Reduction in initial incident support time

Month to roll out IT Service Management

Of employees satisfied with internal support

Hartlauer is an Austrian family business that was founded more than 50 years ago, steeped in tradition and focussed on social responsibility but at the same time, always at the cutting edge of technical developments. In the four corporate divisions of optics, acoustics, cell phones, and photography, Hartlauer simply “offers more” for all its customer in its 160 stores across Austria.

To achieve that extra level of service and expert advice, employees impress customers with high-quality products ranging from glasses, contact lenses and hearing aids, to state-of-the-art photographic equipment, and mobile phones. The business also manufactures up to 2,000 spectacle frames at its production site in Steyr, one of the most modern facilities in Europe. In the manufacturing facility in Graz, customized and AI-driven hearing aids are manufactured using 3D processes.

For Hartlauer, however, people are what really matters. From the moment a customer sets foot in one of the company’s 160 stores, it aims to provide expert advice and guidance, always with a customer-first mindset and the ultimate goal to explore the needs of the customer and recommend exactly the right product. Hartlauer’s motto: only a satisfied customer will return.

For Hartlauer, the personal contact at the heart of this successful customer experience is underpinned by the delivery of critical information and support to staff through its IT system.

“If we cannot provide a high level of service, we lose customers to the competition,” emphasizes Philipp Täubel, Head of Operative IT and IT Security at Hartlauer. “That whole process involves IT. If a customer has a problem but an advisor can’t help fully because there’s an IT error, that customer will be unhappy and, in the worst case, will leave the store.”

IT service was previously handled by an in-house solution that had grown with the company. Over time, however, levels of efficiency had fallen as system errors and complexity grew. Hartlauer needed a new system that could improve service levels and response times for in-store assistants. Event management and user self-service were also important requirements to be able to detect failures at an early stage and give employees the opportunity to self-serve.

“We wanted a single point of contact for store staff,” explains Philipp. “We needed a portal that not only allowed users to request help quickly and easily, but also had an integrated knowledge base.”

CUSTOMER

Hartlauer

HEADQUARTERS

Steyr, Österreich

INDUSTRY

Retail

EMPLOYEES

PARTNER

ServiceNow offered a complete solution out-of-the-box. “We didn’t want a solution tailored to us,” Philipp explains. “We wanted a solution that we could adapt to, because we also wanted to develop and reorganize our IT processes.”

The most pressing priority was cutting excessively long response times to avoid the issue of customers losing patience. The service portal and incident management system were therefore set up first; within a month, the company rolled out ServiceNow IT Service Management (ITSM) to all 1,800 employees across around 2,000 devices.

“We were able to switch over to ServiceNow fairly quickly,” says Philipp. “Everything is in one system now and nothing gets lost.”

A self-service knowledge database was also gradually established, and the incident management system was steadily improved and refined.

“We really liked the idea of integrating the knowledge database right away to get self-help suggestions when creating an incident,” says Philipp. “It was very important for us to ensure that employees get help as quickly as possible if they have a problem so that they can support customers in real-time.”

The basic structure has been in place for a year and has been developed further by the IT team. Part of this process has involved extending the system’s scope to include the building and facilities management, as well as transforming the IT Service Desk into a wider Enterprise Desk.

“The line between IT and buildings management is often quite blurred,” says Philipp. “The Enterprise Desk is now a single point of contact for everything related to buildings and facilities management, as well as IT processes.”

“Time to resolution has decreased dramatically,” explains Philipp. “Initial incident processing time, which was previously 15 to 20 minutes, is now just three minutes with ServiceNow.”

The experience for employees and how they serve customers is also transformed. For instance, if an employee is unable to enter an order, they can initially look for a solution in the knowledge database. If no solution is found, they can contact the support team on the phone or through the portal. The Service Portal also shows employees if a problem that affects them is already being worked on, saving time on both sides. Employees also know that their issue will be dealt with quickly, enabling them to remain calm in their conversation with the customer.

Hartlauer is working on the introduction of IT Operations Management (ITOM) to gain further transparency and insight, and to carry out intelligent troubleshooting. Thanks to the Service Mapping capability, help statuses will be displayed more clearly and additional information such as security alerts can be shared across the company.

Once all services have been recorded and prioritized, the next phase of the change management process will begin, bringing more processes into the ServiceNow environment.

The Service Catalogue, for example, simplifies the onboarding of new employees. Each workstation is equipped with everything a new employee needs, with all the necessary authorizations ready for their start date. These improved processes also allow Hartlauer to target IT resources more effectively, with requested items reaching their intended destinations directly.

ITOM will also give Hartlauer a clear overview of the status of in-store hardware and equipment, with configuration readouts making troubleshooting easier as IT staff can see which software versions are installed for any given device.

Active device monitoring allows the facilities team to take rapid action as and when required. For instance, if a problem arises with a service unit in a store, the issue can now be resolved before staff even notice it.

“We were able to switch over to ServiceNow fairly quickly. Everything is in one system now and nothing gets lost.”

Philipp Täubel

Head of Operative IT and IT Security

Hartlauer

“ServiceNow is the single point of truth for our data and demands. We can build a CMDB and link it to services,” says Philipp. “We can link it to event, incident, and problem management, and handle demand and project management in one place thanks to ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management.”

The Hartlauer IT team is currently developing the demand process with the help of its partner, ADVVISE. The demand process will replace requirements management and extend to portfolio management, and ultimately will align with the HR development system.

“Introducing the ServiceNow platform and realigning the organization have significantly improved the IT department’s image,” says Philipp. “There is now much more understanding if something doesn’t work as it should because they know we are working on it.”

This improvement is reflected in a recent company satisfaction survey, in which 50 percent of Hartlauer employees said they were ‘very satisfied’ with the level of internal service, and a further 49 percent said they were ‘satisfied’. Philipp credits much of this to the wide range of functions and ease of use enabled by ServiceNow.

“You simply switch ServiceNow on, activate it and use it; it makes switching easy,” Philipp concludes. “We have simply activated and used most of the out-of-the-box functions, and we are very happy with the results.”