Can Time Focused on IT Be Better Spent? Yes … and Very Soon

In my last article, I discussed the important role that IT services can play in saving you time – and how those extra minutes in your day can optimize the productivity of you and your team.

But what about making the best use of your time? Ensuring your time is well spent is just as important and should be a table stakes offering from any IT services provider. Here’s what I mean.

Do you remember the “time well spent” movement that emerged a few years ago, based on the thinking and writing of computer designer and ethicist Tristan Harris? It was born out of his realization that big tech companies were failing to build user-friendly systems and features that gave people time back in their days, rather than requiring more time to monitor networks and decode problems.

His thesis makes perfect sense. If we as IT service providers are helping customers optimize the time they spend on IT, they are better able to get the most from their resources and better focus on business outcomes – rather than primarily putting out the fires that inevitably pop up around them.

Simple in concept, it can be onerous to execute. For decades, IT providers have often – to oversimplify, perhaps – sat by waiting for the phone to ring or email to arrive from anxious customers seeking help on a problem.

Time-consuming for all? Yes. Frustrating? Certainly. Fixable? Absolutely.

Today, we have the tools at our disposal to improve the customer experience in ways that both save time, and make the time spent on monitoring and management much better spent. Whether it’s using AI, machine learning, and data insights to improve IT performance, anticipate problems, or mitigate the risk of outages, these and other advancements have the power to transform our business.

Most importantly, time well spent hinges on what the customer experience is or could be. Not what’s best or easiest for the provider; but what’s best and most desired by the customer. From a “make the most of your time” perspective, it should be based on five key elements, including:

• Personalization. Customers want an experience with a provider that is in tune with their particular needs; one-size-fits-all simply doesn’t work in today’s dynamic, multifaceted, cloud-based environment. By offering a modular suite of services, or service levels, that can be tailored to customers’ needs, you can deliver outcomes that drive business growth.

• Efficiencies. Why search through endless files, emails, and phone messages to find the answer to a probing question. A dashboard-like approach, offering glimpses and access to all critical network or system components, means time spent monitoring and assessing is both limited and optimal.

• Outcomes. It’s not enough to have an alarm sound when something’s amiss. How about anticipating and proactively addressing issues before they arise, or before they become problematic? IT that steers away from the break-fix mindset, and centers on achieving the best outcomes possible, is IT’s Holy Grail … and it’s within our grasp.

• Priorities. Not every firm is a four-alarm blaze. We have the capability to construct digitalized, case prioritization system that focuses an appropriate level of support services on any issue or situation. Aiding in this approach is providing easy access to the right experts and on-demand services.

• Being holistic. Service shouldn’t be categorized into product-based silos. Having an easy, inclusive entry point to the entire IT environment means customers can oversee – or have insights into – every system component, on demand and in real-time.

I could go on … and I will, soon enough.

At HPE, we’re in the midst of an initiative that we believe will truly revolutionize our IT services organization. It’s a wholesale, evolutionary change that I believe customers will embrace and that our own business will benefit from as well.

You’ll hear about it soon – and I ensure you, that will be time well spent.

Visit our site to learn more.  We’re changing the definition of IT operational support.

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About Pradeep Kumar

Pradeep Kumar, Senior Vice President and General Manager, leads HPE Pointnext Technology Services group. In this role, he is responsible for the worldwide services organization of 20,000 IT experts who advise, build and operate IT platforms for our loyal customers. During his 25 years at Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), he has combined his passion for customer experience and service excellence. He inspires continual innovation and operational excellence across his global delivery, portfolio, and supply chain teams.