One of the more compelling reasons to use Jira Service Management (JSM) is to take advantage of its request management and service desk functionality. JSM is designed to streamline both the fulfillment and intake of requests, across all teams.

JSM works to remove the frustration of having to manage requests from multiple sources through multiple channels, increasing overall efficiency by automating repetitive tasks. Teams can even measure their performance with JSM, tracking how many total requests come in, and how long it takes to resolve those requests. 

JSM clearly simplifies the process of streamlining service support, but what does the process actually look like? How are support requests so easily managed? To understand that, you’ll need to understand the JSM design structure.

Understanding JSM

At its core, JSM was designed to be a highly customizable tool. Atlassian understands that service delivery teams can often have unique needs, particularly when it comes to communication.

JSM functions as a singular place where team members can go for help. By using a centralized customer portal, both employees and customers can quickly access every service desk across an organization.

On the receiving end, service request management projects come with request types and workflows that are easy to review and edit. They also come with:

• Flexible Service Level Agreement Settings
• Customizable Queues
• Automated Request Management
• Email Channels 
• Adjustable Notifications
• Real-Time Reporting Capabilities

How Service Request Management Works With Jira Service Management

Before we dive into the actual process, it’s important to understand a few key elements of the JSM design. 

Let’s imagine that the customer/team member has a problem they need support with. They would start by accessing their customer portal and submitting a support ticket. The user that interacts with the customer portal is defined as a “customer” and does not require an Atlassian JSM license in order to access that portal.  

Support tickets within the customer portal are batched into specific portal groups. For example, you might have one portal group specifically for hardware which would include any hardware-related requests.  This way, the customer/team member can continue to find more granular tickets under those options. 

While tickets are placed in a particular portal group, the tickets themselves are not locked to a certain portal group exclusively. Some tickets may belong in multiple portal groups, and JSM accounts can account for this requirement. 

Within each portal group are the request types.  Request types are the actual tickets that a customer will fill out.  A few examples of request types for an IT Service Desk would be: locked account, new hardware request, new software request, software outage, etc. Once the request type is entered, the request goes into JSM, which is what the internal user (or agent) will interact with the ticket.  

Internal users of JSM are referred to as agents within Atlassian.  Agents are often members of service teams that perform the actual work for the tickets to be resolved.  These users require an Atlassian JSM license in order to view and move tickets through the workflow.  

The agent receives the request type as an issue type, and it’s worth noting that you can have multiple request types linked to one issue type. For example, the agent you may have multiple different request types (software outage, server issue, security vulnerability,etc.) that link to one issue type of incident. 

Simply by looking at the design, you can begin to say what makes JSM such a useful tool to both customers/team members and agents. Customers/team members are able to interact with a customer portal designed to simplify the support ticket submission process. Agents, instead of having to sift through a variety of different channels and sources, are able to quickly and easily sort by request type and address problems efficiently.

The Power Of Automation And The Overall Utility Of Jira Service Management

When your teams are supported properly, they’re able to waste less time fixing what’s broken and more time on the tasks that matter. Likewise, when your support team has a simplified support process, they can address problems much more quickly and help keep your teams moving forward.

Now that we understand a bit more about how JSM was designed, it’s time to find ways to improve the experience for all your teams. That’s why one of the first action items you’ll want to focus on is finding ways to implement smart automation. 

When you’re able to properly incorporate automation into your service request experience, you’ll be able to reduce the frustration of dealing with common, repetitive tasks for your service team. 

A great example would be using automation to help agents quickly move through their follow-up communications. Not only will this improve the way your support team can communicate with customers and employees, but it will also help improve estimated resolution times.

This is what JSM does best, making support simple for the customers/team members and making it efficient for agents. By building a distinct workstream for service requests, your business can use JSM to help your teams focus on delivering more valuable work. By standardizing the process, you’re able to increase both overall efficiency and service quality. 

As an Atlassian Platinum Solution Partner, Praecipio understands what it takes to get the best results from your JSM deployment. Our experts are ready to evaluate your existing processes and get you started with JSM quickly. Plus, we’ll standardize and optimize your JSM implementation on day one, so you start getting great results as soon as possible.

Want to learn more? Give us a call; we live and breathe Atlassian!

As machine learning and artificial intelligence continue to transform the way we use our technology platforms, the potential for innovation skyrockets. Praecipio Consulting’s Intelligent Image Classifier for Jira Cloud takes Jira’s existing automation to the next level through intelligent image recognition. Developed as part of Atlassian’s global Codegeist hackathon using the revolutionary Forge development platform, Intelligent Image Classifier enables teams by bringing the power of artificial intelligence to Jira. 

Award-winning App Combines AI and Automation to Boost Service Quality

With Intelligent Image Classifier, teams are able to automatically classify issues using multiple artificial intelligence algorithms, based on the AWS Rekognition platform. The app improves user experience in searchability, automation, and issue classification by filtering based on detected text or content within an image attached to a Jira ticket.

When asked about the origins of Intelligent Image Classifier, VP of Software Services Phil Maddaloni said, “Given our work with machine learning and AWS and our dynamic expertise within the Atlassian ecosystem, it was a perfect fit for us to apply these skills in a way that would add significant value for end users.”

Praecipio Consulting has discovered many use cases for the Intelligent Image Classifier, but the initial need was brought to the company by a local municipality. This customer wanted to improve service to their residents by identifying certain types of “work items” within their town, and classifying them based on content attached to tickets submitted through their Jira Service Management portal.

Improved Customer Service through Intelligent Image Classifier

We’ll explore a common application of this app with the story of Mrs. Smith and her cat, Mittens:

Mittens climbed the tall oak tree in the backyard, and now she’s stuck! Mrs. Smith quickly takes action, snapping a picture of Mittens and submitting a ticket with the picture through the municipality’s Jira Service Management platform. Intelligent Image Classifier automatically starts processing information. The app scans the picture of Mittens and recognizes the animal, even picking up text from a nearby street sign and adding that to the ticket. It automatically assigns the ticket to Animal Control’s service desk. Animal Control immediately dispatches a vehicle to the scene to rescue Mittens. Intelligent Image Classifier saves the day, streamlines the process, and Mrs. Smith is a happy citizen.

Later, the municipality completes an annual review of how its Animal Control department performed, and how many calls were serviced. To do so, an Atlassian administrator quickly and easily searches keywords like “cat”, “dog”, “animal”, “coyote,” etc. to find how many issues were automatically tagged with these keywords.

Future Uses with Image Recognition

In addition to image recognition and issue tagging, Intelligent Image Classifier can scan images for file types and integrate with Jira’s existing automation to incorporate into issue filters and customize Agile boards. Soon, the app will be able to automatically hide detected specific content based on targeted words and images. These use cases all improve overall user experience and security.

Praecipio Consulting is dedicated to developing innovative software for our customers, and we are excited to be recognized for our Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence capabilities by one of our most innovative and foundational partners, Atlassian. To learn more about how Praecipio Consulting can help your team propel innovation through exceptional software development and custom apps like Intelligent Image Classifier, contact us today!

The popularity of Jira Software has skyrocketed in the last few years, thanks to its excellent features and easy adaptability to agile development models. If you are considering using Jira or are already using it, ask yourself a fundamental question. How do you make the best use of the various features Jira presents? 

Let’s start with Jira Epics. Often, development teams tend to jump right ahead into crafting user stories, sprint planning, and so on without huddling around Epics. While sometimes it could be because of the nature of the user story, it is often because the end-users are unaware of what an Epic is and how it helps organize your stories and streamline the development process. 

Here is a simple guide that will help you understand the concept of Epics and how to effectively use them in Jira.

What Are Jira Epics?

Epics are, in essence, a big goal or a task that can be broken down into related sub-tasks. While this is the general idea behind Epics, every team may have a slightly different way of implementing Epics. Some consider it similar to a project hierarchy. Some make it strictly goal-based, some base it on features, and so on. In Jira, Epics are created as special issue types similar to tasks and stories. Each Epic can have associated users, workflow, states, and so on.

Epic Vs. Story Vs. Task

So what differentiates a task or story from an agile Epic? While tasks and stories tend to be standalone pieces of work, Epics are more complex, with several tasks grouped under them. 

They have custom fields that help identify the issue hierarchies within the Epic, such as the parent-child tasks.

• The various tasks within an Epic could be executed in a parallel manner or may have dependencies.
• Epics also have data fields, such as a start date and a target date.
• Epics are coarser and span several sprints, whereas tasks and stories are more detailed and are planned for a limited sprint length.

What Is The Difference Between Epic And Feature In Jira?

Often used interchangeably, Epics and Features tend to confuse Jira users. While Epics and Features are similar issue types that can be broken down into smaller tasks or stories, the significant difference is how they are placed in the issue hierarchy.

Epics are much bigger and are are often the topmost parent in issue hierarchies. Epics can consist of Features, and these Features can further be broken down into individual user stories. Epics represent a more extensive set of requirements or project goals, whereas Features are more focused. 

Why Are Epics Important In Jira?

There are many reasons why using Epics is an excellent way to plan your agile software development projects. Let us list out a few:

Organized Project Outcomes

It helps organize project outcomes in terms and makes it easier to communicate project progress to concerned stakeholders. 

Not all stakeholders can have the technological knowledge to understand the project progress via individual user stories. Epics present an easy way to abstract the project’s status and quickly raise the measurable outcomes to stakeholders.

Helps Achieve Specific Targets With Ease

Lists of Epics allows teams to establish the priority goals and the necessary metrics to track such goals.

Facilitates Optimized Project Execution

Epics are organized to allow for a detailed design before user stories are taken to implementation. They, thus, help with an optimized workflow and flexible decision-making as the project progresses.

Allows For Better Innovation

By allowing DevOps teams to define and design their project via Epics, you can promote innovation and excellence in terms of product design and development.

How Do You Create Jira Epics?

Jira is well equipped to help you integrate Epics into your project planning phases with ease.

Here is how you can create an Epic issue in Jira:

• Create a new issue
• Select issue type as ‘Epic.’ Fill in the details such as epic name, description, and such. Click create.
• Once created, you can link other issues or create new issues from within the Epic view.

Cool Things You Can Do With The Help Of Jira Epics 

• Integrate Epics with project backlog for efficient project planning
• Track project progress with roadmaps
• Derive useful visualizations such as Epic swim lanes and Epic link on cards on the kanban agile boards.

So what else can you do to make the best out of this feature? Let us start with the basics. First, understand what an Epic is and know the various workflows and requirements uniquely available for Epics. 

Then, use these features to get on track with your agile project management and other methodologies.

Try not to create Epics that do not have a defined scope. Epics should close unless the Epic you are running is actually a theme and not new in reality. Make sure you're aware of the subtle difference so you can utilize Epics appropriately.

The sooner you implement Jira, the better your results will be. Jira is incredibly comprehensive, and many struggle to get the most from the platform. Praecipio can help you make use of the various automation and process optimization tools that Jira gives you. Having expert guidance will go a long way in helping you save costs, time, and resources. Reach out today!

If you’ve seen the potential benefits of Enterprise Service Management (ESM) but are unsure whether your organization’s current ITSM tool is suitable for enterprise-wide use, you're not alone. Many teams often wonder if the use of IT Service Management (ITSM) capabilities currently in place can be leveraged in other business functions to improve operations and outcomes. To help, this blog outlines five things to look for in an ITSM tool that will make it a fit-for-purpose ESM tool for your organization.

Before that list of five “things” though, it’s worth stating a key point when using your organization’s ITSM tool across the enterprise.

A key starting point when looking for an Enterprise Service Management tool

There’s no doubt that successful Enterprise Service Management, like ITSM, is dependent on fit-for-purpose technology enablement. It’s important, however, to not see ESM as simply the use of a corporate ITSM tool by other business functions. Instead, successful ESM requires a change in mindset to service-based thinking, and the intelligent adoption of ITSM best practices. Additionally, it also mandates the use of the ITSM tool in a way that doesn’t force-fit the other business functions to IT’s language and ways of working.

Importantly, there’s also a need for organizational change management to facilitate the execution of your ESM strategy delivery project. This is because this is the introduction of new ways of working and is thus a people change initiative not a technology.

5 things to look for in an Enterprise Service Management tool

The right Enterprise Service Management tool will help your whole organization, especially now that the need for remote and socially distanced working has limited the ability for people to work with manually reliant processes and practices. In many ways, the replacement of these with new digital workflows, in particular, is going to be an important need of your ESM tool. But this is just one of many things you’ll need. In fact, we recommend your chosen ESM ticks the proverbial boxes against the following list of five key needs:

1. Non-functional capabilities – These are the capabilities that, while not directly delivering the required digital workflows, allow an ITSM tool to fully meet the needs of ESM. To start, there’s the need for ease of use – for both service requesters and service providers. In many ways, these need to be consumer-like, with “consumer-grade” the new “enterprise-grade” when it comes to corporate technology. Then there are needs related to scalability, domain separation, and appropriate access controls – with human resources (HR) in particular needing to ensure that employee-related information is only accessible by those authorized to do so. Finally, there’s a need for domain-specific knowledge management to ensure that searches for help or automated recommendations – again for both service requesters and service providers – are focused on the business function context.
2. Core service management and digital workflow capabilities – These are the digitally-enabled capabilities that help work to both flow and to be achieved. This includes request handling, whether these are requests for help, information, service, and change. Where for business functions such as HR, terminology such as “case management” will need to replace IT’s “incident management.” Importantly, these digitally-enabled capabilities are not simply the ability to move work between different groups, there’s also the need for automated routing, queue management, notifications and alerts, approvals, and service level targets to help ensure that work is moving efficiently – from the initial need through to the required outcome. It also includes self-service and self-help capabilities which provide a structured work intake method and the ability to “deflect” simple employee requests (including employees requesting updates on their requests) respectively.
3. Cross-capability enablers – These are capabilities that enable the employee-touching service management capabilities in #2 to work optimally. For example, knowledge management capabilities allow service providers to undertake work that’s outside of their individual experiences. It also enables the self-help capabilities that empower employees to help themselves to quicker solutions with a consumer-like service or support experience. Another example is reporting and analytics capabilities that not only help to ensure that operations and outcomes are meeting business needs and service-provider obligations but also help to identify improvement opportunities.
4. Platform-based capabilities – The ability to create business-function-specific workflows and applications that extend ESM beyond the core capabilities (that were designed for ITSM scenarios). This can cover both capabilities that are applicable to multiple organizations (perhaps even industry-specific) that are created by the tool vendor, its partner ecosystem, or the tool customer. And capabilities that are somewhat unique to your organization – a bespoke solution to a business need or opportunity. Either way, the ability for business function personnel, and not just IT’s application developers, to create these extended solutions using codeless drag-and-drop functionality is a key enabler in both rapid cross-enterprise tool success and benefits realization.
5. New technology adoption – These are capabilities that allow both individuals and teams to be better versions of themselves. Two timely examples are collaboration and machine-learning-based capabilities. In terms of the former, the aforementioned need for remote and socially distanced working requires digitally-enabled teamwork and wider collaboration capabilities. Whereas the latter offers a wealth of opportunities that allow business functions to be all three of “better, faster, cheaper.” Whether it’s the use of machine learning and automation to accelerate process operations and outcome delivery. For example, in intelligent request triage where the technology decides which group to route a request to based on historical data patterns and in the automated escalation of requests when circumstances change or a service-level breach is likely. Or the use of machine learning to share knowledge more effectively. This could be through the provision of automated recommendations to service-provider staff or context-based self-help knowledge provided to service requesters either via traditional portal searches or newer chatbot capabilities.

The above list of five things to look for in an Enterprise Service Management tool is not necessarily everything that your organization will need but provides a great start.  If you want to find out more about the opportunities of ESM and the tools that can facilitate this framework, reach out to Praecipio Consulting and we're happy to walk through the process. 

Migrating to the cloud can be a challenging move for any organization: there are many moving pieces to keep track of, and with the threat of negatively affecting both internal and front-facing operations, failure is not an option! Here are some key blockers to keep in mind when migrating to Atlassian Cloud from on-premise instances, so that you can review ahead of time just how prepared for a successful migration your company is:

• User Management
• Automations
• Size of Attachments
• Apps

User Management

User Management and how users are set up is a major difference when operating in Atlassian Cloud versus on premise. This is an important obstacle to understand and address, as the approaches for user management are different between cloud and on-premise. Key to this is how users are created and managed; equally important is identifying any users with missing or duplicate email addresses, since these cause problems with data integrity and users being able to use Filters and Queues in Atlassian Cloud. 

Automation

Automations are critical to research, as some automations may not be functional or even allowed in Atlassian Cloud: these will need to be identified and assessed to determine the balance between the value they bring and the level of effort of recreating them. 

Attachments

Size of Attachments becomes critical when using the Jira Cloud Migration Assistant, as this does not support migrating Jira Service Desk projects, which may require importing data via Site Import that forces attachments to be uploaded separately in 5 GB chunks, one chunk at a time. This alone will drive the migration of attachments to exceed a typical outage window, as the Site Import process must first conclude prior to uploading attachments. 

Jira Service Management utilization is tied to the size of the attachments as noted above. While JSM is used heavily it is currently not able to be migrated using the Jira Cloud Migration tool. With that being said this drives the use of site import. With this comes having to migrate the users and attachments separately. This becomes more moving parts during the migration outage and the coordination and timing will become even more critical.  

Apps

Jira Suite Utilities (JSU) / Jira Miscellaneous Workflow Extension (JMWE) / Scriptrunner are apps available in the Atlassian Marketplace that may be used in one or more of your current workflows. While these apps have helped to drive the creation of workflows and processes to automate certain transitions or enforce proper data collection, there is also no current migration pathway to Atlassian Cloud. While JSU has become part of the native cloud, JSU along with the other two apps must be manually fixed in all workflows migrated up to the cloud. You must run a query on your on premise data base to ensure you map out all transitions affected by the apps. Then once the migration to cloud is complete, they must be reviewed and recreated manually to ensure they are all working properly. Where possible utilizing the out of the box options, that mimic JSU, can help to move away from at least one app. 

Specific to Scriptrunner, one common scenario is the use of it in filters can cause them to no longer function, potentially causing boards and dashboard to render incorrectly. These filters must be rewritten using the Scriptrunner Enhanced Search functionality. One good example is any filter that contains the phrase "issueFunction not in" will need be rewritten as "NOT issueFunction in". It would be advisable, when doing the migration to Cloud, to open a ticket with the vendors for advise on how to fix scenarios with JQL that worked in Server/Data Center that no longer work "as-is" in Cloud.

Overall these key obstacles will get you on the correct path to understanding what you know will need to be done in preparation for starting the migration. This by no means is a complete list of the only obstacles that you can encounter, but we hope it will help you to be proactive in fixing obstacles before they become a blocker to the migration.

We are Atlassian experts, and understand how the move to cloud can be fraught with unpleasant surprises. If you have any questions, or are in need of professional assistance, contact us, we would love to help!

How many times is the number of clicks, fields or screens having to be navigated through used as a reason that work efficiency is low?  It is a main way to discuss lack of efficiency by users of any system.  Well, Jira Service Management has automation built in for just these type of issues. And when leveraged properly, Jira Service Management automation can help drive closing out issues for users as well as ensuring customers feel engaged and informed.  

While time is a focus of most people, as it is the one thing that never stops: being able to use it effectively on things that NEED your attention is key.  Yet, the first hurdle most people have is identifying what actions do not need to be performed by someone.  Automations are things that can be based on inputs by a person, and therefore are always going to be selected the same. For example, filling in a customer based on name or filling out a number field based on selection of priority.  Once these are identified and agreed upon, you can then start to figure out the next phase: how to build the workflow around these to aid in the automation. 

One of the keys to automation is how the workflows are set up in Jira Service Management.  The workflow, when configured with either the correct transition or status or combination thereof, can facilitate the automation. Having a workflow set up to allow for automation based on a specific entry into a status or trigger of transition will helps both agents and administrators of Jira Service Management manage their work more easily.  On the administrative side, the proper set-up will allow for focused automation(s) and ensure they are easy to link without writing out complicated if-this-then-that statements.  On the Agent side of the house, the simple automation UI makes it easier for them to understand their triggers. The Agent can then move on to another issue until the need for follow-up arises. For example, transitioning a request to Pending Customer may pause the SLA, but automating the transition back to In Progress based on a customer comment alerts the Agent they've received their feedback. 

At this point you may be wondering what are some of the items that can be automated in Jira Service Management to ensure efficient flow of information.  Here is a list of some of the ways to use automation for communication:

• Customer alerts for approval
• Alerts for review of information
• Alert them to closure of ticket
• Alert to lack of response

The first part of the communication is understanding what YOUR customers will need from your team to understand what is happening with their issue.  For the most part, customers want to be appraised of receipt and communication of progress consistently.  With this mindset and communication to customers, you will inevitably save time by eliminating constant customer inquiry on what is going on with their tickets or the "do you need anything from us?" question.  While this can be a bit overwhelming at first, at Praecipio, this is one fo the many items outlined in our Accelerator for Jira Service Management implementation.  We have gathered best practices from many different implementations to put together a "starter kit" on automated communications. 

The other side of the automation for Jira Service Management is automating information based on user inputs.  By filling in specific fields based on user input or spinning up linked tickets to connect to the current issue, the automation inside of Jira Service Management for tasks that, while not hard, can become tedious, is where the Agents and Customers see the benefit.  Remember, the users main complaint centers on the amount of time they take to get the issue closed and move on to another one.  So while remembering that fields can be adjusted is a good thing, spinning up another issue that is linked is even quicker, thus eliminating the time to move information and instead having it done automatically by selecting the correct workflow transition.  

Overall, the key to getting the most out of the automation in Jira Service Management is first figuring out where you can save time for the users of the system.  Second, determine how to communicate to your customers in an effective manner that can be automated, but also ensuring your customers' satisfaction.  This should be centered on letting them know what is happening with their ticket and drawing them back in to the solution when needed.  As always, anything to remove steps (clicks) from the user is going to not only get more out of Jira Service Management, but also drive a higher usage of the system, correctly, back into your organization. 

We are experts in Jira Service Management, and would love to help you make the most out of this powerful tool.  If you're curious to see if Jira Service Management is a good fit for your organization, drop us a line and one of our experts will get in touch with you.

When using Jira Service Management to manage your team's service desk, it's extremely important to ensure that your end-users have a good experience. Otherwise, they may become frustrated with the tool and stop using it to submit requests. With the broad range of clients we serve at Praecipio Consulting, we've found one of the biggest keys to a successful service desk is clearly setting customer expectations and meeting those expectations consistently. Jira Service Management comes with Service-Level Agreements (SLAs) that teams can use to set those expectations and give customers transparency around them. It's important to set reasonable goals for your SLAs, and with automation you can make it easier for your agents to stay on top of those goals so your customers are satisfied.

Here's how:

Automate alerts to agents when SLAs are about to be breached

For your SLAs, it's important to be consistent with meeting the expected goals assigned to them. This allows your agents to build trust with customers and encourages customers to continuously use the service desk for their requests. With automation, agents can be alerted when time is running out on an SLA. For the automation rule, there's a trigger titled "SLA Threshold Breached" that works perfectly in this scenario. This trigger allows you to set when an alert should send to the assignee of the request based on how much time is left on the particular SLA. The assignee is then made aware that they need to make progress on the issue and can stay on top of the SLA goal. This, in turn, leads to a happier customer and an increased sense of trust in your agents. 

Automate alerts to customers if a ticket is pending their response 

It's good practice in a service desk to configure so that if a ticket is pending a response from the customer, a "Waiting for Customer SLA" is set to give them time to respond. If the time passes on that SLA (we don't receive a response from the customer after a certain amount of days), the ticket is automatically resolved. Before we automate this though, it can be helpful to send out an alert to the customer to remind them that the ticket is waiting on their response. I've seen customers become frustrated when a ticket is resolved without alerting them that it was waiting on their response, as they simply forgot about their pending request. Sending out reminders sets clear expectations with the customer that the ticket has not made further progress due to inaction on their end and gives them the chance to interact with the request before it's automatically resolved. Other times, you may not receive a response from the customer because they no longer need your assistance. In these situations, the automation to resolve tickets pending customer action after the "Waiting for Customer SLA" is breached can save your agents time and effort, as they don't have to keep track of the time pending a customer response and manually resolve the ticket themselves.

We've seen so many clients reap the benefits of using automation to help their teams stay on top of their SLAs. Not only does it build trust with customers and in your organization; it also fortifies your service desk and improves your the experiences of your end users and agents! If you need help with SLAs, or anything else Atlassian, reach out and one of our experts will contact you ASAP!

“Digital transformation? We already have lots of technology employed in Finance.” And you’re not wrong – whether it’s an enterprise resource management (ERP) system or finance-focused systems or tools.  But the corporate requirement for digital transformation isn’t simply the addition or increased exploitation of technology and data but is, instead, a mechanism for improvement and better business outcomes that just happens to be using technology to greater effect.

Your Finance Department needs digital transformation: here's what this entails.

The “why” and “what” of digital transformation

A common misconception is that technology keeps getting added to organizations simply because it’s available – and sometimes this does happen. But digital transformation is different. It’s a corporate, not an IT, strategy that’s aimed at delivering better business operations and outcomes not merely the increased use of technology. Importantly, it covers far more ground than you might expect.

So, it’s not simply the use of technology and data to create new products and services, plus the associated new revenue streams. Nor is it only the use of technology to improve customer engagement mechanisms too – something that you might have experienced in your personal life.

There’s also a third part to digital transformation – and this is what’s relevant to your Finance Department and its operations: the use of technology and data to improve back-office operations across your organization, within its many business functions. From the introduction of digital workflows, through the use of self-service and self-help capabilities, to the many benefits of gaining greater insight into business function workloads, operations, service performance, outcomes, and improvements. Importantly, this back-office digital transformation is a vital enabler of the more prominent front-office improvements.

Think of it as making your operations and outcomes all three of “better, faster, cheaper.” It's using technology to make your Finance personnel the best possible versions of themselves, especially in light of the current and ongoing need for remote and distanced working, including effective communication and collaboration. With no organization or business function immune to the need to change traditional, often manually intensive, ways of working to better reflect the physically disconnected nature of modern work.

It’s a need that's likely to continue, because organizations have realized that the required operational resilience can’t be met by their traditional, manually intensive processes that rely too heavily on face-to-face interactions, email exchanges, and spreadsheets.

The “how” of digital transformation

In enabling the required new ways of working, there’s a need for greater technology exploitation that provides not only the ability for work to flow better between individuals and teams but also:

• Speeds up that work and the decision points needed within it. For example, some work tasks can be automated, and alerts and notifications employed to ensure that the work keeps moving swiftly through to the desired endpoint and outcome.
• Facilitates interactions with those requesting service and support from your Finance team(s) – with self-service, via a self-service portal, a better way of managing incoming requests on the supplier side. And, on the demand side, a more effective route to access finance-related assistance for your department’s internal customers.
• Self-help capabilities that deflect both emails and telephone calls from your busy Finance personnel. With the inquiring employee instead self-accessing what they need to know, and likely getting a quicker solution in doing so. For example, something as simple as checking whether an expenses claim has been approved and when it will be paid.
• Knowledge management capabilities that, on the one hand, help Finance staff to collectively know more than they individually know – which is especially helpful for new starters. And, on the other, the captured knowledge can be employed to help defect emails and telephone requests through self-help.
• Greater insight into past, present, and future operations. From how well work has been handled and whether service promises met (perhaps versus agreed service level targets), through managing the current workloads across teams and individuals and the likelihood of delays, to future projections of how things will continue based on trends or simulations modeled on proposed changes to the status quo. This greater insight also provides the platform for improvement identification and actions across all of operations, service quality, employee experience, and business outcomes.

In addition to the above, the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI), in the form of machine learning, adds even greater opportunity to leverage the new digital capabilities to speed up operations, provide a better service experience, and to allow Finance staff to focus on what they do best (and prevent them from wasting time and costs on high-volume, low-value tasks).

These digital-transformation-enabling capabilities might already be available in your organization

While digital transformation can feel like a relatively new concept, it has been on corporate radars for at least a decade. And for those organizations that have already taken steps to digitally transform part or all of their back-office operations, including Finance operations, many have taken an “enterprise service management” approach. This is where the proven corporate IT service management (ITSM) capabilities – processes and the associated technology-enablement – are applied to other business functions to improve their operations, service and support, and outcomes.

In many ways, enterprise service management and the use of the corporate ITSM tool are seen as a platform for delivering the technology and data elements of back-office digital transformation needs, from digital workflow enablement, through self-service capabilities, to the introduction of new machine-learning-based capabilities.

From an employee perspective, an additional benefit from Finance’s digital transformation is that they’ll be using similar service and support methods to those employed in other business functions such as human resources (HR) and IT. This not only offers a guaranteed level of service experience, but it also provides a level of enterprise-wide consistency that makes interacting with the Finance Department (and other business functions) so much easier.

Examples of how your corporate ITSM tool can help your Finance Department

There are many Finance-related opportunities to leverage digital workflows and the other capabilities outlined above. For example, for:

• Receiving new finance-related requests, and allowing employees to check request status, via self-service
• Using automation rules or machine learning to route new requests to the right work groups, with some requests responded to automatically using intelligent automation
• Handling queries and requests for information, help, and change more efficiently
• Budget, invoice, and employee expense management
• The automation of high-volume, low-risk requests for Finance approval
• Escalation handling
• Business case reviews.

These opportunities will, of course, be dependent on your organization’s current ITSM tool being deemed suitable for the many possible enterprise service management and back-office digital transformation use cases.

The need for digital transformation within your Finance Department is clear, and here at Praecipio Consulting, we can help you with the process.