Shaner Hotel Group Adopts Flexible ITSM

Shaner Hotel Group Improves IT Service with Flexible ITSM

Shaner Hotel Levels Up ITSM with No Code Workflow
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Flexible ITSM Software

Flexible ITSM software lets you quickly and easily build workflow.

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Reduced Call Volume

A move to self-service with improved ticket triage and workflow.

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Enterprise Service

Go beyond IT for true enterprise service management for HR, Facilities and more.

Flexible ITSM Software

Customer service is the cornerstone of the hospitality industry. Providing exceptional service by attending to guestsโ€™ needs in a timely manner is essential to building relationships, earning loyalty and generating repeat business.ย Behind the scenes, itโ€™s the IT support staff who are responsible for serving the needs of hotel employees. If IT staff donโ€™t do their jobs well, then employees canโ€™t service guests effectively.ย Shaner Hotel Group, a hotel management firm that oversees more than 60 properties across 15 states and four countries, achieves its success using a flexible ITSMย platform from Velentix.

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โ€œWith limited help desk employees, we wanted to reduce calls requesting support. Weโ€™re trying to push everybody online instead,โ€ ย explains Steve Shala, Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Shaner Hotel Group.

Outcomes

  • Faster issue resolution and reduced ticket volume
  • Increased technician productivity by leveraging workflow automation
  • Easily evolve with a flexible ITSM platform

Flexible to Meet Evolving Needs

Prior to Velentix, the hospitality business was using another help desk platform to manage IT services for employees. However, the program was โ€œthe most painful, complicated software Iโ€™ve ever used in my life,โ€ says Vice President and Chief Information Officer Steve Shala.

With the prior solution, โ€œwe needed a dedicated programmer to make changes to our workflows,โ€ Shala explains. Even creating IT support tickets wasnโ€™t an easy process. Shala realized it was time to find a better system.

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Shaner Hotel group now uses Velentix to manage IT service for its 1,100 employeesโ€”and both employees and IT staff alike have noticed a huge difference.

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Shala had used Velentix at a prior job. โ€œI loved it,โ€ he says. So when the opportunity presented itself to bring Velentix to Shaner Hotel Group, Shala jumped at the chance.

Reduced Admin Drain

The team can easily configure the system or make changes without coding.

Decreased Ticket Volume

Self-service adoption is allowing the IT team to address the most critical issues faster.

With limited help desk employees, we wanted to reduce calls."

ITSM Made Simple

A flexible ITSM software platform allows the team to quickly deploy workflow andย  expand usage to enterprise groups such as HR and Facilities.

Top ITSM Drivers

Using Velentix for ITSM has saved help desk staff considerable time and led to better IT service for Shaner Hotel Group employees. Here are some of the many ways IT staff and employees alike have benefited:

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Self-Service Made Easy

Velentixย simplifies the intake process for IT support tickets with the use of a convenient self-service portal. Because itโ€™s web-based, employees can initiate service requests from their phone or another mobile device. Thatโ€™s an important benefit for an organization where many employees arenโ€™t sitting at a desk all day. โ€œWith limited help desk employees, weโ€™re trying to cut down on the number of phone calls we get requesting support,โ€ Shala says. โ€œWeโ€™re trying to push everybody online instead.โ€

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When service requests come in through the online portal, theyโ€™re routed automatically to the appropriate team member for a response. Because help desk staff are answering fewer phone calls, they can respond to service requests faster and more effectively as they use the portal.

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Efficiency through Automation

Velentix allows organizations to set upย automated workflowsย for handling critical tasks. This moves processes along more efficiently and ensures that nothing falls through the cracks, which is especially helpful for managing multistep processes.

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For instance, fulfilling requests for new user accounts can be complicated, because it involves getting input and approvals from many people. New employees need access to many different systems depending on their role with the company, such as networked security cameras or purchasing software.

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To accomplish this, IT staff must work with multiple departments to get the approvals.ย  The customizable workflows within Velentix automatically trigger messages to the appropriate people asking for their approval at each step in the process, so there are no delays and no steps are overlooked. โ€œWorkflows might be the platformโ€™s nicest feature,โ€ Shala says.

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No Code Workflow Building

Not only can organizations create and manage fully customizable workflows within Velentix, but this process is so simple that any authorized staff member can make changes without needing specialized programming knowledge. This feature allows Shaner Hotel Groupโ€™s IT department to be more agile and responsive to usersโ€™ needs.

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End-user Visibility

With Velentix, managers and employees have full visibility into the status of support tickets and service requests that pertain to them. This openness has improved communication between IT staff and other company employees.

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Extensive Reporting

Velentix includes extensiveย reporting featuresย that improve accountability. One feature that Shala appreciates is the ability to keep track of how much time IT staff spend on various service tasks. At Shaner, this time is billed separately to each property. Shala used to spend at least 30 minutes each month compiling this information by hand. Now, he simply clicks on a buttonโ€”and itโ€™s all done for him instantly.

Enterprise Service Management

Velentix can be used to manage any type of service request, not just IT. Shaner Hotel Group has plans to use the platform to streamline workflows and manage tasks within its contracts and licensing, construction, human resources and procurement departments as well.

Tickets and Projects Together

As for IT, Shala expects to use Velentix to manage more extensiveย projectsย as well as service requests, such as upgrading the TV and Wi-Fi service in various hotel properties.

โ€œWith more employees working remotely, itโ€™s much easier to have automated digital workflows for the management and fulfillment of projects and service requests,โ€ he saysโ€”and Velentix makes it easy to establish these.

With more employees working remotely, it's much easier to have automated workflows."

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