It’s critical for IT teams to focus on the end user experience more than ever before. With technology rapidly changing so are the digital experiences.
As the dependence on technology increases, the need for good end user services follows. In fact, it was found that:
- 92% of employees say that having the right technology impacts their job performance, productivity, and satisfaction (Insight, 2018).
- Only 30% of workers believe that they have the right technology to do their jobs effectively.
- 62% of organizations list IT challenges as a major barrier to providing the best user and customer experience.
- Only 19% of North American companies consider their technology level as advanced (Advanced2000)
Several approaches can be taken to create a cohesive, end-to-end IT solution that fosters solid end user technology within an organization. Here are 5 tactics to easily improve your end user’s experience.
1. Establish a Dedicated IT Team
Technology is only as good as the people who are hired to oversee it. All too often, organizations do not devote enough time, attention or money on a comprehensive IT solution – including adequate staffing.
This is an issue because not only do IT personnel handle the day-to-day management within an organization, but they also serve as the first line of defense when technical issues arise, such as network outages and ransomware attacks.
If an organization does not have a team that can competently address these dilemmas, it could be detrimental to end user productivity, and consequently, the profitability of the company.
To ensure an effective IT team is in place, it is a good idea to staff it accordingly by skill set. This typically requires a combination of support types, from Tier 1 support, which resolves routine issues, to Tier 3 support, the highest level of technical skill within an organization.
- Tier 1 Personnel: staff that can solve basic support questions but have limited technical experience and knowledge.
- Tier 2 Personnel: staff that has deeper knowledge and experience. They typically have certifications and can solve complex issues.
- Tier 3 Personnel: staff that are highly skilled and have years of experience. They will resolve a technical problem and find how/why that issue occurred and prevent further issues from arising.
Structuring your team this way will alleviate pressure on your top talent and allow them to focus on more strategic initiatives and high-level issues.
2. Keep Technology Updated
It’s no secret that obsolete technologies are not conducive to a seamless end user experience. When organizations are operating on outdated platforms, it’s common for employees to spend their time troubleshooting and trying to resolve technical issues which will ultimately impact that employee’s performance.
A proactive approach to technology upgrades keeps the budget in check, and eliminates compatibility issues and downtime for end users.
When you keep assets and infrastructure up to date, like web applications, it lessens employee frustration and wasted resources.
Interested in learning more? Check out these blogs:
What are the different tiers of IT Support?
How to manage your helpdesk
Top 13 Help Desk Best Practices
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3. Give End Users Tools for Success
It’s crucial to deliver users the necessary technology and resources they need to be productive.
It is worth noting that the way employees work has experienced a shift – in fact, a poll conducted by Gallup showed 43% of the US workforce worked remotely.
Because we are in the digital era, it is becoming increasingly common for employees to desire a connected work environment with instantaneous access to resources, information, and user support.
It’s best practice to implement an IT strategy that provides its end users with these capabilities and support services.
By using performance monitoring, you can identify the triggers that lead to poor end user experiences. It will provide a road map to a well-rounded technology solution for your employees, allowing you to retain top talent.
4. Prepare for Speed Bumps
Things will go wrong with your IT – it’s only a waiting game. Network connectivity issues, system outages, security threats, and much more can happen any day to anyone regardless of the technology and procedures in place.
A critical component of any IT solution is real-time user monitoring of the entire system. This will provide a deep dive into issue detection and will help system administrators to deploy a quicker incident response plan.
Real-time user monitoring creates a KPI that measures performance metrics and employee experiences. Once you’re able to identify performance issues, you can better understand how to fix them and put a solution in place.
A report by IBM found that the average time to identify a data breach in 2019 was 206 days and the time to contain a breach was 73 days. With proactive system monitoring, you can drastically reduce these metrics for your organization.
5. Look to Outsourcing
If your organization needs assistance with one or more of these items, it might be time to consider a managed services provider (MSP). An MSP can do as much – or as little – as you want relating to your IT solution, including full system monitoring and management, automated services for common tasks, and a dedicated service desk, to name a few.
An MSP can ensure that your IT team is devoted to organizational growth and not solving day-to-day issues and/or complex technical problems. In fact, a 2018 survey found that of organizations who used an MSP (Statistica, 2018):
- 46% were provided access to skills not available in-house
- 36% saw cost savings for their organization
- 35% said it freed up resources to focus on core business
Most importantly, an MSP can provide insight on how you can conduct digital experience monitoring and help you learn how users interact with your IT systems and improve performance management altogether.
Final Thoughts
Regardless of the route you take, it is becoming increasingly important for organizations to invest in processes and infrastructure that offer robust end user services and provide a seamless user experience. When end users have the tools, technology, and support to operate at a high level of autonomy and efficiency, everyone benefits.
