Customer Experience

Effective Customer Retention Strategies for Long-Term Business Growth

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With increasing clicks and conversion costs, it’s better to retain existing customers than acquiring new ones.

The importance of customer retention is highly understated. It evidently suggests that your customer trust your brands and services and continue to remain loyal in the long run. Retaining customers for a business is very important as it plays a significant role in their growth.

What is Customer Retention?

This is the practice of growing a business’s repeat customer rate and mining added value from the present customers. The basic purpose of customer retention is to guarantee your customers are making recurrent purchases, are content with your services and do not turn to your competitor.

Here are some techniques that your business can implement to boost customer retention.

    • Welcome Series

      This is basically an idea which makes use of email welcome series which sets the tone for any interactions between the business and client. It enables you to build a solid foundation from the very start to increase your customer base.

      You can achieve this via number of emails like:

      Email1: Introduce your brand in a very unique manner presenting its value propositions.
      Email 2: You can communicate the brand values the business has

      Email 3: Display all the products you offer through this email so the client has an idea of what you are offering

      Email 4: In this email you can offer an incentive to encourage the client to make the purchase

      It is not necessary that you go with the sales pitch right away. A brand introduction, how it may assist the customers, what you believe in, is likely to convey the idea of the bigger picture to the customers.

    • Evolve your Offerings

      Providing a diverse variety in your product offerings forms the basis for brands to stand out in the competitive market of today. Moreover, brands need to consistently engage with their customers so as to keep them updated with the relevant information regarding their offers.

      You can customise on your loyalty programs which will help your brand build a community of engaged customers that are likely to purchase on a frequent basis.

      Personalisation is also a prerequisite to grow your customer base. These are basically custom offers like providing exclusive deals on important days like their birthdays etc, sending them private emails and discounts with special codes. This makes them happy and willing to make repeat purchases and choose your brand over others as the rewards suit them.

      You can also provide customers with an option of choosing their own loyalty program. You can do this by allowing members to select a free gift within a certain price range from its best sellers list. Take it one step further by introducing a points system which your customers can use against the complete list of products you provide.

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Customer Experience

Effective Customer Retention Strategies for Long-Term Business Growth

Share this story
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With increasing clicks and conversion costs, it’s better to retain existing customers than acquiring new ones.

The importance of customer retention is highly understated. It evidently suggests that your customer trust your brands and services and continue to remain loyal in the long run. Retaining customers for a business is very important as it plays a significant role in their growth.

What is Customer Retention?

This is the practice of growing a business’s repeat customer rate and mining added value from the present customers. The basic purpose of customer retention is to guarantee your customers are making recurrent purchases, are content with your services and do not turn to your competitor.

Here are some techniques that your business can implement to boost customer retention.

    • Welcome Series

      This is basically an idea which makes use of email welcome series which sets the tone for any interactions between the business and client. It enables you to build a solid foundation from the very start to increase your customer base.

      You can achieve this via number of emails like:

      Email1: Introduce your brand in a very unique manner presenting its value propositions.
      Email 2: You can communicate the brand values the business has

      Email 3: Display all the products you offer through this email so the client has an idea of what you are offering

      Email 4: In this email you can offer an incentive to encourage the client to make the purchase

      It is not necessary that you go with the sales pitch right away. A brand introduction, how it may assist the customers, what you believe in, is likely to convey the idea of the bigger picture to the customers.

    • Evolve your Offerings

      Providing a diverse variety in your product offerings forms the basis for brands to stand out in the competitive market of today. Moreover, brands need to consistently engage with their customers so as to keep them updated with the relevant information regarding their offers.

      You can customise on your loyalty programs which will help your brand build a community of engaged customers that are likely to purchase on a frequent basis.

      Personalisation is also a prerequisite to grow your customer base. These are basically custom offers like providing exclusive deals on important days like their birthdays etc, sending them private emails and discounts with special codes. This makes them happy and willing to make repeat purchases and choose your brand over others as the rewards suit them.

      You can also provide customers with an option of choosing their own loyalty program. You can do this by allowing members to select a free gift within a certain price range from its best sellers list. Take it one step further by introducing a points system which your customers can use against the complete list of products you provide.

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Customer Experience

How to Choose the Right Remote IT Support Service Provider

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There have been rapid changes going on in the field of technology. Cybersecurity is rising day by day, businesses are scaling and so are their needs. With growth comes growing compliance requirements. And with all of these challenges, a remote IT support service provider can be your best choice.

IT services are a broad spectrum of services and almost all companies need them, excluding or including a few of them. These services include everything from applications to compliance to cybersecurity, including cloud computing and physical infrastructure. Making an internal IT team with such an extensive set of skills is not only time consuming, but it also requires a considerable amount of resources.

To avoid that hassle, companies, from small to medium sized enterprises, outsource their IT tasks to a third party, whether temporarily or permanently.

Selecting An IT Service Partner

As an SME business owner, it is a crucial decision to outsource a chunk of your IT work to a technology partner. The right decision can lead to exponential growth and scalability without holding your business back. Streamlined ops, minimal security risks, and reduced timelines for research, development, and deployment can make a business grow by leaps and bounds.

You need to analyze some parameters of the offered services of an IT Service Provider. Here are some of the most important ones.

  • Know Your Tech Needs

Usually, when you are choosing any business provider, you have to know what you are looking for and it is directly based on your needs. If you need IT services for physical infrastructure, you will see which service providers give services based on physical infrastructure. You may want cloud based, considering the trend and changing times, or you may feel comfortable in a hybrid working system. However, your requirements will filter out a lot of service providers that do not fit your needs.

When planning, you need to know your starting point, the point where you see yourself, and how you will get there. The growth and prospects of a potential tech partner show you what you can expect from them later in the line too. Having some clarity with regard to the service providers’ needs and approach to their operations says a lot about a company’s performance and helps in finalizing a tech service provider.

 It is also encouraged to be transparent about your budget as the IT service providers get a clearer view of the kind of resources they can provide to fit your budget criterion. And you don’t need a detailed investment plan from the start. Usually, service providers give a ball park figure and they can also help you prioritize your needs that are either needed right away or may be needed in the long run.

  • Referrals

In the professional world, networks and referrals are invaluable. After gaining an understanding of your needs and wants, you need to get some solid references about which IT service providers are the best in the market. You can easily do some research on the internet and find a lot of service providers with excellent standings and offerings.

However, knowing a few people who have experience with outsourced IT support services, can go a long way in getting the best options. As a business owner or a stakeholder, you should have a wide network that can advise you in getting the best tech partner. In case your network has a few people working for or running remote IT services companies, you can easily get a closer look at their services.

  • Requirements vs. Services Offered

Every tech company that offers IT services will have a different set of services. You may not even get a 100% match of your requirements with the services these companies offer. In the list of offered services, you will have to take a look at which requirements you will have to drop to have a near match with potential tech partners.

IT service providers may work and specialize in technologies different than what you may require. Identifying the technologies is also a part of finding the right tech service provider. Many IT support companies have capabilities of centralization. It is not necessary that your service providers have an in-house team for everything. They might be using partnerships with vendors and other players in the same industry.

In any case, you may not need to talk to multiple people to get multiple services. You will also not need to coordinate with vendors if your IT support collaborator is committing to take care of those things.

  • Proactive Over Reactive

Many people detest reactive working when it is an effective model of technology support. Software and hardware break down and ultimately need to be fixed. Reactive IT support is a forever toolkit used by IT service providers.

Despite all that, reactive services are not the only support services model available. Recurring vulnerabilities need to be prevented or else they can incur a cost that could have been avoided. For that, your business requires a proactive support system and services. IT service providers can tell you about their approach to technology support and troubleshooting so you understand if their methodologies match your requirements and are satisfied with them. 

  • Security Priority

Cybersecurity is on the rise, especially in the region of MENA. With large scale cyber attacks, one can only make sure that you have the best security experts on your side. It is going to be one of the non-negotiable services where you require top of the class skill and technology to keep your business safe from cyber-damages. 

The security practices of your IT service partner are needed to be impeccable. You should inquire about their vendor management systems, internal governance, regulatory oversight and risk assessment and management.

Conclusion:

These are some of the best ways to find a suitable IT service provider for your business. To have a better judgment, you can also look for the kinds of planning your provider offers and that they have the right synergy to work alongside your business. 

If you are interested in outsourcing your IT tasks, contact us here at ibex MENA. We are transforming the region with our state-of-the-art technology of global standards. We are the pioneers of the BPO industry and outsource all IT services you require.

Customer Experience

Find the Best Call Center Outsourcing Services Company in Dubai (2023)

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Outsourcing has become very common in recent years with the number of organizations using call center services in Dubai rising dramatically. When it comes to finding an outsourcing call center it becomes all the more difficult as there are many factors that you have to keep under consideration. 

Here we have listed some tips so you can find your UAE Best Call Center Service Provider.

Industry Experience

This stands as one of the most crucial factors when on a look out for the best call center outsourcing company in Dubai. Industry knowledge is imperative as it is what forms the basis for your business operations to carry out. 

The company must be equipped with sufficient experience to handle all kind of difficulties and hardships that arise during projects. Besides, it must be able to deal with all the customer queries that come their way and provide effective solutions as per the projects requirements. 

Qualified Staff

Verification of professionals and personnel that is engaged in the projects is important in finding the best call center solutions in Dubai. It is important for the personal to possess the capacity of dealing with all the issues and completing all tasks on a timely basis. You must check if the outsourcing company has a training and development program for its employees for maintaining maximum efficiency and meeting project deadlines. 

Budget and Pricing

Payment is extremely important when selecting the best call center outsourcing company in Dubai. For this you must examine what prices the rivals are offering as well as the service quality. Then you can negotiate with the agencies to get the best value within your allocated budget without having to sacrifice on the quality. 

Cost effectiveness is one of the main reasons for most companies to outsource their services, so it remains critical that the cost be thoroughly examined before finding the outsourcing partner

Top Quality Assurance

The BPO service provider must be of top-notch quality and free of all errors. The quality of the projects assigned are directly linked to the quality of the service delivery they provide. Upon interaction with outsourcing companies, it must be certified that they are active correspondents and their services are error free in all respects. You should also confirm to consider the steps the third-party service providers take to reserve the projects eminence. 

Technological Standards

This aspect basically measures the value of the project’s quality. Check with call center services in Dubai that are well defined in bringing projects that are up to date with technological prowess, otherwise an outdated project will only be obsolete and not serve any purpose. Check for timely updates in relation to the software being used to undertake tasks and operations. This will guarantee that all clients requirements are contented.

Data Security

When you have to choose between using cloud based or premise-based services from your outsourcing partner, it is important that you consider the data compliance and security procedures the company employs. You will be disclosing very sensitive data to the agency which must not be leaked and safeguarded by all means. 

Therefore, it is important that you sign a non-disclosure agreement and know the kind of security measures it takes in the form of paperwork. Before you make a choice leading call center in Dubai, all cloud platforms and privacy settings must be verified to make sure you can retrieve useful data anytime in case you lose it. 

Global Presence

You must always see whether the call center outsourcing company has a history of dealing with clients on a global level. This sort of engagement allows you to interact and communicate with clients from diverse backgrounds and expertise and equips you with the ability to deal with difficult situations. 

Moreover, it’s a fact, that organizations with a vast global presence tend to possess better communication skills which remains and integral factor while finding the right call center outsourcing partner. 

References

As you embark on finding the best call center outsourcing company in Dubai, you must look into the variety of supplier the company has had in the past. This will give you an idea of their clientele services and rates. 

In case of a recommendation, you must make use of it or at least connect with them as you note its source. This may assist you in obtaining reasonable process for the services you offer as well as superior quality as brand reputation will be involved. 

Understand the Integration

The integration process can begin when you have made the agreement and are prepared to proceed. This process can vary widely depending on the service that the call center is hired and the approach it takes. Thus, it makes easy to unite the hardware’s and software’s and any information-based technology as per need.

The Final Verdict

So, when on a look out for Call center services in Dubai for your business, you must keep the factors mentioned above in mind. Industry knowledge and experience along with global presence, technological standards, good reference, data security, budgeting, quality assurance are all very important to get the maximum benefits from the BPO service provider you partner with.

Customer Experience

Top IT companies in UAE

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Multiple factors have come together in the UAE to create a thriving tech industry that’s positioned to double in size by 2030. As of 2023, the IT industry was worth a little over $43 billion, roughly 9 percent of the country’s GDP. While a respectable number in it’s own right, the UAE's Digital Economy strategy aims to grow the IT sector to nearly 20% of the country’s GDP. 

But are these numbers the musings of an optimistic bureaucracy, or is there some weight behind them? Like many in the Middle East, the UAE wants to decrease their dependence on oil and tourism and create a startup-friendly environment. 

If the number of IT firms and their growth are any indication, then the $100 billion goal is perfectly achievable by 2029. Let’s take a look at some of the most impressive IT organizations in the UAE that are going to be at the frontier of the country's tech sector. 

Bayzat: Revolutionizing HR

Bayzat leads the HR management industry in the UAE with a comprehensive suite of applications designed to propel local businesses to an international standard. Their core objective is to simplify HR operations for firms that want to reduce their administrative burden. They offer a wide variety of services, including payroll management, regulatory compliance frameworks, the management of benefits packages for employees, and performance tracking. 

However, Bayzat sets itself apart from the industry with partnerships that make them the most accessible platform in the industry, including: 

  • An integration with Microsoft Azure to provide a cloud-based HR solution for companies already using the platform
  • A partnership with Oracle for their HCM cloud solution
  • An integration with Workday - a centralized HR platform for payroll and benefits management. 

These partnerships are a testament to Bayzats commitment towards accessibility and ease of use. They’ve removed as many barriers as they could for HR outsourcing for software companies in the UAE  and created an outstanding customer support network to make sure their customers are satisfied. 

Ibex MENA

TRG holdings crown Jewel—Ibex—boasts a global workforce of over 35,000 employees spread out in 9 countries and 40 service delivery locations. They’re a behemoth in the CX space that have spent the last 15 years breaking into IT and BPO services with just as much gusto. They’ve built up their IT sector to offer a wide variety of services that include: 

  • Network and Database management for efficient data storage and communication
  • Web and App development in over 20 programming languages 
  • Cybersecurity management 
  • Staff Augmentation services to support local teams with international talent with as little investment as possible 
  • IT infrastructure and IT Service Management 

However, their most innovative offering to date has to be the Enteract.Ecosystem. It’s an all-in-one AI-powered customer engagement platform that consolidates everything you need on a single dashboard. Email outreach, social media management, AI powered chatbots for customer service, or data analytics—you name it, enteract has it. 

Brainvire

Brainvires combination of software companies in Dubai and UAE has landed them on the Fortune 500 listing. They’re a complete BPO firm that consistently positions itself on the cutting edge of innovation for each of their services. Their most prominent offerings include: 

  • Custom software and application development tailored for each client’s unique business needs. 
  • Cloud-based solutions for companies that want to expand their network and server capabilities with minimal investment 
  • Comprehensive cybersecurity services 
  • Enterprise resource planning to streamline company-wide processes
  • IT consultation services to help organizations transform themselves and their IT infrastructure. 

Companies like Brainzvire create ripples across the entire industry, uploading the entire technological ecosystem in the UAE. Their customizable solutions help businesses transform their operations without a crippling invoice. Their services empower small firms to take on projects they previously couldn’t imagine, helping create jobs and opportunity and attracting foreign investment. 

Cognizant

Cognizant doesn’t just contend with Brainvire on the Fortune 500 list; they take it a step further with their NASDAQ listing. They offer all of the services Brainvire offers, including: 

  • Custom software development and maintenance
  • IT infrastructure development for firms of all sizes, covering cybersecurity, enterprise software, data management and network services 
  • Business process outsourcing and automation 

However, what sets them apart from their competition is their commitment to data-driven decision-making and their specialization in analytics. Their AI-powered analytics department helps businesses with

  • Data pipelines and warehouses that collect, store, and process large datasets without the need for on-site servers
  • Machine learning techniques to extract actionable insights from the data
  • Interactive and accessible dashboards that help stakeholders understand data insights with innovative visualization techniques 
  • Predictive and prescriptive analysis

These services are particularly beneficial for tech companies in Dubai and the UAE because they help foreign investors and banks determine the creditworthiness of companies. An increase in foreign investment is a boost for the local job market, and introduces international experts to local companies. 

KNZ Solutions 

Variety and competition are good for all industries, and KNZ Solutions creates the differentiation necessary for industry growth. They may not be as large as some of the other IT support companies in Dubai, but they don’t measure their success by size. 

KNZ solutions is committed to treating customers like partners, and maximizing employee satisfaction to attract the best talent in the industry with better pay and benefits. This may restrict the size of their workforce and projects, but it drastically improves the quality of their operations. Their IT consulting services include

  • Customization and integration of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) with existing systems and applications
  • Business Process Management consultancy to help business optimize their processes for maximum efficiency 
  • Ongoing IT support and maintenance

HCL Technologies 

HCL Tech is a global IT behemoth with over 22,000 employees worldwide, but their strongest foothold is in the UAE. A player of their size brings international attention to the tech industry, and all other IT companies in the UAE are forced to step up their game. 

While their core services are similar to some of the companies we’ve mentioned above (IT consulting, IT infrastructure management, cybersecurity services, network and server management, cloud integration, software and application development), their size and reputation gives them a competitive edge. Not only can they offer more competitive rates, they can solve more complex problems and offer solutions nobody else in the market is capable of reproducing.

Consequently, they tend to dominate a number of industries with their services: 

  • Banking and Finance: They offer CX solutions to improve customer satisfaction, reduce costs, and (most importantly for this industry) ensure regulatory compliance. 
  • Telecommunications: HCL helps telecom companies update and upgrade their networks, and innovate new products. 
  • Manufacturing: Their IT solutions can be customized to optimize supply chain management and improve quality control. 
  • Retail: HCL develops easy-to-use e-commerce platforms and websites to drive sales and engagement across platforms. 
  • Healthcare: It’s essential for companies in the healthcare space to comply with industry regulations, and HCL makes sure they do. 

OnPassive 

OnPassive has made a name for itself among software companies in the UAE through it’s specialization in AI-powered SaaS solutions. These softwares and tools make cross-platform collaboration easier and more efficient, while helping reduce your operating costs. We can divide their services into 3 major sections, starting with:

Web Development and Hosting

Modern IT firms usually maintain a resource pipeline to accommodate any technological needs you may have. React, Angular, Vue.js, Python, Node.js and Linux are just the tip of their development iceberg. Additionally, you can expect them to have different combinations of AWS, Azure, GCP, and more in their hosting solutions roster. 

Client Relationship Management:
OnPassive has their own CRM platform with built-in features like contact management, lead generation, sales pipeline management, customer support ticketing, and marketing automation. Like all good CRMs, their platform easily integrates with your email platform of choice and your firm's accounting software. 

AI-powered SEO Tools:
Without search engine optimization, your website would be lost in the limitless current of Google search results. The field has developed rapidly in the past 5 years and has reached a point where manual optimization is both impossible and ineffective. You need AI to conduct keyword research, backlink analysis, and competitor analysis. All of OnPassive AI SEO tools can be linked to your social media platforms and contact management systems for a unified dashboard. 

Wipro


Wipro is an Indian-based IT organization that has taken the international market by storm. They’ve been setting an example for IT companies in the UAE since 2001 and have since expanded their operations beyond Dubai into Sharjah and Abu Dhabi. The benefit of working with an international organization like Wipro is access to global expertise that can give you an edge against local competitors.

You’ll be hard-pressed to find a software company in Dubai that offers a wider range of services than Witro. Their business process services include procurement, customer service, HR management, and accounting. If your IT department needs a boost, Wipro has competent cybersecurity professionals, a deep roster of Agile developers, and IT infrastructure experts that can overhaul your entire operation for efficiency and performance. 

However, simply providing expert services doesn’t guarantee a place among the top IT companies in the UAE for 20+ years. Wipro has a strong reputation for treating their employees with respect and loyalty and taking personal responsibility for their professional development. They have in-house training programs, team-building activities, and promote a work-life balance that attracts some of the best professionals in the UAE.

IT solution companies in the UAE have been raising the bar across the Middle East for over a decade, and there’s no sign of them slowing down. By 2030, their industry will go beyond Middle Eastern dominance and establish themselves as a global player—the business-friendly environment developed by the UAE government will help companies grow, create more professionals, and attract international clients with enough resources to make a massive impact on the local economy. If you’re an IT professional, you should have a close eye on IT firms in the UAE.

Customer Experience

What is IT Service Management? A Comprehensive Guide

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If you’re old enough to remember the launch of MS-DOS (the first graphical user interface for computers) in the 1980s, you have a complete perspective of how complex computers and IT systems have become. Personal use aside, computers have become absolutely essential for modern businesses. In fact, simply calling the field ‘computers’ does information technology a massive disservice. In rising markets like the UAE, the IT services sector has grown to nearly $4Billion. 

Nowadays, companies need to integrate dozens of technologies into their system just to start operations, and dozens more to improve performance. To make matters worse, IT evolves so rapidly that companies are in a constant flux of upgrades and integration. Out of this immensely complicated, yet necessary, swamp of technology rises IT Service Management. 

ITSM operates all your systems and provides end-to-end delivery. From installing basic equipment to creating complex firewalls for network security, they assist your IT teams to design, develop, launch, maintain, and update all relevant IT systems. This article aims to give you a comprehensive understanding of the different types of ITSMs, their primary functions, and how to choose the best ITSM for your business. 

ITSM vs. DevOps: The Difference 

If you see some similarities between ITSM and DevOps, you aren’t wrong. They’re both essential for high-quality software delivery, but DevOps is a more directed field. It focuses on bridging the gap between software development teams and operations for faster, more efficient, and higher quality software delivery. A DevOps team will focus on automating tasks, implementing smoother communication strategies, and continuous integration/continous delivery (CI/CD). 

Both DevOps and ITSM have a user-centric focus that’s designed to improve collaboration between teams and align IT strategy with company goals. However, ITSM is a broader framework that goes beyond the deployment and delivery to include the entire software lifecycle. It overlooks the management of all your IT assets, change management, incident response, capacity management, and more.  

While DevOps and ITSM are important in their own right, IT service management improves employee productivity and makes your enterprise more efficient. Customers and users expect a wide variety of technological updates over time, and ITSM ensures these processes run smoothly and generate real value for the business.  

What are IT Service Management processes? 

We’ve already discussed the immense complexity of modern IT departments and their requirements. If we want to gain a comprehensive understanding of what ITSM is, what it does, and how we can use it to achieve business objectives, we must understand the different branches in the field. 

Change Management  

It’s common for organizations to update their systems, change networks, upgrade hardware, or undertake any variety of changes necessary to keep their business competitive. However, changing a system results in downtime and lost opportunity. Change management carefully evaluates all variables before creating a plan and executing it with minimal disruption to business processes.  

While it may seem intuitive, it’s a pretty complicated process that needs to take a holistic view of the organization and prioritize changes for maximum efficiency. Some basic sections of a change management plan are: 

  • Change Identification
  • Change Assessment
  • Change Authorization
  • Change Planning
  • Change Implementation
  • Change Verification
  • Change Closure 

When done correctly, you can greatly reduce the risks associated with disruptions and errors. Not only does it streamline your operations, it ensures customer needs are met and your organization is compliant with industry standards and regulations.  

Release Management  

Release management makes sure your short-term project goals are aligned with long-term strategic objectives. Like the name suggests, this part of IT service management is responsible for rigorously testing all changes in the company’s IT infrastructure before it’s launched. They coordinate with all the relevant stakeholders (development teams, operations, and business users) to ensure nobody steps on any toes and the software can be rolled out with minimal downtime.  

Configuration and Continuous Improvement Management  

Configuration management aims to establish a clear understanding between your IT infrastructure and the services you offer. It enables you to centralize all of your data on hardware assets, software and applications, personnel, and business documents. In the ocean of information and software tech companies are drowning in, configuration management is the lighthouse that keeps your IT sector aligned with business needs. 

The model IT firm will record as many performance indicators and statistics as they can. To stay ahead of the curve and to compete in the global market, you must constantly evolve. You’ve probably seen where this is going, but Continuous Improvement Management monitors your performance to identify areas that need a little boost. They plan and implement upgrades across your IT infrastructure while ensuring you don’t stray from your established strategy.  

Knowledge Management 

Like we just mentioned, collecting the right data is essential for your strategy. Organization-wide updates take time and resources, so professionals need access to as much information as possible to inform their plan of action. This information can include technical specifications, previously implemented solutions and their results, common problems, best practices, and regulations. The aim is to make the right information accessible at the right time to whoever needs it. 

Incident Management  

Your IT infrastructure can face any number of issues. From malware and security breaches to updates and network issues, Incident Management is your emergency hotline. Their core objective is to return your organization to normal operations with as little downtime as possible. The standard operational procedure includes: 

  • Identifying and documenting incidents through user reports, maintenance checks, complaints, or system failures. 
  • Classifying the incident based on priority, type, and ideal course of action
  • Investigating the underlying cause for the issue and making changes to the system to prevent similar issues in the future
  • Testing the solution in a closed environment if needed and then implementing it. 

 

Problem Management 

Despite appearances, there’s a very important distinction between problem management and incident management. As mentioned above, incident management is a reactionary sector that deals with problems as they come up. Problem management, on the other hand, deals with recurring problems within the IT infrastructure.  

Problem managers proactively analyze the system and its performance to recognize errors and defects in the infrastructure. Making a structural change to tackle recurring issues rather than implementing quick fixes when it happens saves you a lot of downtime and maximizes efficiency.  

Service Level Management  

Service level agreements are essential for any business transaction, especially for software and IT products. Your firm will mostly likely have SLAs with your customers and your vendors, meaning you’ll need someone to manage both sides. A water-proof SLA keeps you compliant with regulations and holds both parties accountable to agreed-upon services to streamline operations and communication. 

Service level managers track all of your SLA’s with both clients and vendors to ensure standards are met. They’re also the people who create these formal contracts in the first place, negotiating with all relevant stakeholders and tracking progress through regular reports. 

Workflow Mangement  

AI has made some massive leaps in the past 4 years, but it hasn’t taken over the IT sector just yet. You still need a talented workforce that’s motivated, effectively organized, and knowledgeable. Workflow/talent managers make sure you hire the talent you need in each position to deliver tailored solutions to specific problems. Additionally, that talent needs up-to-date software tools to do their job. That’s why the MENA region has been experiencing 4% annual growth in IT spending for several years.

 

The benefits of IT Service Management 

If you’re looking into the strategic management of IT services for the first timef, you may be a little overwhelmed with all the different sections. However, we urge you to stick with it because the results are definitely worth the pain. We guarantee your competitors are looking into it, and it can be the edge you need in a hyper-competent global market. In fact, the Middle East, one of the fastest growing tech markets in the world, experienced an 11% increase in IT services spending last year. Some of the most prominent benefits of IT services management include:  

Resource Optimization 

Every entrepreneur knows the pressure of stretching your resources and making a dollar go as far as possible. It’s a noble and necessary pursuit, but not one you should dedicate too much to - you need to focus on your product and customer base.  

ITSM has an independent, birds-eye view of your entire organization’s IT systems. It puts them in the ideal position to identify bottlenecks, waste, and inefficiencies. They can make informed strategic decisions to minimize downtime and allocate resources where they’re needed the most.  

Automation 

In the next decade, companies with the best automation strategies will be the most profitable and the most efficient. As companies grow, the weight of logistical tasks can cripple your margins and create bottlenecks in service. You can literally grow yourself out of business! Once you get to a certain size, ITSM takes over automation to improve your workflow. Bots are just faster at analyzing and sorting information without the issue of human error. This doesn’t make your employees obsolete; it simply frees them up to focus on more complex tasks like strategy and customer engagement.

 

Cost and Downtime Reduction  

There are two major ways ITSM helps you reduce your costs. Firstly, a major pillar of the entire field is improving efficiency by identifying bottlenecks and potential issues before they halt operations. It’s exponentially more expensive troubleshooting when something goes wrong and then brainstorming solutions at the moment. The longer it takes for you to solve the problem, the more money you’re losing.  

IT service management preempts continuity issues and prevents problems from escalating to protect the integrity of your IT infrastructure. IT ensures relevant individuals are in the right place, with relevant information, to solve problems as soon as possible. Downtime isn’t just bad for your books; it’s bad for your image.  

The second way ITSM improves your margins is by using dedicated staff to make sure you’re always operating at maximum capacity. If your website is slow, your products malfunction, your internal networks are down, or any of the dozen problems an IT company can face every day, you lose reliability and credibility. Potential clients also feel more comfortable with your commitment to regulatory compliance and your security protocols if your ITSM is robust. 

Reporting 

One of the best side effects of implementing updates in your IT infrastructure is the ability to collect more data. Adjusting your operations slightly with the data-driven directives can add up to exponential improvements in performance. Modern consumers have much higher expectations. For instance, if you operate in luxury markets like Dubai, you need an extremely well-oiled technological machine to ensure customer satisfaction. 

Not only does IT service management help you gather data, it automates analysis and report creation. Manually, both of these tasks take a completely unreasonable amount of time, and it’s nearly impossible to achieve 100% accuracy. Automation makes them virtually free and instantaneous, helping you make data-driven decisions that promote accuracy and cost-effectiveness.  

IT Service Management Frameworks  

Considering how broad and complex ITSM can be, it’s easy to understand the need for different variations suited for specific businesses. The ideal ITSM framework provides a set of guidelines that help standardize processes and provide services of consistently high quality. While all ITSM frameworks aim to optimize your resource allocation, improve efficiency, and keep you aligned with business goals, some variations are a better fit for certain organizations.  

ITIL  

Information Technology Infrastructure Library is one of the most widely used ITSM frameworks. It’s a structured approach to creating independent modules to simplify maintenance and implementation of the entire service lifecycle. Alongside the typical characteristics and benefits of IT service management, some of the unique features of ITIL include:  

  • An emphasis on creating a plan that covers the entire service lifecycle, from inception to deployment. This helps predict and remove roadblocks at any point in the project with minimal delays. 
  • ITIL is focused on improving the experience for the end user and your employees. This increases user satisfaction and makes sure IT services align with business goals. 
  • ITIL takes a holistic view of the project and has a comprehensive plan for all areas, including incident management, problem management, change management, service level management, and more. 
  • The framework is flexible and adaptable enough for you to optimize it for your organizational goals. 
  • You can expect the support of a global community of ITIL practitioners committed to the development and evolution of the framework.  

CMMI 

The Capability Maturity Model Integration model is focused on the development and deployment of software products and services. While it may not be specifically designed for ITSM, its principles can be applied in several areas of ITSM to improve performance. Unlike most other IT service management frameworks that focus on creating a strict standard operational procedure, CMMI is more flexible. It’s focused on the end goal and provides the flexibility you need to get to the finish line quicker.  

The most unique feature of the CMMI framework is the implementation of process maturity levels. It defines 5 levels of maturity, from initial to optimized, that let you assess the progress made on a project and identify areas that need extra attention. 

Additionally, it identifies critical areas for deployment and maintenance and success that can improve service delivery. Another benefit of the aforementioned flexibility is that CMMI can integrate features from other frameworks that suit your project. This lets the system evolve according to your changing needs and objectives, helping you continually refine your processes. 

Six Sigma  

Much like CMMI, the Six Sigma framework is not customized for ITSM, but it has features that can drastically improve service management processes. It’s primarily designed for quality control in SaaS products, so it’s easy to imagine the role it plays in ITSM. Unique features include:  

Data-driven decision making: Even in comparison to traditional IT service management, Six Sigma is extremely dependent on data analytics. It uses past projects, best practices, user reviews, and complaints to identify and eliminate defects in the program. Six Sigma uses a variety of statistical analysis tools to gather this data, including control charts and hypothesis tests. While imperfections exist in all models, using data and statistics to inform your approach minimizes the need for edits and redos later on.  

The DMAIC Methodology: A pre-determined structure streamlines the development process. The DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) provides a clear plan of action for problem resolution. This approach demands cross-functional teams to collaborate on solutions, improving processing times and knowledge sharing.  

COBIT 

Control Objectives for Information and Related Technologies, like the name suggests, is more focused on IT governance than quality control or program deployment. It’s a holistic, comprehensive approach that keeps an eye on how well different IT processes in your infrastructure go together and are collectively headed towards your overarching business objectives. Since COBIT takes a unique, broader approach, you can integrate it with other ITSM frameworks like Six Sigma, CMMI, and ITIl to cover a wide range of IT services.  

In addition to it’s birds-eye view of your IT infrastructure, or perhaps because of it, COBIT is great for risk assessment. You can proactively solve problems before business continuity takes a hit. Similarly, the holistic view helps COBIT ensure all of your processes are compliant with industry regulations, saving you time and a massive headache later on in the development process. If you use COBIT in conjunction with a framework that focuses on the minute details of projects, you have the perfect ITSM duo. 

eTom 

The Enhanced Telecom Operations Map is an ITSM framework specifically designed for the telecommunications industry. It gets this special treatment because telecom networks are extremely complex. They have multiple access points, like routers, switches, and transmitters, and offer a diverse range of services (text, voice, images, video, and more). Additionally, the telecom industry is one of the most heavily regulated in the world and demands special attention, especially for international communication.  

To simplify the immensely complex business model you need to succeed in the telecom industry, we’ve developed eTom. It’s organized into industry-specific domains that independently cater to sectors like customer management, customer service, service fulfillment, network operations, resource management, and more. To this end, eTom has multiple frameworks you can use for specific results, like the generic operations model and the service management model.  

However, a potential downside of an IT service management framework so heavily customized for a specific industry is that you tend to miss out on some of the broader, more generic benefits of IT service management. That’s why eTom has been developed to be perfectly compatible with other ITSM frameworks like ITIL and can be integrated with telecommunications like the SID and NGOSS.  

ISO/IEC 20000  

Inspired by the old BS 15000 framework, the ISO 20000 is an internationally recognized standard for ITSM procedures. While most other frameworks are customized for a specific industry or purpose, the ISO is a broad set of regulatory standards that can be applied to any IT infrastructure. Since it’s globally recognized (essential for international projects), it creates a common language through which all ITSMs can be judged. With BPO services and ITSM companies on the rise in Dubai, UAE, and the MENA region, this international standard is essential for developing trust across borders. 

The framework is perfectly compatible with most other ITSM frameworks, including ITIL and COBIT, and you can customize it to fit any specific needs or requirements. However, the biggest advantage of ISO 20000 is the credibility it gives your organization. It’s an extremely well-reputed IT service management in the global market, giving your organization credibility and a competitive edge by getting the ISO 20000 certification. It demonstrates your commitment to industry best practices and establishes you as a leader in your industry.  

Key features of an ITSM 

Before we move forward to what different types of organizations should look at before picking an ITSM, there are a few key features and performance metrics you must be aware of. Keeping track of these metrics isn’t particularly challenging with the plethora of monitoring tools available in most IT service management frameworks, and they help you optimize the system for your organization's needs.  

Service Availability 

Synonymous to reliability in the IT world, service availability refers to the total amount of time your end users can access an ITSM. Service availability is typically measured as a percentage of uptime over a given period.  

For example, a service with a 99.9% availability would be expected to be unavailable for only 43.2 minutes per month. A low availability score means your systems are experiencing relatively more downtime, meaning your users can’t access your services and your business is losing both revenue and reputation.  

Time to Resolution and First Call Resolution 

The effectiveness of an ITSM isn’t solely judged by how many problems they have to face in a month and how it effects their service availability. Incidents are inevitable; you must also look at how much time it takes them to resolve an issue. Depending on the nature of the issue and how much time it takes/should take to solve, TTR is measured in hours or days.  

However, TTR isn’t as simple to calculate as starting a stopwatch. A variety of factors influence incident response, like the complexity of the incident itself, the skill level of the available staff, how well they managed the incident escalation (how quickly they were able to push forward the incident to the relevant experts), and the resources available to the response team.  

Ideally, all of your problems shouldn’t require an organized response from your IT team. You want a system that’s capable of resolving problems as fast as possible. If your troubleshooting department is on point and your support staff is proficient, you can resolve a high percentage of user incidents the first time they contact you. The higher your FCR percentage, the more reliable you feel for customers. 

SLA Breach Rate  

On the flipside, the SLA (service level agreement) breach rate is the percentage of issues you failed to resolve within the timeframe given to the customer. The higher the percentage, the more unreliable your IT services become. You must closely monitor the SLA breach rate because it’s your biggest indication for bottlenecks within your incident response framework and identifies recurring problems that need some extra attention. 

NPS 

When all’s said and done, the effectiveness of an ITSM can be boiled down to its Net Promoter Score. Like the name suggests, it’s a measure of how many of your users are recommending your services to people they know. It’s not really a measure of how well a specific section in your IT infrastructure is performing; it’s a measure of overall customer satisfaction.  

It’s calculated through a simple survey of the question ‘How satisfied are you with our services on a scale of 1-10’, with the section scoring 9 and 10 being promoters and everyone below a rating of 6 being detractors. You can calculate the NPS by subtracting the percentage of detractors from promoters. The overarching goal of an ITSM is to have a high NPS score, indicating high customer satisfaction.  

Choosing an ITSM 

Now that you have a fairly comprehensive understanding of everything to look out for in an ITSM’s features and its functionality, you can make a much more informed decision. Your choice of framework depends on your specific needs. Each one has its own methods and techniques best-suited for specific use-cases.  

However, the first decision you’re going to need to make is whether you want an ITSM in the first place. It’s a major investment and requires a complete overhaul of your current IT management practices, so make sure to keep the following things in mind:

Cost

Whether it’s through the increase in revenue from a better brand image and more credibility or through reduced operational costs with automation and higher efficiency, an ITSM needs to make sense in the budget for you. Look at the entire life-cycle cost: the initial cost of the software, implementation, hardware installation, maintenance, support, and upgrades. 

Compatibility  

If all IT service management systems were created equal, there would only be one on the market. The reality is that each one is developed with different programming techniques and optimized for specific software and industries. Additionally, you need to ensure your existing IT infrastructure and software are compatible with your choice of ITSM. If they aren’t compatible, the cost of overhauling your entire system may not be worth the investment. Ideally, your tool should also have a single, unified platform to improve teamwork and collaboration. 

Simplicity  

On average, IT service management frameworks demand a higher level of technological literacy in your workforce. However, the truth is that even tech-savvy employees can have trouble shifting to a completely new system. Pick an ITSM framework that’s easy to install and straightforward to use. It needs to have effective self-service portals and an easy-to-access knowledge management system. The point is to make it easier for your employees to do their job and to do it better. An ability to track progress and get instructions instantly gives you a more empowered workforce. 

Industry-specific ITSM roles 

Telecommunications and Media 

Technology and telecom are the most rapidly evolving markets in the world. Not only do they need to adapt to tech advancements, they also need to position themselves to upscale and downscale support operations for maximum efficiency. If your employees aren’t empowered with the right support systems and tools, you can’t operate at maximum capacity. Here’s how you can use ITSMs in the telecom, tech, and media: 

Upgrades: Eventually, you’ll need to transition from outdated systems and replace legacy processes. The modern business needs an end-to-end digital workflow for business continuity.  

Self-service: An ITSM reduces the burden on your employees by making it easy for customers to use self-service portals. If they can solve simple issues, which are often the ones that require the most manpower, then everyone’s happy.  

Visbility and access: If employees need to work on multiple different platforms at the same time, they’ll make more mistakes and get less done. A centralized IT system gives them a comprehensive view of operations that makes their job much smoother. 

Financial Service Institutions (FSI)

When money’s involved, the stakes are automatically higher. FSI’s have very strict and specific requirements because of the regulations they’re under and the nature of their business. 

Regulatory compliance: Depending on the country you’re in, in addition to several international regulations, ITSMs can help you comply with GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI DSS regulations. 

Risk management: Like we said, the stakes are higher, so the appetite for risk is much lower. ITSMs have robot monitoring systems that help identify vulnerabilities in your system and manage risk. You can expect improvements in your data breach management, system failures, and a reduction in downtime. 

Security and disaster recovery: ITSMs have built-in security and access controls along with a standard operational procedure that instantly makes your operations more secure. In case something does go wrong, there’s always a robust disaster recovery plan and backup to protect you from additional damage.

Manufacturing 

The supply chain and modern logistics have an extremely low margin of error. Vendors can’t wait around for delays in delivery or tolerate any issues with reliability. The end consumer has very high expectations, and meeting them requires an extremely well-thought-out, tech-savvy strategy. Your biggest enemy in manufacturing is a disjointed workforce because it makes it very hard to create enterprise-level solutions that maximize operational efficiency. 

Manufacturers need to completely digitize their workflows with an ITSM to increase productivity and customer satisfaction. The aforementioned self-service tools and access to data in real-time all contribute to a much smoother manufacturing line. 

 

With how quickly technology is advancing and the sheer percentage of business processes that now exist online, ITSMs are bound to become an ever larger necessity than they already are. All of the information above should help you develop a sound understanding of ITSM frameworks, their major features, benefits, and specific applications for some industries. Even if you aren’t making shift right now, odds are you’ll need all of this information at some point in the next decade.

Customer Experience

AI Strategy: How Rapid Experimentation Drives Success

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AI is the defining technology of today. In fact, in the constantly evolving technological landscape, few innovations have had quite an impact as artificial intelligence. Similar to how the internet changed our lives two decades ago, artificial intelligence is increasingly transforming the way we work and lead our lives. and with recent advancements in generative AI, the trend has leaped even further!
From diagnosing diseases to reforming industries, there are no limits to AI’s capabilities. Yet, amidst its promise lies a gap in value creation, as many businesses are struggling to harness its full potential. In this article, we delve into the rise of AI, and the crucial need for a comprehensive AI strategy to navigate this rapidly evolving landscape.

What is Artificial Intelligence?

Initially coined in the 1950s, the term artificial intelligence is defined as a machine that can reason, learn, and act independently in different situations. All the AI applications today can be seen as ‘narrow AI’ meaning AI that is programmed to provide solutions for a specific task. This may include playing chess, filtering emails, translating text, and so on.
AI is a broad term that encompasses numerous technologies and areas of study. Machine learning stands as a cornerstone of AI, which is all about using statistics to spot patterns in big sets of data. These patterns help machines predict things accurately. The technical concepts underpinning many machine learning applications have existed for decades. However, only in recent years have we achieved the computational capacity and access to vast amounts of data necessary to fully harness the potential of this form of AI.

The Gap in AI Value Creation

AI helps in accomplishing tasks faster, engaging customers uncovering insights through data and many more. It has been a powerful lever to help accomplish what’s important from developing new revenue streams to creating measurable efficiencies. Consequently, many businesses are increasingly investing in AI technologies to enhance their operations, products, and services, to gain a competitive edge.
While many are resorting to discovering ways to innovate with AI, some recognize it's a unique technology that must be handled carefully. Moreover, there seems to be a major gap in AI-related value creation among companies. While the likes of Amazon and Google have been making huge profits by leveraging AI, other firms have not been able to meet their targets. While the broad transformative potential of AI is known to enterprises, they still struggle to translate its potential into tangible advantages.
A vast majority of enterprises are facing the dilemma of balancing disruption and innovations brought about by modern AI tools with the responsibility and control mandated by business regulations and practices. There may be several reasons for this but most are traced back to the basic issues.
This gap often stems from foundational issues, including a lack of understanding of AI's necessity, its use cases, challenges, and implementation strategies. In essence, there is no comprehensive AI strategy in place to fit specific organizational needs and goals.

Creating a Comprehensive AI Strategy

Successful companies leveraging AI have proactively embraced the technology from its inception, tactically addressing possible challenges linked to its widespread application. Considering the adoption of AI as a journey spanning from proof of concept to its applications in daily operations, businesses generating value out of AI are the ones at later stages of the journey.
Reaching a level of AI maturity necessitates a well-rounded AI strategy with a structured understanding of the dimensions that need to be addressed. This understanding must extend beyond mere discussions of use cases to encompass deeper inquiries into AI ambition, organizational enablers, and execution strategies. More so, it is significant to know how to develop these dimensions systematically.
The path to AI maturity varies for different organizations depending on their current level of maturity and status quo. Yet a clearly defined path will aid in navigating an ever-evolving AI landscape. It is essential to systematically develop these dimensions to ensure successful AI integration and value creation.

Overcoming Uncertainty Through Rapid Experimentation

With enterprises embarking on the route of AI adoption at scale, they may find themselves navigating unmapped territories. With the field in its infancy, many businesses have not yet fully acquired the skills necessary to establish a solid foundation for their AI practices. This uncertain landscape, calls for the adoption of the critical strategy of rapid experimentation to drive growth and innovation.

Fostering Innovation with Multi-Disciplinary Teams

AI applications require placing great importance on diverse experiences and domain expertise, thus departing from traditional methods. Businesses must assemble multi-disciplinary teams comprising individuals proficient in application development, data engineering, and data science. The combination of this expertise allows teams to recognize pitfalls and biases in AI applications and thus translate pioneering technologies into tangible products and practices. By embedding a culture of curiosity among the teams, individuals are encouraged to further for exploration and experiment, consequently leading to forward-thinking solutions.

Establishment of Controlled Experimentation Settings

Establishing controlled experimentation environments is crucial for superintending the iterative process of AI development. To select suitable data and set processes running, collaboration among information security specialists and business users is paramount. Organizations may lay the basis for developing innovative applications by approving a set of initial use cases. Experimentation environments every so often reflecting testing and development environments depend on authentic company data to inform decision-making and drive insights.

Rationalizing Data Provisioning and Application Development

Streamlining AI initiatives requires an internal process for application development and productization. Application owners are empowered by the selection and provision of data within the experimentation platform along with monitoring user behaviour and data flow. Organizations can promptly gather valuable insights and address issues by establishing feedback loops, thereby facilitating continuous optimization and improvement.

Securing Compliance and Storage

Enterprises must ensure secure and compliant storage to guarantee sensitive AI systems and data are protected. The implementation of comprehensive governance tools allows businesses to track, monitor, and manage the complete lifecycle of AI applications. This safeguards against all potential data breaches and unauthorized access.

The Final Verdict

Rapid experimentation is the foundation of AI adoption allowing enterprises to drive innovation and navigate uncertainty. Organizations can use AI to its full potential by the formation of multi-disciplinary teams, creating controlled experimentation settings, streamlining application development, and prioritizing secure storage and compliance.


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