How ITSM services on mobile devices power employees, boost service

Which ITSM capabilities drive adoption? Spoiler alert: It’s mobile!

Before digging into ITSM services on mobile devices, let’s consider some data on mobile trends in the enterprise. In a 2019 Enterprise Mobility survey of its audience of IT leaders, nearly two-thirds of respondents (64.5%) listed mobility as a top enterprise technology investment. In fact, 59.2% allowed employees to access data and apps on a wearable device. My read: If you’re not considering how mobile and wearable devices can improve employee experience, you are behind many others who have already invested in these capabilities.

Employees are typically happier when they can interface with enterprise services when and where they need them. A 2018 summary of mobile enterprise app usage showed the following:

• 71% of employees spend more than two hours per week accessing company information on mobile devices.
• 59% of employed Americans work beyond the hours of 9 to 5.
• 34% of work productivity is improved when companies allow employees to use enterprise mobile apps.

But not just any mobile application will spur employee productivity. A cumbersome web user experience ported over to run on a mobile device isn’t going to entice employees to use it. A gigantic data entry form asking users a laundry list of questions to classify, prioritize and route an incident is too intimidating and laborious on a mobile screen. Similarly, asking users to provide all the details around an IT request for services can be daunting.

ITSM services on mobile devices need a different UX paradigm. Like consumer applications, the service should be designed for the end user in mind, aligned with their job function and simplified to capture the necessary information.

Guided navigation simplifies the process of opening requests and escalating incidents. An ITSM mobile application must be designed to leverage information on who the employee is, what department they work in, what level of seniority they have in the organization and where the employees are located when requesting assistance. From there, your ITSM services mobile application should guide the user with one or two questions at a time to establish sufficient context on the incident or request.

For example, let’s say I work in a legal department and I’m struggling to open a document on my phone while traveling abroad. When opening the ITSM mobile application, it immediately recognizes who I am and what my location is. Guided navigation then allows me to answer a few questions in sequence. I don’t know if it’s a hardware or application issue, but I can specify the resource I am trying to access. The ITSM mobile app also allows me to screenshot and upload what I see on the phone while trying to open the document.