Service desk automation is essential for IT teams. It can have a meaningful impact on reducing costs and time and better position organizations and employees for success—a priority in an increasingly complex and dynamic technological landscape.
We live in a digital world where most manual, repetitive tasks or standard service requests can be efficiently handled by automated systems. This shift to automation provides a seamless service desk experience and contributes to improving the overall employee experience. This is all while freeing up human talent to focus on more complex, value-added activities.
With 2024 set to be the year of increasing service desk automation, let's dive deeper into what comprehensive automation in helpdesks looks like, why it matters, and what this could mean for your organization.
Automation is ramping up
For many of us, it's budget time, and with it the pressure to do more with less—IT teams are no exception. What does this mean for leadership? IT leaders must look to reduce operational costs where possible and increase team efficiency. This is where a focus on increasing automation can play a role.
For many, this solution is already in their line of sight, as automation (and AI) adoption ramps up among enterprises. 90% of IT leaders indicate that automating IT is a priority and are planning to deploy more this year. In fact, 26% aim to shift to fully autonomous operations within five years.
Automation business benefits
The increase in organizations adopting service desk automation is unsurprising when we consider the benefits. According to Yinuo Geng, Vice President of Technology at Gartner, automation is the opportunity to increase productivity, efficiency, speed, and quality of business processes—invaluable for IT teams, employees, and customers alike. "This also then provides room for businesses to innovate," she says. Daniel Levy, VP Product Marketing, Camunda further explains, "Automation is the critical path to both better customer experiences and streamlined operations."
Endpoint automation increases compliance and reduces the number of issues and incidents. This helps to decrease the daily ticket volume to the service desk. Service desk automation results in higher level one fixes and a shorter time to resolution. The benefits can be seen both financially as costs are cut, and in productivity as it gives time back to users. Gartner indicates that 70% of I&O leaders who automate activities like automating patching and vulnerability remediation, find it to be impactful for the business.
A further business benefit of service desk automation is improved digital employee experience (DEX) and higher eNPS. Being intentional about the device desk relationship and empowering an IT team to provide concierge-style services, will enable service managers to do more with current capabilities.
Automation in your organization
With the business case for service desk automation clear, Gartner's prediction that 70% of organizations will implement infrastructure automation by 2025 seems a reasonable benchmark for IT teams. However, research indicates only 22% of I&O leaders are automating patching and vulnerability remediation currently. So, where can organizations start?
Avi Bhagtani, Chief Marketing Officer of Digitate, suggests that companies ready to begin their automation journey should start small, focusing on impactful projects that address key pain points. Identify repetitive tasks within your existing processes and seek to automate them, using effective technology.
Automation is about supporting, not replacing employees. Leaders must keep their employees front of mind while implementing automation a. Upskilling your people, introducing automation in phases, and creating new roles are some ways to balance any concerns around job loss.
Finally, it's important to remember that automation is a journey, not a destination. "[It] is a continuous process, so monitor your progress, measure results, and adapt your strategy as needed to maximize its value and navigate challenges along the way," Bhagtani advises.
