.png)
.png)
.png)
UK-based technology company, Account Technologies, helps their customers harness their data to improve their financial performance. As their organization began to quickly scale, they needed their IT and service desk processes to grow with the business demands.
Starting in 2019, they began an overhaul of their IT processes and ditched antiquated workflows in favor of Slack, Jira and Nextup’s Jira Integration+. After seeing the productivity gains this new process afforded their development team, they soon brought on Nextup’s Helpdesk+ integration to bring similar benefits to their support desk.
“What we found was very much a snowball effect," said John Heaton-Armstrong, Chief Information Security Officer.
We have a number of shared services across the organization and because of their engagement with our IT service desk capabilities, they said I want to engage in my support using this type of interface.”
Increased Adaptability During The Pandemic
With 300 staff across the UK and Germany, Account Technologies was ahead of the game in terms of using Slack integrations to improve their employee's ability to collaborate. Since they started using Nextup’s apps in 2019, they found they were prepared to handle the unexpected shift in work culture that came with the pandemic.
“We had invested in being able to work remotely very heavily, so we went from being an organization of 200 people split between two offices to having no one in the office."
"Because of the integrations, we had no operational impact,” said Heaton-Armstrong. “It stopped that change from being an issue.”
Using Automation to Streamline Repeated Processes
With their workforce already adapted to working remotely through Slack, Account Technologies turned their attention to using integrations to maximize productivity. They developed automated workflows in Jira Integration+ to take formerly cumbersome tasks - like certifications and audits - from time-intensive projects to ones that could be completed quickly.
“If we find repeatable process within the organization, what we’ll do is create re-occurring Jira Tickets based on certain criteria. What we’ve found is first, the likelihood of forgetting something is reduced, secondly, the ease of doing it is improved, and thirdly the transferability of responsibilities is enhanced,” said Heaton-Armstrong.
By automating their repeated tasks, Account Technologies no longer has to manage an audit trail of data. Now all their tasks are being documented in Jira, which makes reporting easier.
“Previously, our audit process was measured in weeks. The last time we did it, the entire audit took three days. Done.” Heaton-Armstrong continued “When you invest in this type of system, you’re building a process that is repeatable with considerably less effort than before”
Scaling Up While Reducing Overhead and Costs
Account Technologies uses Jira Integraion+ and HelpDesk+ to automate and streamline many of their processes including financial reporting, new employee onboarding, approvals, and compliance. “As an organization, we are no longer having to build up huge numbers of administrative and compliance staff who would all be net costs to the organization.”
They also use the increased data from automating their processes in Jira to identify areas of improvement internally. “We’ve created a roadmap of all the work we’re doing across the organization and because that work is quantified, we plan with much more of a metrics-driven approach,” said Heaton-Armstrong.
By leveraging technology like Jira Integration+, Account Technologies has successfully reduced unnecessary costs while the business continues to grow.
Heaton-Armstrong explains, “When it comes to using new technology, we’re not doing it only because it’s a better user experience, but because there’s an organizational imperative around not scaling costs.
Results and Metrics
In addition to cost savings from automating their processes, Account Technologies has seen vast improvements in the way their service desks operate. They report the following results:
- 16 service desks resolved 13,000 tickets in six months
- 98% SLA score and 4.9 out of 5 rating
- Average time to first response = 2 hours
- Average resolution time = 8 hours
The integrations have also improved their ability to navigate complex certification and compliance processes with ease.
- ISO certification in 3 months with zero advisories
- Audit went from weeks to complete to only 3 days
- Extremely positive feedback from assessors
“All of our ease of process is because of how we’ve leveraged Jira and Nextup’s Integrations,” said Heaton-Armstrong.
Watch the Full Interview
You can watch the full interview with John Heaton-Armstrong Chief Information Security Officer at Account Technologies below.
Key Highlights:
01:06 Why choose to use both Jira Integration+ and HelpDesk+
05:20 Using Automation in certification processes
08:46 How Tech can help a business scale while reducing costs
10:24 Benefits to their service desk using HelpDesk+
14:32 How Nextup apps helped them weather the pandemic
18:56 Use cases outside of IT (Finance, regulatory)
26:30 Using Jira Integration+ to take a metrics-driven approach to scale
About Account Technologies
Account Technologies delivers inclusive products which enable customers to take control of their data. They believe in the power of consumers' data and its use to improve their financial health.The difference between Account Technologies and other companies is that they don’t just ask the questions, they deploy their cutting edge technology and exceptional people to find the answers that can change things for the better.
