Zero Touch Operations – For 100% Operational Efficiency

When was the last time you got an unplanned half a day off because your user administrator was unavailable to reset your SAP password?

According to Gartner Group, from 20% to 50% of all help desk calls are for password resets. This often causes latency before users can access their accounts and resume work. As employees are tasked with remembering numerous passwords and administrators are unable to securely share them, companies lose money on hundreds of hours of lost productivity.

A study by security firm Yubico has revealed that the time spent resetting passwords costs an average-sized company (with approximately 15,000 employees) an astonishing $5.2 million annually.

Traditionally, execution of these requests requires manual intervention, with an IT professional initiating each step and overseeing the process to completion, often governed by Service Level Agreements (SLA) that dictate the timeframe within which tasks must be completed. However, this manual approach introduces delays. Consider an end-user who needs a service executed, which, according to the SLA, takes an hour. Now, multiply this by hundreds of users waiting for various services. This not only represents a significant cost in terms of productivity loss but also reflects a direct impact on the business’s bottom line.

The Need for a Paradigm Shift:

In a digital age where efficiency and speed are paramount, one must question the necessity of manual execution for tasks that are standardized and well-documented. Why not leverage the capabilities of modern IT Service Management (ITSM) tools and orchestration platforms? By integrating these technologies, businesses can automate the end-to-end execution of SOPs. This approach, known as Zero Touch Operations, eliminates the need for manual intervention, dramatically reducing the execution time from hours to minutes or even seconds.  Automating SOPs not only improves efficiency but also allows IT professionals to focus on strategic initiatives, enhancing service levels and reducing operational delays for improved customer satisfaction and loyalty.

As exasperated users who have spent hours waiting for such routine, we came up with a feature that allows users to automate SOPs including user password lock/ unlock/ reset, transport imports and so on in a self-service mode through their own Service Management Tools integrated with Symphony – a unified hybrid IT orchestration platform.

The feature helps reduce the dependency on the user management team and fast-track requests, increasing the productivity of the organization. With automation of these SOPs, organizations can achieve:

Reduced dependencies:

Symphony automates the process of locking and unlocking user accounts, which eliminates delays for users.

For instance, in a retail environment, such as a supermarket, when a store user is locked out of their account, they must typically wait for the support team to unlock it. This delay can hinder their ability to update stock or receive goods. Symphony resolves these challenges by automating the user lock/unlock process.

Savings in Costs and Time

Symphony reduces the wait time for password resets by automating the process.

The password reset process required users to wait hours or even days for the support team to reset them. This delay was a significant inconvenience. However, with Symphony, users can now submit a request and have their password reset almost immediately.

For instance, if 150 tickets are processed at an average of 5 minutes per ticket, Symphony can save the support team hours of valuable time, allowing them to focus on more strategic and productive activities.

Avoidance of Manual errors:

Symphony simplifies transport export/import tasks for projects, enhancing operational efficiency and averting manual errors.

Symphony enhances deployment processes by streamlining the opening and closing of client accounts. The request raised through a service management tool integrated with Symphony, triggers a template that is executed automatically eliminating the possibility of human errors.

Aversion of risks (User Activation/Creation/Modification)

Symphony handles user onboarding and access requests swiftly and securely. Users submit requests through the service management tool, and Symphony validates and creates the user in the requested system, providing credentials within minutes and shares the new password only with the users averting security vulnerabilities.

Tracking

In the traditional method, when a user raises a request, the Security and Authorization L1 team receives the request and manually provisions access. However, with Symphony, users submit the form in the service management tools. This triggers the template in Symphony, updates the tickets, and sends a mail notification confirming that the request has been accepted and the user administration process completed. Updates are then sent to users through email and the service management tool. Once done, Symphony closes the ticket.

A Tipping Point in User Administration at European Scientific Solutions Organization:

A global scientific solutions organization used to face a monthly influx of 80 to 100 SAP account unlock and password reset requests, which were processed manually. However, due to the high volume of tickets, these activities could not be completed in a timely manner, leading to interruptions in usage. To address this issue, the organization implemented automated SAP account unlock and password reset requests with Symphony.

This implementation resulted in a significant reduction in manual work, saving 75% of user administration efforts. This freed up valuable time that could be redirected towards more value-added tasks.

Symphony’s automation capabilities enhance operational efficiency and improve the overall user experience. By implementing Symphony, organizations can streamline user administration processes, reduce errors, and empower support teams to focus on value-added activities.

Contact us for more information.