Ivanti Blog: Posts by

How to Start a Knowledge Base: Simple Yet Surefire Approach

Tue, 13 Jun 2023 18:36:14 Z

Early in my career, I made the jump from defense contractor to customer support agent for an up-and-coming IT Service Management solution provider. Being new to the team and industry, I felt completely out of place. After the initial product training, I was pointed to a lab computer and told to start diagnosing a set of customer issues. I felt completely lost.

Over time, with significant amounts of studying and leaning on my peers, I figured things out and eventually became one of the go-to analysts. The challenge with this method was that this vast empirical knowledge was locked in each analyst’s brain. When we lost an employee, we also lost their extensive expertise. Eventually, a knowledge base initiative was started.

Why investing time and effort in a knowledge base setup is a good idea

While there are some obvious reasons to have a knowledge base, like:

Speeding up the resolution time of customer issues.
Maintaining employee productivity and satisfaction at work.
Increasing analyst time-to-effectiveness.
Delivering consistent solutions.

There are a few not-so-obvious reasons to maintain it, such as:

Eliminating tribal knowledge

This is knowledge that's held privately by individuals with the intention of increasing their value, yet makes the organisation vulnerable.

Improving the perception of your organisation and products

Providing responsive, accurate resolutions can eventually lead to product satisfaction and customer retention.

Reducing IT support costs

If the knowledge base is tailored properly and made available to self-service users, whether through a web portal or a virtual assistant (chat bot), then issues may be resolved, without even requiring a call to the service deck.

This is sometimes called Level 0 support. Also, with analysts closing issues faster, their productivity increases, often eliminating the need for added headcount.

Where to start with setting up a knowledge base

Most modern service management solutions include an integrated, yet unpopulated, knowledge base repository that's ready to receive your valued input.

Even though there are many great knowledge base vendors out there, they may not be able to integrate with your service management environment. Also, while not a knowledge base solution, SharePoint offers a knowledge template that can get you started.

In addition to standalone knowledge base solutions, you may wish to consider populating your knowledge databases with packaged knowledge. These knowledge packs, offered by various companies, focus on topics like Windows, Office 365, Adobe, macOS and others. These concentrated, ready-to-use knowledge packs are highly valuable, assisting young IT support organisations with helping customers and quickly resolving issues.

While many organisations can utilise pre-packaged knowledge, most organisations also support unique solutions that require specialised knowledge. For an established organisation, that's been providing support for quite some time, they'll already have valuable information in the form of past support tickets that can be quickly put into a knowledge base.

If the organisation is new or a new solution has recently been released, engineering teams will be heavily relied on for initial support knowledge.

Nearly all modern IT Service Management solutions will have the functionality to initiate new knowledge articles directly from resolved and closed incidents. For example, Ivanti Neurons for Service Management has an action link ‘button’ that seamlessly moves key incident data into a new knowledge base template.

It also includes workflows to vet, test and refine articles before publishing. The challenge is that ticket resolution data is often not written in a repeatable step-by-step, easy-to-understand format.

Motivating busy support teams to convert and document past incidents into decent articles and to store undocumented data in a searchable repository is the challenge.

How to motivate your teams

The organisation mentioned at the beginning of this blog had a wonderfully effective method of extracting information from analysts’ brains. It used the carrot and stick approach.

First, the stick. As part of everyone’s yearly goals, each support analyst was required to produce a set number of original knowledge articles per month. The target was typically 5–10 per month, which wasn't unreasonable based on our call volume. Not achieving the target number impacted one’s annual review. To ensure superior quality articles were being submitted, articles were first reviewed for duplication.

Next, articles were reviewed for accuracy by distributing them to other team members for technical review. Lastly, they received a final review before being made available to the targeted audience, whether it be analysts only or both analysts and customers.

Next, the carrot. Articles were tracked for usage and analysts were rewarded by the number of times an article was used to successfully resolve an issue. A decent IT service management solution with an integrated knowledge base should support this level of reporting.

Based on monthly usage, analysts whose articles were used the most during the month to resolve incidents received a substantial prize at the end of the year – some gifts were worth several thousand dollars.

Throughout the year, campaigns were created to motivate and remind the teams of the requirements and the rewards. The result was the creation of a sizeable, growing and highly valuable repository of product-specific articles in a brief period.

However you go about motivating your teams to create knowledge content, it'll take a concerted effort and constant reinforcement. The rewards for your efforts will be worth it.

If you’d like to experience all the benefits a modern service management provider can offer, watch the full demo.

Take Care of Your Team: Improve Your DEX to Combat Digital Burnouts and Work-Related Stress

Thu, 08 Dec 2022 20:00:03 Z

The rapid digitalisation of work environments means employees are obliged to work faster and better. Achieving this means businesses are dependent on having happy, healthy, productive teams.

With 69% of global knowledge workers now working remotely, it appears hybrid working is working. A recent survey of over 10,000 employees by Ivanti shows that 42% have a better work-life balance and 33% are more productive.

Having the right IT tools is essential for employees to work effectively in a digital environment. According to the Ivanti survey, 65% of employees and 71% of IT professionals said that they could be more productive if they had different tools.

It is the responsibility of the organisation to ensure employees have the right equipment, training and support to be able to do their jobs.

When organisations deliver a positive digital employee experience (DEX), business outcomes are met. The survey found that good DEX improves employee satisfaction, increases productivity – on average job satisfaction boosts productivity by 31% – creates better collaboration and improves employee well-being.

The dark side of a negative DEX

However, when DEX is negative, productivity, morale and retention suffer. Nearly half (49%) of the workers surveyed by Ivanti consider the digital tools and environment provided by their organization frustrating. And, even more alarming, a quarter consider a lack of suitable tech to be a contributing reason for quitting their jobs.

Additionally, the omnipresence of devices and uninterrupted access to the Internet often make it difficult for employees to switch off. This has led to an increase in digital burnout.

Digital burnout occurs due to spending large amounts of time on digital devices. The demand to be permanently online is associated with high levels of tension, perceived expectations and discomfort – all of which can lead to work-related stress.

Evidence suggests that individuals experience stress when they find themselves unable to accomplish what is expected of them using technologies within a particular environmental context. In fact, the definition of work-related stress is “the imbalance between external demands and individuals’ capabilities and resources (tools) to meet those demands.”

According to the Health and Safety Executive website, work-related stress is a huge cost for organizations, causing the loss of over 15 million days of work, and costing UK organisations over £5 billion annually.

This is not just a UK phenomenon. The American Institute of Stress reports 83% of US workers suffer from work-related stress, which is a contributing factor to mental health conditions like depression and anxiety. Research in 2020/21 by the Health and Safety Executive found that work-related stress, depression or anxiety accounted for 50% of all work-related ill health.

Why organisations need to act on improving DEX

These facts highlight that it’s in the organisations’ best interests to protect their employees from work-related stress, not only for financial reasons, but morally and legally too.

The good news is, by taking the right steps to support employees and provide the right tools, organisations can significantly reduce the risks of work-related stress and digital burnout. It is vital for organisations to understand the factors that are affecting digital well-being and the steps that can be taken to maximize the well-being of remote employees.

It is important for organizations to realize that employee well-being and DEX are not mutually exclusive. Every time an employee uses tech, that is DEX in action, and whether that experience is positive or negative influences the employee’s well-being. Initiatives that improve DEX will help prevent stress, digital burnout and increase staff retention.

“Technostress,” defined by Craig Brod as “ineffective coping with technology that results in distress,” can increase as complex technologies are integrated. Research shows that technostress affects job satisfaction, organizational commitment and employee outcomes such as absenteeism and staff turnover.

How to deter digital burnouts

However, digital burnout is decreased by interventions that optimise technology, reduce documentation and task time and improve processes to enhance workflows. This means with proper use, adequate training and peer-to-peer support, work-related technostress can be reduced.

Organisations should aim to be proactive, instead of reactive, when preventing work-related stress and digital burnout. This largely relies upon supporting employees to be the best they can be, by providing them with the necessary tools.

With poor DEX cited as one of the main causes of resignation, organisations need to take a good, honest look at their DEX, to see where improvements can be made. Senior leaders must act now to ensure employee well-being and the digital employee experience are being prioritised.

How do you get started on the road to a great DEX? Check out our eBook to learn more.

How the Digital Employee Experience is Redefining the Modern Workplace

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 13:15:12 Z

The rise of digital platforms has radically transformed the way we work, opening challenges and opportunities alike. Today, thanks in part to technological innovation and the expectations that come with it, only 13% of employees are happy to work exclusively in the office.

Despite this, many employees don’t want to work entirely from home due to fears of social isolation and difficulties maintaining a healthy work/life balance.

Enter the age of hybrid work, where forward-thinking businesses seek to give employees the flexibility they need to be their best. While that’s an admirable goal, it’s not without significant challenges in service availability and information security. Deploying the wrong technology can slow people down and fail to meet evolving employee expectations.

More than ever, employees are deciding where they work and stay based on the technology they use to perform their roles efficiently. In this blog, we reflect on a recent customer discussion panel to explore some key takeaways from our clients and their journeys to facilitate a modern digital employee experience.

Delivering consistent professional services

One of the biggest challenges organisations have faced in two years of pandemic-induced lockdowns is delivering consistent professional services. The education sector was one of the most vivid examples shared by one panellists - a leader at an academic institution. Our client spoke of how student and employee expectations have evolved in the past two years.

During the first year of the pandemic, people were generally more forgiving and understanding of the inevitable disruptions. However, as soon as we started returning to the office, expectations had increased, with demands of a smooth transition into hybrid work environments.

Hybrid work introduces the unique challenge of delivering consistent services, no matter where people work or which devices they use. This inevitably requires a cultural change, enabled and empowered by seamless technology solutions. When lockdowns were first introduced, people quickly created their own working environments using their own devices in their homes.

Now, returning to the office, whether part-time or full-time, many find outdated and inflexible technology detrimental to the employee experience. According to the panel’s moderator, one of the primary challenges in facilitating the Everywhere Workplace is allowing for adaptability and flexibility when everyone has a different experience.

Creating secure hybrid work experiences

The panellists agreed the pandemic handed over much of the power to employees, who now almost invariably expect more flexible work arrangements. Many businesses have responded to this challenge by broadening their BYOD policies.

However, this also introduces new concerns regarding IT security, asset visibility, and service delivery. Organisations have been striving to mobilise by increasing their investment in cloud resources and, sometimes, issuing hardware so they can retain control over company policies about information security.

More than ever, companies must strike a balance that involves making the right IT investments to encourage people to return to the office while empowering hybrid workforces. They need to do so without adding operational risk.

Thus, security is a significant focus, with promising solutions including multifactor authentication and secure virtual desktop infrastructures (VDIs) that operate in complete logical isolation from employee-owned devices.

BYOD has been described as the ‘Wild West’ of information security. While it’s an open environment, as intended, it also needs to be secure. Without visibility into the assets themselves, and the delivery of critical services, optimising and securing such an environment is impossible. Policy alone can only go so far.

At the same time, organisations need to reduce their technical footprints by keeping the number of workplace apps as low as reasonably possible to ease attack surfaces and maintain high productivity.

Addressing employee concerns with enhanced support

When leveraging technology to facilitate hybrid work, it’s essential to implement solutions that address employee concerns, not just business ones. Leaders need to look at how they deliver their services and provide the technical support necessary to ease stress and improve employee retention.

For example, no employee wants to have to wait for a whole day for a forgotten password to be reset so they can get on with their jobs. Because of this, a self-service helpdesk, which offers a consistent experience both in the office and remotely, has become a must-have.

At the same time, the higher degree of automation that comes with using self-service chatbots to assist in routine issues can significantly reduce the workload on IT support teams.

Real-time data-driven insights into performance and availability are essential for speeding up resolution times and enabling the continuous improvement of service delivery. That’s one of the keyways businesses retain employees in the Everywhere Workplace.

To give an example from one of our panellists, by implementing a means to obtain real-time insights from wireless network usage across campus, they were better equipped to deliver support services based on where and how end users consume those services.

Of course, supporting employees isn’t just about technical support but also about preserving corporate culture and collaboration when people can work from anywhere. One of our clients also implemented a simple but highly effective change as an availability tool that allows employees to see who’s in the office and who’s working from home.

The unavoidable future of employee experience

This shift in corporate culture is permanent. The digital employee experience is now the new employee experience and depends on an individualised approach. Sweeping policies aren’t going to work, hence the need for real-time insights into how each employee works. After all, some of us work better from home, while others are more productive and happier in the office.

Thus, it’s important to trust your team and give them the tools they need to work effectively. As for governance, it’s less about what you allow and don’t allow and more about the focussed commissioning of assets and services based on individual roles.

Still curious? Read more about this topic on our blog.

Prioritising IT and Workplace Culture in the New Frontier of Working

Thu, 08 Sep 2022 17:04:48 Z

The hybrid workforce has been shaking up the business status quo over the past couple of years, especially when it comes to the tools we use for work.

Increasing user-centricity and capabilities of yet another tech update of our smartphones, tablets and personal laptops, combined with increased use of personal devices for work, have significantly impacted expectations employees have from their work environments.

Naturally, customer expectations have changed as well – as our customers have been served differently in the past couple of years businesses need to think twice before reverting to the pre-pandemic customer engagement methods.

According to the results from our Digital Employee Experience research, 74% of employees claim to be more productive now than before the pandemic and only 13% prefer working exclusively in the office.

Yet, 56% of C-level think employees need to be in the office to be productive.

As the pandemic begins to settle and upper management feels inclined to bring employees back to the office, it’s important to rethink the workforce’s new expectations from their work environments.

The modern business landscape requires a fundamental change, specifically in strengthening their IT operations and security, improving workplace culture and designing work environments that allow for flexibility and adaptability across their hybrid teams.

A personalised work experience and a shift in culture

As organisations continue to expand hybrid work environments, it’s not just enough to try and recreate face-to-face interactions. We must deploy a digital-first mindset when developing these workspaces and drive stronger focus on workplace culture.

After all, the popularity of the Everywhere Workplace comes from its hyper-personalisation.

From working off devices they feel comfortable with, taking a call from the garden on a sunny day to adjusting their desk however they see fit - this level of customisation has offered employees individual environments to reach new productivity levels.

Takeaways from our Everywhere Roadshow

These unique working environments are almost impossible to replicate on-site, which is why adaptability and flexibility are a must to drive positive employee experiences. During our recent Ivanti Everywhere Roadshow in London, our discussion panel honed onto the employee and customer experience in higher education.

One of the areas that was pointed out was how the tolerance of employees and students has changed significantly. Several years ago, if you received a laptop that wasn’t working up to your standards, you may receive a new device with the same problems or you just had to go along with what you had.

But today, people are deciding where they want to work based on the technology they use – people don’t want to work for a company or attend a school where technology is a hindrance rather than an advantage.

In case of the higher education, for example, universities had to improvise when it came to delivering services to their students, but now they need to change how they design and develop the service and the curriculum from the get-go to meet these new expectations.

These shifts, however, also require a change in workplace culture. With only 25% of CXOs viewing workplace culture as their top internal priority and only 20% assigning budgets to improve it, it’s critical that the conversation makes its way back to the boardroom.

Shifting to an Everywhere Workplace is not just about technological changes – shifts in workplace culture are just as important in the process.

Even though business leadership is in charge of driving cultural changes, it’s IT that owns the information and technology in the organisation. Therefore, a constant collaboration with IT is key to integrating people, processes and technology.

Prioritising IT teams

The shift to hybrid and remote work has increased the workload of IT teams. They are no longer an afterthought, rather a key contributor in how businesses can function in the Everywhere Workplace.

Making sure they have the right resources, tools and prioritisation is paramount in shifting workplace culture.

The increasing volume and complexity of devices used and distributed across hybrid teams has significantly impacted IT estate visibility and security, putting a greater emphasis on employee interaction with their devices and IT support.

Our recent research shows frustrations with technology have been a key contributor to dissatisfaction among employees:

50% of responders have considered quitting their job partly due to the technology applications and tools currently available to them.
49% find the tools and technology provided by their organisation frustrating
Over two-thirds of employees believe they would be more productive with better technology at their disposal.
Over two-thirds of knowledge workers have spent their own money on technology to get their work done.
41% of knowledge workers claim they have a harder time getting support for tech issues.

This growing demand for support means IT teams are at the forefront of innovation in the workplace. A change in IT services is an essential part needed to improve productivity and employee experience in this new frontier of the Everywhere Workplace.

Explore more of our survey findings in the research report!

Coming to a Kitchen near you - Ivanti Solutions Showcase

Tue, 03 Nov 2020 08:00:01 Z

With face to face events taking a back seat for the remainder of 2020, and what feels like an eternity ago where we were all strolling around conference centres, scooping up the free swag, fighting our way through the masses of people, walking the corridors with endless grey carpet and overpriced coffee, eventually finding our way to one of many theatres where, if we were lucky, take a seat and listen to the keynote speaker of the day – we are now forced to live in the world of virtual reality!

Constantly faced with vendors trying to pitch their products, each one sure that they are the best and exactly what we are looking for, but in reality, all we want is just another free pen!

Yes, 2020 has been a challenge for sure, throwing a curve ball or two along the way. But guess what! The sun still shines, the flowers still grow and tomorrow is another day. We’ve adjusted, we’ve had to make sacrifices, changes at home and the way we work, including the way we interact with one-another.

And so came the explosion of Virtual of events, the re-birth of the Webcam and the confusion of ‘where is my mute button?!’

Here at Ivanti we are no different, we held our very first virtual event at the beginning of Summer and it was a roaring success, so much so, we have decided to hold another in November – This time we are going bigger and better, as the saying goes, ‘Go Big or Go Home!’ Well we are certainly going big and we would love for you to be a part of this, the agenda is huge, the content is great, and we can’t wait to bring you Ivanti Solutions Showcase.

When?: 24th November 2020

Time?: 09:30 GMT

I want to join: Great, click here

‘But why do I want to join another virtual event?’ I hear you say. Well, we’ll be sharing our new strategy, our updated roadmap and we will be covering some of the challenges we’re all facing in this new world.

When Remote Work – Simply Works
Guessing Is Not a Viable Strategy - How to Get All the Contextual IT Insights at Your Fingertips Self-Heal and Self-Service from Cloud to Edge

Our event will bring you insight and affirmation that Ivanti continues to deliver solutions that help you and your organisation, even within this new normal.

We can’t wait to see you there “virtually speaking”.

Adapting Your Cybersecurity Habits With Ivanti Neurons

Wed, 12 Aug 2020 20:46:29 Z

Tuesday morning you roll out of bed, turn off your alarm, tiptoe down the stairs, retrieve your paper, flip the hallway lights on, feed the dog, and start making coffee—in five minutes. Performing this series of early-morning tasks is called chunking. Certain neurons in the brain “bookend” the habit for you, signaling the routine has started (the alarm) and ended (coffee). This chunking helps you perform habits each day almost unconsciously, giving your brain more time to learn and potentially create new habits.

Survey Says: Adapt

Have you formed any new habits recently to help your security program advance?

A recent Ivanti remote work survey cited 66% of IT professionals experienced a rise in security issues this year since the workforce became mostly remote. In another study, more than half of IoT devices were found vulnerable to either medium- or severe-rated attacks. And earlier this year, a hacker published a list of credentials for more than 500,000 home routers, servers, and IoT devices. What is clear: threat actors have adapted to the recent climate and are pursuing your unsecured endpoints, old routers, and unencrypted VPNs. You must adapt as well.

Forming New Habits: Self-Secure

Intelligent organizations understand security should not be a reactive pursuit, but an adaptive, ever-changing function. You cannot predict every cybersecurity attack, but you can prepare. Enterprises should adapt to respond to threats they face as well as anticipate future ones. One way to prepare is to follow the CIS Critical Security Controls best practices. The top five controls are the most important:

inventory and control your hardware assets
inventory and control your software assets
apply continuous vulnerability management practices
control the use of administrative privileges
implement and manage the security configurations of your devices

The other smart thing to do is respond sooner. Most threat actors exploit vulnerabilities within a median of 22 days and most exploits have a seven-year shelf life according to a research study from RAND. The longer you take to patch, the more vulnerable you become.

In order to adapt, take steps to also become self-secure. At Ivanti we help our customers adapt into a self-securing stance to better understand threats. We break down our self-securing offering into three parts: sensing, prioritization, and remediation.

Sensing what’s in your environment includes discovering and detecting items such as software and devices. This stage analyzes vulnerabilities, and continuously monitors for change.
Prioritization involves seeing what is actively being exploited and responding to risk in the right order. Algorithms using predictive methodologies help anticipate changes and give guidance on the best strategies to resolve challenges.
Remediation determines what actions will fix the problem based on prioritized risk. Assessment of threats need to adapt to environments and circumstances. The more automated responses become, the easier it is to combat threat actors.

For more information on these steps, Ivanti’s patch management expert Chris Goettl reviews these steps in more detail.

Applying Security Habits

Our self-secure adaptive design is part of Ivanti’s overall hyper-automation platform, Ivanti Neurons. Security plays a role throughout each component of this offering:

Ivanti Neurons for Discovery finds and inventories all IT assets in real time to improve clients’ security posture.
Ivanti Neurons for Edge Intelligence helps with endpoint encryption and device queries to obtain real-time operational awareness.
Ivanti Neurons for Healing detects if endpoints and edge devices have potential security vulnerabilities so they can be remediated automatically.

Here’s an example of security in action from one of our manufacturing customers of Ivanti Neurons for Healing. This customer had challenges receiving laptops back from former employees. In one case a former employee was 3,000 miles away. Typically, 30% of assets are “ghost” assets that are lost or unaccounted for. These types of “ghost assets” cause data and security risks. The Ivanti team helped our customer disable the accounts in question by locking laptops and rebooting the machines remotely. Within hours, our customer received notifications indicating laptops were shipping back to corporate. As a result, Ivanti improved the customer’s overall security posture.

Conclusion

Cybersecurity threats will remain challenging as remote working extends and data from endpoints and edge devices grows. Ivanti can help you adapt your habits into a self-securing stance. For assistance, request your free Ivanti Neurons trial.

Plug the gaps with fast onboarding of supply chain staff and processes

Mon, 10 Aug 2020 10:22:30 Z

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced a dramatic shift in the way all industries work, including warehouses within the supply chain. With each minute wasted equating to a loss of revenue that many companies simply can’t afford in the current climate, productivity must be optimised. On top of this, businesses are mitigating the possibilities of staff becoming unwell and having to find last minute replacements – while facing increased demand as online shopping continues to peak. Therefore, the need for fast onboarding of new or temporary warehouse workers and processes has never been greater. Training new starters can take hours or even days, which is no longer a viable option for many businesses.

The foundation of a warehouse environment is its handheld mobile devices, such as barcode scanners. When combined with visually intuitive mobile applications and an optimised order management system (OMS), these devices are employees’ bread and butter. When implemented effectively, these systems and technologies enable retailers to fulfil orders quickly and correctly, each and every time. For example, by utilising the interaction of connected mobile devices with an OMS, retailers can ensure that products are scanned and recorded at multiple touchpoints while in transit from the warehouse to the customer. By providing enhanced visibility, this enables retailers to spot and resolve any issues (such as a wrong item being shipped or a missed order) before it escalates. Most importantly, connecting all supply chain processes with an OMS equips retailers with reliable and up-to-date stock levels for their websites, and so stops customers purchasing items that aren’t available. However, these devices require a certain amount of training, that can prove a barrier to fast and simple onboarding.

Software success

Fortunately, logistics and supply chain companies can take steps to optimise their devices to maximise user experience and minimise training time. With Ivanti Velocity, businesses can migrate away from ruggedized Windows operating systems to a modern, touchscreen Android user experience. Not only will this move make existing workers more productive, but it will enhance onboarding as these devices better emulate the consumer mobile phones and tablets that new joiners will already be used to. Supply chain businesses can also use Ivanti Velocity to personalise the display of their handheld devices so pickers only have access to those buttons they need to do their jobs, removing options that aren’t applicable and minimising confusion. This also includes reformatting the device to accelerate task-screen navigation and enable the workforce to enter data more quickly and accurately, such as by automatically opening the numerical keyboard when it’s required to enter a password or quantity to avoid delays in picking.

Easier said than done

Businesses can further upgrade their productivity with voice-enabled picking technology, such as Ivanti Speakeasy. Voice picking technology can be a hugely valuable tool as pickers can work hands free, meaning they don’t need to constantly stop to consult their devices and errors are minimised – they are simply told how many of which items to pick, and alerted if they make an error. What’s more, there is no need to train Ivanti Speakeasy to recognise unique accents or dialects – users can simply pick up their existing device and get to work with minimal onboarding time. Dorman Products, a supplier of automotive replacement parts, was able to reduce training time from several hours to only 15 minutes with the introduction of Ivanti Speakeasy.

The supply chain industry is set to face a challenging time during the rest of this year and beyond. As consumer confidence increases and consumers return to work, they will have more disposable income and demand will increase. Supply chain businesses must therefore be prepared to onboard new employees quickly and efficiency, and have the tools in place for these employees to be as productive as possible from day one.

Find out more about Ivanti Velocity and Ivanti Speakeasy.

Ivanti Neurons for Edge Intelligence for Our Fast-Changing Future

Thu, 06 Aug 2020 22:00:04 Z

The demands on enterprise IT are set to grow exponentially.

The Edge Comes into View

Edges. Many times, they represent an unknown—like the edge of space or a horizon for sea captains and pilots. And they give us mixed feelings—fear, anxiousness, direction, a sense of adventure. Most often, they represent a future state or location we are moving towards.

For IT there is a new edge. The Edge of computing. The place where things and people are connecting with our networked digital world. Devices of all kinds, the next generation of workers, automated bot assistants! And as IT professionals, that future place or state is rapidly coming into view. It’s predicted that 41.6 billion connected devices, or “things,” will be generating 79.4 zettabytes (ZB) of data by 2025 .

This rapid growth creates IT complexities in the forms of ongoing management and integration challenges, which not only affect devices but IT staff and end-user experiences. You might be asking how your IT team will adapt. What could you do if you were connected at the Edge?

Life on the Edge

Ivanti’s solution to these questions? One way is to help organizations mature from basic automation to a fusion of hyper-automation and deep learning capabilities. With this, organizations can self-heal and self-secure devices, and self-service end-users proactively, predictably, and continuously.

Ivanti Neurons for Edge Intelligence leverages our hyper-automation platform approach, making it easy for today’s IT Analyst to query all devices, in seconds, to get real-time insights, connecting them with users and devices from cloud to edge. And smart dashboards provide quick operational awareness to provide real-time insights that can lead to immediate action.

A Case for Edge Intelligence

Consider the following example. If company employees were experiencing excessive logon times to their devices, which hurts productivity, how would you know unless they submitted a ticket? Would you be able to determine whether this is an isolated event, or a larger systematic issue without a surge in help desk requests? With Edge Intelligence, you’d receive logon-time breakdowns across all on-prem, cloud, and edge devices. You’d see if the incident was singular or happening company-wide and be able to take the proper actions quickly to remediate.

In this actual enterprise example, the cause of excessive logon times was identified as single-threaded logon scripts and many Group Policies being used for desktop configuration. Quickly identifying and fixing the issue improved logon times to just seconds instead of minutes.

Wrapping Up

As it seems with emerging technologies, we’ve heard a lot about the future of the Edge over the years. Well, the Edge is now in sight.

Organizations can benefit greatly from Edge Intelligence and the power of hyper-automation. Accurately and quickly identifying the issues and moving to swift remediation reduces costs and improves IT teams and end-user experiences. In short, it’s a competitive advantage by limiting loss of productivity within your organization.

I asked myself the other day—do I have any IoT Edge devices at home? I had never given much thought to it, and I surprised myself by identifying four such devices, which was 25% of all my connected devices in my home. All connected to the same network I connect to every day while working from home. The growth is real.

Next Steps

Learn more and see Ivanti Neurons for Edge Intelligence in action here.

3 Impacts of Remote Work on IT

Mon, 29 Jun 2020 15:44:26 Z

With the global Covid-19 pandemic, almost overnight traditional offices had to close meaning kitchen tables became desks and bedrooms became conference rooms and face to face meetings turned into video conferences. For this to be possible, IT had to make it all work. While remote working has been encouraged and adopted by some businesses giving its employees a better work life balance, many other companies had to suddenly adjust to all employees working at home.

In our latest survey of over 1,600 IT professionals we found that 93% of respondents reported an increase in remote work in their business – not surprising really, given the current situation with a lot of staff having to become fully remote workers.

We wanted to understand how this increase in remote working has affected the IT teams, and share some of this useful information with you – you are not alone!

Here are 3 major impacts of the transition to remote work:

1: 37% Increase in overall workload

To cope with the shift to remote work, IT professionals had to do the following;

70% provided VPN access to more employees than ever before
54% sourced, set up and distributed extra devices
53% created more “how to” knowledge articles for employee and customer support

2. 66% Reported an increase in security issues

Security issues are rising in a remote environment. The top issues include:

58% saw an increase in malicious emails received
45% saw an increase in non-compliant, risky employee behaviour
31% saw an increase in software vulnerabilities

3. 39% Increase in Incidents and Requests

Of this increase, the top incidents and requests submitted include:

79% - VPN Issues
56% Video conferencing
48% Bandwidth constraints
47% Password resets
47% Messaging issues
45% File and data access problems

Whether you are itching to get back in the office, or love working near your family, pets and fridge, we expect a flexible work, a blend of both home working and remote working in the future. Many people job searching will be looking at remote working as an option when finding their next role.

Read the survey report to learn more about the impact of an expanded remote workforce and how you can be an IT hero to manage and protect your IT infrastructure and support your end-users as we head into the new future of work.

READ THE SURVEY REPORT

Ivanti partners with University of Sharjah to transform IT Services

Wed, 24 Jun 2020 17:43:20 Z

University of Sharjah is using Ivanti Service Manager to transform IT services. The team at Sharjah University have been telling us about the positive impact this solution has had in terms of enhancing the IT services it provides for faculty, students and staff.

Omar Harara, Service Desk Manager said that in the last 18 months the University of Sharjah began implementing an overhaul of service management in their IT department. “The first decision we took was to re-establish the Service Desk. We did previously had a Service Desk tool, but it was largely ineffective and inefficient. There was no IT Service Management framework (ITIL), monitoring of IT performance, user requests or tracking. I joined the University of Sharjah 18 months ago, and I was tasked with the responsibility of both architecting and implementing IT Service Management processes and to re-establish the Service Desk and make it much more effective for the end-users.

The dynamic Service Desk Manager at University of Sharjah also highlighted how they determined that they also needed to implement ITIL processes such as (service catalogue, service agreement, incident, request, problem and change management) and that these processes showed the value of the IT department to the stakeholders. “We were providing a lot of services to the end users, but ultimately we had no classification of our services or the incidents that were flagged, so we couldn’t categorise them or evaluate the performance of our services in terms of incidents and service requests”. He added “The end-users feel that they can now communicate much better with the IT department and that there is a single point of contact for all their requests. It has enabled the end-users to build trust in the support services provided by the IT department as there is complete transparency of our IT performance”.

Anissa Bettayeb, Head of Academic Computing Service Section goes on to explain the benefits her department got from the implementation and confirmed the significant benefits gained after implementing Ivanti Service Desk. “The IT Service Management really empowered us with the capabilities to evaluate and monitor the performance of our staff and processes through the dashboards and reporting services. It also allowed us to better diagnose, categorise, prioritise and flag incident, service and changes requests. However, now we have a dashboard and system in place that monitors and records all of this automatically”.

Anissa adds, “The capacity of my instructional technologies support distance learning team was 3, which in normal circumstances was adequate. However, when lockdown restrictions came into effect and we rolled out remote learning this rather inevitably resulted in a heavy load and the demand increased exponentially. Ivanti Service Manager relayed information to us in terms of statistics and real-time data that allowed us to request an extension for additional staff and we relocated different staff from other departments to be part of my new team in an effort to cope with the new demands.”

Dr. Hussein Elmehdi, Dean of Academic Support Services at University of Sharjah said they recognized the importance of support services for various academic and administrative entities at the University. “University of Sharjah has set a clear strategic goal to establish a Service Desk that is well-equipped and well-resourced to ensure that the needs of the stakeholders are fulfilled. In addition to this, we plan to expand the Service Desk to cover non-IT departments such as admissions and registration department. Our strategy is to have unified communication and support channel for all students, faculty and administrative staff requests,”. Many commentators including Dr. Hussein believe that the way education is delivered will be fundamentally changed forever as a consequence of the COVID-19 crisis.“The smooth transition to eLearning, in a relatively short time, will definitely have a positive and immediate impact on the way we view education in the future. For example, at University of Sharjah the strategic goal was to incorporate blended learning gradually with annual KPIs that will enable us to reach 100% utilization by 2024,”. He added that this will have a great impact on education in the future where technology will be viewed as an integral tool that will not only facilitate teaching and learning - but will also serve as a possible replacement to face-to-face education. “The success witnessed in the past three months in response to the COVID-19 global pandemic came about as a result of excellent collaboration among different entities within the institution, with Service Desk playing an integral role by providing timely technical support that extended beyond working hours. Personally, I believe we’re heading to an area of ‘education without borders’ - where time and geography will not be considered as limiting factors on the decision for students to pursue their education at postsecondary level and beyond,”

Ivanti has a long history of working with universities across the globe to transform their IT services and improve the satisfaction of both staff and students. You can find out more here.

Interchange Virtual World Tour: Coming to a Screen Near You

Wed, 13 May 2020 22:34:28 Z

Do you have a crystal ball, did you see into the future? If you did, you would have been prepared for the crazy events that are happening right now, but no one would have believed you! Yet here we are, pulling together through these uncertain times.

We want nothing more than to see you, shake your hand and have a good old chat, face to face. But your health and safety is our top priority so we have decided to postpone our Interchange Unplugged World Tour events until later on this year.

Now we don’t want you to miss out on all the great content we have been preparing, so grab a coffee, a biscuit of your choice, stay in those pajamas and get comfy as we are bringing Interchange Virtual World Tour to you!

By now I’m sure you all are pros at attending webinars and meetings virtually, they have exploded as an industry necessity. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing, you still get all the amazing information and insights from speakers and you reduce the time and financial commitments required to attend.

At the same time, virtual events are an adjustment. They create new challenges, like the potential for technical hiccups and the inability to network face-to-face.

With all this in mind, we have put together some top tips for attending our Interchange Virtual World Tour event:

Try to treat the virtual event like a real-life event, block the time out in your calendar, have a notebook and pen handy to take notes. This will be a lot easier than typing them out on the day.
Try and find a quiet spot where there will be minimal distractions – Even make a ‘Do not disturb, learning in progress’ door hanger.
Put your phone / laptop on mute, no one wants to hear you munching on those biscuit’s. It’s amazing how much background noise such as people typing or eating comes through especially for attendees who wear headsets.
Though this event will be remote, there will always be a ton of opportunities to network right from the comfort of your own couch, lookout for the chat options, ask questions, chat to other attendees.
Don’t worry! If you have a technical issue, let’s face it, it is a possibility, don’t panic, the event will be recorded so you can always go back and pick up where you left off.
Feedback – We really would like to hear your feedback, negative and positive. We want to make this as enjoyable and as informative as possible, if we need to make changes, or not, your feedback will really help.
Have a colleague that would like to attend the live event but can’t? As previously mentioned, it will be recorded, so they can listen at their own leisure.

With your level of knowledge of already attending virtual events and webinars, we know you will have this in the bag, if not we hope that these tips will help you make the most out of our Interchange Virtual World Tour event and for all other virtual meetings that you have planned in the future.

So, don’t dilly dally, save your spot and register now for the first ever Ivanti Interchange Virtual World Tour event! We look forward to virtually meeting you on the 25^th June.

As for the upcoming face to face Ivanti events… Watch this space!

Filling the Void Where SITS Should Have Been

Tue, 12 May 2020 21:07:26 Z

The Service Desk and IT Support Show (SITS), one of the UK’s key IT service management events, may have been delayed until later in the year (November), but Ivanti has not been idle. We might not have been designing a stand, working on messaging or compiling demos and videos to show at a physical event, but we’ve certainly put a lot of work into a number of service management focussed webinars, designed to give you a flavour of what you might experience and learn at the real SITS.

We’ve got lots to tell you, including:

Making use of tomorrow’s technology, today
Harnessing the power of automation
How bots are making an appearance in today’s service desk environment
Why virtual assistants are making a name for themselves
How the cloud really can simplify the most arduous of tasks
Why ‘shift left’ really does make sense in today’s busy service management environment

Take a look for yourself and decide whether what we’ve outlined below really is what you can look forward to when SITS ‘in the flesh’ takes place, or whether there’s a small nugget of content that you can take into your workplace and benefit from, today.

Webinar 1: Next Gen Tech and How to Prepare for It

Scarlett Bayes, Senior Research Analyst, Service Desk Institute

Scarlett takes a look at recent research that highlights service desk priorities, what digital transformation involves and what industry professionals expect to see in the near future. She’ll also take a look at technologies such as automation, chat bots and omni-channels service which enable zero-touch service while improving customer experience, and how that impacts the future of service desk. In conclusion Scarlett will outline ideas to implement today to prepare your service desk for the future.

Webinar 2: Service Management, Automation Bots, Breaking Barriers and Changing Perceptions

Ian Aitchison, Senior Director Product Management, Ivanti

In today’s world where the lines between IT and other departments within an organisation are blurring, and where employees like to ‘fix things themselves’, Ian shows how new innovation in automation bots can extend the reach of your Servicedesk team, helps improve business productivity, and distinctively – enhance the human relationship between your support staff and the wider business.

Webinar 3: Ivanti – Enabling Shift Left

Chris Savvides, Senior Presales Consultant, Ivanti

Chris examines the challenges of service management today and outlines the pitfalls of the traditional IT approach to these issues, including gaps in technology and the consequences of this. He’ll show how Ivanti Cloud and Ivanti Service Manager address these issues, pointing out ways that traditional IT can adapt and embrace new ways of working.

And if you really want to experience a true face-to-face event while listening to the webinars, why not follow these tips:

Sore feet: Attending a physical event wouldn’t be the same without getting sore feet, so make sure you go for a long run or walk; undertake a strenuous workout before you start watching; or if you’re feeling extra brave, why not walk over a bed of nails or hot coals? Whatever you decide to do, make sure your feet are suitably sore and aching before you begin watching any of the webinars.
Hydration: Hmmm, to hydrate or not to hydrate? While drinking plenty of water really should be the order of the day, to get the real feeling of being at an event, you should probably fuel up on coffee and forget the water. That way, by the time you’ve watched all the webinars, you’ll have tired eyes, a dehydration headache and dry skin—just as if you’d been at a real event all day!
Food: Common sense says to start the day with a good breakfast to keep you going through the webinars. But you could ditch the sensible, healthy breakfast and grab a quick snack (a muffin or chocolate bar maybe?) midway through watching to give you the sugar rush you need to keep going until you reach the end.
Clothing: If you’ve been stuck inside for a while, you might make the most of the occasion and dress up in what you would usually wear to a tradeshow—a business suit perhaps, or maybe you prefer to go a little more casual and grab a company-branded polo shirt paired with chinos? Maybe you’ve even got an Ivanti-branded T-shirt you could throw on to make you feel right at home, as if you were really on the Ivanti stand meeting face-to-face with Ivanti staff.
Social media: And finally, if you learn something worthwhile from the webinars, why not give Ivanti (Twitter, LinkedIn or other channel of your choice) a shout-out on social media, just like you would throughout a live event? Don’t forget to mention what it was you liked about the content, or what you’ve learnt through watching the webinar. You could always include a hashtag—maybe #IvantiWebinars #WhatILearntToday or #WorkFromHome would work.

So, what’s stopping you? Make sure you fill that void where SITS should have been in May and take a look at our webinars.

Ivanti Employees Celebrate International Women’s Day

Mon, 09 Mar 2020 17:47:56 Z

International Women's Day is dedicated to honoring the achievements of women throughout history and from all across the globe. Typically it's a day for women from all different backgrounds and cultures to come together to fight for gender parity and women's rights. It's also a time to reflect on how far we, as women, have come over the years in being treated more as equals and less as stereotypes.

I’m sat here thinking what International Women's Day means to me and to my children. I asked both my sons—who work in the building industry—what it means to them, and their answers really shocked me for two reasons:

They didn't understand why we had to have a particular day to celebrate. “Surely it should be an every day thing and that we should all be equal?” I found this response to be kind of ironic, as #EachForEqual is the hashtag that International Women's Day chose this year.
They had so much support, respect, and understanding, even though they admitted they didn't know much about the history. I felt very proud to be their mother, and even prouder to call them my sons.

Flicking through old photos of my grandma, I’ve been thinking about how lucky and fortunate I am and how far we have all come. Diversity in the workplace is ever-changing, and as the years whizz by, hopefully my daughter (and yours) will reap the benefits.

What Does International Women’s Day Mean to You?

Now let me ask you (yes you, blog reader), what does International Women's Day mean to you? Do you want to thank all those inspirational women who gave so much? Or do you want to run for the hills?

Looking back over the years, women have overcome, fought, and given so much, and yet we still seem to be fighting in some way or another. Without the willingness of change, or the continual support from our colleagues, peers, sisters, daughters, and wives, we will never be seen as equals. And in 2020, I would like to think we can continue to make a difference!

I asked some of my wonderful female colleagues to send me their most favourite inspirational quotes. So no matter how you choose to celebrate the special women in your life, be sure to share these quotes from some of the most incredible women in history with your amazing girlfriend, wonderful mum, or your ever-doting wife.

"My life was narrated for me by others. Their voices were forceful, emphatic, absolute. It had never occurred to me that my voice might be as strong as theirs."

— Tara Westover

"In Tara Westover’s autobiography, Educated, she tells of her upbringing in a doomsday-prep, orthodox Christian family. Tara came from life on a farm with no education, no experience in the real-world, and no government records of her existence. Tara’s story of how she came to find her voice and prioritize education in her life is a beautiful ode to the strength of women, even coming from the harshest of circumstances. I admire her courage to not live up to her family’s expectations in order to be true to herself." — Erica Azad, Manager, Marketing Campaigns

“Build the new, don’t just fight the old.”

— Sairee Chahal

"Sairee Chahal is the Founder, CEO of SHEROES, a community platform in India for women, offering support, resources, and opportunities. It was started for acid attack victims. They have cafes in many cities in India called Sheroes Hangouts which are 100% run by acid attack victims." — Preeti Sondhi, Sr. Scrum Master

"Just a lady cheering on other ladies."

"As a single mum of girls, I continually try to teach them that we don’t trample other women to make ourselves feel better." — Naomi Rojas, Inside Sales Rep.

"It is never too late to be what you might have been."

— George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans)

"Because many women are restricted in their lives by social, cultural, or relationship factors, such as starting a family and then being the main caretakers of children or parents etc., their ambitions are put on hold and talents wasted. So the message is that it’s never too late to become whatever it was you dreamed of being before life got in the way." — Sally Hart, Sr. Manager, HR Business Partner

"The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook."

— Julia Child

"It is obviously legend in the food world Julia Child. Not afraid of the limelight or stepping out of her comfort zone, she is a great reminder to live with joyful curiosity regardless of age!" — Inga Kucharzewska, Supervisor, Accounting

"Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less."

— Marie Curie

"Marie Curie was a French-Polish physicist and the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. During an interview, she was asked how it is to be married to a genius. She replied, 'I don’t know, you need to ask my husband!' Second for me is Frida Kahlo for her interest in the feminist movements." — Alessia Colla, Supervisor, Accounts Payable/Receivable

"Mistakes are not regretted, they are assumed. Fear is not run away, it is overcome. Love does not cry out, it proves itself.’’

— Simone Veil

"A Holocaust survivor, Simone Veil became a crusader for women’s rights and European reconciliation. She was a champion for not only the right of women to control their pregnancies, but also to control their fertility. Her experience in Auschwitz profoundly informed her love for the European project and its construction, with, at its heart, the reconciliation with Germany. In 1979, she was the first woman to be chosen president of the European Parliament. Most of what you probably picture when you think about women and their status in France was at least in some way influenced by Simone Veil." — Aurelie Fargeot, Inside Sales Rep.

"Always be a first-rate version of yourself instead of a second-rate version of somebody else."

— Judy Garland

"Judy Garland is an icon and a legend who went through so much. The way she was treated as child star would count as child abuse today and her personal life was filled with sorrow and tragedy but she carried herself with grace and dignity (mostly) through every storm she faced. She was always herself she never compromised on that or pretended to be someone else." — Amy Adam, Administrative Support

Sightsavers Looks to the Cloud to Deliver IT & Enterprise Service Management

Fri, 14 Feb 2020 23:27:53 Z

Chris Porter is the Service Desk Team Lead for Sightsavers, a global development charity, headquartered in the UK, working to prevent avoidable blindness and debilitating tropical diseases in some of the world’s poorest developing nations. He describes how this life-affirming charity has come to rely on Ivanti Service Manager as the core component for unified process management and delivery across the organization.

The Prescription Forward

Sightsavers’ journey with Ivanti began when it concluded that its former help desk tool, while cloud- accessible, lacked the necessary functionality and customization required to expand outside of IT. Other departments, such as finance and web design, were keen to embrace enhanced processes and automated workflows but had to settle for default forms and restricted dropdowns that failed to incorporate their functions. Lack of departmental customization meant that tool usage fell while paper forms proliferated—randomly accessible over intranets and shared drives. Some departments, like finance, fared worse. A simple finance request such as adding a new supplier onto the procurement system could easily entail circulation of 15 manual forms. Pigeonholing requests to fit default options often delivered incorrectly classified requests, leading to low first-time resolution rates and difficulty in providing detailed data on what support was actually required.

Given Sightsavers’ key ethos is to maintain transparency and create infrastructure efficiencies across all functions and departments, a working group from Sightsavers’ Corporate Services Team volunteered to lead the trial for a new service management system that would meet the needs of all teams.

To become more customer facing and efficient, IT split into two—creating an IT Services arm to deliver better service management across the charity. Now part of Corporate Services, IT Services identified Ivanti Service Manager as a potential fit and, working with Ivanti partner, CTMS, embarked on trials that would deliver ITIL-based process management to unify the charity’s key processes.

“CTMS was introduced to us by Ivanti, and it has proved to be a valued relationship,” Porter notes. “During the install, we collectively overcame hurdles that involved many cross-departmental meetings and some changes of direction as we morphed processes, successfully building on the original Ivanti workflows and service request forms until we reached a point of self-sufficiency.”

Seeing Positive Results Across Departments

Two years on, the entire Sightsavers’ organization uses Ivanti Service Manager. There was no big-bang switch; instead, adoption grew organically across departments as success and confidence grew within the organization. Seven departments—Corporate and Design, Compliance, Corporate Service, Finance, HR, IT Procurement and Travel Team—now use Self-Service to log requests with automated approvals and workflows across departments.

“Ours is a journey of maturity as the functionality and reputation of Ivanti Service Manager has steadily grown across teams to now serve 600 users,” Porter reflects. “Within two years, Service Manager has become the goto to deliver all aspects of service—from logging IT faults, to helping staff on-board, to safely organising travel across some of the most hazardous, war-torn countries in the world.”

Cross-departmental functions are better served with Ivanti acting as the central workflow engine. For example, if a problem arises with a staff laptop stolen while abroad, a single ticket notification is now delivered to the Travel, Compliance, and Security teams instead of instigating three sets of departmental forms. These teams can track status and take resultant actions, passing the ticket onward when tasks are complete.

Similar efficiency improvements are delivered when onboarding or off-boarding staff. Prior to implementation, new hiring would generate multiple request forms for each staff member that were largely unsearchable. Now, Ivanti’s interlinked processes between HR and IT have reduced the number of forms used by 80%. All equipment requisitions and approvals are stored within the system, status updates applied, and users are notified automatically.

Mitigating Risk for the Worldwide Deployment of Staff

Self-Service has been especially significant for the Travel Team. Before, travel requests involved submitting lengthy forms located in SharePoint specific to each country. Today the system offers a dynamic, end-to-end booking process that highlights current travel risks and flags these with other departments. Within a Risk Register set up in the Ivanti system, users can view all countries, select a destination, note the associated current risks and advisories, and highlight problem areas that need extra travel caution or action before they depart.

The Risk Register is monitored and updated by the Global Head of Security. If a country’s risk assessment increases or decreases, the fields within the travel booking form change to allow further evaluations by the Security team who make the final recommendation on travel. Armed with this mapping, Sightsavers’ Security Team has a holistic pinpoint view of all staff locations and ground conditions.

Porter notes: “Mitigating risk and safe deployment of our staff, eye-care specialists, and doctors has been the single biggest advantage in unifying our processes. Today we feel able to mobilize and deploy our staff with greater confidence and speed. That in turn helps us to save and positively impact more lives, especially in zones prone to changing conditions.”

Better Visibility for IT

IT Services remain the primary users of the Incident Management module within Service Manager, who use the solution to assess monthly fluctuations in volumes and types of incidents through dashboards and reporting. Now when a spike of related incidents occurs, members of the IT Services team can explore if escalation to problem management is required, bringing in the IT Infrastructure team to take preventative measures if needed. For example, using ticket locations, the IT Services team can determine if a larger office has just recruited new staff and needs additional training, or identify perhaps a more significant issue that needs immediate attention and preventative actions for the future.

Porter feels a perceived increase in service levels has occurred within the charity. “We are still maturing, but with Ivanti Service Manager we have a powerful solution behind us. When we ask users, we are now depicted as being more efficient and professional. Overall, we wanted to increase efficiencies across departmental processes and in doing so we now have better empathy with all teams’ needs.”

Note: Sightsavers’ results are specific to its total customer environment / experience, of which Ivanti is a part. Individual results may vary based on each customer’s unique environment.

For more information on the charitable and development work that Sightsavers conducts, please visit https://www.sightsavers.org/

Legacy IT: Don’t Let It Bring an End to Your Business

Mon, 10 Feb 2020 22:27:52 Z

As technology continues to evolve at breakneck speed, we have seen new operating systems enter the fold, with each introduction bringing enhanced performance and increased efficiency. This inevitably means that older platforms become outdated and, consequently, the manufacturer ceases to support them.

Free White Paper: Upgrading to Windows 10

This is the case with Windows 7, which reached End of Life (EOL) last month. You would expect that IT professionals had long abandoned it in favour of its successor, Windows 10. Well, our Windows 10 survey, carried out last year, suggests otherwise. It highlighted that 59% of IT professionals hadn’t migrated to the new OS while, more alarming, it found that 39% were unlikely to complete the migration process before the January deadline.

As we work our way through February, it’s worrying that many organisations still rely on legacy IT – and Windows 7 in particular. These outdated systems risk causing significant IT failures, jeopardising the network and making it vulnerable to security threats and, ultimately, hindering productivity. For these reasons, I strongly urge these companies to upgrade and migrate to Windows 10.

Failing to Upgrade Is a Dangerous Decision

News about IT outages caused by archaic technology has been grabbing the headlines. Last year saw high-profile companies such as British Airways, Facebook and Twitter, fall prey to this. Headlines even revealed that it takes up to 17 minutes for NHS GPs to log on to their computers, with many NHS computers still running on Windows 7.

It goes without saying that organisations can’t afford to suffer from downtime as this can severely affect how they serve their customers, which can have a knock-on effect that causes reputational and financial damage. The repercussions of legacy technology aren’t limited to IT failures and downtime. The very nature of legacy software and devices can make it exponentially difficult to respond and recuperate in the face of a disaster, as it’s virtually impossible to pinpoint the root cause of the issue, therefore delaying recovery.

Legacy technology can also make organisations more vulnerable to cyberattacks as manufacturers no longer provide patches for systems that have reached EOL. Aside from the crippling damage that this can inflict on a company’s credibility, organisations can find themselves subject to substantial GDPR fines for exposing personal customer data.

Windows 10 Migration: Request A Demo

Mitigate the Migration Process

Taking all of this into account, it’s astonishing that many businesses are still reluctant to migrate to supported systems. Perhaps this hesitance is fuelled by the fear that it may disrupt employee productivity, therefore causing more trouble than it’s worth? It’s fair to say that a security breach or system failure caused by outdated technology is infinitely more inconvenient.

As companies try to navigate the migration minefield, automation can offer a helping hand. Such a solution can streamline the process, enabling businesses to free-up time and resources which would otherwise be allocated to the system upgrade. Once migrated, a company can enjoy the benefits of their upgraded IT assets, such as: enhanced protection, increased speed and improved productivity.

In today’s digital-first society, IT failures and security breaches are at the forefront of many of our minds. To minimise the chance of encountering such an issue, businesses must make migrating from legacy technology, such as Windows 7, a priority.

Cybercriminal Defence: A Guide to Law Firm Cybersecurity

Mon, 06 Jan 2020 21:29:41 Z

Currently, businesses of all shapes and sizes are going through a journey of digital transformation, and this includes law firms. Embracing technology means enhancing business efficiency, optimising resources, streamlining processes and, ultimately, perfecting the service provided to customers.

However, introducing new digital tools in order to make the company more effective—without ensuring a secure infrastructure—increases the chances of being targeted by cyberattacks. A recent investigation revealed that 9 out of 10 law firms are at risk of being scammed or having their clients’ confidential data stolen due to substandard IT security. This isn’t surprising, if one considers the amount of sensitive information about employees, stakeholders and clients that these organisations hold; not to mention the personal and business disputes they handle.

What’s even more concerning is how unprepared many legal firms are when it comes to defending themselves from cyber threats: studies show that 81% of these companies are running at least one service with a well-known vulnerability that could be easily exploited by hackers, and 21% have at least one service which uses out of date software, putting them at higher risk of attack.

It’s time for law firms to acknowledge that digital transformation, while bringing significant business benefits, also opens the door to a series of cyberthreats that they must learn to defend themselves from. Here is why it’s important and how it can be done:

The Backlash

It’s rare for any company to survive a cyberattack unscathed—law firms, in particular, can suffer especially unpleasant consequences. First off, the financial damage. The Solicitors Regulation Authority conducted an illuminating study of 40 legal establishments which were victims of cyberattacks over the past three years, finding that £4m of client money was stolen from 23 of them. And while a big chunk of this loss was repaid by insurers, several businesses spent hundreds of thousands of pounds to cover the losses and deal with the impact the events had taken on their workforce. Naturally, the financial repercussions are aggravated by laws, such as the GDPR, which impose hefty fines to companies that fail to be compliant.

Money is not the only thing victims of cyberattacks end up losing. If you had a personal dispute or a high-value deal you needed legal advice with, would you confide in a law firm which was recently hacked, exposing its clients’ private information? We didn’t think so. Damaging the credibility and reputation of trustworthy organisations can be the most devastating consequence of a cyberattack for legal establishments, as it inevitably leads to losing business.

The Solution

Law firms must therefore be mindful of such threats and ensure they have a robust cybersecurity strategy in place. While implementing a sound cybersecurity strategy can feel intimidating due to the varied range of solutions available, law firms can start by implementing basic cybersecurity practices such as patching, network configuration and strong password management. Employees must be trained to regularly update passwords, not share any login credentials with other members of staff – as threats can also come from within the firm – as well as spotting and reporting suspicious activities.

Patch and vulnerability management, application whitelisting, identity management, file protection and ransomware remediation can reinforce the defence against cyberattacks. Managing these tools through a third-party provider allows legal professionals to focus on their cases rather than worrying about IT security threats. For example, Ivanti Patch provides clear visibility of the threats at hand and the patches required, making patch management easy and effective.

Law firms should also work to reduce their attack surface, detect attacks that do get through, and rapidly respond in order to contain the malicious activity.

As the IT landscape becomes increasingly complex, cyberattacks are set to continue to rise. Therefore, firms in the legal space must ensure cybersecurity is a top priority and adopt a layered, back-to-basics approach to security to avoid attacks, and their financial and reputational backlash.

5 Tips to Make the Most out of Microsoft Ignite

Thu, 19 Dec 2019 21:50:29 Z

The Ivanti team is on the road again, this time on a Microsoft Ignite tour. We kicked off the Microsoft Ignite tour with Paris, France, which was held in November 2019. Moving into a new year, new country and travelling overseas, we will be at Microsoft Ignite 2020 London, ExCeL. The Ivanti team could not be more excited!

So break out your fresh 2020 diaries, because you’re not going to want to miss this!

Microsoft Ignite The Tour

January 16-17, 2020, ExCeL London, Ivanti Booth S527

Book your demo now

Year after year, Microsoft Ignite grows bigger and better, and 2020 will be no exception, with over 350+ experts and more than 100 sessions and workshops to dive straight into.

But do not be fooled, attending this event will be hard on the feet and tough on the back, not to mention information overload, taking in all the expert advice! As exhibitors, we've been busy behind the scenes prepping our booth, setting meetings and getting the word out. As an attendee, you can also benefit from having a solid game plan in place before the show. So, let us help you with some hints and tips to make your visit the best it can be, and get the most out of your precious time.

1. Research, Research, Research!

Before you attend, know why you're doing it. ou probably had to answer this question before you decided to register, make sure to revisit it. Why this show? What problems are you hoping to solve for your business? Take a look at who is exhibiting and make a note of their booth numbers, explore the learning and hand’s-on sessions, don’t forget to book these in advance to maximise your time.

Stop by the Ivanti booth number S527 and let us show you how Ivanti enables cloud, hybrid, physical and virtual environments to come together as one, under the umbrella of Unified IT.

2. Work out

Another good tip here is to make sure you take on some extra upper arm exercises pre-event. Carrying around all the free swag that you’ll pick up along the way, that’s going to be a workout in itself! Make sure to stop by the Ivanti booth number S527 and pick up some top-notch swag from the Ivanti team.

3. Bring the right footwear

This is important, make sure those shoes are worn in and comfy, you’re going to be on those feet for quite a few hours! Maybe even pack a portable foot-spa to give those weary feet a soak at the end of a long day.

4. Plan to take breaks

Take regular breaks, drink plenty of fluids. Keeping yourself hydrated will in turn help you focus on those all-important business conversations and to ensure you make the right decisions for your organization.

5. Don’t forget to have fun!

If you’re staying over then you really should take some time out and discover some of the wonderful sights that London has to offer, treat the event like a 'workation' - you're there to expand your experience and contribute to your business, but you also get to spend a few days away from the office, so explore the city and make some friends while you're at it!

If you need a suggestion of something to do nearby ExCeL, I can personally recommend the Emirates Air Line, which is a cable-car ride over the Thames which offers stunning, birds-eye views of East London. It’s the perfect way to end your day at Ignite instead of cramming into a crowded tube station during rush hour.

We would love to meet you so don’t forget to stop by the Ivanti booth number S527 and say ‘Hi’. We'll be there demoing Ivanti’s:

Patch for SCCM
Endpoint Manager
User Workspace Manager
Automation
Cloud

There are a few demo slots left, so please click the below button to reserve your slot. Plus, learn how you can enter to WIN one of our amazing prizes!

Be prepared to learn, connect and explore at what will be the most exciting event of 2020. The Ivanti team is extremely excited to meet you!

#MSignite #TeamIvanti

Book your demo here

Protect Your Business With Automated Onboarding and Offboarding

Tue, 29 Oct 2019 21:36:07 Z

According to a recent survey by Robert Half UK, one in seven employees are likely to seek a new job every year. Look beyond the surface and a trend emerges that the younger workforce is more likely to job hop throughout their career unlike their predecessors. Beyond this, there’s the cross-industry increase in temporary employees, comprising consultants, contractors and even interns, that companies also need to contend with.

This continual cycle of employees can pose a challenge for companies’ identity management processes. In today’s digital age, employees use hundreds of devices and have access to multiple applications, shared content and services and each employee’s identity – their role, seniority and department – is crucial in determining which company assets they have access to.

Identity Management Isn’t a One Player Game

Businesses may think identity management is one team’s responsibility but they would be wrong. It requires a holistic approach across IT, HR and security. It’s easy to see why some may think IT is the main player in this matter; the department is responsible for keeping employee information on file in an ‘identity warehouse’. Here, they regulate software access, ensuring that everyone’s digital rights reflect their position however, HR also have a hand in this game.

In addition to offboarding and managing employee transitions, the HR team is also responsible for employee satisfaction, productivity and performance. These work in tandem with having access to the required information and tools, and the inability to utilise the relevant resources can hinder output. To bypass these concerns, line managers, supervisors and the business as a whole, should have a vested interest in ensuring that digital identity is managed efficiently.

Last, but perhaps most imperative, is security itself. It’s remarkable how many businesses don’t realise the potential damage employee identity and access management can cause if badly managed. Of course, employees should have access to the resources, devices and programmes that they need, but it’s crucial that these aren’t abused and don’t end up in the wrong hands. It goes without saying, revoking this access should be a top priority when an employee leaves the business, otherwise the company is vulnerable to security breaches. Another factor to address is compliance. Since the GDPR came into effect, companies need to ensure they conform with the law or run the risk of a hefty fine. This is where automation can come into its own. With the ability to regulate and record digital access, the technology arms businesses with the tools to report on who has access to what, at all times. It enables companies to effectively managing the employee lifecycle.

Automate, Manage and Mitigate

If we delve deeper, the benefits of automation become crystal clear. Unlike policy-based identity management tools, automated solutions can proactively flag services available to employees or selectively prevent access based on the employee’s current location, such as when using an unsecure public WiFi connection.

From a business perspective, all companies need to do is upload each team member’s information to the network. From here, the automated solution does all the heavy lifting. It identifies their position and proactively matches them to the resources required for their role. As the identity management tool is in sync with the HR source of truth, it can automatically oversee access and handle requests. This has the power to significantly improve the IT department’s lives by tenfold as it reduces the usual tedious hours and manual work, freeing up their time to focus on more valuable work that will make the biggest impact to the company.

It’s easy to let identity management spiral out of control, becoming an intractable problem that consumes vast amounts of time, resources and even hinders team’s performance. So, companies analysing their identity management process should remember to thoroughly explore their options and evaluate how solutions such as automation, enables them to tackle these issues head on.

Protecting the Gateway to Knowledge – Inside and Out

Tue, 15 Oct 2019 21:54:28 Z

September marked the start of a new academic year and with it I noticed the increasing mass of students navigating their way to school, college or university. For students, this brings the chance to catch-up with friends and settle in to their new environment. For educational institutions, it can bring apprehension and anticipation–rooted in the pressure of managing IT infrastructure and security.

While it may seem logical for organisations to dedicate enormous funds to in-bound cyber-threats, only 60 percent of breaches involve external actors. We’ve all heard stories of threats from within, such as the colleague who unwittingly circulated malicious data, bringing the network to a halt. But, if you think that this is as big as the issue gets, think again.

The very nature of a university means that implementing a successful cybersecurity strategy can be a tall order. There is no one size fits all approach as there are dramatic differences between the needs of each department, student and staff member. For an office, devices and their respective patch status can be effectively managed with the right strategy, but this is not the case for educational institutions. It’s impossible to force students to use a particular operating system, device manufacturer or version on their countless personal devices.

Time of year is also a factor when considering cybersecurity. A report identified that there is a spike in activity during term-time with staff or students often as the culprits, rather than external hackers. One university was subject to a four-day cyberattack, caused by a student who was targeted whilst gaming online in university accommodation.

Beyond this, there is also the threat from disgruntled staff and students who may wish to disrupt the server by overloading it with requests – often using distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks which don’t require much technical knowhow and can be purchased quite cheaply online. The aim is not to steal data or infect a network with malware, but may be used more maliciously. For example, to make it impossible to submit coursework on deadline day.

In the battle against insider threats, institutions may be inclined to adopt a policy of monitoring and regulating network activity or a zero-trust network architecture. However, this approach is more suited to a business than a university. After all, students pay for digital liberties through tuition fees and so restriction would be unfair. Instead, a system should be considered that is secure enough to protect the network while also catering to the diversity of devices and activities.

One solution that is proving successful across universities is the unification of various IT support divisions into one centralised service. This unified University Information Services (UIS) department provides cohesive IT support to tens of thousands of students and staff. With a singular IT entity, universities will have a complete overview of their network activity, making securing the system from within more manageable.

As technology advances, cyber threats continue to cause havoc and hackers become increasingly sophisticated. It’s easy for IT to snowball into a mammoth headache although, by consolidating various departments into one, this issue can be overcome. For educational institutions, this means they can control questionable activity and improve efficiencies without restricting access for staff and students who rely on the network for their work and entertainment.