Desktop Analytics: The Key to a Better Back Office Sponsored By:

Transcription

1 Desktop Analytics: Sponsored By: 2011 DMG Consulting LLC -1- March 2011

2 Table of Contents Why Desktop Analytics is Essential for Back-Office Operations... 1 Desktop Analytics Defined... 1 Uses and Benefits of Desktop Analytics... 3 Getting Started... 5 Final Thoughts... 6 About Verint Systems... 7 About DMG Consulting DMG Consulting LLC - i - October 2011

3 Why Desktop Analytics is Essential for Back-Office Operations Back-office operating areas employ hundreds and sometimes thousands of staff, whose contributions are essential, though often overlooked. While back-office activities and contributions are often invisible to customers, the quality of the output directly affects the reputation and performance of companies and government agencies. Just as importantly, back-office productivity and quality drives customer service and contact center inquiry volume; this is rarely discussed or addressed, however, as businesses do not have tools to properly measure the impact of back-office performance. Desktop analytics (DA), a practical and powerful application, is designed to provide transparency and insights that can improve the performance and work quality of all employees who use desktop applications, whether they work in the back office or a contact center. For years, IT groups have used desktop analytics solutions to measure application performance and response time. In 2009, DMG identified DA as an emerging contact center application, due to its ability to analyze the responsiveness of servicing applications and how well agents use them to address customer inquiries. DMG has since enhanced its definition of desktop analytics to include an additional component. The measurement and assessment capabilities that were part of the original DA solutions now have the ability to trigger guidance and process flows for users. DA solutions are now being used in back-office operating areas such as application approval, claims processing, order fulfillment, return authorization and account maintenance. DA solutions give managers a more detailed understanding of how their employees spend their time, which enables managers to identify training, process and system performance issues. These solutions also give employees real-time guidance to help them get their jobs done right the first time. Desktop Analytics Defined DMG defines desktop analytics as an automated and systemic approach to monitor, capture, structure, analyze and report on desktop activity and process workflows. It features the ability to detect keystrokes, data entry content, applications used, screens and fields accessed events, usage duration, and resulting actions. It measures application utilization, usage patterns and performance metrics in order to assess application and user efficiency, effectiveness, compliance and external customer impact. It also provides guidance and workflow-enabled process flows to enhance staff performance in real time DMG Consulting LLC October 2011

4 Simply put, desktop analytics captures, tracks and analyzes everything that happens on each employee desktop. This includes capturing and measuring how employees interact with their desktop servicing applications and evaluating the performance of the desktop servicing applications. DA also uses desktop activities to trigger sequential guidance and process flows. The primary outputs from desktop analytics solutions are: 1. Real-time process guidance and next-best-action recommendations 2. Identification of staff training needs 3. Locating process bottlenecks 4. Targeting application performance issues 5. Measurement of adherence to service level agreements (SLAs) See Figure 1, DA Defined. Figure 1: DA Defined Source: DMG Consulting LLC, October DMG Consulting LLC October 2011

5 Desktop analytics applications are integrated behind the scenes. They sit on top of existing servicing applications and monitor employee activities in order to provide guidance for completing tasks accurately. They also monitor how employees use and interact with their servicing applications. Uses and Benefits of Desktop Analytics Operations managers are generally unaware of exactly how their employees are using their servicing applications, as they do not currently have tools that provide transparency into workflow and system utilization. It s possible, but not practical, to use quality assurance (QA) screen recording capabilities to capture and replay unique sessions associated with the handling of individual work items; however, this provides only limited insights because it is based on just a small sample of transactions that are recorded for QA purposes. As a result, in most back-office operating departments, managers do not know the specific systems, training, process and policy issues that impede their employees ability to complete a work item, nor do they know how much these avoidable issues are costing their department in wasted staff time and rework. Desktop analytics captures system utilization for all employees. The data is summarized for the department and for each employee, giving managers the information they need to rapidly identify system performance issues, inefficient system designs, workflow bottlenecks, staff training needs, and employees who are having problems adhering to SLAs. Figure 2 provides a list of the common uses and benefits of desktop analytics in the back office. DMG expects DA solutions to see rapid deployment because of their high value and ongoing benefits for customers, the enterprise, the processing department, and staff. When used properly and consistently, desktop analytics greatly enhances department and staff performance by providing real-time guidance that helps employees get their work done right the first time. It also ensures that servicing systems work according to specifications, and rapidly identifies any process or staff training issues that arise. This means that the processing time for each work item can be reduced without a major overhaul of the department, although DA is likely to deliver insights that lead to significant systems, process and workflow changes. The result is more rapid and higher quality output that yields significant productivity improvements, an enhanced and speedier customer experience, and more empowered staff DMG Consulting LLC October 2011

6 Figure 2: Desktop Analytics Practical Uses Use System transparency Provide transparency into precisely how employees use desktop servicing applications Identify system performance impediments and issues in near-real time Identify system bugs and inefficiencies that delay service delivery and prevent staff from completing tasks Reproduce and isolate system bugs Rapidly identify system and process issues during system implementations Employee efficiency and effectiveness Identify system training needs for staff Reduce employee processing time Improve staff performance and quality Measure employee system utilization competency Back-office management effectiveness Identify activity trends Reduce error rates Reduce number of hand-offs Improve the effectiveness of quality assurance programs Benefit Reduces processing time and network costs and improves staff productivity; improves transaction quality and the customer experience Rapidly diagnoses systems issues, minimizing disruption of service; keeps network fees within budget; improves the customer experience Reduces processing time and cost and improves the customer experience Reduces help desk average handle time; greatly improves satisfaction of internal customers Reduces the cost of system implementations; speeds adoption of new solutions; reduces system development costs Reduces processing time, error rates, rework and costs; improves the customer experience Reduces operating expenses and improves the customer experience Gets the job done right the first time; reduces processing time and rework; improves the customer experience Identifies staff training needs Tracks the types and volume of work processed by each department and employee Reduces the number of mistakes that employees make while processing work; reduces operating expenses and improves the customer experience Provides real-time guidance for employees, reducing processing time and operating expenses; improves the customer experience If the back office has a QA program, desktop analytics gives QA specialists insights into how employees are using and interacting with their processing systems; this information can be used for training and coaching and to improve the overall customer experience 2011 DMG Consulting LLC October 2011

7 Figure 2: Desktop Analytics Practical Uses Use Regulatory and workflow compliance Reduce regulatory violations Measure policy adherence Ensure workflow compliance Enterprise goals Improve the customer experience Retain customers Reduce operating costs Source: DMG Consulting LLC, October 2011 Benefit Reduces fines and damage to the organization s reputation Avoids fines and lawsuits Reduces processing time and improves the customer experience Builds the brand Increases revenue Reduces processing time and rework Getting Started There are two primary uses of DA: real-time process guidance to help employees do their jobs correctly, and performance monitoring to identify systems, process and employee operational and training opportunities. These uses are complementary and can be used together. Desktop analytics applications deliver highly quantifiable benefits. Here is how to get started. Performance Monitoring: 1. Identify the systems and applications that you want to monitor. 2. Work with the vendor to integrate DA into these applications; this will include identifying the exact fields that need to be captured and monitored. 3. Specify reporting requirements to ensure that the output is actionable. 4. Integrate DA into one application and assess its effectiveness. 5. Enhance the implementation and roll it out to other applications, one at a time. 6. Communicate with staff about the use and benefits of DA. 7. Integrate DA output into the QA process DMG Consulting LLC October 2011

8 Real-Time Process Guidance 8. Determine which processes can be enhanced by using DA as a real-time guidance application. 9. Develop scripts (pop-ups) to communicate with employees when the actions they take are incorrect. 10. Consider using DA to provide employees with next-best-action recommendations. 11. Implement real-time guidance on one or two processes, and conduct a pilot implementation with a few employees. 12. Expand the pilot to additional processes, and roll it out. 13. Train staff to use the application properly in order to realize the greatest benefits from DA. 14. Track process adherence to identify variances and opportunities for training and continual improvement. Final Thoughts Enterprises have invested millions of dollars in systems to automate manual back-office processes in the hope of eliminating or reducing some of the most people-intensive operating groups. While many of these projects have been successful, they did little to improve or even measure the performance of the remaining employees. Back-office groups and activities have proliferated in many companies and government agencies, resulting in more complex operating environments. DMG estimates that there are at least three times as many back-office employees as contact center agents in a typical organization, a ratio that is expected to continue. Just as contact centers have benefited from workforce optimization solutions, back offices also need tools to improve staff performance, quality and productivity. Managers also need automation that provides transparency and actionable insights, which can be used to drive a culture of continuous improvement and cost reduction. Desktop analytics is a practical and cost-effective solution that can be implemented in three months. It s a highly targeted application that can rapidly improve staff performance by providing real-time guidance and identifying departmental and employee-specific system and processing issues so that they can be corrected or improved. Combined with operational best practices, DA solutions have the potential to reduce processing time and cost while enhancing quality. As importantly, they will help improve the operating environment and make back-office work more rewarding for employees, which will produce a better customer experience DMG Consulting LLC October 2011

9 About Verint Systems About Verint Desktop and Process Analytics Impact 360 Desktop and Process Analytics from Verint is a robust solution designed for today s evolving customer service and back-office operations. Leveraging the technology, organizations can benefit from having real-time visibility into employee desktop activities and workflow across different business systems, communications channels and processes. Part of the Verint enterprise workforce optimization suite, the software measures, analyzes, and helps improve efficiency and effectiveness in back-office operations and customer contact center environments; reduces cycle times, errors and rework; maximizes resource utilization; delivers real-time process discovery, analysis and guidance; and enhances customer experiences. About Verint Systems Verint Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: VRNT) is a global leader in Actionable Intelligence solutions that include enterprise workforce optimization (WFO) software and services. The company s solutions are designed to help organizations capture customer intelligence, uncover business trends, discover the root cause of employee and customer behavior, and optimize the customer experience. Today 10,000+ organizations in more than 150 countries including over 85 percent of the Fortune 100 use Verint solutions to improve enterprise performance and make the world a safer place. Learn more by visiting or by contacting VERINT or info@verint.com. About DMG Consulting DMG Consulting is the leading provider of contact center and analytics research, market analysis and consulting services. DMG s mission is to help end users build world-class, differentiated contact centers and assist vendors in developing high-value solutions for the market. DMG devotes more than 10,000 hours annually to researching various segments of the contact center market, including vendors, solutions, technologies, best practices, and the benefits and ROI for end users. DMG is an independent firm that provides information and consulting services to enterprise and contact center management, the financial and investment community, and vendors in the market. More information about DMG Consulting can be found at DMG Consulting LLC October 2011