It may be difficult right now to think about improving IT operations—especially at a time when many CIOs are being asked to cut IT spending. But we are reminded time and time again how smart technology investments can improve productivity. And save money.
These returns are often seen instantly. In a recent CIO Today article, one financial transaction company, CashEdge, is profiled. CashEdge’s help desk was drowning in simple user requests ranging from password resets to user provisioning. Every day, CIO Today says, these 20-30 tickets were equating to three hours of manpower. That’s in addition to the countless hours of lost productivity of the users—who had to wait, on average, half a day before receiving a response.
Faced with rapid growth and strict regulatory compliance rules, senior engineer David Truong needed a safe way to automate simple tasks across multiple servers.
He ultimately found a compliant software solution that provided change management, mobile and client device configuration, delegated administration and resource optimization—all via a Web portal. Amazingly, the provisioning system was up within an hour!
The new system had scripts for many routine activities that used to be completed manually. Employees can now, for example, reset their own passwords and map their own drives without IT help. These features alone reduced password resets from three hours a day to less than 30 minutes. Best of all, users don’t have to wait hours for the IT desk to complete these tasks. That’s a serious—and measurable—return on investment.
During this time of economic uncertainty, it’s more important than ever to spend money wisely on IT projects. In a new release by Gartner, the research group says IT leaders must make better investments in areas that can show value. Further, Gartner says do it now. “IT can and should lead,” the report says. “IT organizations…shouldn’t wait for tomorrow, they should seize the day.”
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