How FCR is a Service Desk measure that encompasses both Business Inputs and Business Outcomes

According to a October 2010 Gartner study, first-contact resolution is a tried and true metric for the IT service desk with direct correlation to customer satisfaction, but many IT organizations still underutilize it. It sounds quite intuitive when you think about it: when a customer’s problem is resolved the first time he calls the Service Desk, his levels of customer satisfaction is likely to higher. But many Service Desks find it a challenge to understand this, instead preferring to measure performance with a slew of traditional measures that have little to do with the customer. Agents are encouraged to keep call durations under a specific number, and achieving that statistic becomes the all-consuming target of every agent on the floor. Supervisors are measured by the averages they maintain and coffee-break discussions are all about how teams are performing against the company standard. The problem: does anyone remember what the customer needs?

First Contact Resolution (FCR) is a measure that places the focus squarely on the customer. Research shows that for every 1% increase in FCR there is a 1% increase in customer satisfaction levels. No other Service Desk measure is as strongly correlated to customer satisfaction as FCR is. When you measure service levels, speed of answer, talk time, calls handled by CSR, abandon rates, occupancy rates, call monitoring scores, the focus rests on the means rather than the end. First Contact Resolution (FCR) is a measure that encompasses the not only the business inputs going into Service Desk business outcomes of its activities.

Gavin.

Gavin Cooper
Head of Global Marketing
GSS Infotech
Reach me at:
gavin.cooper@gssinfotech.com
Phone: + 1 518-724 3138

How FCR soars with the right kinds of Commitment, Communication, Technology Support and Review

How do you put in place a plan that addresses low FCR with a view to improving it? It begins at the top, with serious management commitment and goes down all the way to the floor. It is only when FCR becomes a way of life that your organization starts reaping its benefits. Here’s how:

Right Commitment: The Service Desk that focuses on FCR as a metric is open to process improvements and streamlining, eliminating inter-departmental communication snafus that tend to affect the agent’s ability to resolve a problem on first contact. This commitment reflects in the attitude the organization adopts towards communicating the criticality of FCR across channels.

Right Hiring and Training:  With your agent being the face of your company, there needs to be great emphasis placed on inducting and training agents to hit the ground running. Recruitment practices need to be crafted keeping in mind the kind of pressures an agent will be under. The training that should be imparted needs to cover the product in-depth. Training must include the how and why of troubleshooting, what information to ask for, what the results of troubleshooting steps mean and when to escalate. You must provide access to an integrated knowledge base which has clean up-to-date data that agents can use while resolving issues.

Right Authority: Once your agent has been thoroughly trained and has access to the knowledge base, you need to let them go, and take decisions on the fly. If the agent is not going to have the authority to implement the best solution without checking with someone, or if he is forced to follow a script or set of tasks without deviation, then you have not managed to derive the maximum out of the extensive training program or the power of resolution on first contact. Incorporate FCR measures into employee compensation and incentive plans. Include agent FCR performance as a component in the annual review process—as a basis for compensation and rewards.

Right Technology Support: An agent needs task needs to be enabled with the right technology at his fingertips that equips him with knowledge and processes to do his job better. Technology needs to simplify processes to enable agents to work smarter. But it doesn’t end there: support needs to continue with ongoing training, better tools, awards, incentives and assistance.

Right Review Practices: Continually review your performance and other customer feedback to make sure your FCR measurement program is on track. Achieving first contact resolution will be reflected in your customer satisfaction ratings and ultimately in your bottom line.

Gavin Cooper
Head of Global Marketing
GSS Infotech
Reach me at:
gavin.cooper@gssinfotech.com
Phone: + 1 518-724 3138

What makes FCR the single KPI that affects any other meaningful Service Desk measure?

When you start measuring FCR and put in place action plans that are address improving it, you are likely to see a host of ways it positively impacts your business:

Reduction in operating cost – With your agents resolving customer problems right the first time, the number of times your customers need to call back drops drastically. This results in a drop in call volumes and in operating cost. FCR improvements directly reduce cost by reducing the demand for the service.

Increase in customer satisfaction – When your customers call, they are giving you the opportunity and permission to showcase the value that you provide to them. In fact, every 1% improvement in FCR equals a 1% improvement in customer satisfaction. Satisfaction drops an average of 15% with each repeat call, so the impact repeat calls have on your overall customer satisfaction is enormous.

Improvements in your overall business process – FCR can be difficult to measure, as it involves multiple business processes and systems. Repeat calls are often caused by misaligned inter-departmental processes. When your focus is on empowering your agents to deliver resolutions the first time around, you tend to approach your business process from a customer –oriented standpoint, streamlining processes in favor of the customer.

Increase in up-sell and cross-sell opportunities: A customer, whose problem is resolved on first contact by an empowered agent equipped with the skills and resources, is more open to an up-sell than one who has just been asked to call back or wait for resolution. Satisfied customers are more likely to listen to a marketing offer that is in line with the organization’s growth needs. Worldwide there is increasing evidence to show that empowered agents with focus squarely on FCR deliver better business results.

Increase in employee satisfaction – If your agents are solely judged on a metric like call handle time and are encouraged to beat that metric regardless of the customer’s needs, you are encouraging behavior that is unrelated to business profitability. But by empowering your workforce to take decisions and resolve customer problems on first contact you naturally increase employee satisfaction levels. It also allows you to recognize and reward high performing agents.

Gavin.

Gavin Cooper
Head of Global Marketing
GSS Infotech
Reach me at:
gavin.cooper@gssinfotech.com
Phone: + 1 518-724 3138

Why is ensuring that a customer never has to call back to resolve an issue matter so much?

In the world of Service Desk, First Contact Resolution (FCR)is properly addressing the customer’s need the first time they call, eliminating his or her need to follow up with a second call. Simply stated, your Service Desk needs to make sure that you speak with your customers about an issue, and provide great service, once and only once. The measure of how often customer’s issues are being resolved on first contact is your First Contact Resolution (FCR) rate. It is one of the most powerful Service Desk metrics, in that it is directly correlated to your strategic business goals. With businesses being differentiated today on the basis on the strength of their customer focus, FCR provides powerful insight into where the customer stands in your organization’s scheme of things.

Let us look some of the traditional measures that Service Desks have employed over the years. The usual suspects are service levels, speed of answer, talk time, calls handled by CSR, abandon rates, occupancy rates, call monitoring scores, and so forth. However, on closer inspection, the astute Service Desk manager will realize that none of them are as closely linked to Customer Satisfaction as FCR is. While most traditional Service Desk measures are a yardstick for the means employed, FCR is one those measures that squarely addresses business outcomes. For example, if your agents are closing calls well within your standard three minutes, but your customers keep calling back for answers to unresolved questions, then clearly something is wrong.

But as you embark on the study of FCR and how its insight can positively impact your business, you will realize that it goes beyond just measuring a number and actually identifies gaps in your business processes that you can streamline to achieve better overall results.

Gavin.

Gavin Cooper
Head of Global Marketing
GSS Infotech
Reach me at:
gavin.cooper@gssinfotech.com
Phone: + 1 518-724 3138

The biggest challenge CIOs facetoday is deliveringIT infrastructure that supports their business’ needs. The increasing complexities of IT infrastructure and the constant pressure to reduce cost have forced CIOs to do more with less. Ultimately this means maximizing existing resources and increasing the productivity of the key staff where possible.But inevitably there is still a gap that needs to be plugged.  This is where outsourcing management tasks can quickly be applied.Remote Infrastructure Management (RIM) supports the IT infrastructure needs of the business 24X7 without increasing any costs while improving system availability, security and ultimately reduces operational expense.

How Remote Infrastructure Management increases work place efficiency?

A recent study by, Gartner Inc. indicated that around 32% of CIOs budget and time is absorbed by internal resources to service infrastructure operations and management.Outsourcing remote infrastructure management helps CIOs not only to reduce cost but also reassign key staff at more business critical projects.If you could focus existing resources on these projects how more productive could you be?

One way of getting your resource back is to outsource some of the mundane maintenance and management tasks to a 3^rd party. Remote infrastructure management provides that solution.

Moreover, freed from routine operations management, your resources are now available to be used for more strategic tasks. However, the choice of service provider is very important. A dependable and reliable service provider can create an ideal IT environment that will bring about a positive difference in your workplace.

Some of the key characteristics of a good RIM partner include:

Quality and Process: When choosing an outsourcing partner,make sure that your service provider followsstandard quality practiceslike, ISO or ITIL. This is also essential it gives you confidence that the vendor is committed to service delivery excellence.

Domain-specific Expertise matters: Check certification levels and the experience of engineers; ask about attrition rates and ongoing quality training. Part of the benefit of outsourcing is that you don’t have to spend in expensive certification cycles so check the qualifications assigned to those engineers maintain your systems. Churn rates are important, many 3^rd party partners have high levels of staff turnover, and it’s not good for consistency or knowledge of your environment.

Transparency and Control: Your RIM outsourcing partner should be able to trace the actual cause that led to an incident and make a root-cause analysis, and suggest remedial measures and or process improvements if trend analysis indicates this is a common issue. Agree regular reporting schedules, and e-mail alerts for things that matter to you.

Strict SLA compliance: When choosing an outsourcing partner, always look out for their SLA compliance figures. A strong SLA compliance is a mandate for assured service delivery.

References:  Any vendor worth their salt is going to be able to throw references if they can’t run for the hills.

I hope that you find this content of value. If you have any questions on outsourcing please feel free to get in touch with me.

Keep watching this space for my next installment on RIM. Meanwhile, you can check out my last few posts on the 10 Benefits of remote Infrastructure Management in case you missed it.

Please get in touch if you have any questions or need clarification.

Ranga

Rangababu Thota
Practice Head: Remote Infrastructure Management
Reach me at:
Rangababu.thota@gssinfotech.com
USA: + 1 312-428-3331
APAC: +91 40 44552006

Over the time, IT infrastructure has grown too complex to compete with the dynamism of today’s business. An organization spends an average of 70% of its IT investment on infrastructure leaving little space for innovation (Source: VMware). With users demanding faster response and management lower IT costs, your IT infrastructure no doubt needs a better strategy.

Outsourcing IT infrastructure can help you enhance its responsiveness.  IT responsiveness and agility can add an extra edge to your business.

Outsourcing IT infrastructure enhances responsiveness

With the growth of new technologies, processes, RIM is becoming an effective tool for the CIOs to arbitrage labor without compromising the quality of the service, security and network performance.  RIM services are poised for strong growth as companies are looking to leverage a global delivery model to support their business needs.  RIM, in fact, enhances the responsiveness and efficiency of your IT management. When you outsource, your infrastructure responds better and faster.

Following are the few factors responsible for the enhanced responsiveness of your IT infrastructure:

• 24x7x365 monitoring: Because of proactive monitoring and mature support processes problems are identified, reported and resolved faster. As a result, your infrastructure becomes more efficient as issues which may affect the stability are identified early and remediated before they become a detriment to its efficiency.
• Enhanced SLAs: Developing the right SLA is important for you and your service provider. Outsourcing your managed services provide better visibility and management of your SLAs that increases the security, stability and availability of your IT infrastructure. Moreover, your service provider is accountable for any downtime. SLAs play a significant role in increasing the responsiveness of your IT infrastructure.
• Focus on core business: Outsourcing managed services enables your staff to concentrate more on their core business rather than spending time on IT infrastructural needs. This improved operational efficiency increases your business growth.
• Reduced TCO: With a regular and predictable service charge that covers all the preventive and proactive maintenance of your IT infrastructure, RIM outsourcing can bring down the cost of your IT management services significantly. It also decreases the cost and challenges of managing your own IT environments.

Why choose GSS Infotech?

Outsourcing your IT management services to a trusted partner like, GSS Infotech will not will increase its quality and security but you can also expect your IT infrastructure to respond faster. Increased responsiveness is another important attribute of RIM outsourcing. GSS Infotech’s remote infrastructure management services can add value to your services in some of the following ways:

• Improves infrastructure availability 24x7x365
• Proactive monitoring and management solution for server, storage, network and middleware
• Enables you to focus on your core business and leave IT management to certified and experienced professionals
• Lowers operational costs
• Access to the right combination of specialized remote competency centers and on-site capabilities

With the advancement in processes and tools and the maturity of the delivery model for IT Infrastructure Management Services, RIM today has become a strategy for the CIOs across the globe keen to take advantage of labor arbitrage without compromising the quality and responsiveness of the service.

In the next edition of this blog series I will discuss how you can increase the satisfaction of your customers by outsourcing your managed service. In the meantime, you can read my last blog post on 10 Reasons to outsource your IT Infrastructure Management

Ranga

Rangababu Thota
Practice Head: Remote Infrastructure Management
Reach me at:
Rangababu.thota@gssinfotech.com
USA: + 1 312-428-3331
APAC: +91 40 44552006

IT infrastructure is at the heart of your enterprise and you will never want a breach. A premium security practice is a prerequisite for any organization considering IT outsourcing. When entrusting all or part of your infrastructure management to a third party you need to have the confidence in your IT partner that their security practice is robust, secure and constantly monitored, after all any breach in their security system can prove fatal for your business.

A Breach in security can cost you dearly

Any breach in security can cost you dearly. It mars your public reputation, loses customer confidence and the actual financial loss is staggering. McAfee recently conducted MSI international survey among 900 companies and reported that an average midsize company has lost $43,000 in 2008 because of security breach. Outsource your IT infrastructure to give away a headache!  The right IT partner can secure your infrastructure outsourcing in addition to significant cost reduction.

A balance between security and usability

Organizations generally have a stance on security and typically it comes down to a tradeoff between security and usability. It’s a balancing act on a see-saw – the farther you go towards the security side of the see-saw the less usability you get.

For example, organizations could lock down all USB flash ports to restrict sharing of sensitive information by employees.  Use of unprotected USB flash drives is a threat to the security to an organization because users can either accidentally lose the device or purposefully give the information to an unauthorized person.

Another common security practice is the firewall rules. The “most” secure way of approaching the configuration of a firewall would be to block everything and then allow what you know is required. Of course, this isn’t practical in almost every use case.

The result would be a deluge of calls to the helpdesk with users complaining that they can’t access something. To avoid these calls organizations often configure the firewall to allow all traffic and then restrict what they know should be restricted.

But do they really know what should be restricted?   

So, the question is where and how should you apply security?

Security applies to every device in your environment, the physical security and security policy. There are many things to consider in the security world and understanding the characteristics and objectives of the organization is key to making appropriate security recommendations. Does “Best Practice” apply to every organization? NO!

Your managed service provider needs to be asking you questions to understand where your organization sits on the security see-saw. If they don’t, then the security measures and management that your Managed Service Provider puts in place could be misaligned and can cause your organization more harm than good. When you are talking security it needs to be right, the risks are too great…

Some of the things (depending upon the level of service) a Managed Service Provider should give your business from a security standpoint include:

1. Vulnerability Assessment Services
2. Security Review and Recommendations (at a Business Level with IT detail to back it up)
3. Managed Firewall Services
4. Regular Configuration Reviews
5. Regular patches on all your devices
6. Regular firmware and other devices updates
7. AV/Spyware/SPAM

If you’re not getting the type of service you need look elsewhere, and if you are looking for an IT partner to help you manage your environment make sure you are getting the services and recommendations that are right for your organization.

A few security measures

In addition you should consider certain security measures while deciding on outsourcing:

Compliance Issue: Regulatory compliance mandates change rapidly so make sure you look for ISO certifications in your service providers.

Security and disaster recovery plan: You should also ensure that your service provider has a proper security and disaster recovery plan. Lack of security and disaster recovery plan causes serious security breach and can also result in service discontinuity.

Cultural and communication issues: It is also necessary that you understand the work culture of your service provider’s geographies. If you are working with a partner in a different time zone then at times communication becomes a challenge. Typically your IT partner should be working around the clock to make sure you systems are up.

GSS Infotech’s approach to Secure Infrastructure Management

At GSS Infotech, we follow a stringent security practice that includes:

• Security policies, procedures, and Compliance (PP)

We have a set of documented security policies that are periodically reviewed, updated and enforced. Our client can review these policies and provide specific security policies as a part of the RFP. Moreover, our services are ISO complaint to ensure optimum quality and security.   We have regular internal audits and yearly external certification/surveillance audit by TUV to conform to ISMS standards.

Our service has the following ISO certifications:

1. ISO 27001: 2005 (formerly known as ISO 17799:2005) specifies the practice of Information Security Management
2. ISO 20000 – 1: 2005 specifies the requirements of a service provider to deliver managed services
3. ISO 9001: 2008 specifies requirements for a quality management system in an organization

• Contingency planning: security and disaster recovery (DR)

We have an effective business continuity and disaster recovery plan that is periodically reviewed, tested and implemented.  We also have a regular schedule of backups for both software and data to avoid loss of valuable time during any emergency.

• Physical security (PS)

At GSS Infotech, we control physical access to information, and IT services. Staff goes through layers of security check and biometric scanning before accessing any information. Moreover, we implement firewalls, anti-virus protection and encryption methodologies to secure clients’ information.

• Seven Safe harbor Principles

GSS Infotech follows Seven Safe Harbor Principles to maintain integrity, privacy of clients’ information and prevent the risk of accidental disclosure or loss of any information.

In the coming weeks, I will further explore the benefits of RIM outsourcing. I will explore all the 10 benefits of RIM outsourcing  to show outsourcing managed services does not only mean cost savings but also better efficiency, responsiveness and reliability.

If you have any questions on best practice security options for your organizations please get in touch or comment on this blog.

Ranga

Rangababu Thota
Practice Head: Remote Infrastructure Management
Reach me at:
Rangababu.thota@gssinfotech.com
USA: + 1 312-428-3331
APAC:  +91 40 44552006

GSS Infotech announced today that it has achieved Symantec Master Specialization in the area of End Point Management. Symantec Master Specialization recognizes partners with a proven expertise in a particular area of business and empowers them with the IT skills and experience required to deliver differentiated services to customers.

“By achieving this Master Specialization, GSS Infotech has demonstrated an investment and expertise in Symantec End Point Management.” said Siva Kumar Nuti, GSS Infotech COO. He continued, “Symantec Master Specialization enables GSS Infotech to build upon our already comprehensive solution set in this area of our business, and complements our existing capabilities for End User Computing services.

“The Symantec End Point Management Master Specializations recognizes GSS Infotech’s ability to deliver advanced consulting, technical expertise and service to their customers,” said Randy Cochran, Vice President, North America Channel Sales Americas, Symantec Corp.  “Master Specialist partners have demonstrated deep investment in Symantec and an expertise in delivering advanced services and solutions to protect customers’ most critical information.”

Mike Dunham, VP of Infrastructure Solutions commented, “This achievement is a real feather in the GSS Infotech cap, and reinforces our commitment and belief in the Symantec product set.” He went on to say, “We will continue to offer solutions, consulting and training services around the Symantec / Altiris product portfolio and continue to develop our already formidable Symantec expertise.”

For more information contact:

Mike Dunham
GSS Infotech
Phone: +1 651 604 5742
E-mail: mike.dunham@gssinfotech.com
or visit us at http://www.gssinfotech.com

About GSS Infotech:

GSS Infotech is a pioneer in providing enterprise level service delivery to a global market.  Founded in 1999, GSS operates worldwide through offices in the U.S., India, Singapore, and the Middle East. GSS Infotech provides business transformation services, cloud enablement services and innovative approaches to IT service delivery in the enterprise. To learn more visit, http://www.gssinfotech.com

About Symantec

Symantec is a global leader in providing security; storage and systems management solutions to help consumers and organizations secure and manage their information-driven world.  Symantec software and services protect against more risks at more points, more completely and efficiently, enabling confidence wherever information is used or stored.  More information is available at www.symantec.com

Complex IT infrastructure requires specialized expertise. To remain competitive, you have to improve your operational efficiency and become more flexible to quickly adapt, grow and change. But with the limited budget to retain skilled IT specialists, it is difficult to manage complex IT infrastructure to support mission critical projects.

Outsource your IT infrastructure! RIM can value add to your business in more than one way: it enhances the quality of your IT infrastructure and also provides skilled IT specialists for your business.

Getting access to skilled IT professionals is difficult

The success of an IT organization depends on the efficiency and productivity of its IT staff. So, it is necessary that your IT professionals are trained in the most recent technologies to provide optimized performance and quality. But accessing such a group of skilled IT engineers is difficult. Moreover, it is expensive to retain them.

It is also equally important to train your IT professionals on a regular schedule to update their skills and enhance their performance. Training is crucial for any IT professionals and is also quite expensive. HR magazine estimates that companies spend an average of $1,500 per IT staff per year for updating skills.

Outsource your managed services to give away a headache. Best service at a reduced cost is what you get by outsourcing. Also, you don’t have to bother about training the IT professionals.

Outsource your IT infrastructure for better service delivery

When you outsource your IT infrastructure, it is at the care of a team of skilled certified IT professionals.  They monitor, manage and support your IT infrastructure 24x7x365.

Now you do not need to spend time for your IT infrastructure. Leave it to the experts and concentrate on what you do the best- your core business.

Outsourcing your managed services also helps you to achieve your SLAs better. Internally you might not achieve your all your IT infrastructure SLAs all the time. But when you are outsourcing your managed services, achieving SLA is an important factor for your managed service provider.

Choose the right outsourcing partner

When choosing a partner to outsource make sure they are dedicated, and have mature frameworks and processes developed. The success of your outsourcing is largely dependent on your business partner. A right outsourcing partner is an asset for your business. A trusted partner like GSS Infotech optimizes, manages and maintains your IT infrastructure so you can direct all your energies to attain your desired business goal.

Quality is the hallmark of all the services we provide. Our certifications are a testimony to our continuous strives to provide quality services to our clients. GSS Infotech (then known as GSS America) got its first ISO certification in 2007. In the subsequent years our processes achieved ITSM and ISMS certification: ISO 9001, 20000 and 27001.

Following is a brief overview of our quality journey:

• In 2006, GSS Infotech started its own Process Performance Improvement (PPI) and Assessment program, known as QPledge™
• In 2007 GSS Infotech attained ISO 9001
• In that same year, we achieved CMMI Level 3
• Since 2007, GSS Infotech started following ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) version 3, the latest best practices publication of  IT Services Management
• In 2008, we achieved ISO 27001
• In 2010,we achieved ISO 20000

In March 2011 GSS Infotech achieved the highest standard of Capability Maturity Model Integration: CMMI Level 5. CMMI is a process improvement approach that provides organizations the essential elements of effective processes, which also improves their performance.

Why choose GSS Infotech?

• Regular external audits to satisfy our service delivery excellence
• Resource capacity, Availability and Security Management
• Proven Process Performance Metrics measured against baselines

In the coming weeks, I will further work on the different benefits of Remote Infrastructure Management.  If you wish to get the most of your existing IT infrastructure outsourcing, is a compelling option. In my coming blogs I will further elaborate on how outsourcing assures better security, responsiveness, efficiency and cost reduction.

Keep watching this space for my next post. In case if you have missed my last post you can check it here:

http://blog.gssinfotech.com/2011/08/05/10-reasons-to-outsource-your-it-infrastructure-management/

Ranga

Rangababu Thota
Practice Head: Remote Infrastructure Management
Reach me at:
rangababu.thota@gssinfotech.com
USA: + 1 312-428-3331
APAC:  +91 40 44552006

Hi I am Rangababu Thota, Head of Remote Infrastructure Management at GSS Infotech. As part of my role I speak to many organizations looking to find efficiencies in the way they support and manage their IT infrastructures.

Watch this space for the next installment. Please reach out to me if you have any questions on anything of the topics covered in this blog.

Rangababu Thota – Head, Remote Infrastructure Management
Reach me at:
rangababu.thota@gssinfotech.com
USA: + 1312-428-3331
APAC:  +9140 44552006