into greater retention – with uplifted morale, focus, and productivity across the business.
5. Enabling Innovation
The compound benefits of self service automation produce a workforce that is more cost optimized, productive and satisfied. This liberates the business and its employees to channel energy towards innovation and development rather than repetitive tasks and frustration over delayed IT response times.
Meanwhile, self service also enables IT teams to focus less on routine tickets and more on enhancing platforms, systems, and emerging technologies to progress the digital capabilities of the organization.
The downstream impacts of self service on innovation and strategic progress can be profound.
Real World Success Stories
While self service delivers clear cut benefits on paper, what do results look like in the real world? Early adopters of automation have seen dramatic gains:
Company A – GlobalManufacturer
With 7500 employees, this manufacturer saw IT spend 20,000+ hours per year handling password resets alone. Self service automation slashed reset handling to just 30 seconds each, saving over $1 million annually.
Company B – Healthcare Agency
A healthcare agency with 1500 employees and 350 applications needed 4 administrators to handle access requests at an average 5 tickets each per day. Self service automation cut IT workload by 60%, while enabling productivity and compliance.
Company C – Technology Services Firm
A tech services company with 5000 employees struggled with low licence utilization rates. Automating access and licensing self service increased usage by 30% while lowering associated lifecycle costs.
Company D – Retail Enterprise
A leading 80,000 employee retail enterprise saw automation resolve 92% of service desk calls fully automatically – reducing call volume by 20% in under a year to enable dramatic cost reductions and customer experience gains.
The results speak for themselves. Virtually any organization with an enterprise IT environment stands to benefit greatly from self service automation capabilities.
Enabling Technologies
Mature self service solutions utilize an array of innovative technologies to deliver intelligent and customized experiences, including:
Artificial Intelligence – Natural language processing, machine learning and predictive analytics allow advanced automation platforms to understand requests, recommend best actions, preemptively resolve potential issues and tailor experiences.
ChatBots – AI-powered bots allow human-like conversational interfaces for exceptionally intuitive self service interactions.
Process Orchestration – Sophisticated workflow engines seamlessly coordinate complex processes spanning multiple platforms and systems behind the scenes.
Analytics & Dashboards – Robust reporting provides visibility into automation efficacy, user patterns, process efficiency opportunities and more to empower continual optimization.
Cloud Architecture – Cloud platforms enable scalable, resilient and evergreen solutions accessible from anywhere.
Combined, these capabilities democratize IT capabilities safely, securely and cost effectively through well crafted self service experiences.
Getting Started with Implementation
Transitioning from traditional help desk models to modern intelligent self service necessitates careful change management for user adoption. Best practices include:
Phase 1 – Build awareness around goals, timelines and employee benefits with training sessions, email campaigns and town halls.
Phase 2 – Start small by rolling automation out to IT for initial feedback then progressively to other departments.
Phase 3 – Continually refine adoption with input-driven enhancements maximizing user experience and capability.
Regardless of scale, organizations should ensure solutions integrate securely with existing IT infrastructure while allowing customizable branding.
Expert implementation partners can help navigate challenges around integration, organizational change management and user experience optimization.
Key Vendors to Evaluate
Forrester and Gartner identify leading options for enterprise self service automation including:
- ServiceNow
- Micro Focus / HPE
- BMC
- Axios
- Easyvista
- Ivanti
Evaluation criteria span IT impact, user experience, TCO/ROI, customer support, roadmap/vision, and more.
The Future of Automation
As AI and process automation advance, self service solutions will become even smarter. Key trends to come include:
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Predictive issue resolution – With deep learning algorithms analyzing system patterns, some problems may be fixed before humans even notice failures.
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True conversational interfaces – More advanced NLP will enable voice activated and free-flowing chatbot engagements.
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Hyper-personalization – Individual user preferences around interfaces, communication channels, process steps and more will inform tailored experiences.
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Expanded app integration – Automation capabilities will mesh directly into normal business applications driving more seamless, embedded experiences.
The expertise required to craft engaging, secure and impactful automation solutions makes this a prime opportunity area for leading digital transformation consultants and outsourcers well-versed in change management and emerging tech.
In summary, self service automation represents an invaluable opportunity to offload the flood of basic IT requests while delivering consumer-grade user experiences – saving substantial costs in the process.
Early adopter examples indicate over 50% reductions in help desk call volumes and 30%+ cost savings are achievable along with dramatic productivity and innovation gains.