Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Top Five Ways to Optimize
Your Business Processes
NACR Tech Quarterly - August 2014
Mitch Loomans – Solutions Architect - NACR
Mike Stahl – Director of Strategic Accounts– Starfish Associates
2
• Trends in IT
• Architectural approach
• Optimizing your business processes
• 4 use case examples
• Summary
Discussion Topics for Today’s Session…
3
Become a Champion of Business Process Efficiency
The CEO sets the business strategy…
The business strategy sets the CIO’stechnology strategy…
The CIO’s technology strategy becomes your opportunity!
4
Trends within IT…
• The number of disparate technologies comprising IT departments is growing, but staffing and budgets remain the same
• Increased pressure on IT from tech savvy end users expecting the same level of service and support while complexity increases
• Resolution of issues quickly to reduce down time of critical connections
• Improve managing resources to reduce on-going maintenance and support costs
Today, IT Success is Business Success
IT has evolved into a strategic business asset providing companies with a competitive advantage…
5
Trends within IT…
• Executive pressure to optimize existing investments in IT / Telephony infrastructure
• Use of technology to solve business problems while reducing human errors and the associated unwanted consequences.
• Freeing highly skilled staff from repeatable, mundane, routine tasks
• Increased control & governance – compliance in regulated industries or defining & maintaining standard processes
Today, IT Success is Business Success
IT has evolved into a strategic business asset providing companies with a competitive advantage…
6
Companies have also realized that simply
applying more manual effort to repetitive
processes is a costly and poor use of human
resources and it’s not scalable!
IT automation will serve as the catalyst to
drive efficiency and reduce the cost of
operations through the automation of time-
consuming and resource-intensive processes!
Inconsistent information and user data is
spread across disparate applications.
Self-service options provide consistent,
accurate and automated processes.
7
Architectural Approach
• Automation platform / engine
• Connectors into the Telephony infrastructure
• Connectors into the IT infrastructure
Automation
Platform
“snap’s in”
Admin / End User UI’s
IT
InfrastructureTelephony
Infrastructure
8
Optimizing Business Processes
• Platform & Connectors provide the “glue” between
IT and Telecom
• Un-optimized / manual processes identified
• Customer business logic is defined (not changed)
and layered onto the platform
• Customer defined triggers, “sources of truth” and
applications are identified
9
Synchronizing and consolidating information in real-time or batch from multiple sources including:
• Avaya Communication Manager, System Manager, Aura Messaging and
Modular Messaging & other telephony providers
• Enterprise Directories:− Microsoft Active Directory, LDAP
• Enterprise HR & ERP Databases:− Oracle PeopleSoft, SAP, SunGard Banner (Ellucian)
• Enterprise HR & ERP Databases:
− Oracle PeopleSoft, SAP, SunGard Banner (Ellucian)
Today, IT Success is Business Success
Use Case #1 – Directory challenges
10
Solution maintains an authoritative telecom data store representing up-to-date information about users and their corresponding telecom resources.
The information can be leveraged by many enterprise applications that require reliable and accurate information such as:
- Active Directory
- Microsoft Exchange (Global Address Book)
- Human Resource Databases
- Call Accounting Systems
- Speech Enabled Auto Attendants
Today, IT Success is Business Success
Use Case #1 – Directory benefits
11
Provisioning Solution integrates telecom management with existing business
processes and IT infrastructure to enable automated lifecycle management of :
- phones
- voice mailboxes
- contact center agents
Several implementation & deployment models:
- Active Directory
- Enterprise Databases
- Identity Managers
- Web Services
- IT Service Management (ServiceNow)
Today, IT Success is Business Success
Use Case #2 – Provisioning On-boarding / off-boarding - joiner / leaver
12
Use Case #2 – Provisioning benefitsOn-boarding / off-boarding - joiner / leaver
Reduces Administration Costs
- streamline on-boarding, off-boarding & maintenance of
telecom resources
- routine and time consuming efforts
Enhances Productivity
- Rapid deployment of new users & removal of exiting users
Improves Security
- Less analysts with full access to the system
13
13
Starfish Provisioning Server
Active
Directory
Enterprise Databases Enterprise Directories
Use Case #2 – Provisioning High level topology
14
Use Case #3 – Self-Service
Leverage self-service functionality to provide an intuitive web based portal
enabling end users to perform authorized telecom self-service change
requests.
- Reset phone passwords
- Reset voicemail passwords
- Modify phone settings
Three Common deployment models:
- End users
- Help Desk
- Delegated Administration / branch office
15
• Authenticate using Active Directory (no additional login)
• Authentication identifies functionality. For example, multiple phones, team members etc.
• User Interface is tailored with each deployment. Customer logo, fonts, color schemes
Use Case #3 – Self-Service
16
Use Case #4 – Resource Management
Web based administration tool
Monitoring
- Capacity alerting based on license usage thresholds
- Change configuration alerts on critical objects: VDN, vectors etc.
- Trunk alerts on out of service or high call volumes
Auditing
- Maintain a real-time database of available telephony resources
- Audit and report on usage: login IDs, stations, voice mailboxes etc.
- Maintain historic database of CM configuration changes
17
Conceptual understanding of the platforms core functionality can create
opportunities for custom development.
- Authorization code automation (i.e. Long Distance billing, law firm
client bill back etc.)
- Agent re-skilling – nightly batch update of the agent skills to be set
and ready for the next day operations
- Billing system integration – synchronizing the telephony components
in use with appropriate billing systems, generate exception reports
and usage reporting
Automation Platform – Custom Development
18
1. Start with identifying business processes. A common target is high frequency, mundane, routine, repeatable tasks. NACR’s Partner Ecosystem includes partner who specialize in this automation.
2. Inject an automation platform that seamlessly connects into both the telecom and IT infrastructure (without changing anything).
3. Begin layering use cases onto the platform.
4. Ensure the ability to rapidly adapt processes as business needs / regulations change.
5. Greater insight can be gained by monitoring performance, watching for additional improvement opportunities or expanding the process.
Summary - Top 5 Ways to Optimize Business Processes
19
and
Mike Stahl – Starfish [email protected] or 908-243-2906
Mitch Loomans – [email protected] or 262-228-3021
20
