In search of IT solutions and improvements
A manufacturer, marketer, and distributor of consumer and commercial products was on a mission to update their digital tools and optimize their configuration management database (CMDB). There was a strong development and process team already in place, but when they centralized their service management operations under a single platform, ServiceNow, they recognized a gap in capacity and knowledge maturity. With end-of-year budget to allocate for operational support and critical projects, the company was looking for a ServiceNow partner they could trust. The most important criteria they were looking for in a contractor was flexibility; the money needed to be pre-paid, the projects defined later, and the statement of work (SOW) contracts needed to be $100K or less.
Previously, the ServiceNow maintenance was delegated to multiple developers, but because this internal team had limited, formal training in ServiceNow, they struggled to comprehensively update the platform. In addition to these internal limitations, the ServiceNow environment had suffered from repeated strategic, leadership, and partner changes. The organization was investing heavily in licensing, but without a roadmap, analytics, or proper staffing, the return on investment was not being realized.
Identifying gaps in tools and teams
The company reached out to CAI to ask for help with enterprise service management (ESM), specifically within ServiceNow they needed a partner to:
- identify gaps in the team's skillset
- assess the implemented ITSM processes and license entitlements
- establish an action plan for improvements, including employee upskilling
Speed was of upmost importance, as the team needed to drastically improve the return on investment. As a result of CAI's advisory consultation, the organization identified understaffing instances and engaged CAI to augment the administration and development teams on a full-time basis. In addition to the daily operational support that was provided, CAI also served as a trusted advisor related to planned development and technical roadblocks. Best practice process enhancements were suggested and implemented, and self-caused incidents virtually disappeared. Organizational change recommendations were offered as part of the CMDB service mapping, which included training to optimize process improvements.
This early success led the company to ask CAI for assistance in other areas, including common service data model (CSDM) alignment for the CMDB service mapping, enhancements for IT operations management (ITOM), portal enhancement, dedicated full-time offshore developers, and a dedicated onshore, part-time, systems administrator.
Platform expertise and staff support
Funds were strategically used to assess the state of the company's service desk, CMDB, and analytics reporting.
CAI delivered multiple consulting services for them over a 24+ month period, which included:
- platform health assessment and future roadmaps
- platform architect assistance
- service portal redesign
- CMDB fixes and enhancements
- ITOM fixes and enhancements
CAI provided a full-time ServiceNow architect to the company's team to mentor and train existing team members. In addition, this architect also provided analysis to identify gaps and strengths in implementation, and provided stability until more internal staff could be brought onboard.
Specifically, the ITOM and CMDB services helped them to identify trouble areas in the Management Instrumentation and Discovery (MID) server architecture of ServiceNow, and settle the IT environment into better working order. Monthly recurring meetings were established as an opportunity to review CMDB dashboards and key metrics with team members, and this informed more data driven troubleshooting.
Service mapping was performed for all the services and then shared with the application owner to collaborate on fixing the map, for the purpose of disaster recovery planning. This facilitated major efficiency improvements in disaster recovery exercises and preparedness. Whereas it used to take a full week or over a week to get through a full test, now the team can complete the test in three days.
This resource was augmented with supporting team members, experienced onshore and offshore developers, and systems administration. Along with targeted process assessments, they were able to shift work from the overburdened service desk and focus on projects to enhance user experience. This also translated to immense improvements in customer satisfaction, with an increase in CSAT scoring to 90-95%.
A true technology partnership
CAI’s capabilities and flexible approach has made us a trusted partner in the ServiceNow space, and this gave the company the support they needed to revitalize their IT environment. Over the course of the service engagement, a true technology partnership developed, rather than just the remediation of internal issues and staff augmentation. When it came time to run their annual disaster recovery drill, the company was able to save two days of work. A member of leadership for the global manufacturing company was very pleased with the optimizations that had been put in place, and said,
“CAI has been a great partner for us because of flexibility and transparency. ITOM is a space that can be very technical and complex. When we’re deep in a problem, it's good to have someone who can help us find a solution.”
Throughout the engagement, strategic advisory services and insight were given to help the company go beyond the day-to-day work and plan for the big picture. Their specific financial requirements were met, and the promises to aid in the building of digital solutions was kept. Now, this global manufacturing organization has the technology and tools in place to help their IT teams function more efficiently and better plan for the future.
Learn more about how we help organizations with their enterprise service management and ServiceNow platforms.
