case study for it support

How to Write a Case Study for an IT Company

Sep 30, 2023

Introduction

A case study is what can set you apart from the competitors. It’s a chance to show off your portfolio and demonstrate your expertise and problem-solving skills to potential clients. Writing a case study on your work is a chance to present what your company can achieve. What challenges have you faced, and how did your team overcame them.

In an increasingly competitive business landscape, where choices abound, the stories of success and innovation resonate most with discerning consumers. Your portfolio, meticulously displayed within a case study, is a testament to your track record of delivering results, offering tangible evidence of your capabilities.

Let’s see how you can make it shine with B2B case study examples .

What Makes a Good Case Study?

First things first, let’s get our definitions straight. What is a case study exactly?

In IT, a case study is an in-depth examination of a specific real-world situation, project, problem, or success story within the field. It is a research of your project, so to you, where you demonstrate your results to prospects that can potentially become your buyers. These studies are used to showcase how solutions and technologies have been applied to address particular challenges or achieve specific goals. Case studies provide detailed insights into the projects' and initiatives' strategies, processes, and outcomes.

Points to include

• Introduction and background information.

This section provides relevant background information to set the stage for the case study. It includes details about the industry, company, or organization in question and any relevant historical or contextual information.

• Problem statement and main goals.

The problem statement is critical to any case study as it sets the stage for the entire analysis. It succinctly defines the issue or challenges the case study addresses. In this section, the main goals of the project or initiative are also outlined. For instance, a company may face declining website traffic and set the goal of increasing user engagement and conversions. These objectives guide the entire case study and provide a clear focus for the reader.

• Challenges and solutions.

Every IT case study involves challenges that need to be overcome. This section delves into the specific hurdles encountered during the project. These challenges could be technical, financial, or organizational in nature. The subsequent part of this section discusses the solutions or strategies employed to tackle these challenges. This is where you explain how the IT team or organization devised and implemented innovative solutions to address the identified issues.

• Methodology and tech stack.

The methodology and tech stack section provides insights into how the case study was conducted. It details the research methods, data collection techniques, and analytical approaches used. The tech stack is crucial in IT case studies as it outlines the specific technologies, tools, and platforms utilized to implement solutions. This part ensures transparency in the research process and helps readers understand the technical aspects of the project.

• Descriptions and analysis.

The case description section provides a comprehensive narrative of the project or situation. It outlines the context, key individuals, organizations, and events. Following the description, the analysis section is where the real depth of the case study comes into play. You apply relevant theories, models, or frameworks to interpret the data and findings. This analysis should be objective and data-driven, allowing readers to draw their own conclusions based on the presented information.

• Results and conclusions.

In this critical section, the outcomes of the project are discussed. Quantitative and qualitative results should be presented, showcasing the impact of the IT solutions. Did the project meet its goals? Were the challenges successfully addressed? This section also summarizes the key findings and their implications. The conclusions drawn from the analysis should be supported by the evidence presented throughout the case study.

• Reviews and feedbacks.

Including a section on reviews and feedback is beneficial to provide a well-rounded view of the case study. This can include feedback from stakeholders, end-users, or clients who were involved in or impacted by the project. Positive reviews can validate the success of the IT solutions, while any constructive criticism can offer insights into areas for improvement. This feedback loop is valuable for continuous improvement in IT projects.

Each of these components contributes to a comprehensive and informative case study.

Benefits of Case Studies

You get plenty of benefits from providing case studies to your clients, whether on your corporate website or in your portfolio on a commonly used platform like Upwork. Case studies are versatile tools that offer valuable insights and have many applications in research and business. They enable a deeper understanding of complex issues and provide actionable information for decision-making and problem-solving.

Present your expertise

Showcase your specialized knowledge, skills, and achievements in a tangible and persuasive manner. By detailing a real-world scenario where you applied your expertise to solve a specific problem or achieve notable results, you demonstrate your competence and provide evidence of your capability to potential clients, employers, or collaborators. Case studies offer a platform for you to narrate your success stories, highlighting the value you bring to the table. Moreover, they can serve as valuable marketing tools, helping you establish credibility in your field, attract new opportunities, and build trust with your audience, ultimately fostering professional growth and recognition.

Show your trustworthiness

Establishing credibility and building strong relationships with clients, partners, and stakeholders is something you can’t ignore. Case studies provide a transparent and concrete account of how you've successfully addressed challenges or met objectives in real-world scenarios. By openly sharing the details of your approach, methodologies, and outcomes, you demonstrate integrity and a commitment to accountability. This transparency instills trust and enables others to make informed decisions about collaborating with you or your organization. A well-documented case study is a testament to your reliability and competence, reinforcing your reputation as a trustworthy expert in your field.

Communicate valuable insights

Case studies encapsulate real-world experiences and data-driven analysis, allowing for the presentation of actionable insights in a clear and comprehensible manner. These insights, often derived from problem-solving scenarios, research endeavors, or practical applications, offer practical guidance and inform decision-making. By utilizing case studies, individuals and organizations can leverage these insights to drive informed choices, innovate, and tackle complex challenges with a deeper understanding, ultimately facilitating meaningful and positive outcomes.

10 Tips on How to Choose the Right Project

It’s not enough to know how to write a good case. Choosing the right project to introduce to your prospects is also essential. Here are several major suggestions to help you approach this topic best.

• Define objectives. Clarifying your objectives is essential before choosing a project for your case study. Are you aiming to showcase expertise, demonstrate problem-solving skills, or highlight industry-specific achievements? Defining your goals will serve as a compass to guide your project selection.
• Identify relevant topics . Consider themes and topics that align with your case study's objectives. Consider areas where your organization or expertise excels, whether in a particular industry, technology, or solving specific types of problems. A relevant topic ensures your case study remains focused and purposeful.
• Evaluate successful projects. Reflect on past projects or initiatives that have stood out due to their success, innovation, or substantial impact. These projects are prime candidates for case studies as they demonstrate your track record of delivering positive outcomes.
• Consider challenges and solutions. A compelling case study often involves projects with notable challenges and the creative solutions used to overcome them. Such projects provide a rich narrative, showcasing your ability to tackle complex problems effectively.
• Assess client satisfaction. If applicable, consider projects that have received positive feedback from clients, stakeholders, or end-users. Client testimonials and satisfaction metrics can enhance the credibility of your case study and underscore your commitment to delivering value.
• Collect data and evidence. Ensure you access relevant data, metrics, and evidence to substantiate your case study's claims and findings. Data-driven insights add depth and credibility to your narrative.
• Get permission. When selecting a project, it's vital to be mindful of any ethical or confidentiality considerations. Some projects may involve sensitive information that cannot be publicly shared, so ensure you have the necessary permissions and safeguards.
• Diversity and variety. Over time, aim to create a diverse portfolio of case studies. Select projects that represent different industries, challenges, and solutions. This diversity demonstrates the breadth and versatility of your expertise.
• Audience relevance. Tailor your project choice to your target audience. Consider a projects will resonate most with your readers, whether they are potential clients, peers, or students. A relatable case study will more likely engage and inform your audience effectively.
• Feasibility . Assess the practicality of developing a comprehensive case study for the chosen project. Ensure you have the necessary resources, documentation, and team members available to support the case study development process. Feasibility is essential for delivering a well-rounded and informative case study.

Information to Include

When creating a case study, you'll want to include a variety of resources to support your analysis and provide evidence for your claims.

Remember to request the necessary permissions and discuss the case with your client before you make it public. Meanwhile, here is some common info you should consider including.

Relevant data

This includes data collected directly from your case study subject, such as requirements, client inquiries, and observations during the project. Primary data adds depth and authenticity to your study. Don’t forget to provide any reports you can get after the project completion: let your readers know how the whole thing played out. Financial figures, SEO updates, and anything that is relevant. It provides context and additional information related to your case.

Enhancing visuals

include charts, graphs, tables, photographs, and diagrams to illustrate key points, trends, or findings. Visuals make your case study more engaging and easier to understand. Consider using storytelling techniques like timelines, infographics, or flowcharts to help convey complex information and the progression of events.

Testimonials and reports

Incorporate quotes from interviews or statements from individuals involved in the case. Testimonials can provide firsthand perspectives and add credibility to your study. This helps to show the impact of decisions or actions through someone else's lens. Attach relevant documents, such as project reports, emails, memos, or contracts, to provide concrete evidence and context for your case.

Frameworks and tech stack

Utilize relevant theoretical frameworks, models, or concepts to analyze and interpret the data. This demonstrates a strong theoretical foundation for your case study. Including a diverse range of resources ensures that your case study is well-supported and credible and provides a thorough understanding of the subject matter. It also enhances the overall quality and depth of your analysis.

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Write to Engage

Creating an engaging narrative is crucial to writing a compelling text. It helps capture the reader's attention and makes the information more accessible and memorable. Here are some strategies to create an engaging narrative.

Compelling start

Begin your case study with a captivating introduction that immediately draws readers in. This could involve opening with a surprising statistic related to the IT industry's challenges or successes. Alternatively, you can use a powerful quote from a key figure in the project or an illustrative scenario setting the IT project's stage. The goal is to pique the reader's curiosity and make them eager to delve into the rest of the case study.

Narrative structure

Structure your case study like a story to create an engaging narrative. Start with the initial problem or challenge your IT project aims to address. Provide context by explaining why this problem was significant. Then, guide the reader through the project's journey, detailing the steps taken to resolve the issue. Highlight key milestones and turning points. Finally, conclude by showcasing the positive outcomes achieved as a result of the project's successful implementation. This narrative structure helps readers follow a logical progression and keeps them engaged by offering a sense of anticipation and resolution.

Human elements

Inject humanity into your IT case study by focusing on the people involved. Introduce key individuals, such as project managers, team members, clients, or stakeholders, and provide insights into their roles and contributions. Share anecdotes or personal experiences to bring these individuals to life. By showcasing the human aspect of the project, you make it relatable and relatable, helping readers connect with the story on a personal level. This adds authenticity and fosters a deeper understanding of the project's impact.

Dynamics of problem-solution

Make the problem-solving aspect of your IT project a central theme in your narrative. Start by clearly outlining the specific challenges or issues that the project aimed to address. Describe the complexity or urgency of these challenges to underscore their significance. As you progress through the narrative, delve into the strategies, methods, and innovative solutions that were deployed to overcome these challenges. By emphasizing the dynamic between problems and solutions, you create a narrative arc that keeps readers engaged. They become invested in understanding how each obstacle was tackled and how the project ultimately succeeded.

Visual enhancements

To enhance reader engagement and comprehension, incorporate visual elements strategically throughout your case study. Utilize charts, graphs, images, diagrams, and other visuals at relevant points in the narrative. Visuals serve as visual aids, making it easier for readers to grasp complex concepts, data, or project processes. They also help break up lengthy text sections, making the case study more visually appealing and accessible. When used effectively, visuals can reinforce key points and improve overall reader engagement.

By implementing these expanded strategies, you can create a narrative that informs and captivates your audience in your IT case study, making it more compelling and memorable.

Promote your Cases

Sharing your studies effectively ensures it reach the right audience and maximizes its impact. Here's how to approach the promotion and sharing of your case study:

Understand your audience

Begin by clearly defining the specific audiences you aim to reach with your IT case study. Consider factors such as their interests, needs, and preferences. For instance, if your case study demonstrates a groundbreaking IT solution, your primary audience might include CTOs and IT managers. Tailor your content to address their pain points and interests.

Once you've identified your target audiences, determine the most effective communication channels to reach them. This might involve a mix of online and offline platforms. For an online presence, utilize your company's website as a central hub for your case studies. Leverage social media platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook to engage a broader online audience. Consider email newsletters to reach your existing client base or subscribers. For more specialized audiences, explore industry-specific publications, webinars, or conferences.

Content repurposing

Promote your IT case study actively on various platforms. Create engaging social media posts that highlight key takeaways and encourage sharing. In email marketing campaigns, segment your email list to target recipients who are most likely to find the case study relevant. Host webinars or presentations where you discuss the case study's insights, providing opportunities for direct interaction and questions. Actively respond to comments and feedback on social media or your website to foster discussions and enhance the study's visibility.

Extend the life and reach of your case study by repurposing its content. Consider breaking it down into smaller, more digestible pieces. Create blog posts that explore specific aspects or findings in more detail. Develop eye-catching infographics to visualize key data points. Craft short videos that offer concise summaries or highlight real-world applications of the study's insights. These repurposed elements can be shared across various channels and appeal to different segments of your audience.

Continuous monitoring

Use analytics tools to track the performance of your case study's distribution efforts. Pay attention to essential metrics such as the number of views, downloads, shares, and click-through rates. Analyze the data to understand how your case study resonates with your audience. Identify which channels are most effective in reaching your goals.

Continuous monitoring and data analysis are key to refining your promotion strategy. Make informed adjustments to your approach based on the data and feedback received. If you find that a particular social media platform is driving significant engagement, allocate more resources to it. If your webinars are highly attended, consider hosting them regularly. By being agile and responsive, you can ensure that your IT case study reaches its intended audience and achieves its objectives effectively.

By expanding on these points, you can develop a comprehensive strategy for promoting and sharing your IT case study that reaches your target audience, engages them effectively, and maximizes the impact of your work.

Real-world Examples

As a company that provides Webflow development services and has been on the market for several years, we’ve compiled plenty of successfully delivered projects. We’ve put our knowledge and expertise into practice to walk our clients through our process: we started introducing case studies on our own. If you are interested in seeing practical examples of how to write case studies that drive engagement, check out our work:

• Ray Studios

In conclusion, crafting a compelling case study for the IT industry is about presenting facts and figures and telling a story of innovation, problem-solving, and expertise.

In the fast-paced world of technology, where innovative advancements occur rapidly, a well-prepared project study can set you apart from the competition. It showcases your ability to adapt and deliver tangible results. Remember that a successful case isn't just a document; it's a testament to your skills and a valuable tool for attracting clients, collaborators, and opportunities.

Every detail matters. From defining your objectives to presenting your conclusions, your project should be presented compellingly and informative to showcase your achievements in the industry.

So, embrace the challenge, and let your case studies become your success story.

It’s an in-depth analysis of a specific project, problem, or scenario related to technology implementation, innovation, or management. It provides a detailed account of real-world situations, often highlighting challenges, solutions, and the outcomes achieved. IT case studies showcase how organizations or professionals leverage technology to address issues, make improvements, or achieve business objectives. These studies serve as valuable learning tools, offering insights into best practices, lessons learned, and innovative approaches within the IT field. They also demonstrate the expertise and capabilities of individuals, teams, or organizations operating in the IT sector.

The length of a case study can vary, but it typically ranges from a few pages for shorter, so about 1500-2000 words, with more focused studies, to several dozen pages for more extensive and detailed analyses. The specific length depends on the complexity of the subject, the depth of information provided, and the intended audience and purpose of the case study. It’s better to avoid short-form studies that don’t go further than 500 words and combine those into one cohesive case.

Choose a relevant and compelling technology sector topic to write a case study. Define your objectives clearly, outlining your aim with the case study. Next, gather comprehensive information about the project or scenario, including details on the technology used, challenges faced, and the solution implemented. Organize this information in a structured format, including an introduction, background, problem statement, solution, results, and conclusion. Use visuals like charts and diagrams to illustrate key points. Ensure that the case study is well-researched, data-driven, and focused on providing valuable insights to your target audience, whether it's professionals, peers, or students. Finally, proofread and edit your case study to ensure clarity and coherence before sharing it with your intended readers.

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15 Real-Life Case Study Examples & Best Practices

Written by: Oghale Olori

Case studies are more than just success stories.

They are powerful tools that demonstrate the practical value of your product or service. Case studies help attract attention to your products, build trust with potential customers and ultimately drive sales.

It’s no wonder that 73% of successful content marketers utilize case studies as part of their content strategy. Plus, buyers spend 54% of their time reviewing case studies before they make a buying decision.

To ensure you’re making the most of your case studies, we’ve put together 15 real-life case study examples to inspire you. These examples span a variety of industries and formats. We’ve also included best practices, design tips and templates to inspire you.

Let’s dive in!

Table of Contents

What is a case study, 15 real-life case study examples, sales case study examples, saas case study examples, product case study examples, marketing case study examples, business case study examples, case study faqs.

• A case study is a compelling narrative that showcases how your product or service has positively impacted a real business or individual. 
• Case studies delve into your customer's challenges, how your solution addressed them and the quantifiable results they achieved.
• Your case study should have an attention-grabbing headline, great visuals and a relevant call to action. Other key elements include an introduction, problems and result section.
• Visme provides easy-to-use tools, professionally designed templates and features for creating attractive and engaging case studies.

A case study is a real-life scenario where your company helped a person or business solve their unique challenges. It provides a detailed analysis of the positive outcomes achieved as a result of implementing your solution.

Case studies are an effective way to showcase the value of your product or service to potential customers without overt selling. By sharing how your company transformed a business, you can attract customers seeking similar solutions and results.

Case studies are not only about your company's capabilities; they are primarily about the benefits customers and clients have experienced from using your product.

Every great case study is made up of key elements. They are;

• Attention-grabbing headline: Write a compelling headline that grabs attention and tells your reader what the case study is about. For example, "How a CRM System Helped a B2B Company Increase Revenue by 225%.
• Introduction/Executive Summary: Include a brief overview of your case study, including your customer’s problem, the solution they implemented and the results they achieved.
• Problem/Challenge: Case studies with solutions offer a powerful way to connect with potential customers. In this section, explain how your product or service specifically addressed your customer's challenges.
• Solution: Explain how your product or service specifically addressed your customer's challenges.
• Results/Achievements : Give a detailed account of the positive impact of your product. Quantify the benefits achieved using metrics such as increased sales, improved efficiency, reduced costs or enhanced customer satisfaction.
• Graphics/Visuals: Include professional designs, high-quality photos and videos to make your case study more engaging and visually appealing.
• Quotes/Testimonials: Incorporate written or video quotes from your clients to boost your credibility.
• Relevant CTA: Insert a call to action (CTA) that encourages the reader to take action. For example, visiting your website or contacting you for more information. Your CTA can be a link to a landing page, a contact form or your social media handle and should be related to the product or service you highlighted in your case study.

Now that you understand what a case study is, let’s look at real-life case study examples. Among these, you'll find some simple case study examples that break down complex ideas into easily understandable solutions.

In this section, we’ll explore SaaS, marketing, sales, product and business case study examples with solutions. Take note of how these companies structured their case studies and included the key elements.

We’ve also included professionally designed case study templates to inspire you.

1. Georgia Tech Athletics Increase Season Ticket Sales by 80%

Georgia Tech Athletics, with its 8,000 football season ticket holders, sought for a way to increase efficiency and customer engagement.

Their initial sales process involved making multiple outbound phone calls per day with no real targeting or guidelines. Georgia Tech believed that targeting communications will enable them to reach more people in real time.

Salesloft improved Georgia Tech’s sales process with an inbound structure. This enabled sales reps to connect with their customers on a more targeted level. The use of dynamic fields and filters when importing lists ensured prospects received the right information, while communication with existing fans became faster with automation.

As a result, Georgia Tech Athletics recorded an 80% increase in season ticket sales as relationships with season ticket holders significantly improved. Employee engagement increased as employees became more energized to connect and communicate with fans.

Why Does This Case Study Work?

In this case study example , Salesloft utilized the key elements of a good case study. Their introduction gave an overview of their customers' challenges and the results they enjoyed after using them. After which they categorized the case study into three main sections: challenge, solution and result.

Salesloft utilized a case study video to increase engagement and invoke human connection.

Incorporating videos in your case study has a lot of benefits. Wyzol’s 2023 state of video marketing report showed a direct correlation between videos and an 87% increase in sales.

The beautiful thing is that creating videos for your case study doesn’t have to be daunting.

With an easy-to-use platform like Visme, you can create top-notch testimonial videos that will connect with your audience. Within the Visme editor, you can access over 1 million stock photos , video templates, animated graphics and more. These tools and resources will significantly improve the design and engagement of your case study.

Simplify content creation and brand management for your team

• Collaborate on designs , mockups and wireframes with your non-design colleagues
• Lock down your branding to maintain brand consistency throughout your designs
• Why start from scratch? Save time with 1000s of professional branded templates

Sign up. It’s free.

2. WeightWatchers Completely Revamped their Enterprise Sales Process with HubSpot

WeightWatchers, a 60-year-old wellness company, sought a CRM solution that increased the efficiency of their sales process. With their previous system, Weightwatchers had limited automation. They would copy-paste message templates from word documents or recreate one email for a batch of customers.

This required a huge effort from sales reps, account managers and leadership, as they were unable to track leads or pull customized reports for planning and growth.

WeightWatchers transformed their B2B sales strategy by leveraging HubSpot's robust marketing and sales workflows. They utilized HubSpot’s deal pipeline and automation features to streamline lead qualification. And the customized dashboard gave leadership valuable insights.

As a result, WeightWatchers generated seven figures in annual contract value and boosted recurring revenue. Hubspot’s impact resulted in 100% adoption across all sales, marketing, client success and operations teams.

Hubspot structured its case study into separate sections, demonstrating the specific benefits of their products to various aspects of the customer's business. Additionally, they integrated direct customer quotes in each section to boost credibility, resulting in a more compelling case study.

Getting insight from your customer about their challenges is one thing. But writing about their process and achievements in a concise and relatable way is another. If you find yourself constantly experiencing writer’s block, Visme’s AI writer is perfect for you.

Visme created this AI text generator tool to take your ideas and transform them into a great draft. So whether you need help writing your first draft or editing your final case study, Visme is ready for you.

3. Immi’s Ram Fam Helps to Drive Over $200k in Sales

Immi embarked on a mission to recreate healthier ramen recipes that were nutritious and delicious. After 2 years of tireless trials, Immi finally found the perfect ramen recipe. However, they envisioned a community of passionate ramen enthusiasts to fuel their business growth.

This vision propelled them to partner with Shopify Collabs. Shopify Collabs successfully cultivated and managed Immi’s Ramen community of ambassadors and creators.

As a result of their partnership, Immi’s community grew to more than 400 dedicated members, generating over $200,000 in total affiliate sales.

The power of data-driven headlines cannot be overemphasized. Chili Piper strategically incorporates quantifiable results in their headlines. This instantly sparks curiosity and interest in readers.

While not every customer success story may boast headline-grabbing figures, quantifying achievements in percentages is still effective. For example, you can highlight a 50% revenue increase with the implementation of your product.

Take a look at the beautiful case study template below. Just like in the example above, the figures in the headline instantly grab attention and entice your reader to click through.

Having a case study document is a key factor in boosting engagement. This makes it easy to promote your case study in multiple ways. With Visme, you can easily publish, download and share your case study with your customers in a variety of formats, including PDF, PPTX, JPG and more!

4. How WOW! is Saving Nearly 79% in Time and Cost With Visme

This case study discusses how Visme helped WOW! save time and money by providing user-friendly tools to create interactive and quality training materials for their employees. Find out what your team can do with Visme. Request a Demo

WOW!'s learning and development team creates high-quality training materials for new and existing employees. Previous tools and platforms they used had plain templates, little to no interactivity features, and limited flexibility—that is, until they discovered Visme.

Now, the learning and development team at WOW! use Visme to create engaging infographics, training videos, slide decks and other training materials.

This has directly reduced the company's turnover rate, saving them money spent on recruiting and training new employees. It has also saved them a significant amount of time, which they can now allocate to other important tasks.

Visme's customer testimonials spark an emotional connection with the reader, leaving a profound impact. Upon reading this case study, prospective customers will be blown away by the remarkable efficiency achieved by Visme's clients after switching from PowerPoint.

Visme’s interactivity feature was a game changer for WOW! and one of the primary reasons they chose Visme.

“Previously we were using PowerPoint, which is fine, but the interactivity you can get with Visme is so much more robust that we’ve all steered away from PowerPoint.” - Kendra, L&D team, Wow!

Visme’s interactive feature allowed them to animate their infographics, include clickable links on their PowerPoint designs and even embed polls and quizzes their employees could interact with.

By embedding the slide decks, infographics and other training materials WOW! created with Visme, potential customers get a taste of what they can create with the tool. This is much more effective than describing the features of Visme because it allows potential customers to see the tool in action.

To top it all off, this case study utilized relevant data and figures. For example, one part of the case study said, “In Visme, where Kendra’s team has access to hundreds of templates, a brand kit, and millions of design assets at their disposal, their team can create presentations in 80% less time.”

Who wouldn't want that?

Including relevant figures and graphics in your case study is a sure way to convince your potential customers why you’re a great fit for their brand. The case study template below is a great example of integrating relevant figures and data.

This colorful template begins with a captivating headline. But that is not the best part; this template extensively showcases the results their customer had using relevant figures.

The arrangement of the results makes it fun and attractive. Instead of just putting figures in a plain table, you can find interesting shapes in your Visme editor to take your case study to the next level.

5. Lyte Reduces Customer Churn To Just 3% With Hubspot CRM

While Lyte was redefining the ticketing industry, it had no definite CRM system . Lyte utilized 12–15 different SaaS solutions across various departments, which led to a lack of alignment between teams, duplication of work and overlapping tasks.

Customer data was spread across these platforms, making it difficult to effectively track their customer journey. As a result, their churn rate increased along with customer dissatisfaction.

Through Fuelius , Lyte founded and implemented Hubspot CRM. Lyte's productivity skyrocketed after incorporating Hubspot's all-in-one CRM tool. With improved efficiency, better teamwork and stronger client relationships, sales figures soared.

The case study title page and executive summary act as compelling entry points for both existing and potential customers. This overview provides a clear understanding of the case study and also strategically incorporates key details like the client's industry, location and relevant background information.

Having a good summary of your case study can prompt your readers to engage further. You can achieve this with a simple but effective case study one-pager that highlights your customer’s problems, process and achievements, just like this case study did in the beginning.

Moreover, you can easily distribute your case study one-pager and use it as a lead magnet to draw prospective customers to your company.

Take a look at this case study one-pager template below.

This template includes key aspects of your case study, such as the introduction, key findings, conclusion and more, without overcrowding the page. The use of multiple shades of blue gives it a clean and dynamic layout.

Our favorite part of this template is where the age group is visualized.

With Visme’s data visualization tool , you can present your data in tables, graphs, progress bars, maps and so much more. All you need to do is choose your preferred data visualization widget, input or import your data and click enter!

6. How Workato Converts 75% of Their Qualified Leads

Workato wanted to improve their inbound leads and increase their conversion rate, which ranged from 40-55%.

At first, Workato searched for a simple scheduling tool. They soon discovered that they needed a tool that provided advanced routing capabilities based on zip code and other criteria. Luckily, they found and implemented Chili Piper.

As a result of implementing Chili Piper, Workato achieved a remarkable 75–80% conversion rate and improved show rates. This led to a substantial revenue boost, with a 10-15% increase in revenue attributed to Chili Piper's impact on lead conversion.

This case study example utilizes the power of video testimonials to drive the impact of their product.

Chili Piper incorporates screenshots and clips of their tool in use. This is a great strategy because it helps your viewers become familiar with how your product works, making onboarding new customers much easier.

In this case study example, we see the importance of efficient Workflow Management Systems (WMS). Without a WMS, you manually assign tasks to your team members and engage in multiple emails for regular updates on progress.

However, when crafting and designing your case study, you should prioritize having a good WMS.

Visme has an outstanding Workflow Management System feature that keeps you on top of all your projects and designs. This feature makes it much easier to assign roles, ensure accuracy across documents, and track progress and deadlines.

Visme’s WMS feature allows you to limit access to your entire document by assigning specific slides or pages to individual members of your team. At the end of the day, your team members are not overwhelmed or distracted by the whole document but can focus on their tasks.

7. Rush Order Helps Vogmask Scale-Up During a Pandemic

Vomask's reliance on third-party fulfillment companies became a challenge as demand for their masks grew. Seeking a reliable fulfillment partner, they found Rush Order and entrusted them with their entire inventory.

Vomask's partnership with Rush Order proved to be a lifesaver during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rush Order's agility, efficiency and commitment to customer satisfaction helped Vogmask navigate the unprecedented demand and maintain its reputation for quality and service.

Rush Order’s comprehensive support enabled Vogmask to scale up its order processing by a staggering 900% while maintaining a remarkable customer satisfaction rate of 92%.

Rush Order chose one event where their impact mattered the most to their customer and shared that story.

While pandemics don't happen every day, you can look through your customer’s journey and highlight a specific time or scenario where your product or service saved their business.

The story of Vogmask and Rush Order is compelling, but it simply is not enough. The case study format and design attract readers' attention and make them want to know more. Rush Order uses consistent colors throughout the case study, starting with the logo, bold square blocks, pictures, and even headers.

Take a look at this product case study template below.

Just like our example, this case study template utilizes bold colors and large squares to attract and maintain the reader’s attention. It provides enough room for you to write about your customers' backgrounds/introductions, challenges, goals and results.

The right combination of shapes and colors adds a level of professionalism to this case study template.

8. AMR Hair & Beauty leverages B2B functionality to boost sales by 200%

With limits on website customization, slow page loading and multiple website crashes during peak events, it wasn't long before AMR Hair & Beauty began looking for a new e-commerce solution.

Their existing platform lacked effective search and filtering options, a seamless checkout process and the data analytics capabilities needed for informed decision-making. This led to a significant number of abandoned carts.

Upon switching to Shopify Plus, AMR immediately saw improvements in page loading speed and average session duration. They added better search and filtering options for their wholesale customers and customized their checkout process.

Due to this, AMR witnessed a 200% increase in sales and a 77% rise in B2B average order value. AMR Hair & Beauty is now poised for further expansion and growth.

This case study example showcases the power of a concise and impactful narrative.

To make their case analysis more effective, Shopify focused on the most relevant aspects of the customer's journey. While there may have been other challenges the customer faced, they only included those that directly related to their solutions.

Take a look at this case study template below. It is perfect if you want to create a concise but effective case study. Without including unnecessary details, you can outline the challenges, solutions and results your customers experienced from using your product.

Don’t forget to include a strong CTA within your case study. By incorporating a link, sidebar pop-up or an exit pop-up into your case study, you can prompt your readers and prospective clients to connect with you.

9. How a Marketing Agency Uses Visme to Create Engaging Content With Infographics

SmartBox Dental , a marketing agency specializing in dental practices, sought ways to make dental advice more interesting and easier to read. However, they lacked the design skills to do so effectively.

Visme's wide range of templates and features made it easy for the team to create high-quality content quickly and efficiently. SmartBox Dental enjoyed creating infographics in as little as 10-15 minutes, compared to one hour before Visme was implemented.

By leveraging Visme, SmartBox Dental successfully transformed dental content into a more enjoyable and informative experience for their clients' patients. Therefore enhancing its reputation as a marketing partner that goes the extra mile to deliver value to its clients.

Visme creatively incorporates testimonials In this case study example.

By showcasing infographics and designs created by their clients, they leverage the power of social proof in a visually compelling way. This way, potential customers gain immediate insight into the creative possibilities Visme offers as a design tool.

This example effectively showcases a product's versatility and impact, and we can learn a lot about writing a case study from it. Instead of focusing on one tool or feature per customer, Visme took a more comprehensive approach.

Within each section of their case study, Visme explained how a particular tool or feature played a key role in solving the customer's challenges.

For example, this case study highlighted Visme’s collaboration tool . With Visme’s tool, the SmartBox Dental content team fostered teamwork, accountability and effective supervision.

Visme also achieved a versatile case study by including relevant quotes to showcase each tool or feature. Take a look at some examples;

Visme’s collaboration tool: “We really like the collaboration tool. Being able to see what a co-worker is working on and borrow their ideas or collaborate on a project to make sure we get the best end result really helps us out.”

Visme’s library of stock photos and animated characters: “I really love the images and the look those give to an infographic. I also really like the animated little guys and the animated pictures. That’s added a lot of fun to our designs.”

Visme’s interactivity feature: “You can add URLs and phone number links directly into the infographic so they can just click and call or go to another page on the website and I really like adding those hyperlinks in.”

You can ask your customers to talk about the different products or features that helped them achieve their business success and draw quotes from each one.

10. Jasper Grows Blog Organic Sessions 810% and Blog-Attributed User Signups 400X

Jasper, an AI writing tool, lacked a scalable content strategy to drive organic traffic and user growth. They needed help creating content that converted visitors into users. Especially when a looming domain migration threatened organic traffic.

To address these challenges, Jasper partnered with Omniscient Digital. Their goal was to turn their content into a growth channel and drive organic growth. Omniscient Digital developed a full content strategy for Jasper AI, which included a content audit, competitive analysis, and keyword discovery.

Through their collaboration, Jasper’s organic blog sessions increased by 810%, despite the domain migration. They also witnessed a 400X increase in blog-attributed signups. And more importantly, the content program contributed to over $4 million in annual recurring revenue.

The combination of storytelling and video testimonials within the case study example makes this a real winner. But there’s a twist to it. Omniscient segmented the video testimonials and placed them in different sections of the case study.

Video marketing , especially in case studies, works wonders. Research shows us that 42% of people prefer video testimonials because they show real customers with real success stories. So if you haven't thought of it before, incorporate video testimonials into your case study.

Take a look at this stunning video testimonial template. With its simple design, you can input the picture, name and quote of your customer within your case study in a fun and engaging way.

Try it yourself! Customize this template with your customer’s testimonial and add it to your case study!

11. How Meliá Became One of the Most Influential Hotel Chains on Social Media

Meliá Hotels needed help managing their growing social media customer service needs. Despite having over 500 social accounts, they lacked a unified response protocol and detailed reporting. This largely hindered efficiency and brand consistency.

Meliá partnered with Hootsuite to build an in-house social customer care team. Implementing Hootsuite's tools enabled Meliá to decrease response times from 24 hours to 12.4 hours while also leveraging smart automation.

In addition to that, Meliá resolved over 133,000 conversations, booking 330 inquiries per week through Hootsuite Inbox. They significantly improved brand consistency, response time and customer satisfaction.

The need for a good case study design cannot be over-emphasized.

As soon as anyone lands on this case study example, they are mesmerized by a beautiful case study design. This alone raises the interest of readers and keeps them engaged till the end.

If you’re currently saying to yourself, “ I can write great case studies, but I don’t have the time or skill to turn it into a beautiful document.” Say no more.

Visme’s amazing AI document generator can take your text and transform it into a stunning and professional document in minutes! Not only do you save time, but you also get inspired by the design.

With Visme’s document generator, you can create PDFs, case study presentations , infographics and more!

Take a look at this case study template below. Just like our case study example, it captures readers' attention with its beautiful design. Its dynamic blend of colors and fonts helps to segment each element of the case study beautifully.

12. Tea’s Me Cafe: Tamika Catchings is Brewing Glory

Tamika's journey began when she purchased Tea's Me Cafe in 2017, saving it from closure. She recognized the potential of the cafe as a community hub and hosted regular events centered on social issues and youth empowerment.

One of Tamika’s business goals was to automate her business. She sought to streamline business processes across various aspects of her business. One of the ways she achieves this goal is through Constant Contact.

Constant Contact became an integral part of Tamika's marketing strategy. They provided an automated and centralized platform for managing email newsletters, event registrations, social media scheduling and more.

This allowed Tamika and her team to collaborate efficiently and focus on engaging with their audience. They effectively utilized features like WooCommerce integration, text-to-join and the survey builder to grow their email list, segment their audience and gather valuable feedback.

The case study example utilizes the power of storytelling to form a connection with readers. Constant Contact takes a humble approach in this case study. They spotlight their customers' efforts as the reason for their achievements and growth, establishing trust and credibility.

This case study is also visually appealing, filled with high-quality photos of their customer. While this is a great way to foster originality, it can prove challenging if your customer sends you blurry or low-quality photos.

If you find yourself in that dilemma, you can use Visme’s AI image edit tool to touch up your photos. With Visme’s AI tool, you can remove unwanted backgrounds, erase unwanted objects, unblur low-quality pictures and upscale any photo without losing the quality.

Constant Contact offers its readers various formats to engage with their case study. Including an audio podcast and PDF.

In its PDF version, Constant Contact utilized its brand colors to create a stunning case study design.  With this, they increase brand awareness and, in turn, brand recognition with anyone who comes across their case study.

With Visme’s brand wizard tool , you can seamlessly incorporate your brand assets into any design or document you create. By inputting your URL, Visme’s AI integration will take note of your brand colors, brand fonts and more and create branded templates for you automatically.

You don't need to worry about spending hours customizing templates to fit your brand anymore. You can focus on writing amazing case studies that promote your company.

13. How Breakwater Kitchens Achieved a 7% Growth in Sales With Thryv

Breakwater Kitchens struggled with managing their business operations efficiently. They spent a lot of time on manual tasks, such as scheduling appointments and managing client communication. This made it difficult for them to grow their business and provide the best possible service to their customers.

David, the owner, discovered Thryv. With Thryv, Breakwater Kitchens was able to automate many of their manual tasks. Additionally, Thryv integrated social media management. This enabled Breakwater Kitchens to deliver a consistent brand message, captivate its audience and foster online growth.

As a result, Breakwater Kitchens achieved increased efficiency, reduced missed appointments and a 7% growth in sales.

This case study example uses a concise format and strong verbs, which make it easy for readers to absorb the information.

At the top of the case study, Thryv immediately builds trust by presenting their customer's complete profile, including their name, company details and website. This allows potential customers to verify the case study's legitimacy, making them more likely to believe in Thryv's services.

However, manually copying and pasting customer information across multiple pages of your case study can be time-consuming.

To save time and effort, you can utilize Visme's dynamic field feature . Dynamic fields automatically insert reusable information into your designs.  So you don’t have to type it out multiple times.

14. Zoom’s Creative Team Saves Over 4,000 Hours With Brandfolder

Zoom experienced rapid growth with the advent of remote work and the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic. Such growth called for agility and resilience to scale through.

At the time, Zoom’s assets were disorganized which made retrieving brand information a burden. Zoom’s creative manager spent no less than 10 hours per week finding and retrieving brand assets for internal teams.

Zoom needed a more sustainable approach to organizing and retrieving brand information and came across Brandfolder. Brandfolder simplified and accelerated Zoom’s email localization and webpage development. It also enhanced the creation and storage of Zoom virtual backgrounds.

With Brandfolder, Zoom now saves 4,000+ hours every year. The company also centralized its assets in Brandfolder, which allowed 6,800+ employees and 20-30 vendors to quickly access them.

Brandfolder infused its case study with compelling data and backed it up with verifiable sources. This data-driven approach boosts credibility and increases the impact of their story.

Bradfolder's case study goes the extra mile by providing a downloadable PDF version, making it convenient for readers to access the information on their own time. Their dedication to crafting stunning visuals is evident in every aspect of the project.

From the vibrant colors to the seamless navigation, everything has been meticulously designed to leave a lasting impression on the viewer. And with clickable links that make exploring the content a breeze, the user experience is guaranteed to be nothing short of exceptional.

The thing is, your case study presentation won’t always sit on your website. There are instances where you may need to do a case study presentation for clients, partners or potential investors.

Visme has a rich library of templates you can tap into. But if you’re racing against the clock, Visme’s AI presentation maker is your best ally.

15. How Cents of Style Made $1.7M+ in Affiliate Sales with LeadDyno

Cents of Style had a successful affiliate and influencer marketing strategy. However, their existing affiliate marketing platform was not intuitive, customizable or transparent enough to meet the needs of their influencers.

Cents of Styles needed an easy-to-use affiliate marketing platform that gave them more freedom to customize their program and implement a multi-tier commission program.

After exploring their options, Cents of Style decided on LeadDyno.

LeadDyno provided more flexibility, allowing them to customize commission rates and implement their multi-tier commission structure, switching from monthly to weekly payouts.

Also, integrations with PayPal made payments smoother And features like newsletters and leaderboards added to the platform's success by keeping things transparent and engaging.

As a result, Cents of Style witnessed an impressive $1.7 million in revenue from affiliate sales with a substantial increase in web sales by 80%.

LeadDyno strategically placed a compelling CTA in the middle of their case study layout, maximizing its impact. At this point, readers are already invested in the customer's story and may be considering implementing similar strategies.

A well-placed CTA offers them a direct path to learn more and take action.

LeadDyno also utilized the power of quotes to strengthen their case study. They didn't just embed these quotes seamlessly into the text; instead, they emphasized each one with distinct blocks.

Are you looking for an easier and quicker solution to create a case study and other business documents? Try Visme's AI designer ! This powerful tool allows you to generate complete documents, such as case studies, reports, whitepapers and more, just by providing text prompts. Simply explain your requirements to the tool, and it will produce the document for you, complete with text, images, design assets and more.

Still have more questions about case studies? Let's look at some frequently asked questions.

How to Write a Case Study?

• Choose a compelling story: Not all case studies are created equal. Pick one that is relevant to your target audience and demonstrates the specific benefits of your product or service.
• Outline your case study: Create a case study outline and highlight how you will structure your case study to include the introduction, problem, solution and achievements of your customer.
• Choose a case study template: After you outline your case study, choose a case study template . Visme has stunning templates that can inspire your case study design.
• Craft a compelling headline: Include figures or percentages that draw attention to your case study.
• Work on the first draft: Your case study should be easy to read and understand. Use clear and concise language and avoid jargon.
• Include high-quality visual aids: Visuals can help to make your case study more engaging and easier to read. Consider adding high-quality photos, screenshots or videos.
• Include a relevant CTA: Tell prospective customers how to reach you for questions or sign-ups.

What Are the Stages of a Case Study?

The stages of a case study are;

• Planning & Preparation: Highlight your goals for writing the case study. Plan the case study format, length and audience you wish to target.
• Interview the Client: Reach out to the company you want to showcase and ask relevant questions about their journey and achievements.
• Revision & Editing: Review your case study and ask for feedback. Include relevant quotes and CTAs to your case study.
• Publication & Distribution: Publish and share your case study on your website, social media channels and email list!
• Marketing & Repurposing: Turn your case study into a podcast, PDF, case study presentation and more. Share these materials with your sales and marketing team.

What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of a Case Study?

Advantages of a case study:

• Case studies showcase a specific solution and outcome for specific customer challenges.
• It attracts potential customers with similar challenges.
• It builds trust and credibility with potential customers.
• It provides an in-depth analysis of your company’s problem-solving process.

Disadvantages of a case study:

• Limited applicability. Case studies are tailored to specific cases and may not apply to other businesses.
• It relies heavily on customer cooperation and willingness to share information.
• It stands a risk of becoming outdated as industries and customer needs evolve.

What Are the Types of Case Studies?

There are 7 main types of case studies. They include;

• Illustrative case study.
• Instrumental case study.
• Intrinsic case study.
• Descriptive case study.
• Explanatory case study.
• Exploratory case study.
• Collective case study.

How Long Should a Case Study Be?

The ideal length of your case study is between 500 - 1500 words or 1-3 pages. Certain factors like your target audience, goal or the amount of detail you want to share may influence the length of your case study. This infographic has powerful tips for designing winning case studies

What Is the Difference Between a Case Study and an Example?

Case studies provide a detailed narrative of how your product or service was used to solve a problem. Examples are general illustrations and are not necessarily real-life scenarios.

Case studies are often used for marketing purposes, attracting potential customers and building trust. Examples, on the other hand, are primarily used to simplify or clarify complex concepts.

Where Can I Find Case Study Examples?

You can easily find many case study examples online and in industry publications. Many companies, including Visme, share case studies on their websites to showcase how their products or services have helped clients achieve success. You can also search online libraries and professional organizations for case studies related to your specific industry or field.

If you need professionally-designed, customizable case study templates to create your own, Visme's template library is one of the best places to look. These templates include all the essential sections of a case study and high-quality content to help you create case studies that position your business as an industry leader.

Get More Out Of Your Case Studies With Visme

Case studies are an essential tool for converting potential customers into paying customers. By following the tips in this article, you can create compelling case studies that will help you build trust, establish credibility and drive sales.

Visme can help you create stunning case studies and other relevant marketing materials. With our easy-to-use platform, interactive features and analytics tools , you can increase your content creation game in no time.

There is no limit to what you can achieve with Visme. Connect with Sales to discover how Visme can boost your business goals.

Easily create beautiful case studies and more with Visme

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What Is a Case Study? How to Write, Examples, and Template

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How to write a case study

Case study template, case study examples, types of case studies, what are the benefits of case studies , what are the limitations of case studies , case study vs. testimonial.

In today's marketplace, conveying your product's value through a compelling narrative is crucial to genuinely connecting with your customers.

Your business can use marketing analytics tools to understand what customers want to know about your product. Once you have this information, the next step is to showcase your product and its benefits to your target audience. This strategy involves a mix of data, analysis, and storytelling. Combining these elements allows you to create a narrative that engages your audience. So, how can you do this effectively?

What is a case study? 

A case study is a powerful tool for showcasing a business's success in helping clients achieve their goals. It's a form of storytelling that details real-world scenarios where a business implemented its solutions to deliver positive results for a client.

In this article, we explore the concept of a case study , including its writing process, benefits, various types, challenges, and more.

Understanding how to write a case study is an invaluable skill. You'll need to embrace decision-making – from deciding which customers to feature to designing the best format to make them as engaging as possible.  This can feel overwhelming in a hurry, so let's break it down.

Step 1: Reach out to the target persona

If you've been in business for a while, you have no shortage of happy customers. But w ith limited time and resources, you can't choose everyone.  So, take some time beforehand to flesh out your target buyer personas. 

Once you know precisely who you're targeting, go through your stable of happy customers to find a buyer representative of the audience you're trying to reach. The closer their problems, goals, and industries align, the more your case study will resonate.

What if you have more than one buyer persona? No problem. This is a common situation for companies because buyers comprise an entire committee. You might be marketing to procurement experts, executives, engineers, etc. Try to develop a case study tailored to each key persona. This might be a long-term goal, and that's fine. The better you can personalize the experience for each stakeholder, the easier it is to keep their attention.  

Here are a few considerations to think about before research:

• Products/services of yours the customer uses (and how familiar they are with them)
• The customer's brand recognition in the industry
• Whether the results they've achieved are specific and remarkable
• Whether they've switched from a competitor's product/service
• How closely aligned they are with your target audience

These items are just a jumping-off point as you develop your criteria.  Once you have a list, run each customer through it to determine your top targets. Approach the ones on the top (your "dream" case study subjects) and work your way down as needed.

Who to interview

You should consider interviewing top-level managers or executives because those are high-profile positions. But consider how close they are to your product and its results.

Focusing on an office manager or engineer who uses your product daily would be better. Look for someone with a courtside view of the effects.

The ways to request customer participation in case studies can vary, but certain principles can improve your chances:

• Make it easy for customers to work with you, respecting their valuable time. Be well-prepared and minimize their involvement.
• Emphasize how customers will benefit through increased publicity, revenue opportunities, or recognition for their success. 
• Acknowledge their contributions and showcase their achievements.
• Standardizing the request process with a script incorporating these principles can help your team consistently secure case study approvals and track performance.

Step 2: Prepare for the interview

Case study interviews are like school exams. The more prepared you are for them, the better they turn out. Preparing thoroughly also shows participants that you value their time. You don't waste precious minutes rehashing things you should have already known. You focus on getting the information you need as efficiently as possible.

You can conduct your case study interview in multiple formats, from exchanging emails to in-person interviews. This isn't a trivial decision.  As you'll see in the chart below, each format has its unique advantages and disadvantages. 

You'll also have to consider who will ask and answer the questions during your case study interview. It's wise to consider this while considering the case study format.  The number of participants factors into which format will work best. Pulling off an in-person interview becomes much harder if you're trying to juggle four or five people's busy schedules. Try a video conference instead.

Before interviewing your case study participant, it is crucial to identify the specific questions that need to be asked.  It's essential to thoroughly evaluate your collaboration with the client and understand how your product's contributions impact the company. 

Remember that structuring your case study is akin to crafting a compelling narrative. To achieve this, follow a structured approach:

• Beginning of your story. Delve into the customer's challenge that ultimately led them to do business with you. What were their problems like? What drove them to make a decision finally? Why did they choose you?
• The middle of the case study.  Your audience also wants to know about the experience of working with you. Your customer has taken action to address their problems. What happened once you got on board?
• An ending that makes you the hero.  Describe the specific results your company produced for the customer. How has the customer's business (and life) changed once they implemented your solution?

Sample questions for the case study interview

If you're preparing for a case study interview, here are some sample case study research questions to help you get started:

• What challenges led you to seek a solution?
• When did you realize the need for immediate action? Was there a tipping point?
• How did you decide on the criteria for choosing a B2B solution, and who was involved?
• What set our product or service apart from others you considered?
• How was your experience working with us post-purchase?
• Were there any pleasant surprises or exceeded expectations during our collaboration?
• How smoothly did your team integrate our solution into their workflows?
• How long before you started seeing positive results?
• How have you benefited from our products or services?
• How do you measure the value our product or service provides?

Step 3: Conduct the interview

Preparing for case study interviews can be different from everyday conversations. Here are some tips to keep in mind:

• Create a comfortable atmosphere.  Before diving into the discussion, talk about their business and personal interests. Ensure everyone is at ease, and address any questions or concerns.
• Prioritize key questions.  Lead with your most crucial questions to respect your customer's time. Interview lengths can vary, so starting with the essentials ensures you get the vital information.
• Be flexible.  Case study interviews don't have to be rigid. If your interviewee goes "off script," embrace it. Their spontaneous responses often provide valuable insights.
• Record the interview.  If not conducted via email, ask for permission to record the interview. This lets you focus on the conversation and capture valuable quotes without distractions.

Step 4: Figure out who will create the case study

When creating written case studies for your business, deciding who should handle the writing depends on cost, perspective, and revisions.

Outsourcing might be pricier, but it ensures a professionally crafted outcome. On the other hand, in-house writing has its considerations, including understanding your customers and products. 

Technical expertise and equipment are needed for video case studies, which often leads companies to consider outsourcing due to production and editing costs. 

Tip: When outsourcing work, it's essential to clearly understand pricing details to avoid surprises and unexpected charges during payment.

Step 5: Utilize storytelling

Understanding and applying storytelling elements can make your case studies unforgettable, offering a competitive edge. 

Source: The Framework Bank

Every great study follows a narrative arc (also called a "story arc"). This arc represents how a character faces challenges, struggles against raising stakes, and encounters a formidable obstacle before the tension resolves.

In a case study narrative, consider:

• Exposition. Provide background information about the company, revealing their "old life" before becoming your customer.
• Inciting incident. Highlight the problem that drove the customer to seek a solution, creating a sense of urgency.
• Obstacles (rising action). Describe the customer's journey in researching and evaluating solutions, building tension as they explore options.
• Midpoint. Explain what made the business choose your product or service and what set you apart.
• Climax. Showcase the success achieved with your product.
• Denouement. Describe the customer's transformed business and end with a call-to-action for the reader to take the next step.

Step 6: Design the case study

The adage "Don't judge a book by its cover" is familiar, but people tend to do just that quite often!

A poor layout can deter readers even if you have an outstanding case study. To create an engaging case study, follow these steps:

• Craft a compelling title. Just like you wouldn't read a newspaper article without an eye-catching headline, the same goes for case studies. Start with a title that grabs attention.
• Organize your content. Break down your content into different sections, such as challenges, results, etc. Each section can also include subsections. This case study approach divides the content into manageable portions, preventing readers from feeling overwhelmed by lengthy blocks of text.
• Conciseness is key. Keep your case study as concise as possible. The most compelling case studies are precisely long enough to introduce the customer's challenge, experience with your solution, and outstanding results. Prioritize clarity and omit any sections that may detract from the main storyline.
• Utilize visual elements. To break up text and maintain reader interest, incorporate visual elements like callout boxes, bulleted lists, and sidebars.
• Include charts and images. Summarize results and simplify complex topics by including pictures and charts. Visual aids enhance the overall appeal of your case study.
• Embrace white space. Avoid overwhelming walls of text to prevent reader fatigue. Opt for plenty of white space, use shorter paragraphs, and employ subsections to ensure easy readability and navigation.
• Enhance video case studies. In video case studies, elements like music, fonts, and color grading are pivotal in setting the right tone. Choose music that complements your message and use it strategically throughout your story. Carefully select fonts to convey the desired style, and consider how lighting and color grading can influence the mood. These elements collectively help create the desired tone for your video case study.

Step 7: Edits and revisions

Once you've finished the interview and created your case study, the hardest part is over. Now's the time for editing and revision. This might feel frustrating for impatient B2B marketers, but it can turn good stories into great ones.

Ideally, you'll want to submit your case study through two different rounds of editing and revisions:

• Internal review. Seek feedback from various team members to ensure your case study is captivating and error-free. Gather perspectives from marketing, sales, and those in close contact with customers for well-rounded insights. Use patterns from this feedback to guide revisions and apply lessons to future case studies.
• Customer feedback. Share the case study with customers to make them feel valued and ensure accuracy. Let them review quotes and data points, as they are the "heroes" of the story, and their logos will be prominently featured. This step maintains positive customer relationships.

Case study mistakes to avoid

• Ensure easy access to case studies on your website.
• Spotlight the customer, not just your business.
• Tailor each case study to a specific audience.
• Avoid excessive industry jargon in your content.

Step 8: Publishing

Take a moment to proofread your case study one more time carefully. Even if you're reasonably confident you've caught all the errors, it's always a good idea to check. Your case study will be a valuable marketing tool for years, so it's worth the investment to ensure it's flawless. Once done, your case study is all set to go!

Consider sharing a copy of the completed case study with your customer as a thoughtful gesture. They'll likely appreciate it; some may want to keep it for their records. After all, your case study wouldn't have been possible without their help, and they deserve to see the final product.

Where you publish your case study depends on its role in your overall marketing strategy. If you want to reach as many people as possible with your case study, consider publishing it on your website and social media platforms. 

Tip: Some companies prefer to keep their case studies exclusive, making them available only to those who request them. This approach is often taken to control access to valuable information and to engage more deeply with potential customers who express specific interests. It can create a sense of exclusivity and encourage interested parties to engage directly with the company.

Step 9: Case study distribution

When sharing individual case studies, concentrate on reaching the audience with the most influence on purchasing decisions

Here are some common distribution channels to consider:

• Sales teams. Share case studies to enhance customer interactions, retention , and upselling among your sales and customer success teams. Keep them updated on new studies and offer easily accessible formats like PDFs or landing page links.
• Company website. Feature case studies on your website to establish authority and provide valuable information to potential buyers. Organize them by categories such as location, size, industry, challenges, and products or services used for effective presentation.
• Events. Use live events like conferences and webinars to distribute printed case study copies, showcase video case studies at trade show booths, and conclude webinars with links to your case study library. This creative approach blends personal interactions with compelling content.
• Industry journalists. Engage relevant industry journalists to gain media coverage by identifying suitable publications and journalists covering related topics. Building relationships is vital, and platforms like HARO (Help A Reporter Out) can facilitate connections, especially if your competitors have received coverage before.

Want to learn more about Marketing Analytics Software? Explore Marketing Analytics products.

It can seem daunting to transform the information you've gathered into a cohesive narrative.  We’ve created a versatile case study template that can serve as a solid starting point for your case study.

With this template, your business can explore any solutions offered to satisfied customers, covering their background, the factors that led them to choose your services, and their outcomes.

The template boasts a straightforward design, featuring distinct sections that guide you in effectively narrating your and your customer's story. However, remember that limitless ways to showcase your business's accomplishments exist.

To assist you in this process, here's a breakdown of the recommended sections to include in a case study:

• Title.  Keep it concise. Create a brief yet engaging project title summarizing your work with your subject. Consider your title like a newspaper headline; do it well, and readers will want to learn more. 
• Subtitle . Use this section to elaborate on the achievement briefly. Make it creative and catchy to engage your audience.
• Executive summary.  Use this as an overview of the story, followed by 2-3 bullet points highlighting key success metrics.
• Challenges and objectives. This section describes the customer's challenges before adopting your product or service, along with the goals or objectives they sought to achieve.
• How product/service helped.  A paragraph explaining how your product or service addressed their problem.
• Testimonials.  Incorporate short quotes or statements from the individuals involved in the case study, sharing their perspectives and experiences.
• Supporting visuals.  Include one or two impactful visuals, such as graphs, infographics, or highlighted metrics, that reinforce the narrative.
• Call to action (CTA).  If you do your job well, your audience will read (or watch) your case studies from beginning to end. They are interested in everything you've said. Now, what's the next step they should take to continue their relationship with you? Give people a simple action they can complete. 

Case studies are proven marketing strategies in a wide variety of B2B industries. Here are just a few examples of a case study:

• Amazon Web Services, Inc.  provides companies with cloud computing platforms and APIs on a metered, pay-as-you-go basis. This case study example illustrates the benefits Thomson Reuters experienced using AWS.
• LinkedIn Marketing Solutions combines captivating visuals with measurable results in the case study created for BlackRock. This case study illustrates how LinkedIn has contributed to the growth of BlackRock's brand awareness over the years. 
• Salesforce , a sales and marketing automation SaaS solutions provider, seamlessly integrates written and visual elements to convey its success stories with Pepe Jeans. This case study effectively demonstrates how Pepe Jeans is captivating online shoppers with immersive and context-driven e-commerce experiences through Salesforce.
• HubSpot offers a combination of sales and marketing tools. Their case study demonstrates the effectiveness of its all-in-one solutions. These typically focus on a particular client's journey and how HubSpot helped them achieve significant results.

There are two different types of case studies that businesses might utilize:

Written case studies 

Written case studies offer readers a clear visual representation of data, which helps them quickly identify and focus on the information that matters most. 

Printed versions of case studies find their place at events like trade shows, where they serve as valuable sales collateral to engage prospective clients.  Even in the digital age, many businesses provide case studies in PDF format or as web-based landing pages, improving accessibility for their audience. 

Note: Landing pages , in particular, offer the flexibility to incorporate rich multimedia content, including images, charts, and videos. This flexibility in design makes landing pages an attractive choice for presenting detailed content to the audience.

Written case study advantages

Here are several significant advantages to leveraging case studies for your company:

• Hyperlink accessibility.  Whether in PDF or landing page format, written case studies allow for embedded hyperlinks, offering prospects easy access to additional information and contact forms.
• Flexible engagement.  Unlike video case studies, which may demand in-person arrangements, written case studies can be conducted via phone or video streaming, reducing customer commitment and simplifying scheduling.
• Efficient scanning . Well-structured written case studies with a scannable format cater to time-strapped professionals. Charts and callout boxes with key statistics enhance the ease of information retrieval.
• Printable for offline use.  Written case studies can be effortlessly printed and distributed at trade shows, sales meetings, and live events. This tangible format accommodates those who prefer physical materials and provides versatility in outreach, unlike video content, which is less portable.

Written case study disadvantages

Here are some drawbacks associated with the use of case studies:

• Reduced emotional impact.  Written content lacks the emotional punch of live video testimonials, which engage more senses and emotions, making a stronger connection.
• Consider time investment.  Creating a compelling case study involves editing, proofreading, and design collaboration, with multiple revisions commonly required before publication.
• Challenges in maintaining attention.  Attention spans are short in today's ad-saturated world. Using graphics, infographics, and videos more often is more powerful to incite the right emotions in customers.

Video case studies

Video case studies are the latest marketing trend. Unlike in the past, when video production was costly, today's tools make it more accessible for users to create and edit their videos. However, specific technical requirements still apply.

Like written case studies, video case studies delve into a specific customer's challenges and how your business provides solutions. Yet, the video offers a more profound connection by showcasing the person who faced and conquered the problem.

Video case studies can boost brand exposure when shared on platforms like YouTube. For example, Slack's engaging case study video with Sandwich Video illustrates how Slack transformed its workflow and adds humor, which can be challenging in written case studies focused on factual evidence.

Source : YouTube

This video case study has garnered nearly a million views on YouTube.

Video case study advantages

Here are some of the top advantages of video case studies. While video testimonials take more time, the payoff can be worth it. 

• Humanization and authenticity.  Video case studies connect viewers with real people, adding authenticity and fostering a stronger emotional connection.
• Engaging multiple senses.  They engage both auditory and visual senses, enhancing credibility and emotional impact. Charts, statistics, and images can also be incorporated.
• Broad distribution.  Videos can be shared on websites, YouTube, social media, and more, reaching diverse audiences and boosting engagement, especially on social platforms.

Video case study disadvantages

Before fully committing to video testimonials, consider the following:

• Technical expertise and equipment.  Video production requires technical know-how and equipment, which can be costly. Skilled video editing is essential to maintain a professional image. While technology advances, producing amateurish videos may harm your brand's perception.
• Viewer convenience.  Some prospects prefer written formats due to faster reading and ease of navigation. Video typically requires sound, which can be inconvenient for viewers in specific settings. Many people may not have headphones readily available to watch your content.
• Demand on case study participants.  On-camera interviews can be time-consuming and location-dependent, making scheduling challenging for case study participants. Additionally, being on screen for a global audience may create insecurities and performance pressure.
• Comfort on camera.  Not everyone feels at ease on camera. Nervousness or a different on-screen persona can impact the effectiveness of the testimonial, and discovering this late in the process can be problematic.

Written or video case studies: Which is right for you?

Now that you know the pros and cons of each, how do you choose which is right for you?

One of the most significant factors in doing video case studies can be the technical expertise and equipment required for a high level of production quality. Whether you have the budget to do this in-house or hire a production company can be one of the major deciding factors.

Still, written or video doesn't have to be an either-or decision. Some B2B companies are using both formats. They can complement each other nicely, minimizing the downsides mentioned above and reaching your potential customers where they prefer.

Let's say you're selling IT network security. What you offer is invaluable but complicated. You could create a short (three- or four-minute) video case study to get attention and touch on the significant benefits of your services. This whets the viewer's appetite for more information, which they could find in a written case study that supplements the video.

Should you decide to test the water in video case studies, test their effectiveness among your target audience. See how well they work for your company and sales team. And, just like a written case study, you can always find ways to improve your process as you continue exploring video case studies.

Case studies offer several distinctive advantages, making them an ideal tool for businesses to market their products to customers. However, their benefits extend beyond these qualities. 

Here's an overview of all the advantages of case studies:

Valuable sales support

Case studies serve as a valuable resource for your sales endeavors. Buyers frequently require additional information before finalizing a purchase decision. These studies provide concrete evidence of your product or service's effectiveness, assisting your sales representatives in closing deals more efficiently, especially with customers with lingering uncertainties.

Validating your value

Case studies serve as evidence of your product or service's worth or value proposition , playing a role in building trust with potential customers. By showcasing successful partnerships, you make it easier for prospects to place trust in your offerings. This effect is particularly notable when the featured customer holds a reputable status.

Unique and engaging content

By working closely with your customer success teams, you can uncover various customer stories that resonate with different prospects. Case studies allow marketers to shape product features and benefits into compelling narratives. 

Each case study's distinctiveness, mirroring the uniqueness of every customer's journey, makes them a valuable source of relatable and engaging content. Storytelling possesses the unique ability to connect with audiences on an emotional level, a dimension that statistics alone often cannot achieve. 

Spotlighting valuable customers

Case studies provide a valuable platform for showcasing your esteemed customers. Featuring them in these studies offers a chance to give them visibility and express your gratitude for the partnership, which can enhance customer loyalty . Depending on the company you are writing about, it can also demonstrate the caliber of your business.

Now is the time to get SaaS-y news and entertainment with our 5-minute newsletter,   G2 Tea , featuring inspiring leaders, hot takes, and bold predictions. Subscribe below!

It's important to consider limitations when designing and interpreting the results of case studies. Here's an overview of the limitations of case studies:

Challenges in replication

Case studies often focus on specific individuals, organizations, or situations, making generalizing their findings to broader populations or contexts challenging. 

Time-intensive process

Case studies require a significant time investment. The extensive data collection process and the need for comprehensive analysis can be demanding, especially for researchers who are new to this method.

Potential for errors

Case studies can be influenced by memory and judgment, potentially leading to inaccuracies. Depending on human memory to reconstruct a case's history may result in variations and potential inconsistencies in how individuals recall past events. Additionally, bias may emerge, as individuals tend to prioritize what they consider most significant, which could limit their consideration of alternative perspectives.

Challenges in verification

Confirming results through additional research can present difficulties. This complexity arises from the need for detailed and extensive data in the initial creation of a case study. Consequently, this process requires significant effort and a substantial amount of time.

While looking at case studies, you may have noticed a quote. This type of quote is considered a testimonial, a key element of case studies.

If a customer's quote proves that your brand does what it says it will or performs as expected, you may wonder: 'Aren't customer testimonials and case studies the same thing?' Not exactly.

Testimonials are brief endorsements designed to establish trust on a broad scale. In contrast, case studies are detailed narratives that offer a comprehensive understanding of how a product or service addresses a specific problem, targeting a more focused audience. 

Crafting case studies requires more resources and a structured approach than testimonials. Your selection between the two depends on your marketing objectives and the complexity of your product or service.

Case in point!

Case studies are among a company's most effective tools. You're  well on your way to mastering them.

Today's buyers are tackling much of the case study research methodology independently. Many are understandably skeptical before making a buying decision. By connecting them with multiple case studies, you can prove you've gotten the results you say you can. There's hardly a better way to boost your credibility and persuade them to consider your solution.

Case study formats and distribution methods might change as technology evolves. However, the fundamentals that make them effective—knowing how to choose subjects, conduct interviews, and structure everything to get attention—will serve you for as long as you're in business. 

We covered a ton of concepts and resources, so go ahead and bookmark this page. You can refer to it whenever you have questions or need a refresher.

Dive into market research to uncover customer preferences and spending habits.

Kristen McCabe

Kristen’s is a former senior content marketing specialist at G2. Her global marketing experience extends from Australia to Chicago, with expertise in B2B and B2C industries. Specializing in content, conversions, and events, Kristen spends her time outside of work time acting, learning nature photography, and joining in the #instadog fun with her Pug/Jack Russell, Bella. (she/her/hers)

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IT Support Case Studies - Business IT Support Consulting Case Studies

Our trusted technology advisors have helped a private holding company and their subsidiaries select the best IT solutions.

Our technology advisors assisted a consumer goods retailer that needed help enhancing customer service and the sales experience.

Our tech advisors helped a client replace their on-prem environment with a more flexible contact center solution that integrates with their CRM and call reporting platform.

IEMA and the city of Chicago needed to develop a strategic response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

A growing company in the Chicago area and recently went through an acquisition that brought cybersecurity to the forefront.

A mortgage lender worked with our trusted advisors to migrate to a Microsoft Teams direct routing solution from CallTower, cutting costs and achieving greater flexibility and convenience for remote workers.

A telecommunications contractor minimized their risk level with an end-to-end cybersecurity solution from Stratosphere.

An Illinois-based power company contained costs by transitioning from an on-prem phone system to a cloud solution. Our trusted advisors identified their ideal UCaaS solution.

A midmarket manufacturing company found a UCaaS and CCaaS platform that met their requirements for scalability and integration with assistance from our trusted advisors.

Our team of trusted advisors assisted a marketing agency that needed to find the right UCaaS platform to replace their on-prem phone system and deliver remote work capabilities.

Implementing a cloud phone system helped a Chicago-based non-profit lower spending and give their staff members the ability to work from anywhere during the pandemic.

A Chicago-based research company lowered spending and gained remote work capabilities by switching from an on-premises phone system to a Microsoft Teams unified communications solution.

A Fortune 100 company reached out to our trusted advisors because they had an outdated on-premises PBX and contact center solution.

A Chicago-based adult beverage company sought us out because they were dissatisfied with their managed service provider and wanted faster responses and a more consolidated solution.

A Microsoft and Office 365 audit identified significant potential savings for one of our clients, in addition to ways to enhance cybersecurity and increase integration and productivity.

The client reached out to Stratosphere Networks because they did not have any IT professionals in-house and needed help handling growing support needs as their business expanded.

After relying on our team for years to support their Avaya environment, the client sought our assistance in replacing an old third-party software platform that integrated with their legacy Avaya system.

The client is a Chicago-based nonprofit organization that offers operational and strategic consulting services to clients across the U.S. The firm leverages 20 years of experience to provide guidance on product and service development.

The client called us because their IT environment was infected by ransomware that had encrypted their servers.

The client is a venture capital and private equity firm focused on building a portfolio of innovative organizations.

The client was experiencing severe connectivity issues due to the fact that the housing corporation boards were operating using different WiFi.

Find an IT provider with a robust proactive monitoring solution for our core services and infrastructure.

Stabilize our mirrored server network between our Los Angeles and Chicago offices.

Partner with an IT company that has extensive field engineer resources.

Find an IT provider who can handle the support for all five sites effectively and quickly.

Partner with an IT company that can be proactive and provide reliable response times.

As a growing recruiting company, find an IT company who can meet their expanding technical needs.

Partner with a managed services provider that is reliable and has efficient, quick resolution times.

Search for an IT provider who can provide proactive monitoring and onsite support all at a flat monthly rate.

The contractor uses on-site management software to handle their billing, workflow and project management.

The company needed to achieve compliance with certain security regulations.

The company had different phone systems at five locations across the country.

The pharmacy needed to achieve compliance with healthcare regulations.

The client wanted to create a library of documents that could still be found easily after title changes/edits and folder relocations.

The client sought us out because they wanted assistance with cloud migration and digital transformation.

The client reached out to us because they were having issues properly utilizing their Salesforce solution and were struggling with business intelligence (BI) and analytics.

The client has relied on the Stratosphere team for managed IT services for more than six years.

Our CISO, Jesse Miller , identified a business opportunity through a contact with an engineering and consulting firm.

The company was expanding rapidly and didn't have the budget or the staff to keep up with increasing IT needs, especially in North America, which was experiencing the most growth of any region.

The client needed preventive security solutions and services for a smart building in the Chicago area.

The client already had preventive security solutions and services, including a full Meraki stack, for a smart building in Chicago.

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IT Support Case Studies

IBM via edX Help

In this Capstone, you will demonstrate your ability to perform in an Information Technology (IT) Support role by applying your new knowledge to real-world situations. You will practice analyzing user help requests and troubleshooting various issues that a Tech Support role would encounter.

You’ll demonstrate your knowledge of hardware, software, networking, security, and cloud computing – all areas with which a tech support role interacts regularly. You'll also showcase your knowledge and understanding of escalation, levels of support, ticketing systems, and other support tools and systems, as well as communication and customer service skills for delivering technical support.

This course also includes a final exam that contains questions on the topics and style found in the CompTIA IT Fundamentals (IFT+) Certification Exam. It serves as this program’s final exam, helps you practice for the Certification, and measures your preparedness. By the end of the Capstone course, you’ll be equipped with the technical support skills that are found in everyday professional settings.

Before taking this course, it is highly recommended that you first complete all the previous courses in the IBM IT Support Professional Certificate.

Module 1: Hardware and Operating Systems

• Case Study: Computer Peripherals and Connectivity
• Case Study: Computer Display Device Installation
• Case Study: Computer Performance and OS Fundamentals
• Identifying System Information for Windows and MacOS Devices

Module 2: Software, Programming and Databases

• Case Study: Browser Versions, Installs, and Updates
• Case Study: Updating Desktop Software
• Case Study: Browser Security Settings and Client-side Scripting
• Case Study: Database Roles and Permissions
• Graded Case Study: System Sofware, Versions, and Application Software Capability

Module 3: Networking and Storage

• Case Study: Corporate User Needs Access to a Network Drive
• Case Study: Network Protocols, Firewalls, andProxy Servers
• Case Study: Hosted Storage and Sharing
• Graded Case Study: Configure, Test, and Troubleshoot a SOHO

Module 4: Cybersecurity

• Case Study: Intellectual Property and DRM
• Case Study: Security and information Privacy
• Case Study: Countering Security Threats and Hardening Devices
• Case Study: Password Management Techniques
• Graded Case Study: Public Browsing Safety

Module 5: Cloud Computing

• Case Study: Virtual and Bare-Metal Servers
• Case Study: Cloud Networking Using VPCs
• Case Study: Identity and Access Management (IAM)
• Case Study: Cloud Storage and Databases
• Graded Case Study: Cloud Service and Deployment Models

Module 6: Final Exam and Practice for CompTIA ITF+ Certification

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CLIENT IT SOLUTION CASE STUDIES

A look at what’s working.

We base our success on the success of our customers. Whether they’ve come to us for a software recommendation or a holistic shift in the way they handle their IT, we’re proud to say that for over 50 years we’ve helped organizations in many different industries build IT systems that propel their business forward.

Here are a few examples:

Complete Network & IT Support Transition

Non-profit organization   |   100 employees.

This non-profit organization was looking to move their IT support away from a larger hospital organization. DP Solutions established a transition plan to assist them in gaining their technological independence and managed IT support.

View More >

Healthcare Managed Services & Cloud IT

Healthcare organization   |   80 employees.

With no technical staff in the business, this   medical organization   teamed up with DP Solutions to manage their technology in 2010. When the organization came on as a client, only a handful of employees had email, and those that did were using personal email accounts for the business. This caused a lot of security, efficiency, and   compliance   challenges for the organization.  

Microsoft Azure Cloud Server Migration

Insurance company   |   15 employees.

With only 15 employees, this long-standing Baltimore-based insurance company might have a small staff, but their technology footprint is significant. They needed to refresh their very large existing systems. DPS helped them consolidate their system and migrate to the Cloud.

Managed IT Services & Cloud Hosting

Association   |   22 employees.

This Northern Virginia-based transportation association was looking to move their infrastructure to the cloud, and their existing IT provider was unable to support these needs. The organization needed a managed services provider (MSP) that was organized, stable, experienced, and could get them spun up in the cloud quickly. 

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure

Non-profit organization  |   100 employees.

This Baltimore-based non-profit organization was outgrowing their existing shared remote desktop environment, which was limiting user productivity and causing administrators to spend a lot of valuable time on support issues. The lack of suitable resources was leading to employee dissatisfaction, as technical difficulties kept the staff from performing their duties effectively. Essentially, the organization’s existing environment was no longer working for them. That's when DP Solutions  brought the idea of Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) to the table.

Managed IT Services and Cloud Migration

Non-profit organization   |   52 employees.

With offices throughout the U.S., remote access is essential for this large  non-profit organization to maintain its operations. DPS took over the management of the organization’s technology and immediately helped develop a strategic plan to consolidate their system and migrate it to the “Cloud”. 

Automobile Insurance   |   100 Employees

After a negative experience with their prior disaster recovery provider, this Baltimore-based automobile insurance company sought a new disaster recovery provider who would give them the time and attention they needed. With a high-volume of sensitive data processed on their server, the security of their data was a focal concern. The company wanted to secure their in-house code so that it not only allowed for easy and consistent data transmission, but also managed their data through a protected outlet. The company also requested frequent tests of their disaster recovery plan. 

Homeowner's Insurance Company    |   15 Employees

DP Solutions has worked with this Baltimore-based insurance company for over a decade, with our staff and data center acting as their IT department. DP Solutions provides content filtering, hardware, servers and workstations for the company’s computer systems and our technicians visit the business on a weekly basis to make sure that their system is running smoothly. More recently, the company approached DP Solutions to create and implement a disaster recovery plan. As a home insurance provider, it is essential that saff be able to quickly access the most up-to-date data in case of an emergency.

Employment Services Industry    |   25 Employees

When this employment services firm began its partnership with DP Solutions, they were looking to eliminate their dependence on in-house IT personnel. They also wanted a reliable infrastructure that would allow them to consolidate the time and resources spent on managing their data, as well as a scalable, cost-effective data protection plan.

Managed Backup Services

Non-profit organization    |   100 employees.

When this Baltimore-based non-profit organization began its partnership with DP Solutions, significant troubleshooting was needed for an on-site server. Remote users were encountering connection issues and as a result, configuration support became a high priority. Additionally, the organization wanted to improve the reliability and security of their database while still maintaining primary control of its internal infrastructure. “Our selection of DP Solutions was in part a result of their approach to solutions having an appropriate return in investment,” said the organization’s CFO. “They approached the project like a business partner (rather than sales) and engaged us in conversation to get to the best solution.”

Non-Profit Organization    |   45 Employees

With aging and worn out hardware, slow servers, and inconsistent IT support, this Baltimore-based non-profit organization was in need of DP Solutions’ assistance. They were concerned about the security of their data and wanted to incorporate reliable servers, network protection and disaster recovery into their IT infrastructure.

WorkSpace Cloud Business Services

Accounting firm   |   20 employees.

As a new company stemming from an established accounting firm, the client initially sought out DP Solutions for help implementing an IT infrastructure for the new business. The president and co-owner explained that he, “engaged a few firms to do this role, each with various levels of experience, but there was no one who even came close to DP Solutions.” As the firm grew, so did the amount of files and accounts. That’s when they engaged DP Solutions for a more manageable cloud IT solution.

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Home / Resources / ISACA Journal / Issues / 2021 / Volume 5 / Technology Modernization Digital Transformation Readiness and IT Cost Savings

Case study: technology modernization, digital transformation readiness and it cost savings.

“Digital Distinction” is a major trend for growing, medium-sized organizations, with growth requiring a well-executed digital platform enabled by foresight, leadership and accountability that helps ensure that societal needs are addressed with limited input resources. 1

This digital distinction story was performed with limited resources in a multiservice urban Aboriginal agency (the Agency) providing holistic, culture-based programs and services for Aboriginal children and families. The Agency strives to provide a life of quality, well-being, healing, and self-determination for children and families in the Toronto, Ontario, Canada, urban Aboriginal community by implementing a service model that is culture based and respects the values of Aboriginal people, the extended family and the right to self-determination.

The Agency faced considerable technology challenges at the start of the pandemic-induced lockdowns. The mandatory move to a remote service model stressed the existing IT infrastructure to such an extent that it exposed issues such as network bottlenecks, Wi-Fi interruptions and landline unreliability, all of which compromised the ability of social workers to perform their duties. It had become evident to management that the Agency needed significant digital transformation as part of the journey toward the increasing virtualization of social services and a much-needed modernization of its base IT infrastructure.

To be effective, however, digital transformation must build on an IT foundation that ensures reliable and sustainable outcomes. While IT modernization is a necessary condition for digital transformation readiness, 2 it is not a sufficient condition. Readiness must identify and address all IT operating model gaps 3 before innovation; unfortunately, many organizations undertaking transformation are not ready for innovation. 4

An unprepared organization is likely to see its digital transformations flounder;

…barely one in eight are successful. Even worse, only 3 percent of … 1,733 business executives … report any success at sustaining the change required for successful digital transformation…. 5

Thus, the Agency needed improved digital capabilities to support its growth and to increase its agility in response to the pandemic, so it engaged an experienced digital transformation consultancy with one executive from the group serving in the role of interim chief information officer (CIO).

The CIO title of the 1980s 6 has evolved to become one of vision as part of enterprise strategy, of managing risk as part of enterprise risk and of managing a governed high-performance team to sustain today’s ever more complex IT ecosystems. The modern CIO creates new operating models and helps the organization become data-driven. 7 The CIO takes the organization forward “… in ways that extract the maximum value from the information on hand…to make better decisions, faster” 8 as articulated in the new data strategy.

This case study articulates all the listed requirements of the modern CIO from vision to risk management to creating high performance teams as part of IT operating model modernization. Furthermore, down the road, there will be sufficient material for a future case study to document the path of the organization to achieving fit-for-purpose data for data-driven decision-making and improved reporting efficiency.

THE AGENCY’S INTERIM CIO’S FIRST STEP WAS…TO ESTABLISH THE ORGANIZATION’S CURRENT STATE TO DETERMINE ITS STATE OF READINESS FOR THE REQUIRED DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION.

The challenge: assessing the current state.

One cannot create a strategy without knowing the current state. The Agency’s interim CIO’s first step was, therefore, to establish the organization’s current state to determine its state of readiness for the required digital transformation. While tools facilitating readiness include staff surveys, 9 benchmarking and determining the business case for IT change, a survey was selected as the right tool to learn about the organization’s IT challenges (what the users experience), its IT priorities (what the users want fixed first) and its IT value chain performance (how IT creates value for the organization) through the lens of four different levels of stakeholders. The survey was distributed to staff at all levels; the output presented an end-user view of the organization’s current state.

The four key findings from the survey across these categories were:

• The organization’s executives had different perceptions of the frequency of the top IT challenges compared to the rest of the staff complement ( figure 1 ). This could be given that they were more aware of the negative impact of various IT failures on their mandate.
• The frontline staff were the most supportive of prioritizing all of the top items compared to management, who saw the priorities differently ( figure 2 ). This highlights the importance of engaging with people most actively using technology and not to depend only on management feedback for insights in this respect.
• The supervisor level experienced the severity of most of the shortcomings along the IT value chain ( figure 3 ).
• One of the major challenges experienced by end users was that it took too long for IT to fix IT issues, with users perceiving that it was getting worse. The same held for the network; network reliability was decreasing ( figure 4 ).

The fact that the survey highlighted IT challenges such as poor service request and incident management (the service desk item in figure 1 ) is more important than it may seem at first glance. As part of the journey to making IT more approachable and customer-centric, it is important that the service desk works flawlessly, as it is a major driver of staff (customer) satisfaction, which, incidentally, should be a key IT metric for any CIO.

A comparison of the actual ratio with the benchmark ratios above confirmed a historical underinvestment in IT. Reducing underinvestment in IT and addressing the associated risk areas while building future IT capabilities should be high, not only on the CIO’s agenda via IT governance, but on the board’s agenda, given the implications for enterprise governance.

The Solution: Addressing the Priority Current State Shortcomings

As a result of the current state findings, the CIO reconsidered improvements and developments that may impact the entire IT operating model. A restitution strategy was developed to address as many of the identified priority shortcomings as possible in the shortest possible time.

ADDRESSING THE NETWORK SHORTCOMINGS REQUIRED SIGNIFICANT PLANNING AND ACTIVITY, GIVEN THAT THE NETWORK WOULD NEED TO BE MODERNIZED WHILE THE AGENCY WAS STILL PERFORMING ITS MANDATE.

Restitution is about partnerships, though, another modern CIO imperative. Non-IT senior leaders are just as accountable for decisions and the delivery of ongoing IT services. 12 In other words, restitution is an organizational challenge rather than only an IT challenge, a fact that impacted the nature of the stakeholders identified to oversee the initiative. The more a CIO engages in stakeholder relationships with the goal of forging partnerships, the more effective the broad diversity of IT initiatives within the CIO’s portfolio must almost automatically become.

In this case, restitution was performed in 1) a technology stream and 2) an IT governance stream. (A data governance stream was also recently introduced but will not be explored further here.) The relationship between the CIO and IT governance took a major leap forward a decade ago when it was explicitly considered in South Africa’s King III code for corporate governance. 13 However, more than five years later, the focus still tended to be on the use of IT in regulation and compliance, 14 rather than being about the organizational performance and value creation mechanism it is meant to be.

Aligned with digital transformation principles, specifically around the operating model readiness, 15 restitution was not only about technology, but also about other important components of the organization’s operating model, such as people, process and governance.

Technology Stream

From the current state analysis, the Agency’s legacy technology landscape suffered extended maintenance, support, integration, security, and agility risk and constraints. Technology modernization projects ( figure 5 ) were identified for the Agency to address these issues while also addressing most of the user-defined IT priorities identified in the survey.

One of the CIO’s primary objectives was to measure the benefits of each IT intervention, whether they be through enhanced activity, cost savings, risk mitigation or potentially even revenue generation. Cost and activity benefits, where the interventions are complete, are highlighted for the various interventions the Agency undertook.

Network Remediation The annual operating cost of the Agency’s new network is 48 percent of the cost of the old network—savings driven largely by deploying a modern network technology with standardizing network devices using a modern network protocol.

The old network had nonstandard devices that were unmaintained, outdated with no active support, not configured according to industry best practices and had no redundancy. Furthermore, it suffered bottlenecks, single points of failure and cybersecurity vulnerabilities, with costly management implications.

Addressing the network shortcomings required significant planning and activity, given that the network would need to be modernized while the Agency was still performing its mandate. It involved an initial network discovery process that, for example, identified Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, the devices linked to the IP addresses, the functions and roles of various servers, the portfolio of critical applications, and network-based processes that needed to be mapped out and well understood. Backout plans and vendor escalation processes were created. Replacing more than 50 switches and several firewalls within a 36-hour window was challenging, especially for a new network topology in an overall process that took up to a year when including the planning and vendor identification/selection processes.

Network remediation addressed technical cybersecurity vulnerabilities, fault tolerance and failover readiness with redundancy. It also provided greater bandwidth, scalability and manageability, with Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) technology proving to be more secure and providing higher performance compared to the Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) technology it replaced. While bandwidth demand tripled during the pandemic, it was all reliably and seamlessly accommodated within the new network architecture.

Strategically, the organization seeks to share its IT environment with smaller social services agencies that might be insufficiently funded to develop appropriately functional IT platforms. The Platform as a Service (PaaS) aspiration required a network architecture designed to handle traffic at scale and the recognition that an additional network engineer would be needed to bring this aspiration to life.

Human Productivity Tools The annual operating cost of the Agency’s new human productivity tools (HPTs) is 39 percent of the cost of the old HPTs.

The old portfolio of HPTs was a disparate set of vendor solutions that were difficult to support, offered relatively little functionality, challenged the implementation of integrated security, and were costly to manage.

A key consideration was to ensure that all data stayed within Canada. A hybrid approach was followed leveraging Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) with Azure that allowed for failover from on-premises to the cloud, while moving all users’ mailboxes and enabling the additional functionality into production. This parallel process took six months from planning and vendor identification to deployment.

The Agency’s new Software as a Service (SaaS) HPT offered vast improvements in functionality across multiple end-user devices, such as facilitating engagement and teamwork; application interoperability; and facilitating a single approach to cybersecurity by means of integrated identity and access management. This deployment is a critical lever for successful digital transformation given benefits such as performance, scalability, security, and reliable and integrated support from the vendor. 16

Case Management A single case management system to integrate the agency’s two case management systems was identified ( figure 5 ). Two systems were deployed as a means to address the data collection shortcomings in each. To address this, a thorough business requirements document (BRD) will be created to facilitate a request for proposal (RFP) process to identify whether an integrated case management tool is available. (This will not be discussed further as it is a separate, significantly larger project that has only recently been instantiated.)

Document Management A document and content management system— coupled with appropriate workflows and governance—was needed to manage the intranet; perform as a repository for digitized, historical paper-based case files; perform document management; and provide a basis for operational metadata management and the organization’s data dictionary. A feasible tool and functionality was included in the software package provided for the HPT stream, coming in as a cost saving relative to the next best alternative. A decision was taken to use this tool given this cost benefit. A configuration and deployment plan was not yet in place at the time of writing.

Incident Management An incident management tool had been deployed at the Agency but without supporting processes or governance. There was no ticket escalation process, no ticket auto-allocation process and no feedback loop to the requester that a ticket had been received. The following were established as part of the Agency’s IT department’s emerging ITIL- alignment aspirations to improve incident management performance:

• Defined incident management processes
• Defined incident management responsibilities
• Feedback loops with workflows
• Service-level agreement (SLA)-driven ticket auto-escalation

The operational impact of these changes is evident in figure 6 . Within seven months after implementation and as the subject of continuous improvement during that time and beyond, the average ticket closing time had decreased from 34 days to three days according to the system logs, and the average ticket assignment time had decreased from 140 minutes to nine minutes according to the same logs. There are further initiatives to use more of the functionality of the selected tool in the future.

Additional service desk functionality deployed at the Agency includes IT asset management and a configuration management database.

THE ANNUAL OPERATING COST OF THE AGENCY’S NEW MONITORING AND PATCHING SYSTEM IS 30 PERCENT OF THE COST OF THE OLD VENDOR SOLUTION.

Monitoring and Patching System The annual operating cost of the Agency’s new monitoring and patching system is 30 percent of the cost of the old vendor solution.

Driven by continuity risk factors such as poor outage monitoring and alerting, poor device monitoring, and poor vendor responsiveness, as well as cybersecurity risk factors such as poor patching, the Agency sought and deployed a tool to fulfill these requirements with remote management capability.

The technology was selected based on a review of this specific technology landscape according to various IT research organizations. Then, deploying the monitoring tool required making changes to the firewall to allow agents to communicate. Furthermore, a cache server was set up to reduce the bandwidth implications of all the computers in the Agency requiring similar updates, thereby reducing the possibility of network congestion. Planning, vendor identification and deployment took less than three months.

Cloud The annual operating cost of the Agency’s new cloud data center is 45 percent of the cost of the on-premises data center, driven by the higher support and equipment costs of maintaining an on-premises environment.

THE ANNUAL OPERATING COST OF THE AGENCY’S NEW CLOUD DATA CENTER IS 45 PERCENT OF THE COST OF THE ON-PREMISES DATA CENTER.

The Agency had historically entered into a five-year contract for its data center, with further expenditure required for power to eight servers, hosting facilities and equipment, an uninterruptible power supply, and management time for maintenance and management. The risk of the data center being an operational bottleneck was considerable. The real push for a work-in-progress cloud migration was driven by the pandemic.

The selection of the cloud vendor was based on a review of the findings by various IT research organizations and the need to ensure interoperability between the various tools that were about to be deployed in the cloud. For the software tools, a primary driver was the effectiveness of the solution to serve well in a Software as a Service (SaaS) paradigm, which will be the foundation for the type of incremental transformational functionality envisaged as a strategic driver of future IT at the Agency.

Configuring a cloud infrastructure requires configuration activities such as subscribing to the services, creating virtual machine(s), the virtual private network (VPN) and the VPN gateway. Additional services that were migrated to the cloud or deployed to the cloud include the HPTs, the monitoring and patching services, and the mail system. The planning, vendor identification and deployment was performed within four months.

The operational, scale and cost advantages of the cloud at a stated availability of 99.999 percent were implemented as a desirable alternative to on-premises services, given that the modern CIO’s role is to create an environment that facilitates on-demand technology and related services. 17 The potential of this migration for future Platform as a Service (PaaS) services, virtual computing, storage and on-demand functionality positions the organization well for an enhanced digital future.

Telephony Telephony depends on a stable network, and the organization is now ready to address its telephony shortcomings. An architecture and plan to migrate between the current state and the proposed state for telephony is being developed, with the major goals being scalability as part of the PaaS vision for the organization and redundancy, given, the always- on requirement of child welfare services.

Financial Summary IT underinvestment introduces significant risk and inefficiencies into an organization. The technology modernization stream not only addressed technology risk at the Agency, it also eliminated architectural inefficiencies and high-cost structures, as demonstrated by the annual cost savings achieved ( figure 7 ).

While cost savings of up to 13 percent are expected in technology modernization, 18 savings of 18 percent were realized.

IT Governance Stream

IT governance ensures that IT produces the value expected of it. While IT governance was introduced as a mechanism for CIO oversight of the technology deployments, less tangible activities were also established by means of the IT governance stream to help establish a vision for IT, to reduce IT risk and to extend the people capabilities of the IT department.

The following sections detail the measures taken to help ensure reduced-risk value delivery from IT.

Policies and Processes Procedural and cybersecurity-related updates were made to the Agency’s IT policy. Processes were also co-created with human resources (HR) (e.g., onboarding, offboarding) and with operations (e.g., IT-facilitated process design for the handling of all possibilities of incoming telephone calls) to ensure that handovers to IT and back to HR and operations were clear, and that people had been identified in the process to accept handovers.

If an operational process needs engagement with IT, operations must co-design the process with IT to manage expectations and to reduce operational risk. Failing to do this will result in failed processes, given no awareness or clarity of IT’s role in the process.

AS A RISK CONTROL, A PASSWORD VAULT WAS CREATED FOR ALL APPLICATION AND SYSTEM PASSWORDS, SUPPORTED BY A PROCESS THAT COULD BE ACCESSED BY THE EXECUTIVE TEAM IN AN EMERGENCY.

Risk Management Risk management is a key pillar of effective IT governance. Together with policies and procedures as a critical part of effective risk management, 19 IT implemented a risk management process—Identify, Assess, Respond, Control, Monitor—with a living risk register as a monitoring and communication tool as a means to help minimize potentially negative differences between expected IT outcomes and the actual IT outcomes. The process emphasized assigning responsibility for a risk control at the point where risk is realized. Periodic IT governance meetings were established as a means to monitor changes in IT environment risk and to monitor the effectiveness of the risk controls.

Key administrator passwords held in people’s heads was a major operational and sustainability risk. As a risk control, a password vault was created for all application and system passwords, supported by a process that could be accessed by the executive team in an emergency.

Structure and People People are the most critical part of IT because they determine whether something is done well. To effect and to sustain digital transformation, IT staff must have digital mindsets; 20 be inclined to testing and learning, innovation, and agility; 21 have diverse technology knowledge, deep data skills, rich process skills, and end-to-end mindsets that includes teamwork, courage, and change management. 22

Sustainable digital transformation, thus, requires “t- shaped” people—staff with deep knowledge of their areas of expertise and broad knowledge that they can apply to solve the types of new problems that emerge under transformation. 23 T-shaped people are especially important in small IT teams, where broad knowledge overlap mitigates the continuity risk of a small staff complement.

Digital transformation demands agility—people fluidly structuring around problems or challenges in cross-functional teams 24, 25 rather than constrained within traditional organizational structures. Compromising on IT competence has been described as a subtle and even a dangerous issue in digital transformation. 26

“Build the organization,” “run the organization” and “transform the organization” 27 was adopted as the IT structure paradigm. Bespoke definitions for “run the organization” and “build the organization” were developed to define their purpose and scope for the organization ( figure 8 ).

While the Agency’s IT organization managed day-to-day operations (run) and performed technology modernization projects (build) like those in figure 8 , it had unsustainable transformation. Given the organization’s growth and expansion aspirations, “transform the organization” was established as a full-time role, and an experienced leader was recruited to focus on strategy and architecture to help define the organization’s broader digital capabilities.

Strategy and Architecture The current state of the Agency was such that it had no clear IT strategy and no clear IT architecture. Many different applications had been acquired from a wide variety of vendors over time to serve specific point purposes but with no consideration for aspects such as architectural fit, integrated cybersecurity management and interoperability. The historical approach to IT tended to be tactical, with no consideration of how the tactical deployments would impact the Agency’s overall IT risk profile.

While this worked reasonably well in a low-stress IT environment, the diverse flaws in the approach quickly became apparent at the start of the pandemic—especially to end users who suffered service interruptions—when network volumes escalated significantly under work-from-home orders.

All interventions documented in the Technology Stream section were part of a significantly more architected approach—specifically around cybersecurity and interoperability—that included business cases as part of the supporting documentation and a comparison with next-best technology alternatives.

THE HISTORICAL APPROACH TO IT TENDED TO BE TACTICAL, WITH NO CONSIDERATION OF HOW THE TACTICAL DEPLOYMENTS WOULD IMPACT THE AGENCY’S OVERALL IT RISK PROFILE.

It is useful to note that unarchitected IT is a primary driver of technology debt; 28 an unwelcome gift to current IT management from former IT management as experienced in the Agency’s current IT state. While appropriate IT vendor diversity should be supported in the interest of good IT risk management, this should occur within a strategically architected framework. IT strategy and IT architecture can sustainably reduce IT risk and improve business continuity.

Data Governance Stream Digital transformation consumes data and produces more data that not only serves general reporting and decision-making, but also potentially serves government policy direction. While data were not initially identified as a problem at the Agency, a data strategy has been developed in response to some data issues identified ( figure 9 ), and in line with a vision for data for the organization. (The data strategy will not be covered further in this case study beyond the limited discussion that follows.)

CIOs strive for data consistency, data availability, information resource control and information flow visibility. 29 Not addressing data challenges results in delayed and/or incorrect data-driven decision- making and productivity compromises, and incurs unnecessary IT effort to resolve issues arising from bad data.

As a first step toward addressing data challenges, the Agency articulated its unique perspective of the drivers of a data culture as an output of a facilitated workshop series. Some of the behavioral considerations include:

• Mistrust about what data could communicate; could they show performance levels that are lower than perceived?
• That data have not been seen as something that can add value
• That data are removed from the people whose lives they represent
• That data capture is only seen as a necessary part of getting the job done, rather than as a vital part of the data value chain
• That data are not seen as distinct from IT, with operational and strategic best practices distinct from those applicable to data

It is important that ways to address these behavioral considerations are included in the organization’s data strategy. The implementation of the cultural aspect is an overarching workstream for the data work that needs to be performed over the upcoming years to create an environment rich in fit- for-purpose data. Overall, IT culture is the single greatest risk—and, therefore, critical success factor (CSF)—not only for IT governance, 30 but possibly for data governance, too.

Key Results and Benefits

As outlined, successful digital transformation requires the barriers to an effective digital strategy—processes, technology, people and governance, in that order 31 —to be addressed. Without a sound IT operating model foundation, digital transformation will exacerbate IT operating model shortcomings with predictable consequences. Figure 10 summarizes the major IT outcomes achieved. Note that the column “Technology and/or Governance Intervention” in the figure refers to the relevant item in the Technology Stream section or the Governance Stream section.

Figure 10 item 10 refers to technical cybersecurity vulnerabilities. However, the Desjardins breach in Canada 32, 33 is a shocking reminder of the scale of breach possible in the presence of even the best technological responses. People vulnerabilities are, thus, addressed through the newly established SOC at the Agency, mandated to address people matters such as cybersecurity training and to perform vendor due diligence. This closes the loop on the cybersecurity vulnerabilities identified as part of the network remediation workstream.

Other noteworthy outcomes include digital forms with workflows for efficient forms processing compared to paper forms, and improved secure video conferencing.

What Is Next?

With many of the primary activities in figure 10 having been achieved in six months across nearly 20 regional sites, there is still more work to do, with some of the major considerations being:

• Telephony, as discussed
• Case management, as discussed
• Laptop standardization, all staff
• Addressing stable and reliable power
• Modernizing the data infrastructure as the foundation required for the implementation of an organizationwide data strategy

DIGITAL DISTINCTION’ AND COST SAVINGS WERE ACHIEVED WITH LIMITED RESOURCES IN A LIMITED TIMEFRAME, AN UNUSUAL ACHIEVEMENT IRRESPECTIVE OF ORGANIZATION SIZE OR RESOURCES.

Of these, the data infrastructure will likely be the highest cost future intervention. This will require not only technology, but a full data operating model to support the growing day-to-day requirements for data and reporting in the organization. From a CIO perspective, formally aligned organizational strategy and IT strategy interventions ultimately help minimize digital strategy execution gaps, 34 the difference between what an organization aspires to achieve strategically, and what it actually achieves.

Organizations trust the CIO to ensure that the technology ecosystem is a functional and reliable enabler of the organization’s operations. 35 This means that the role has significant fiduciary responsibilities requiring high performing, t-shaped people. Digital transformation needs executive support and visibility, and credit is due to the head of the organization, the head of finance and administration, and the head of human resources (HR) for their encouragement during some of the darkest hours of this process. Thanks are due also to the extraordinary performance of a small, but mighty and highly motivated IT team willing to go so significantly beyond the extra mile for months on end.

This case study details the types of CIO leadership needed for digital transformation readiness and technology modernization, aligned with an approach published in ISACA ® Journal . 36 “Digital distinction” and cost savings were achieved with limited resources in a limited timeframe, an unusual achievement irrespective of organization size or resources. The organization is now positioned to increasingly redirect IT spend from operations to digital innovation 37 as reward for its courageous efforts.

1 El Tarabishy, A.; “The Top 10 Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Trends for 2021,” International Council for Small Business, 6 July 2020, https://icsb.org/toptrends2021 2 Avanade, “IT Modernization: Critical to Digital Transformation,” March 2017, https://www.avanade.com/-/media/asset/white-paper/avanade-it-modernization-whitepaper.pdf 3 Pearce, G.; “Digital Transformation Governance: What Boards Must Know,” Governance Institute of Australia, vol. 72, no. 5, 2020, https://www.governanceinstitute.com.au/resources/governance-directions/volume-72-number-5/digital-transformation-governance-what-boards-must-know/ 4 Bendor-Samuel, P.; “Four Guidelines for Success in Innovation in Digital Transformation,” Forbes , 23 July 2019, https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterbendorsamuel/2019/07/23/four-guidelines-for-success-in-innovation-in-digital-transformation/#61401a511aa9 5 Pearce, G.; “Attaining Digital Transformation Readiness,” ISACA ® Journal , vol. 1, 2020, https://www.isaca.org/archives 6 Rivier University Nashua, New Hampshire, USA, “The Growing Importance of a CIO in Today’s Evolving Business World,” Boston Business Journal , 16 March 2020, https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2020/03/16/the-growing-importance-of-a-cio-in-today-s.html 7 Op cit McLaughlin 8 Op cit Rivier University 9 Ibid. 10 Morley, L.; “How Much Should a Company Spend on IT?,” Techvera, https://blog.techvera.com/company-it-spend 11 Avasant Research; “IT Spending as a Percentage of Revenue by Industry, Company Size, and Region,” Computer Economics , https://www.computereconomics.com/article.cfm?id=2626 12 CIO Journal , “The Role of Senior Leaders in IT Governance,” The Wall Street Journal , 22 June 2015, https://deloitte.wsj.com/articles/the-role-of-senior-leaders-in-it-governance-1434945783?tesla=y 13 IT Governance Network; “The CIO and IT Governance,” https://www.itgovernance.co.za/3/index.php/general-articles/176-the-cio-and-it-governance 14 De Haes, S.; A. Joshi; T. Huygh; S. Jansen; Board Level IT Governance Research Project , Antwerp Management School, Belgium, September 2016, https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/be/pdf/2018/05/Corporate_Governance_Codes_and_Digital_leadership.pdf 15 Op cit Pearce, “Attaining Digital Transformation Readiness” 16 Sharma, A.; “Application Modernization: One of the Critical Levers of Digital Transformation,” CIO , 30 July 2020, https://cio.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/strategy-and-management/application-modernization-one-of-the-critical-levers-of-digital-transformation/77253867 17 Dogan, C.; From the Basement to the Cloud: The Role of the CIO Over Four Decades , Deloitte Consulting, USA, 2018, https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/ar/Documents/technology/THE-ROLE-OF-THE-CIO-OVERF-OUR-DECADES.pdf 18 Op cit Avanade 19 Amadei, L.; “Why Policies and Procedures Matter,” Risk Management , 1 November 2016, http://www.rmmagazine.com/2016/11/01/why-policies-and-procedures-matter/ 20 Op cit Dogan 21 Annacone, A.; “The Four Types of Digital Transformation,” TechNexus on Linkedin, 19 June 2019, https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/4-types-digital-transformation-andrew-annacone/ 22 Davenport, T. H.; T. C. Redman; “Digital Transformation Comes Down to Talent in Four Key Areas,” Harvard Business Review , 21 May 2020, https://hbr.org/2020/05/digital-transformation-comes-down-to-talent-in-4-key-areas 23 Rowles, D.; T. Brown; Building Digital Culture , Kogan Page, United Kingdom, 2017 24 Ghosh, A.; “Digital Transformation of the Workplace,” India Inc., 19 November 2020, https://indiaincgroup.com/digital-transformation-of-the-workplace/ 25 Penfold, P.; “HR Strategies That Help Digital Transformation Succeed,” People Matters, 22 November 2019, https://www.peoplemattersglobal.com/article/hr-technology/hr-strategies-that-help-digital-transformation-succeed-23829 26 Op cit Rowles and Brown 27 Apptio, IT Financial Metrics Primer , USA, https://dsimg.ubm-us.net/envelope/151893/296392/1390318118_WP_-_Apptio_IT_Financial_Metrics_Primer.pdf 28 Dalal, V.; R. Patenge; K. Krishnakanthan; “Tech Debt: Reclaiming Tech Equity,” McKinsey Digital, 6 October 2020, https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/tech-debt-reclaiming-tech-equity# 29 Op cit Dogan 30 Pearce, G.; “The Sheer Gravity of Underestimating Culture as an IT Governance Risk,” ISACA Journal , vol. 3, 2019, https://www.isaca.org/archives 31 Op cit Pearce, “Attaining Digital Transformation Readiness” 32 The Canadian Press, “Desjardins Says Employee Who Stole Personal Data Also Accessed Credit Card Info,” BNN Bloomberg, 10 December 2019, https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/desjardins-says-employee-who-stole-personal-data-also-accessed-credit-card-info-1.1360652 33 The Canadian Press, “Series of Gaps Allowed Massive Desjardins Data Breach, Privacy Watchdog Says,” CTV News, 14 December 2020, https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/series-of-gaps-allowed-massive-desjardins-data-breach-privacy-watchdog-says-1.5230179 34 Pearce, G.; “Digital Governance: Closing the Digital Strategy Execution Gap,” ISACA Journal , vol. 2, 2020, https://www.isaca.org/archives 35 Edelman, D. J.; “CIO in Focus: A Global Study,” USA, 2020, https://www.edelman.com/expertise/technology/cio-in-focus 36 Op cit Pearce, “Attaining Digital Transformation Readiness” 37 Halfteck, D.; “Six Steps to Ensure IT Readiness to Drive Digital Transformation,” Access IT Automation, 16 May 2019

Guy Pearce, CGEIT, CDPSE

Has served on governance boards in banking, financial services and a not-for-profit, and as chief executive officer (CEO) of a financial services organization. He has taken an active role in digital transformation since 1999, experiences that led him to create a digital transformation course for the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies (Ontario, Canada) in 2019. Consulting in digital transformation and governance, Pearce shares more than a decade of experience in data governance and IT governance as an author and as a speaker. He was awarded the ISACA® 2019 Michael Cangemi Best Author award for contributions to IT governance, and he is chief digital officer and chief data officer at Convergence.Tech.

Richard Fullerton, AWS CSA, ITIL, MCAAA, VCP-DCV

Is the IT manager at Native Child and Family Services of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is a solutions-oriented IT professional with more than 20 years of experience in the organization and delivery of end-to-end IT projects involving data migrations, server upgrades and configurations, and enterprise-scale software and hardware installations. His areas of expertise include cloud (AWS, Azure, Office 365), virtualization (VMware, Hyper-V, Citrix), and identity and access management. Fullerton is an experienced technical team leader in matrix organizations. He is the recipient of multiple Distinguished Service and Project Leadership awards, and the recipient of a Service Excellence award.

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Application Support Case Studies

Building An Application Support Team To Ensure Operational Efficiency & Deployment Excellence

A Fortune 500 Media and Entertainment company impacted by several emerging trends such as digitalisation, multi-platform content consumption and the challenge of managing of multiple data formats across agencies and branches spread across more than 100 countries. Furthermore, along with immense volumes the corporation was challenged to manage and analyse this data to extract actionable insights.

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IT Strategy Case Studies

IT Strategy is a comprehensive plan that outlines how technology should be utilized to meet IT and business goals. An IT Strategy is crafted to guide the deployment and use of technology that aligns with business objectives, ensuring that IT initiatives align with organizational missions and visions. A case study of an IT Strategy, such as implementing cloud computing in a financial services firm, provides a real-world example of how these strategic principles are applied and executed to achieve specific organizational goals like enhanced data security and operational efficiency.

Simply put, an IT Strategy case study provides an in-depth exploration of how a specific organization or sector approached their IT strategic planning to address unique challenges and achieve their goals. Through real-world scenarios, challenges faced, solutions adopted, and the outcomes achieved, these case studies offer valuable insights and lessons for other organizations navigating their IT strategic planning journey.

How do organizations across the industry use technology to create value?

Illustrative IT Strategy Case Study

IT Strategy case study of a leading healthcare provider showcases how they leveraged technology to improve patient care, streamline operations, and enhance data security. This study delves into the initial challenges the organization faced, such as fragmented patient records, outdated IT infrastructure, and a lack of unified communication among departments. By implementing a robust IT strategy, the healthcare provider introduced telemedicine solutions, integrated health records, and employed AI-driven predictive analytics to foresee patient needs. The results were transformative: reduced operational costs, improved patient outcomes, and significantly boosted staff productivity. This case study serves as an exemplary model for other healthcare institutions aiming to optimize their IT frameworks in alignment with their overarching organizational goals.

Illustrative IT Strategy Case Studies Across Industry

The following case studies demonstrate how various industries have implemented information technology to solve business problems and achieve business goals and objectives:

These cases illustrate the tangible benefits that accrue when organizations in different industries align their IT strategies with business goals, creating significant value and enhancing competitive advantage.

This collection of IT Strategy Case Studies is a valuable resource for CIOs, IT executives, and technology professionals seeking to learn from the experiences of their peers and gain insights into the development, implementation, and outcomes of real-world IT strategies. This repository offers case studies showcasing the challenges, successes, and lessons learned by IT leaders who have navigated complex technology initiatives and transformations.

This comprehensive repository provides in-depth case studies detailing the situation, complications, actions, and results in real-world IT Strategies. These Case Studies will help you gain insights into:

• The diverse range of IT strategies, projects, and initiatives undertaken by organizations across industries and sectors and the outcomes they have achieved
• The challenges and obstacles faced by IT leaders in the development and implementation of IT strategies and the strategies they have employed to overcome them
• The critical success factors, best practices, and lessons learned have contributed to the success of various IT strategies and initiatives in multiple organizations.
• The role of IT governance, investment management, performance measurement, and other critical elements in the successful execution of IT strategies
• The impact of emerging technologies, industry trends, and changing business landscapes on the development and implementation of IT strategies
• The importance of aligning IT strategies with business objectives, fostering collaboration among IT and business stakeholders, and promoting a culture of innovation and continuous improvement

By staying up-to-date with the latest IT Strategy Case Studies, CIOs, IT leaders, and aspiring professionals can gain valuable insights, practical guidance, and information on how to excel in their roles and advance their careers. Visit this category regularly to discover new case studies that will help you stay current with industry trends, learn from the experiences of your peers, and succeed in the dynamic world of IT leadership.

Here are case studies of IT Strategies used by organizations across the industry. They demonstrate real-world situations and how IT was used to achieve business goals and objectives.

Optimizing IT Strategic Planning: A Case Study in Risk and Maturity Frameworks

This case study presents a novel approach to IT strategic planning, demonstrating how risk and maturity assessments can revolutionize planning and management across sectors.

IT Strategy Case Study: A Holistic Framework for Managing Information Technology in a Competitive Environment

IT Strategy Case Study of a large corporation that created a framework to manage information technology as a competitive differentiator.

IT Strategy Case Study: The Role of IT in Business Success

Discover how IT can become a strategic business partner with this IT Strategy Case Study, highlighting key steps and outcomes in IT-business alignment.

IT Strategy Case Study: How are CIOs aligning business with IT?

How does the CIO role affect business IT alignment? Read this case study!

IT Strategy Case Study of The Connection Between Business IT Alignment, Enterprise Architecture, and IT Governance

This IT strategy case study unveils a unique framework, intertwining business-IT alignment with enterprise architecture and IT Governance, and tests its efficacy in real-world scenarios. Discover actionable insights to refine your IT strategy today! Excellent Read! (125+ pgs)

Case Study of IT Transformation in a Large, Multi-National High Tech Company

Explore this in-depth IT Transformation Case Study that uncovers the steps, challenges, and strategies employed by a top-tier company. A must-read for CIOs and IT professionals looking to drive impactful digital transformation in their organizations.

IT Strategy Case Study of Using ITIL for Business IT Alignment

In this insightful IT Strategy Case Study, delve into a leading bank’s transformative journey, spotlighting their strategies in leveraging ITIL best practices to ensure seamless alignment between IT initiatives and business objectives.

e-Book: Aligning Business and IT Strategy Example

An excellent example of business IT alignment with a bonus discussion on governance of the strategic planning process.

IT Strategic Plan Sample: Adapting IT Strategy to Changes in the Business Environment

This document set details IT strategy created in support of the organization’s business strategy. CIOs can learn how to create a strategic plan for IT that evolves over time with changes in business strategy. (150+ pages)

IT Strategic Planning Example (4)

This presentation describes the results of a strategic planning initiative for IT. It makes a case for IT Strategy, describes the process followed, and the deliverables produced. CIOs can use this example to create an IT Strategy for their own organizations.

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IT Services

Cybersecurity services, it consulting, cloud solutions, microsoft & apple services, digital transformation services.

Managed Services

Knowledge center, work with us.

• Client Support

5 Top Managed IT Service Providers (With Case Studies)

Businesses looking to switch managed IT service providers typically experience one of these struggles: 

• Poor   response time   is the main reason why companies get frustrated with their current IT service provider. Many IT service providers will prioritize tickets by the percentage of your company the issue impacts, the degree to which the issue affects productivity, or some other arbitrary reason which means some tickets are left unanswered for days, weeks, or months.
• Support lines are answered by non-technical reps   who simply put you in another holding queue. When your call does get answered, you may get a technician who does not fully understand your problem and needs to yet again escalate your issue (causing even more delays). 
• Lack of strategic advice   is another big frustration for many companies. Smaller MSPs may not have the breadth and depth of talent to be able to cover all of your needs, especially if you’re a growing business looking for the latest technology trends.
• Cybersecurity   is limited   to installing basic antivirus and perimeter-based detection software, leaving you vulnerable to ransomware attacks and unable to maintain industry-specific security standards (e.g., HIPAA or CMMC).
• Lack of Apple expertise   which means the teams or divisions that use Apple products don’t have adequate support. Even if the majority of your company currently uses Microsoft, Apple products are becoming more and more popular, especially as the work-from-home trend seems here to stay. Everyone on your team deserves proper IT support.

At Ntiva, we strive to solve these issues by providing: 

• A 24/7   help desk   line answered by   experienced, U.S. based technicians   (in less than one minute on average). If the issue is top priority for you, it’s top priority for us.
• Dedicated Account Managers   who offer quarterly business reviews, backed up by a large Professional Services team that includes vCIOs, vCISOs and more.
• A large team of security professionals   who can advise you on the most advanced security solutions that are backed up by our 24/7 SOC, anti-phishing prevention training for your employees, custom audits and Backup and Disaster Recovery (BDR) plans. Our team can also help you build IT solutions for staying compliant with HIPAA, NIST SP 800-171, CMMC, CIPA, and more.  
• A large staff of Apple-certified technicians and Apple-native tools .

In this guide, we provide an overview of Ntiva and take a deep dive into each of the features mentioned above. Then, we’ll briefly cover four other managed service providers (MSP) to aid your search. 

From day-to-day support to software and hardware updates to long-term strategic   information technology   (IT) consulting, Ntiva can help. To see how we can help you use technology to grow and protect your business,   book a consultation today .

Ntiva: 24/7 Technician Support for Microsoft and Apple

For more than 15 years as a managed service provider (MSP), Ntiva has served organizations in many different industries including government contracting, healthcare, nonprofit, education, legal services, financial services, manufacturing, and more.

Ntiva services include: 

• Responsive remote and on-site support
• Networking monitoring and management
• Managed workstations (for both PCs and Mac)
• Data backup and disaster recovery
• Hardware and software procurement
• Advanced antivirus and cyber-attack protection
• Business continuity planning
• Risk assessment and proactive prevention
• Unified communications system and management
• vCISO consulting
• Procurement-as-a-service
• And much more…

We also provide a comprehensive, four-step onboarding process to set you up for the best experience possible (you won’t be charged during this time).

Next, we’ll dig into a few of these services and show how Ntiva has helped other companies use technology to achieve their business goals and stay secure. 

Resolve Issues Quickly with Our 24/7 U.S.-Based Technician Help Desk

Most IT help desks work something like this: A non-technical representative answers the phone and asks you a few general questions about your issue. Then, they create a support ticket, assign a priority level to it, and assure you a qualified technician will call back. If your issue affects a lot of people in a major way, you’ll get a quick response.

However, if your problem only affects you or only affects the team in a minor way, you may end up waiting days, weeks, or months before getting a call back (if you ever do). 

Additionally, many MSPs will have a low-level technician manage your ticket upfront and only send in expert technicians when needed. This often creates even more delays because the more experienced technician needs to be contacted and brought up to speed before moving forward on solving the problem. 

At Ntiva, we believe every problem should be solved in a timely manner, no matter how big or small it is. That’s why we have experienced technicians answering our support line.

Our technical experts answer the phone in less than one minute, on average, and are able to resolve 75% of issues on the first call.   

Finally, all of our technicians are based in the U.S. to help mitigate language barriers. 

Maintain Security Standards with Advanced Antivirus Software, Phishing Prevention Training for Employees, and More

Many MSPs will only help you install and maintain a few simple security features like antivirus software, perimeter-based detection, or multi-factor authentication. This leaves huge gaps in your security. For example: 

• Most antivirus software is definition-based, meaning you enter descriptions of the type of viruses that should be blocked and all other activity is let through. Experienced hackers can usually find a way to work around these descriptions and infiltrate your software.
• Most data breaches occur because an employee accidentally opens or downloads a malicious link sent via email. Ongoing, formal training is the best way to help your employees recognize warning signs and prevent cyber attacks.
• Without adequate backup and disaster recovery services, you may not be able to recover your data after a cyber attack or natural disaster. This could mean the difference between recovery or failure as a company. 

It’s also difficult to comply with various regulations like HIPAA, CIPA, or CMMC unless you have a full team of security experts working 24/7 to scan for vulnerabilities and prevent and respond to attacks.

Ntiva provides enhanced, 24/7 cybersecurity services including:

• Managed Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) backed by 24/7 SOC: Rather than use description-based logic to fend off viruses,Ntiva’s EDR uses AI to recognize activity that could be a virus—even when your devices are outside the office firewall. If anything suspicious is found, our Security Operations Center (SOC) experts are immediately notified. They analyze the activity and look further for undetected attacks. 
• Phishing prevention training: There are many phishing prevention trainings available, however, the day-to-day process of implementing these trainings is a lot of work. It typically involves creating fake emails and sending them as tests, training employees when they fail, creating reports, and much more. Many businesses have difficulty maintaining proper phishing training. Not only does this make you more vulnerable to cyber attacks, but insurance companies often ask for detailed proof that you kept up with proper phishing prevention training before paying the claim. Ntiva takes on this responsibility from start to finish so your employees will be better able to spot and stop cyber attacks. Plus, we document everything so that it’s easy to back up your insurance claim.
• Virtual Chief Information Security Officer (vCISO): This service makes top-tier security experts available to you on an as-needed basis. They will help you develop and implement strategies for aligning your IT with long-term business goals, customer expectations, and security regulations. 
• Cloud backup and disaster recovery plan: We help you build a business continuity and disaster recovery (BC/DR) plan and provide off-site digital storage space for all of your company’s data. This helps ensure the future of your business in the event of a security breach or natural disaster.

Case Study: Private School Gains Strategic IT Planning After Outage

An independent school in Maryland experienced an emergency outage that caused their core network switching to fail. This left them without access to both internal servers and hosted applications and it caused all devices to do a factory reset. 

They reached out to Ntiva and we sent a technician onsite to restore the outage right away. Then, we helped them build a BC/DR plan which included backing up their data on the cloud and forming a long-term partnership with our team.

Optimize and Secure Your Microsoft and Apple Products

When comparing different MSPs to determine who will be able to provide the best support, most companies consider how many years of experience the technicians have. While this is a great place to start, you’ll also want to consider the size of their support teams and the tools they have on hand. 

The size of the MSP is important for two reasons: 

• To ensure quality support as you evolve. Most companies have plans to expand or invest in more technology in order to keep up with industry demands. In either case, you’ll eventually need more tech support than you do now. You’ll need an MSP with enough staff to scale with you. 
• To ensure you have the support you need when you need it. For example, some MSPs will advertise that they have a department of Apple-certified technicians, however, the entire department will only consist of one or two technicians. If those technicians are unavailable (e.g., on vacation, sick leave, with a different client, etc.), you’ll have to wait to solve the problem no matter how critical the issue is.

Businesses often overlook what types of tools their MSP can use for diagnosing and fixing technical issues but the tools they use will affect the service they can provide. For example, many MSPs will advertise that they can support both Microsoft and Apple when in reality they only use Microsoft-native tools and security software. While you can solve some issues by using Microsoft tools on Apple products, these solutions are more likely to fail. Eventually, most companies experience an issue that can’t be solved without Apple-native tools. 

Ntiva has a department of more than a dozen Apple-certified technicians with over 20 years of experience. Our staff utilizes Apple-native tools to ensure your Apple products are fully-supported and secure.

Case Study: Expertise on Both Windows and Apple Technology a Game Changer

PMMI, the Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, was working with a mix of Microsoft and Apple products and needed an MSP with expertise in both areas. For many years, they worked with two separate vendors—one with expertise in Microsoft products and one to support their Apple products. 

When they found Ntiva, they were impressed by the support they received for both their products (Microsoft and Apple) and pleased to be working with just one provider. 

Lay the Foundation for Long-term Success with a Comprehensive Onboarding Experience

We know that onboarding a new MSP is a big investment of time and effort, and it can take several weeks (or months) before you’re able to take full advantage of the services they provide.  That’s why we’ve taken special care to get you up and running quickly and ensure as smooth of an onboarding process as possible.

Ntiva onboarding has four stages:

• Service definition: During this phase, we go over all the details of our SLA and gather details about your business and expectations.
• Data collection: During this stage, our IT professionals go onsite and evaluate and document all of your IT infrastructure and software.
• Internal review and planning: This stage happens internally on our side. We take the information gathered in the previous stages and develop strategies to fill gaps in your IT and security. We also take note of any areas where we can suggest more cost-effective ways to achieve the same or better results as what you already have in place.
• Orientation meeting and service handoff: This is the transition stage where we present our findings and solutions, schedule recurring strategy sessions, and begin the service.

Onboarding typically takes 45-60 days to complete but you won’t be charged during this time. 

Get the On-Site Service You Need, When You Need It

Many MSPs will charge you a recurring fee for access to on-site help. However, nearly all technical issues can be resolved remotely, which means you’ll be paying for a service that you may or may not use. 

For example, if we return to the case study about the independent Maryland school, they needed an on-site technician initially to help restore their servers. However, they were able to use Ntiva’s remote help desk for ongoing IT support. 

At Ntiva, we believe you should only be charged for services that you actually use, which is why we offer on-site support on an as-needed basis. This keeps your monthly rate down while ensuring you always have the support you need.

We have a physical presence across the U.S. and partner with many local IT providers to ensure you get fast, on-site support whenever you need it. 

You can read our customer success stories here. 

Whether you’re looking to   outsource   your entire   IT support   needs or to augment your   in-house   IT team, we can help. If you think Ntiva could be the right   MSP   for your business,   book a consultation today .

Four Other MSP Options

Dataprise is an MSP with a focus on IT infrastructure and cybersecurity. Their main services include: 

• IT infrastructure management
• Managed cybersecurity services
• Disaster recovery planning and assessment
• Communication technology solutions
• IT service desk (with separate lines for end-user, global service, and line of business application support)
• On-premise support
• Cloud migration, integration, and data center
• IT professional services to align technology and business goals

Dataprise has headquarters in Maryland but they also have a physical presence in several major cities including New York City, and Dallas, Texas.

You can read case studies for Dataprise here.

Burwood Group

Burwood Group is an IT consulting and integration firm whose main services include:

• IT strategy consultations
• 24/7 IT support services (for troubleshooting IT issues)
• Cloud services (including support for Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud solutions)
• Application development and modernization
• Cybersecurity consulting services
• DevOps support

They have locations in Chicago, St. Louis, North Carolina, Southern California, and Southern Illinois. However, they also offer remote support across the nation. 

You can read case studies for Burwood Group here. 

Electric is an IT services company that focuses on day-to-day IT needs for small and medium-sized businesses. Their main services include: 

• 24/7 IT support via Slack and Microsoft teams (with six minute response times  on average)
• Employee onboarding and offboarding 
• Cloud environment licensing management
• Security guidance and breach prevention
• Security policy tracking
• Device management dashboard
• Network monitoring 

You can read case studies for Electric here.

All Covered

All Covered is the nationwide technology services division of Konica Minolta. Their main services include: 

• Cloud-based solutions (including bandwidth and connectivity control)
• Print management (with an emphasis on reducing downtime)
• End-to-end device life cycle management
• Network infrastructure monitoring
• Information and IT systems security
• Application development
• Information management (powered by AI and robotic process automation)

You can read case studies for All Covered here. 

Ntiva provides fast, 24/7   IT support , advanced   cybersecurity solutions , and expert consulting to help you align your   IT environment   with your business goals. To learn more about how Ntiva can help you save costs, increase productivity, and get the most out of your technology,   book a consultation today   .

Want to learn more about Managed IT Services for your business? See Ntiva’s Managed IT Services.

Managed IT Services and Support

Managed Backup & Disaster Recovery Service

IT Support for Employee Onboarding & Offboarding

IT Help Desk Services and Support

Managed IT Procurement Services

Network Monitoring & Management

On-Site IT Services & Support

Managed Remote IT Support Services

Server Management and Support Services

Tags: Managed IT

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Improving IT Service Management Processes: A Case Study on IT Service Support

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• Antti Lahtela 4 &
• Marko Jäntti 4  

Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 99))

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IT services and IT service management play a very important role in the today’s IT industry. Software as service approach enables IT customers to focus on using the software while IT service providers take care of the installation, configuration, support and maintenance activities. Various process frameworks can be used to improve IT service management processes. The most widely used IT service management framework is the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) that provides best practices for IT service providers on how to design, manage and support IT services. Despite the IT service management process frameworks, implementing an effective service support interface between an IT service provider and an IT customer is a big challenge. The research problem in this study is: what types of challenges are related to the service support interface between an IT service provider and IT customers. The main contribution of this paper is present challenges in a service support interface identified during a case study with a large IT service provider company in Finland.

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Lahtela, A., Jäntti, M. (2010). Improving IT Service Management Processes: A Case Study on IT Service Support. In: Riel, A., O’Connor, R., Tichkiewitch, S., Messnarz, R. (eds) Systems, Software and Services Process Improvement. EuroSPI 2010. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 99. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-15666-3_9

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IT Infrastructure Support to Staffing and Services Industry

Client Information

The client is one of the industry leaders for IT staffing and services. It has sourced more than 75,000 IT professionals for over 5,550 IT setups across three continents. The client’s insight assists job providers meet the right workforce, which is key in driving business goals.

Client Requirements

As per the client requirement, Veritis team of experts offered managed IT Infrastructure services including support server operation and maintenance involving Linux, Redhat, Solaris and AIX OS technologies.

Veritis Approach

Veritis assisted the customer with support server operation and maintenance. Our team also automated day-to-day tasks and troubleshoot issues encountered by application and database teams related to the servers. Our experts decommissioned one server and built a new server to accommodate more storage.

Client Challenge Areas

The client was unable to purchase large amounts of storage, which was very crucial to the new project. To tackle this problem, Veritis team of experts had to decommission an existing server and build a new server.

Key Responsibilities Held

• Installed, upgraded and maintained the platform leverage and operating systems, and provisioned new servers according to hardening standards
• Performed regular server patching and firmware upgrades to ensure code levels are maintained to standards
• Monitored and responded to system alerts to avoid system outages and participated on team 24X7 on-call rotations
• Handled break-fix tickets and worked to restore service during server disruptions
• Provided capacity planning and system performance analysis to ensure the service levels are consistently met
• Supported application, security and infrastructure driven projects
• Engineered technical server-based solutions and developed and documented implementation plans to meet project requirements

Environments Used

Ansible, ServiceNow, SolarWinds and BMC Patrol

Value Delivered

The client is now able to conduct smooth business operations owing to Veritis aiding through support server operation and maintenance and addressing issues like unavailability of storage space and automating everyday tasks while troubleshooting issues encountered by applications and database related teams.

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10 Inspiring Stories Showcasing the Impact of Custom IT Solutions on Enterprises

Businesses have saved millions with IT outsourcing while achieving impressive results. Let’s explore the examples of successful IT outstaffing & custom solutions development of world-known brands.

IT outsourcing is the practice of delegating IT functions and services to external service providers, allowing companies to focus on their core competencies. Being expected to reach a staggering $781 billion by 2030, the global IT outsourcing market continues to thrive due to numerous technology trends that have flooded the software development sector, coupled with a concerning scarcity of experienced developers in certain regions.

Dive into 10 compelling case studies that showcase the immense benefits and successful outcomes achieved through IT outsourcing. These real-world examples span diverse industries and highlight the strategies, best practices, and lessons learned.

Read more on the topic :

• 5 Key Trends for Outsourcing and the Shared Services Market in 2023
• Custom vs. Off-the-Shelf Software: Which Is the Right Solution for Your Enterprise?
• Best Regions to Source a Software Development Team
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Why Enterprises Choose IT Outsourcing

Here are some benefits that motivate enterprises to opt for IT outsourcing:

• Cost savings . Outsourcing eliminates expenses related to hiring, training, infrastructure setup, and ongoing operational costs.
• Access to specialized expertise . Custom software development providers often possess deep domain knowledge, technical skills, and experience in specific areas of IT. Enterprises can access cutting-edge technologies , best practices, and industry insights that may be otherwise challenging to acquire in-house.
• Scalability and flexibility . This approach eliminates the challenges of managing a fluctuating workforce and infrastructure internally, so companies can respond swiftly to changing business dynamics.
• Prioritize business activities. Outsourcing routine tasks, such as data processing, IT maintenance and support, allows organizations to redirect their efforts toward innovation, market expansion, and value creation. In other words, they can work on their competitive advantage and business growth.

Read more : How to Attract New Customers and Scale Your Business with Custom Software

• Accelerated time-to-market . Providers have a wealth of knowledge and efficient methods in their tool kit, allowing them to complete projects more quickly and efficiently.
• Risk mitigation . Reliable software development partners usually have strong security measures, plans for handling disasters, and systems in place to ensure compliance with regulations. This takes away the need for companies to build these capabilities from scratch.
• Global reach and market expansion . By engaging with specialists located in different regions , organizations can leverage diverse perspectives, cultural insights, and even local market knowledge.

Read also : Offshore Development Center vs. Internal Team: Which to Choose?

All in all, there are numerous advantages to outsourcing development, even if your company has the resources to afford an in-house team of developers.

10 Examples of IT Outsourcing: Outstanding Software Built by Remote Teams

Without further delay, these companies have embraced the distributed development model, which helped them unlock new levels of productivity, creativity, and collaboration:

Now one of the leading platforms for software development and version control, GitHub made a strategic decision to outsource the development of its MVP . The CEO and co-founder of GitHub recognized the importance of finding a backend developer with extensive knowledge and expertise in Gits, a crucial aspect of their platform. They came across Scott Chacon, who possessed a rare understanding of Gits at that time. In response to the founders’ request, Chacon joined the GitHub team as a consultant on an outsourced basis.

Chacon’s involvement proved to be pivotal as he took on the responsibility of developing the backend of GitHub’s website. His understanding of Gits and his technical skills allowed him to build the robust foundation that became integral to the platform’s functionality.

Related material : 6 Secret Reasons Why Organizations Outsource Software Development

To conserve raised funds, Slack chose to outsource design and app development services right from the beginning. They hired a Canadian design team to assist in the development of their product, starting from the beta version, and this external team played a crucial role in refining and enhancing the user experience of Slack’s website and mobile app. They also took charge of redesigning the company’s logo and creating the visual elements that users interact with while using the messaging service.

Within just two weeks after its launch, Slack managed to acquire an impressive user base of 15,000 users. This early success propelled the company’s growth trajectory, leading to its eventual status as a startup unicorn in 2014 and attracting considerable investor attention.

Initially, Opera received financial support from its parent company, Telenor. However, when Opera transitioned into a separate entity, its available resources became more constrained. In order to efficiently manage its development process while considering the skills and capacity of developers, Opera went for remote software development services .

This outsourcing case study example can teach companies how to optimize limited resources. Opera could tap into a global talent pool, selecting developers with the required expertise and experience to contribute to its platform. And they only committed to in-house operations after determining the critical areas that required internal expertise.

In its early days, back in 2012, WhatsApp was a small organization with limited resources, comprising just 30 full-time employees and five part-timers. With only $250,000 raised in seed funding, the company couldn’t keep the costs reasonable while competing against established players in the market, particularly SMS technology.

To tackle this obstacle, WhatsApp opted to outsource the majority of its essential development work to an external partner. They understood the importance of finding web development experts who offered a combination of high quality and cost-effectiveness.

Therefore, they turned to Eastern Europe, a renowned outsourcing hub known for its talented IT professionals, to meet their requirements. Just two years after its outsourcing decision, the company achieved an important milestone when it was acquired by Facebook for a staggering $19 billion.

Skype, founded in 2003 by two entrepreneurs from Sweden and Denmark, outsourced its development work to three professional developers from Estonia. Working together, the founders and the Estonian developers successfully created the widely recognized and beloved communication platform known today.

One of the Estonian developers played a crucial role in introducing the concept of cost-effective voice calls through a P2P protocol. Additionally, Skype’s innovative features, such as video chat, instant messaging, and file transmission, have made it an indispensable tool for individuals and businesses alike.

The success of Skype was evident just two years after its inception when it was acquired by eBay for $2.5 billion in 2005. This marked a significant milestone for the company. Subsequently, in 2011, Microsoft acquired Skype for an even more substantial amount, reaching $8.5 billion.

Email Marketing Tool

An email marketing tool often requires extensive database-related expertise, which implies specific hands-on experience vital for project success. That’s what a global market leader in the segment faced. Besides the team’s skill set, they looked for a cost-effective solution to develop an email marketing tool. Outsourcing the task to Intetics allowed them to achieve both goals: source expertise and reduce the costs.

Besides technical support, the development team also served as a professional services provider, offering custom implementations, resulting in a stable and efficient platform capable of handling the delivery of 5 million emails per month.

During the 1990s, Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba , faced major challenges due to limited resources and the complexities of operating in China’s restricted internet environment. The scarcity of Chinese specialists in e-commerce development added another layer of complication. With a modest initial investment of $20,000, Jack Ma recognized the need to look abroad for the website development of his startup.

Alibaba began seeking partners and outsourced various projects to overseas professionals, particularly in the United States. This move paid off in remarkable ways. Alibaba’s growth trajectory soared to unprecedented heights, culminating in a historic achievement in 2014 — the company secured its place in the annals of business history by executing the largest IPO ever witnessed.

Google is known for its vast in-house workforce of over 178,000 employees , but it still finds itself facing monumental workloads that require additional support. Therefore, the company leverages the power of outsourcing by tapping into the global talent pool and partnering with contractors. One prominent example is Google’s AdWords project, a cornerstone of the company’s revenue generation in 2017. To ensure the seamless functioning of this robust service, Google has enlisted the expertise of more than 1,000 outsourced representatives hailing from over 60 countries.

In fact, the reliance on outsourcing has grown to such an extent that, as reported by Bloomberg, the number of Google’s contractors exceeded its direct employees for the first time in 2018. The significance becomes even more evident when we consider the magnitude of AdWords, a tool that captures the attention of marketers worldwide by reaching over 90% of internet users.

In the realm of financial technology, Wise stands out as a company that embraces the power of independent workers within its core team. To build their remote team, Wise has established a presence in Estonia and Ukraine, where they seek out technicians known for their quick technical reflexes and impressive skill sets.

When it comes to hiring product engineers, Wise goes above and beyond to find exceptional individuals. They have developed a rigorous evaluation process that consists of multiple stages. Prospective engineers are required to complete a take-home test, followed by technical interviews with experienced engineers. Additional technical interviews and a product interview with a manager and engineer may also be conducted. Lastly, candidates can showcase their abilities in a final interview with the Vice President of Engineering or a co-founder. These thorough interview and evaluation phases serve to identify top-notch talent.

Leading USA Health Portal

One of the key obstacles faced by the health portal was finding the right experienced software vendor to bring their vision to life. Previous attempts to develop the system had failed due to skill shortages and limitations of previous vendors. Therefore, the Health Portal sourced expertise by hiring the Intetics Remote In-Sourcing® Team , which took on the responsibility of designing and implementing 100% of the Client’s products, ensuring that the system was built to their exact specifications and requirements.

The newly developed system now serves a user base of 5,000,000 people on an annual basis, with this number continuing to grow. By entrusting the technical aspects to the Remote In-Sourcing® Team, the Client was able to shift their focus and concentrate on their core medical business.

Got Inspired? Let’s Make an Impact Together!

These ten successful outsourcing case studies have employed different forms of IT outsourcing, yet they all arrived at the same resounding conclusion: opting for custom software development in partnership with a reliable engineering partner or hiring remote talented engineers , can enhance business’s efficiency and optimize costs.

Whether you find yourself in the early stages of a startup or operating as a well-established multinational enterprise, embracing this approach may yield tremendous benefits. If these success stories have inspired you to consider tech partnership, Intetics is eager to deploy its expertise to make an impact in your industry together. Reach out today !

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Customer Service Case Studies: Real-Life Examples Of Service Scenarios.

Are you looking for real-life examples of customer service scenarios that can help you improve your own customer service skills? Look no further!

In this article, we will explore a series of case studies that highlight different aspects of effective customer service. These case studies will provide you with valuable insights into how to handle challenging situations, resolve issues, and create positive experiences for your customers.

Customer service plays a crucial role in the success of any business. It is not just about answering phone calls or responding to emails; it is about building relationships and exceeding customer expectations. By studying real-life examples, you can gain a deeper understanding of the importance of effective customer service and learn strategies to enhance your own skills.

In each case study, we will delve into different scenarios and examine how businesses successfully handled them. From resolving product quality issues to dealing with difficult customers, these case studies will showcase various approaches and solutions that you can apply in your own work.

Get ready to dive into these insightful stories that demonstrate the power of exceptional customer service!

Table of Contents

Key Takeaways

• Effective customer service is crucial for the success of a business.
• Empathy and proactive customer service are essential aspects of providing excellent customer service.
• Prompt resolution of product quality issues, with notification and compensation for affected customers, helps maintain customer satisfaction and loyalty.
• Handling difficult customers with a calm and empathetic approach, offering alternatives, and empowering them to make choices can build trust and loyalty.

The Importance of Effective Customer Service

You can’t underestimate the impact of great customer service – it’s like a warm cup of coffee on a chilly morning, instantly making you feel valued and appreciated.

In today’s competitive business landscape, providing effective customer service is more important than ever. Customers have numerous options at their fingertips, and one bad experience can send them running to your competitors. That’s why empathy plays a crucial role in customer service.

When customers feel understood and cared for, they’re more likely to become loyal advocates for your brand. Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others. In customer service, this means putting yourself in the shoes of your customers and genuinely listening to their concerns.

By showing empathy, you demonstrate that you value their emotions and are committed to finding a solution that meets their needs. This not only helps resolve issues effectively but also builds trust and strengthens the relationship with your customers.

Proactive customer service is another essential aspect of providing exceptional support. Instead of waiting for customers to come to you with problems or complaints, proactive customer service involves anticipating their needs and addressing any potential issues before they arise.

This approach shows that you’re dedicated to delivering an outstanding experience from start to finish. By taking the initiative, you can prevent problems from escalating and create positive interactions that leave a lasting impression on your customers.

The importance of effective customer service cannot be overstated. Empathy allows you to connect with your customers on a deeper level by understanding their emotions and concerns. Proactive customer service demonstrates your commitment to going above and beyond expectations by anticipating needs before they become problems.

By prioritizing these aspects in your approach to customer service, you can foster loyalty, build strong relationships with customers, and ultimately drive success for your business.

Case Study 1: Resolving a Product Quality Issue

Resolving a product quality issue can be challenging, but did you know that 86% of customers are more likely to repurchase from a company that resolves their complaint? When faced with a product quality issue, it’s important for companies to take immediate action and address the problem effectively.

One notable case study involves a product recall due to safety concerns. The company promptly notified customers about the recall through multiple channels such as email, social media, and website announcements. This proactive approach not only ensured customer safety but also demonstrated the company’s commitment to resolving the issue.

To further enhance customer satisfaction during this challenging time, the company offered compensation to affected customers. The compensation included a full refund for the recalled product as well as additional discounts on future purchases. By going above and beyond in compensating their customers, the company not only mitigated any potential negative feelings but also showed genuine concern for their customers’ wellbeing.

In addition to addressing individual complaints, the company took steps towards preventing similar issues in the future. They implemented stricter quality control measures throughout their production process and conducted thorough inspections before releasing any products into the market. This proactive approach reassured customers that their concerns were taken seriously and instilled confidence in the brand’s commitment to delivering high-quality products.

By resolving a product quality issue promptly and ensuring customer satisfaction through compensation and preventive measures, companies can not only retain existing customers but also build trust with new ones. It’s crucial for businesses to recognize that effective customer service goes beyond simply resolving complaints; it requires taking responsibility for failures, implementing meaningful solutions, and continuously improving processes to prevent similar issues from arising again in the future.

Case Study 2: Handling a Difficult Customer

Navigating through challenging interactions with clients can be a test of your company’s ability to handle difficult situations. Dealing with angry customers requires a delicate balance of empathy, patience, and problem-solving skills.

One real-life example of a company successfully managing a difficult situation involved an irate customer who had received a damaged product.

In this case, the customer contacted the company’s customer service department immediately after receiving the damaged product. The representative on the phone remained calm and empathetic throughout the conversation, acknowledging the customer’s frustration. They apologized sincerely for any inconvenience caused and assured the customer that they would resolve the issue promptly.

The representative then offered several options to address the problem, including sending a replacement or providing a refund. By presenting these alternatives, they empowered the customer to choose what solution best suited their needs. This approach helped defuse tension and created an atmosphere of collaboration rather than confrontation.

Ultimately, by effectively managing this difficult situation and prioritizing customer satisfaction, the company not only resolved the issue but also built trust and loyalty with their client base.

Case Study 3: Going Above and Beyond for a Customer

Exceeding expectations and leaving a lasting impression, one company went the extra mile to ensure a memorable experience for a dissatisfied client. The customer, let’s call her Sarah, had purchased a high-end laptop from this company but encountered numerous technical issues soon after receiving it. Frustrated with the product’s performance and the lack of support she received initially, Sarah reached out to the company’s customer service department for assistance.

To address Sarah’s concerns promptly, the customer service representative assigned to her case took immediate action. Recognizing that resolving her technical issues alone would not suffice in restoring Sarah’s trust and satisfaction, they decided to go above and beyond what was expected. The representative personally followed up with Sarah daily to provide updates on their progress in fixing her laptop. They also offered additional compensation for the inconvenience caused by sending her a complimentary accessory package.

In addition to their exceptional level of communication, this company created a personalized experience for Sarah through small gestures that left an indelible mark on her overall perception of their brand. One example was when they surprised her by upgrading her laptop’s warranty without any additional cost. This unexpected act not only demonstrated their commitment to providing quality products but also highlighted their dedication towards ensuring customer satisfaction.

By going above and beyond in addressing Sarah’s concerns and surpassing her expectations at every turn, this company exemplified outstanding customer service. Their proactive approach not only resolved technical issues efficiently but also left a lasting impression on Sarah concerning how much they valued her as a loyal customer. Through personalized attention, generous compensation, and unexpected upgrades, they not only ensured Sarah’s satisfaction but also fostered a long-term relationship based on trust and loyalty. This case study serves as a powerful reminder that going the extra mile can make all the difference in customer satisfaction and retention.

Case Study 4: Turning a Negative Review into a Positive Experience

If your business has ever received negative feedback, it’s important to know how to turn that experience into a positive one.

In this case study, we will explore how a business addressed a customer’s concerns and transformed their perception from negative to positive.

By taking the necessary steps and going above and beyond, the business not only resolved the issue but also improved their reputation in the process.

The negative feedback received by the business

Despite your best efforts, your business was bombarded with a barrage of scathing feedback that left you reeling. Customers expressed their dissatisfaction with the quality of your products and the poor customer service they received.

These negative reviews not only affected customer retention but also posed a threat to your brand reputation. The negative feedback highlighted areas where improvements were needed. It pointed out flaws in your product design, manufacturing processes, and communication channels.

While it may be disheartening to receive such criticism, it presents an opportunity for you to address these issues and enhance the overall customer experience. By acknowledging the shortcomings and taking immediate action to rectify them, you can regain customers’ trust and loyalty while rebuilding your brand’s reputation.

The steps taken to address the customer’s concerns

After receiving the negative feedback, we quickly took action to address the customer’s concerns and improve our products and services. We understand that addressing customer complaints is essential for maintaining a positive reputation and ensuring customer satisfaction.

Our first step was to reach out to the customer directly, expressing our apologies for any inconvenience caused and assuring them that their concerns were being taken seriously.

To resolve the customer’s issues, we implemented a thorough investigation into the matter. This involved examining the specific details of their complaint, evaluating our internal processes, and identifying any areas where improvements could be made. By conducting this analysis, we were able to pinpoint the root cause of the problem and develop an effective solution.

Once we identified areas for improvement, we promptly made necessary changes to prevent similar issues from occurring in the future. This included updating our training programs for staff members involved in customer service interactions and enhancing quality control measures throughout our production process. We also communicated these updates transparently with all relevant stakeholders to ensure everyone understood our commitment to resolving customer issues.

Addressing customer complaints is not just about solving individual problems; it is about continuously improving our overall products and services. By taking immediate action upon receiving negative feedback, we demonstrate our dedication to providing exceptional experiences for every customer.

We remain committed to resolving any issues promptly while striving to exceed expectations in delivering high-quality products and top-notch service.

The transformation of the customer’s perception and improved reputation

Now that the steps have been taken to address the customer’s concerns, let’s discuss the transformation of their perception and the improved reputation of your business.

By promptly addressing the customer’s issues and providing a satisfactory resolution, you’ve demonstrated your commitment to customer satisfaction. This level of responsiveness not only resolves the immediate problem but also leaves a lasting impression on the customer.

As a result, their perception of your brand is likely to improve significantly. They’ll appreciate your willingness to listen, understand, and take action to rectify any issues they may have faced. This positive experience can lead to increased brand loyalty as customers recognize that you value their feedback and are committed to delivering exceptional service.

To further enhance customer satisfaction and foster brand loyalty, consider implementing these strategies:

• Personalized follow-up: Reach out to customers after resolving their concerns with personalized messages or phone calls. This gesture shows that you genuinely care about their experience and want to ensure their ongoing satisfaction.
• Proactive communication: Keep customers informed about any changes or improvements related to the issue they encountered. Sharing updates showcases transparency and builds trust in your ability to continuously improve.
• Loyalty rewards program: Offer incentives or exclusive benefits for loyal customers who continue choosing your brand despite any initial challenges they may have faced. Rewarding their loyalty encourages repeat business and strengthens long-term relationships.

By investing in improving customer satisfaction and building brand loyalty, you can create a positive reputation for your business while fostering long-term success in an increasingly competitive market.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the key elements of effective customer service.

Effective customer service requires several key elements.

One interesting statistic is that 86% of customers are willing to pay more for a better customer experience. This highlights the importance of providing exceptional service.

Effective communication plays a crucial role in customer service as it allows you to understand the needs and concerns of your customers, while also conveying information clearly and concisely.

Empathy and understanding are equally important, as they enable you to connect with customers on an emotional level, showing them that their satisfaction is your top priority.

By incorporating these elements into your customer service approach, you can create positive experiences that leave a lasting impression on your customers.

How can companies measure the success of their customer service efforts?

To measure the success of your customer service efforts, you can utilize various customer satisfaction metrics and conduct thorough customer feedback analysis.

Customer satisfaction metrics, such as Net Promoter Score (NPS) or Customer Effort Score (CES), provide valuable insights into how satisfied your customers are with the service they received. These metrics allow you to quantify customer sentiment and identify areas for improvement.

Additionally, analyzing customer feedback through surveys or social media monitoring enables you to understand specific pain points and address them proactively.

By consistently measuring these indicators and taking action based on the results, you can continuously enhance your customer service performance and ensure a positive experience for your customers.

What are some common challenges faced by customer service representatives?

Handling difficult customers and managing high call volumes can be incredibly challenging for customer service representatives. Dealing with irate customers can feel like trying to calm a hurricane with a feather, as their frustrations can reach astronomical levels. It requires an extraordinary level of patience and empathy to navigate through their anger and find a resolution that satisfies both parties.

Additionally, managing high call volumes can feel like juggling flaming swords while walking on a tightrope. The constant influx of calls puts immense pressure on representatives to provide quick and efficient assistance without compromising the quality of service.

However, despite these Herculean tasks, customer service representatives rise above the challenges by employing exceptional communication skills, problem-solving abilities, and an unwavering commitment to customer satisfaction.

How can companies improve their customer service skills and knowledge?

To improve their customer service skills and knowledge, companies should invest in comprehensive training programs that provide employees with the necessary tools and techniques to handle different scenarios. These programs can include modules on effective communication, problem-solving, and empathy to ensure that representatives are equipped to handle any customer interactions.

Additionally, implementing feedback systems that allow customers to provide their input and suggestions can also be beneficial. This feedback can help identify areas for improvement and enable companies to make necessary adjustments in their processes or training programs.

By prioritizing ongoing training initiatives and actively seeking customer feedback, companies can continually enhance their customer service skills and knowledge, leading to improved overall customer satisfaction levels.

What are some best practices for handling customer complaints and resolving issues?

When it comes to handling customer complaints and resolving issues, think of yourself as a skilled navigator guiding a ship through stormy waters. Customer feedback is like the wind, sometimes gentle and other times fierce, but always pushing you towards improvement.

Conflict resolution is your compass, helping you find the right path to address concerns and turn unhappy customers into satisfied ones. Actively listen to their grievances, empathize with their frustrations, and offer swift solutions that demonstrate your commitment to their satisfaction.

By taking ownership of the problem and going above and beyond to resolve it, you can transform a dissatisfied customer into a loyal advocate for your brand.

In conclusion, effective customer service is crucial for businesses to thrive in today’s competitive market. As demonstrated by the case studies discussed, handling product quality issues, difficult customers, and negative reviews with empathy and proactive solutions can turn potentially negative experiences into positive ones.

One interesting statistic that highlights the impact of great customer service is that 86% of consumers are willing to pay more for a better customer experience (Source: PwC). This statistic evokes an emotional response as it emphasizes the value customers place on exceptional service. By investing in providing top-notch customer service, businesses not only create loyal customers but also have the potential to increase their revenue.

To ensure success in customer service scenarios, it is essential for businesses to empower their employees with proper training and resources. By equipping them with problem-solving skills, effective communication techniques, and a genuine desire to help customers, companies can build strong relationships and foster trust. Additionally, embracing technology solutions such as AI-powered chatbots or self-service options can streamline processes and provide faster resolutions.

In summary, delivering exceptional customer service requires a proactive approach that focuses on resolving issues promptly while exceeding expectations. By prioritizing the needs of customers and going above and beyond to provide personalized solutions, businesses can create memorable experiences that result in increased customer satisfaction and loyalty. Remember, investing in superior customer service is not just about satisfying your current customers; it’s about attracting new ones who’re willing to pay more for an outstanding experience.

The eSoft Editorial Team, a blend of experienced professionals, leaders, and academics, specializes in soft skills, leadership, management, and personal and professional development. Committed to delivering thoroughly researched, high-quality, and reliable content, they abide by strict editorial guidelines ensuring accuracy and currency. Each article crafted is not merely informative but serves as a catalyst for growth, empowering individuals and organizations. As enablers, their trusted insights shape the leaders and organizations of tomorrow.

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Solution & Approach

Auxis was engaged by the client as it searched for a new IT help desk  outsourcing partner  with the maturity, sophistication, and experience to support its accelerated global growth and high service quality expectations.

From the beginning, Auxis’ executive team brought its consultative approach to help the organization identify key gaps within existing systems and processes. These gaps needed to be addressed to build a best-in-class customer support platform. Some of Auxis’ early recommendations included:

Supported Products

• Digital Menu Boards
• Video Walls
• Directories and Wayfinding
• Media Posters
• Led Installations
• Other Custom Solutions

Proprietary software for customers to create and manage content no matter the number of locations or products

• The need to implement a more robust ticketing system and call center platform with the ability to track and monitor key operational metrics that were currently unavailable.
• Restructuring the support team. Under the old model, support calls could be answered by any help desk agent, whether they were new activations or ongoing maintenance inquiries. Auxis recommended dividing the support team by function. Creating teams with a specialized focus speeds resolution times by routing calls to staff with specific expertise while preventing day-to-day issues from clogging the activation pipeline. It also creates consistency among resources who work with field technicians.

With these recommendations in mind, Auxis worked hand-in-hand with the client to develop a dedicated resource model housed within Auxis’  Nearshore Delivery Center in  Costa Rica . Under this customized model, Auxis maintains a 24x7x365 support team exclusively for the company, developing deep expertise in its systems and processes. This type of solution also allows the customer to play a more active role in key operational areas, such as getting involved in the hiring/interview process. The client wanted to lead management of the new system implementations internally as well.

Nearly two years later, the relationship continues to be a proven success – offering 24x7x365 support for 44,000+ devices located in more than 25 different countries throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe.

While the client initially focused its partnership with Auxis on supporting locations in North America, it soon tapped the multilingual capabilities of Costa Rica to support its expansion into other parts of the world that require Spanish, French and Portuguese.

• 24x7x364 Support
• 44,000 + Devices
• US, Canada & Europe

Take IT to the next level with the right Nearshore Outsourcing Help Desk Partner

Auxis successfully implemented a world-class IT help desk outsourcing platform that continues to serve as a seamless extension of the client’s in-house team. With 24x7x365 access to skilled, multilingual help desk staff who can perform both remote diagnostics and proactive corrective actions, tickets are resolved quickly and efficiently – ensuring continuous operations for the client and its customers.

Some key benefits that have been achieved through the client’s partnership with Auxis include:

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Making Co-Design More Responsible: Case Study on the Development of an AI-Based Decision Support System in Dementia Care

Dirk r m lukkien.

1 Vilans Centre of Expertise of Long Term Care, Utrecht, Netherlands

2 Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands

Sima Ipakchian Askari

3 Human Technology Interaction, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, Netherlands

Nathalie E Stolwijk

Bob m hofstede, henk herman nap, wouter p c boon, alexander peine.

4 Faculty of Humanities, Open University of The Netherlands, Heerlen, Netherlands

Ellen H M Moors

Mirella m n minkman.

5 Tilburg Institute for Advanced Studies School for Business and Society, Tilburg University, Tilburg, Netherlands

Associated Data

The responsible innovation survey.

Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) require an early-stage assessment of potential societal and ethical implications to increase their acceptability, desirability, and sustainability. This paper explores and compares 2 of these assessment approaches: the responsible innovation (RI) framework originating from technology studies and the co-design approach originating from design studies. While the RI framework has been introduced to guide early-stage technology assessment through anticipation, inclusion, reflexivity, and responsiveness, co-design is a commonly accepted approach in the development of technologies to support the care for older adults with frailty. However, there is limited understanding about how co-design contributes to the anticipation of implications.

This paper empirically explores how the co-design process of an AI-based decision support system (DSS) for dementia caregivers is complemented by explicit anticipation of implications.

This case study investigated an international collaborative project that focused on the co-design, development, testing, and commercialization of a DSS that is intended to provide actionable information to formal caregivers of people with dementia. In parallel to the co-design process, an RI exploration took place, which involved examining project members’ viewpoints on both positive and negative implications of using the DSS, along with strategies to address these implications. Results from the co-design process and RI exploration were analyzed and compared. In addition, retrospective interviews were held with project members to reflect on the co-design process and RI exploration.

Our results indicate that, when involved in exploring requirements for the DSS, co-design participants naturally raised various implications and conditions for responsible design and deployment: protecting privacy, preventing cognitive overload, providing transparency, empowering caregivers to be in control, safeguarding accuracy, and training users. However, when comparing the co-design results with insights from the RI exploration, we found limitations to the co-design results, for instance, regarding the specification, interrelatedness, and context dependency of implications and strategies to address implications.

Conclusions

This case study shows that a co-design process that focuses on opportunities for innovation rather than balancing attention for both positive and negative implications may result in knowledge gaps related to social and ethical implications and how they can be addressed. In the pursuit of responsible outcomes, co-design facilitators could broaden their scope and reconsider the specific implementation of the process-oriented RI principles of anticipation and inclusion.

Introduction

In the long-term care for older adults with frailty, caregivers and clients are increasingly being assisted by artificial intelligence (AI)–based technologies [ 1 - 5 ]. AI-based technologies can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, make predictions, recommendations, or decisions influencing real or web-based environments, thereby using machine or human-based data and input [ 6 ]. For instance, AI is being used in decision support systems (DSSs) that acquire relevant data about care needs or processes; present the relevant data to users (eg, caregivers); and translate raw data into actionable information, such as alerts, risk assessments, or recommendations about care strategies [ 7 - 10 ]. Notwithstanding the opportunities and advantages, it is broadly acknowledged that the use of AI-based technologies entails societal and ethical implications. The long-term data collection in the context of monitoring older people’s health and well-being and the mediating or even leading role of algorithms in interpreting these data to arrive at care-related decisions pose implications related to, among others, undermining people’s privacy, autonomy, and self-determination; the discrimination and stigmatization of old age; and surveillance capitalism [ 1 , 11 - 15 ].

Due to the impact technologies such as DSSs have on people’s lives and the potential resistance that might emerge during implementation, an early-stage assessment of their implications is called for. This paper explores and compares 2 of these assessment approaches: the responsible innovation (RI) framework originating from technology studies and the co-design approach originating from design studies. The term RI refers to the aim to ensure the ethical acceptability, societal desirability, and sustainability of innovation processes and outcomes [ 16 , 17 ]. To guide RI into practice, Owen et al [ 17 ] suggest that four process-oriented principles should guide technology research and development: (1) anticipation of the potential positive and negative implications; (2) inclusion of users and other stakeholders; (3) reflexivity of actors upon their own practices, assumptions, values, and interests; and (4) responsiveness to insights that emerge during the innovation process.

Co-design can be used as an umbrella term for approaches that actively involve users and other stakeholders of innovations in any stage of the design process to ensure that the outcomes meet their needs [ 18 , 19 ]. It is a commonly accepted approach in the development of technologies to support the long-term care for older adults [ 20 - 22 ]. On a conceptual level, co-design resonates with RI. Both approaches share a focus on developing technologies to match human needs and abilities, similar to research fields such as human factors, human-computer interaction, and cognitive engineering. In fact, co-design has increasingly received attention as a way to support RI [ 23 ]. Similar to RI, the co-design approach describes a research and development process in which innovators inclusively deliberate and reflect on the needs and values of different stakeholders and iteratively design and adapt innovations based on these insights [ 23 ]. However, in contrast to RI, co-design does not explicitly impose on innovators the need to anticipate potential societal and ethical implications (henceforth, abbreviated as “implications”). Co-design can yield insights into potential unintended side effects and value creation that stakeholders do not want from innovation, but this is generally not an explicit aim in co-design. Against this background, this paper empirically explores how the explicit anticipation of implications can complement co-design.

More specifically, this paper presents a case study on an international collaborative project that focuses on the development of a DSS to support formal caregivers involved in long-term dementia care. A co-design process involving intended users and other stakeholders (henceforth, abbreviated as “users”) is central to the development of the DSS. In addition, a separate line of research of the project under investigation explicitly anticipated implications of using DSSs in dementia care, along with strategies to address these implications, thereby fostering RI in AI-assisted decision-making. This so-called RI exploration largely took place in parallel to (ie, not as part of) the co-design activities and focused on soliciting the perspectives of project members (PMs) rather than those of users. This paper describes the empirical exploration of how the co-design process of an AI-based DSS for dementia caregivers is complemented by the explicit anticipation of implications.

The Healthy Ageing Eco-System for People With Dementia Project

The case presented in this paper is the Healthy Ageing Eco-system for People With Dementia (HAAL) project, which is part of the European Active and Assisted Living (AAL) program (AAL Europe, 2021; project AAL-2020-7-229-CP). In HAAL, an international consortium comprising care organizations, research institutes, and commercial firms from the Netherlands, Italy, Taiwan, and Denmark collaborates on the co-design, development, testing, and commercialization of a DSS that is intended to provide actionable information to formal caregivers of people with dementia, with the aim of reducing their workload and increasing the quality of care [ 24 ]. The DSS developed in HAAL concerns a dashboard that integrates various types of data about the physical activity, eating and sleeping patterns, cognitive functioning, mood, social contact, and medication intake of people with dementia. These data can be collected via several digital technologies (henceforth, “HAAL technologies”) throughout various stages of dementia. Besides integrating the data from HAAL technologies into 1 dashboard, possibilities to provide caregivers only the most relevant data in the form of summary overviews, alerts, predictions about emergency situations, and recommendations about care strategies were explored. To this end, both preprogrammed, rule-based algorithms and data-driven algorithms rooted in machine learning are used to process data.

With these predefined directions as a starting point, a series of iterative co-design activities involving dementia caregivers, or more correctly “proxy users” who represent these eventual users (see the study by Stewart and Hyysalo [ 25 ]), and other stakeholders were organized to feed the actual design and development of the dashboard. The co-design activities focused on exploring the relevance and possibilities of translating the data from HAAL technologies into useful information and prioritizing data that are relevant to be presented in the dashboard [ 24 , 26 ]. In addition, the co-design activities focused on determining functionalities of the dashboard and designing and evaluating different pages of the dashboard’s user interface.

The RI exploration in HAAL, which took place largely in parallel to the co-design activities, initially focused on raising PMs’ general awareness about RI and exploring their perspectives on both positive and negative implications of using the HAAL dashboard, along with strategies to address these implications.

For this case study, results from the co-design process and RI exploration within the HAAL project were incorporated and analyzed. In addition, retrospective interviews were held with individual PMs to reflect on the co-design process and RI exploration. Because the co-design process and RI exploration were largely organized in parallel, the HAAL project provided sufficient data within a specific time and context to perform a retrospective analysis on how the explicit anticipation of implications can complement co-design. Figure 1 shows a timeline of activities.

Timeline of the co-design process, responsible innovation (RI) exploration, and retrospective interviews. "Month" refers to the month (count in project) in which the activity took place. HAAL: Healthy Ageing Eco-system for People With Dementia.

Co-Design Process

Table 1 describes the 4 specific steps taken in the co-design process. The co-design activities in HAAL were conducted in 4 countries: the Netherlands, Italy, Taiwan and Denmark. The organizations from Denmark are unsubsidized partners in the HAAL project and did not participate in co-design steps 3 to 4. Despite differences in dementia care systems across these countries, such as types of caregivers involved in home-based and institutionalized care settings, formal caregivers of people with dementia were perceived as the primary target group for (using) the dashboard in all countries. Hence, a variety of formal caregivers of people with dementia, such as (homecare) nurses, case managers, psychologists, psychotherapists, social workers, and specialists in the care of older adults, were involved in the co-design activities. In addition, other stakeholders, such as innovation staff, data analysts at care organizations, and people working in (care) alarm centrals, were involved in some steps of the co-design process to broadly explore requirements for the dashboard. As indicated in Table 1 , two intermediate steps were taken without the direct involvement of users. Further, at the end of step 4, participants were implicitly asked about RI-related themes (autonomy and transparency). Throughout the co-design activities, data were collected in the form of notes, audio and video recordings, photos, drawings, and (web-based) canvasses and by conducting surveys.

Steps taken in the co-design process.

a Intermediate step: after analyzing results from step 1, user personas and desired dashboard functionalities were defined and translated into a preliminary mock-up for the dashboard (iteration 1). The motivational goal model of Taveter et al [ 32 ] was used for this translation.

b HAAL: Healthy Ageing Eco-system for People With Dementia.

c MoSCoW: must have, should have, could have, and won’t have this time.

d Intermediate step: after analyzing results from step 3, insights about user requirements were again plotted on the motivational goal model to define design requirements. These design requirements were used to translate the preliminary mock-up into a clickable mock-up (iteration 2).

e HUBBI: eHealth usability benchmarking instrument.

f RI: responsible innovation.

RI Exploration

The RI exploration was primarily based on a qualitative survey among PMs, which was preceded by 2 workshops and followed by a third workshop with PMs. The first 2 workshops with PMs were held in a hybrid setting (web based and physical) during collective consortium meetings. The goal of the first workshop was to explain the notion of RI to PMs and discuss their thoughts about the relevance of and ways to address RI in HAAL. In the second workshop, based on the guidance ethics approach of Verbeek and Tijink [ 33 ], potential positive and negative implications of using the envisioned HAAL dashboard were explored, along with ways to address these implications.

Next, a dedicated qualitative RI survey was developed and conducted among PMs ( Multimedia Appendix 1 ). The goal of the RI survey was to reveal PMs’ viewpoints on how to responsibly develop AI-based analytical functionalities and the dashboard user interface in the HAAL project. The survey first explained that AI, as in the HAAL dashboard, provides opportunities for descriptive, diagnostic, predictive, and prescriptive analyses with differing levels of complexity and automation [ 34 , 35 ]. Next, questions were asked in relation to 2 distinct imaginary scenarios that outline different roles for AI within the HAAL dashboard. The first scenario (A) described a descriptive and largely rule-based dashboard through which users can assess the data from HAAL technologies and how the situations of clients have changed over time. This scenario was inspired by the dashboard that was aimed to be developed in the HAAL project. The second scenario (B) took a more speculative turn and described a proactive and partially self-learning dashboard that automatically translates the data into diagnostic, predictive, and prescriptive information to prompt caregivers to take certain actions. The scenarios were used as input to inspire respondents about directions the project could take in terms of developing AI and to enable them to articulate their expectations and considerations regarding the opportunities and implications of an advanced AI-based DSS (see also the study by Noortman et al [ 36 ]). After presenting each scenario, questions were asked about the positive and negative implications of using the respective dashboard. Thereafter, respondents were asked which scenario they preferred in terms of ethical acceptability, societal desirability, and technical feasibility and why they preferred it. Next, the survey introduced six principles for responsible AI innovation, adopted from guidelines from the World Health Organization: (1) protecting human autonomy; (2) promoting human well-being and safety and the public interest; (3) ensuring transparency, explainability, and intelligibility; (4) fostering responsibility and accountability; (5) ensuring inclusiveness and equity; and (6) promoting AI that is responsive and sustainable [ 37 ]. Respondents were asked how these principles might be relevant to and could be applied in the HAAL project. The survey was completed by 12 respondents representing 7 different organizations from all 4 countries. In addition, 5 respondents partially filled in the survey anonymously.

Finally, the RI survey was followed by a third hybrid workshop in which PMs were invited to jointly discuss what they learned from answering the RI survey.

Retrospective Interviews With PMs

In addition to the co-design activities and RI exploration, semistructured interviews were held with 6 PMs: 4 co-design facilitators (n=1, 25% working in the Netherlands; n=2, 50% working in Taiwan; and n=1, 25% working in Italy) and 2 software developers (working in Italy). The goal of the interviews was to uncover possible rationales behind the co-design process, choices made throughout the co-design process, and input given by co-design participants. All interviews lasted between 30 and 40 minutes and were fully transcribed by a professional transcription service.

The analysis of data was performed by DRML, SIA, NES, and BMH. The data collected during the co-design activities and RI exploration were first analyzed independently by these 4 researchers. While the co-design data were previously analyzed by HAAL PMs to learn about the dashboard requirements, they were analyzed again for the purposes of this paper. Taking the 6 responsible AI principles from the World Health Organization guidelines [ 37 ] as a starting point, the researchers performed an inductive thematic analysis [ 38 ] to uncover conditions for the responsible design and deployment of the HAAL dashboard, including potential negative implications and strategies to address them. In doing so, they examined how certain insights regarding these conditions emerged in the co-design activities, the RI exploration, or both. In other words, the analysis focused, first, on identifying themes common within and between the co-design and RI exploration results and, second, on examining how the results from the RI exploration complement those from the co-design activities, or vice versa, in terms of RI. Subsequently, the transcripts of the retrospective interviews were analyzed independently by DRML, SIA, and BMH to uncover new conditions for RI and explore the complementarity between the co-design process and RI exploration. An additional focus was on why certain insights about conditions for RI may have emerged less explicitly in either the co-design process or the RI exploration. While analyzing the data, the researchers applied open coding and kept track of their reflections by writing them down as memos. After the data were independently analyzed by the researchers, the findings and memos were regularly discussed and reviewed by the researchers to reconcile major discrepancies in the coding and to reach agreement on the final coding scheme. Both physical and digital meetings were held to ensure the consistency of the analysis and reach convergence.

Ethical Considerations

The authors of this study followed the guidelines in the Declaration of Helsinki and the Dutch code of conduct for scientific integrity. Ethical approval for the interviews, not subject to the medical scientific research act involving human subjects, was granted by an independent board of the lead author's department (Vilans), including a privacy officer and legal expert [ 39 ].

For each co-design step, general information about the goal and procedure was provided, and the participants were asked to read and sign an informed consent form. The original consent covers secondary analysis of the data for the purposes of this study. The data gathered through the co-design steps and RI exploration were pseudonymized before analysis. Study participants did not receive any financial compensation.

Seven overarching and interlinked themes representing conditions for the responsible development and deployment of the HAAL dashboard were extracted: (1) develop a proactive dashboard, (2) prevent cognitive overload, (3) protect privacy, (4) provide transparency, (5) empower caregivers to be in control, (6) safeguard accuracy, and (7) train users. We explicate how insights related to each theme emerged in the co-design activities, the RI exploration, or both. In addition, insights from the interviews with PMs are provided. In doing so, for each theme, we discuss how the explicit anticipation of implications (ie, the RI exploration) complements the co-design process in the HAAL project. Textbox 1 excerpts the results.

Analysis of complementarities between the co-design process and responsible innovation (RI) exploration per theme.

• The co-design results clearly indicate a perceived need for a proactive dashboard and provide concrete arguments to this end. The RI exploration also indicated the need for a proactive dashboard, albeit with less concrete arguments. Besides, limitations were raised regarding the short-term feasibility of a proactive dashboard.
• The co-design process and RI exploration yielded similar insights, that is, that too much data in one place would overload caregivers’ cognitive workload and that focus of the dashboard should be on providing actionable and only the most relevant information. However, this insight only emerged late in the co-design process (step 4 of 4).
• The need for privacy protection emerged strongly in the co-design process, and participants clearly pointed to the need for a proactive dashboard in privacy terms. The theme was discussed only briefly in the RI exploration, although some practical suggestions were provided, such as the use of encryption and passwords.
• While the importance of the transparency of the dashboard’s information emerged in the co-design process, practical suggestions on how to provide transparency (eg, training users in correctly interpreting information and explanations) were given only in the RI exploration.
• The main contribution from co-design was the proposition to gradually expand the application of artificial intelligence (AI) functions in practice so that users can get used to an increasing role of AI. In comparison, the RI exploration yielded more in-depth insights and suggestions. The RI exploration stressed that it is important for caregivers not to become too reliant on the results of AI and to have a critical mindset and keep the context in mind.
• During co-design, the importance of accurate dashboard information was mentioned but not discussed in depth. In the RI exploration, concrete suggestions were made to ensure accuracy, such as including feedback buttons for users.
• The importance of training, also in relation to other themes such as empowering caregivers to be in control and safeguarding accuracy, frequently appeared in the RI exploration but was raised by only one of the participants in the co-design process. In the RI exploration, suggestions were also provided regarding the focus of training, for instance, on creating awareness about the mediating role of AI in decision-making.

Theme 1: Develop a Proactive Dashboard

The co-design participants generally agreed that the HAAL dashboard should support decision-making proactively, by actively generating and pointing users to relevant insights, rather than passively, by merely showing data from the HAAL technologies. In contrast, the results from the RI survey showed varying viewpoints among PMs regarding the dashboard’s required level of proactiveness with regard to supporting decision-making.

Co-design steps 1 and 2 showed that the data from HAAL technologies could be potentially useful for both daily caregivers and caregivers who are less frequently involved (eg, general practitioners). In these co-design steps, there was limited reflection on the possibilities of a dashboard beyond data integration. However, in co-design steps 3 and 4, most participants expressed an interest in a dashboard that also interprets data to provide new information and inspire users. That is, participants suggested that the dashboard should provide insights into or predictions about outliers from usual patterns and distinguish between urgent (eg, a fall) and nonurgent (eg, a deviation in sleeping pattern) outliers to prompt caregivers to take appropriate action. As one of the caregivers at a Taiwanese care center argued, “What I would like is an alert service, more centered on urgency than on daily, routine patient follow-up .” In addition, the dashboard was seen as a way to encourage caregivers to consider signs that might otherwise have been neglected or perceived too late. Besides, some participants of co-design steps 3 and 4 proposed that the dashboard could provide recommendations on how to prevent or address certain deviations from usual patterns.

In the RI survey, most PMs shared pros and cons related to both a descriptive dashboard (scenario A) and a proactive dashboard (scenario B). Most PMs argued that a proactive dashboard could potentially add the most value, especially in terms of enhancing prevention and reducing caregivers’ cognitive load (see also theme 2). At the same time, all PMs expressed doubts about the feasibility of developing a proactive dashboard due to the complexity and relatively limited time span of the HAAL project. Some PMs stressed that the initial acceptance and adoption of a proactive dashboard by caregivers might be low, arguing that the more proactive the dashboard is, the more it may infringe on job satisfaction. As one of the PMs explained, “Caregivers might enjoy the part in their work where they investigate the status of the client, and this is then (partially) taken over by machines.” However, although market introduction was questioned, some PMs advocated exploring possibilities for and experimenting with the more progressive concept of a proactive dashboard to iteratively learn and generate ideas and lessons for future research and development. In an interview, one of the PMs explained, “We know that we could do bigger, smarter things with AI, but you cannot start with high-level AI...But I think that these kinds of projects are useful also to build knowledge and literacy, by making people consider what technology and artificial intelligence could do . ”

Theme 2: Prevent Cognitive Overload

The need to prevent cognitive overload was another recurring argument for developing a proactive dashboard in both the co-design process and RI survey. In co-design step 4, it was stressed by multiple participants that too much data or information in one place could exceed caregivers’ cognitive load and cause problems regarding the prioritization of which client, or what aspect of a client’s life, needs attention first. Similarly, in the RI survey, PMs suggested multiple times that a descriptive dashboard may require additional time for caregivers in terms of checking the data, rather than save time, and increase mental strain. As one of the PMs stated, “Adding more data in one place without elaborating on it would not really reduce the caregiver burden.”

Theme 3: Protect Privacy

While privacy was a prominent theme throughout all co-design steps, it was only briefly discussed in the RI exploration. During co-design step 3, multiple participants suggested that from a privacy perspective, a (proactive) dashboard that provides only the most relevant data patterns, notifications, and alerts may be preferred over a (descriptive) dashboard that directly discloses all data about the evolving status of clients in relation to various indicators. This link between the need for a proactive dashboard (scenario B) and privacy concerns was not discussed in the RI survey.

Further, privacy concerns raised in the co-design activities were related to the storage of large amounts of data collected about people with dementia and how these data would be handled. As one of the participants stated, “A lot of personal information is gathered, so you can get to know a lot about people . ” In line with this, most participants stated that compliance with the European General Data Protection Regulation should be ensured, and some practical suggestions were made, for instance, to show the client’s home address or room number in the dashboard rather than their names in case of alarms.

The importance of privacy protection was mentioned by various PMs in the first 2 RI workshops, but in the RI survey, only 3 (18%) of the 17 PMs provided input on privacy issues. One of the PMs stated that ways must be found to balance the benefits of large-scale and long-term data collection (eg, in terms of prevention) with downsides such as a feeling of intrusion. Complementary to the co-design process, PMs also provided practical suggestions on privacy protection in the RI survey, such as using a private log-in to the dashboard for caregivers, encryption, or even facial recognition to protect data.

Another privacy concern, raised during co-design step 3, was data accessibility. Several participants reported about who should have access to the dashboard. Some participants proposed that access should be limited to specific caregivers with the specific assignment to learn from the dashboard. In contrast, others reported that all caregivers, including informal carers (eg, family), should have access to the dashboard, if desired. There was no consensus among participants about whether a distinction should be made between different users who are able to see different client data.

Theme 4: Provide Transparency

In co-design step 4, participants proposed that a condition for the use of a proactive dashboard is that users need to understand the reasons (eg, data patterns) behind information provided by the dashboard. In this respect, one of the PMs discussed in an interview that caregivers should not be overloaded with too many details about how specific dashboard information comes about (see also theme 2). In contrast, some co-design participants stressed that users should always be able to examine all data from the different HAAL technologies. Hence, this could be in conflict with the previously discussed insight from co-design that making all data available may be less preferable from a privacy perspective (see also theme 3).

The co-design participants also made various remarks regarding the context specificity of transparency needs. Multiple participants expressed that a need for transparency may not always, or for every user, mean the same. For instance, in case of alarms about certain urgent situations, it may be irrelevant or even distracting to immediately show all data that triggered the alarm. However, users may want to view all the data at a later stage to gain insights into the context and possible causes for the urgent situation, for instance, for training and prevention purposes. A similar insight was raised in the RI exploration, where it was, for example, suggested that in-depth explanations could be provided but only after users ask for it, for instance, by clicking through.

Further, during co-design step 4, it was suggested that once caregivers have built a certain level of trust in the dashboard, less detailed explanations clarifying how the dashboard reaches its conclusions might be sufficient. However, as one of the PMs added in an interview, in the long run, excessive trust might lead to caregivers making certain decisions too easily based on the dashboard’s information without critical reflection: “The long-term risk is that users end up trusting the system too much ” (see also theme 5).

Although co-design participants highlighted the importance of transparency in HAAL, they did not provide practical suggestions about ways to provide transparency. In the retrospective interviews, various possible explanations were given. For instance, 2 PMs argued that issues such as transparency may have been discussed with limited depth throughout co-design because they pertain more to the backend of the system (ie, algorithms and web services) than the front end (ie, interface) with which users directly interact and because participants may place a certain degree of trust in developers to deal with such issues. Besides, 2 PMs discussed that it may have been hard for co-design participants to formulate requirements regarding transparency during early phases of design because the dashboard concept was still relatively abstract. As suggested, gaining in-depth insights into issues such as these may be easier when practically demonstrating and testing the dashboard in field tests, as users can then actually experience the system and its limitations.

While practical suggestions on providing transparency in HAAL were absent in the co-design results, they were discussed in the RI survey. For instance, PMs suggested (1) showing which specific data were included by algorithms to provide certain information; (2) creating abstractions easy to understand for users to explain the logic behind data analyses, for instance, by giving explanatory examples of common use cases; and (3) training users in interpreting the information and their explanations (see also theme 7).

Theme 5: Empower Caregivers to Be in Control

It was raised in co-design step 4 that people should be in charge of decision-making, regardless of whether human decisions are in line with the dashboard’s information. In the same line, multiple PMs argued in the RI survey that people (ie, caregivers) should always be making the final decisions, and they should make these decisions only after carefully valuing the dashboard’s information in light of the specific context. It was also suggested during co-design that caregivers may at first instance not be ready yet to get extensive advice from a dashboard. A gradual expansion of AI-functions in real practice was suggested. For instance, in the beginning, the dashboard could provide only generic insights (eg, patterns), alarms, and predictions. In a later stage, when reliability has improved and trust in and experience with the system have been gained, recommendations or conclusions about follow-up steps could be provided. Apart from the above, the importance of people making the final decisions was not further reported by co-design participants.

In contrast, the importance of caregivers being and remaining to be in control of decision-making was more prominent in the RI exploration. In the RI survey, 3 PMs suggested that the long-term use of a proactive dashboard might slowly deprive the intuition of caregivers and maintain an automated and predefined focus whereby one might overlook the person (ie, person with dementia) behind the data. One of the PMs even stated, “There may be a tendency to rely more on AI than own observations and assessments because ‘the computer is always right.’” To encourage caregivers to make autonomous decisions while using the dashboard, training was put forward as an important factor by several PMs (see also theme 7).

Theme 6: Safeguard Accuracy

The importance of accurate dashboard information was reflected to a limited extent in the co-design process. During all co-design steps, participants reported a couple of times that the accuracy of the data and data analyses should be regularly evaluated. However, in an interview, a PM suggested that co-design participants mainly shared this requirement as a general condition that must be met before the dashboard could be put into practice, rather than giving concrete ideas on how to achieve this.

The importance of accurate dashboard information and ways to achieve this were more prominently discussed in the RI survey. Multiple PMs argued that information provided by the dashboard should not lead to any faulty judgments by caregivers and that both the data and the algorithms processing data should, therefore, be accurate, without significant biases. For instance, one of the PMs stated, “The dashboard should not give unnecessary warnings to caregivers because the false warning could stimulate the caregivers to impose unnecessary boundaries to people with dementia . ” One of the PMs explicitly linked accuracy to being sensitive toward the diversity among clients and suggested that the dashboard be fed with data from heterogeneous clients to reduce bias. In contrast to the co-design process, PMs also provided practical suggestions about particular ways of involving users to safeguard accuracy, such as enabling users to (1) provide feedback on data or insights through a button, (2) personalize certain thresholds for alarms to the individual client, (3) keep track of their responses and follow-up actions on the dashboard’s information, (4) report nonplausible suggestions and malfunctions, and (5) periodically evaluate the dashboard’s functioning. Again, training was put forward as an important factor in this case for users to be able to be involved (see also theme 7).

Theme 7: Train Users

During the co-design activities, one of the participants commented that the proper use of the dashboard would require training and practical learning. In the RI survey, multiple PMs pointed out that training users is an important measure to tackle challenges related to the autonomy of users and the accuracy of the dashboard’s information (see also themes 5 and 6). It was suggested that the training should focus on making the users become acquainted with the HAAL technologies; data types; and information provided by the dashboard, including underlying data analyses, and on understanding the impact that the use of the dashboard might have on decision-making. One of the PMs said, “Caregivers should be taught that they will always in some degree be influenced by the information on the dashboard, and be recommended to make their own judgements first.” Another PM argued that training should prevent caregivers to become overreliant on the dashboard. In addition, training was suggested to prepare some users for active involvement in maintaining the accuracy of the dashboard information (see also theme 6).

Principal Findings

This paper empirically explores how the co-design process of an AI-based DSS for dementia caregivers is complemented by the explicit anticipation of implications. A total of 7 overarching and interlinked themes representing conditions for the responsible development and deployment of the DSS were extracted: develop a proactive dashboard, prevent cognitive overload, protect privacy, provide transparency, empower caregivers to be in control, safeguard accuracy (eg, by reducing false positives), and train users. Because these conditions are interlinked, it is essential for various actors, including developers and users of the DSS, to work together to cohesively address them in practice. Moreover, some conditions, such as to develop a proactive dashboard and empower caregivers to be in charge or to provide transparency through detailed information and prevent cognitive overload, can be at odds with each other and need to be carefully balanced. To gain a deeper understanding about appropriate and responsible levels of proactivity by the DSS, where the contributions of AI and human input in decision-making are balanced, future studies could expand upon prior research in fields such as human factors by exploring and contextualizing notions such as automation bias [ 40 , 41 ] and human automation coordination [ 42 , 43 ] in the context of AI-assisted decision-making in long-term dementia care. Scenarios that may lead to excessive reliance on the automated execution of functions, such as AI-driven data interpretation, could be anticipated, and strategies could be devised to mitigate such scenarios [ 40 ].

As our analysis points out, the general expectation of both co-design participants and PMs was that a dashboard that proactively supports decision-making would be most valuable to dementia caregivers. To this regard, the perspectives of co-design participants were fairly aligned; there was a consensus that the dashboard should not show all available data from care technologies. Rather, it should focus on information about significant changes in the data that, for instance, indicate a deterioration of well-being. AI itself was positioned as a technical fix (see also the study by Wehrens et al [ 44 ]) to mitigate specific risks related to the remote technology-based monitoring of people with dementia, that is, the infringement of clients’ privacy and cognitive overload of caregivers. This is in line with previous studies that show that too much information [ 45 - 47 ] and insufficient time can lead to information overload [ 48 ]. The same suggestion of using AI to actually support the responsible embedding of technology in care practice was also found in a scoping review on practical approaches to responsible AI innovation in the context of long-term care [ 49 ]. In comparison to the co-design results, the perspectives of PMs in the RI exploration were less unanimous; some PMs shared doubts about the short-term feasibility and acceptance of a proactive dashboard. This discrepancy between results may have been owing to the co-design process being focused on exploring opportunities for innovation, while the RI exploration explicitly invited PMs to reflect on opportunities as well as risks of AI-based analytical functionalities.

Throughout both the co-design process and the RI exploration, various conditions were defined for the responsible development and deployment of a proactive DSS. Similar conditions emerged in the co-design process and RI exploration. However, despite considering and addressing usability requirements, such as minimizing memory load [ 31 , 50 ], in the co-design process, co-design participants generally went into less detail. Compared to PMs in the RI exploration, co-design participants provided fewer practical suggestions on how to meet the RI conditions, except for conditions related to privacy protection. In addition, multiple conditions (ie, preventing cognitive overload, empowering caregivers to be in control, and safeguarding accuracy) emerged in a relatively late stage of the co-design process, once prototyping and reflection on prototypes stood central. Relevant input on implications and conditions for RI emerged more naturally in these phases of co-design, regardless of 2 RI questions related to autonomy and transparency being asked at the end of the last co-design step. Again, these differences in results could potentially be explained by the focus of co-design activities being mainly on opportunities, while the RI exploration was focused on both opportunities and risks.

Hence, the explicit anticipation of implications (ie, the RI exploration) was found to complement the insights from the co-design process in the project under investigation. At the same time, a number of deficiencies can be mentioned regarding the insights that have been gained about social and ethical implications of the DSS. For instance, potential tensions were found between conditions set by different co-design participants. More specifically, to protect privacy, some co-design participants proposed to limit access to information provided by the DSS to specific caregivers. Other participants advocated more transparency and data availability. It is premature to draw conclusions from such contrasting insights. However, it can be stated that insufficient insights were gained into people’s individual views on such matters, the interrelatedness of conditions, and potential trade-offs between them. Further, it stood out that both the co-design process and RI exploration yielded limited insights into the dependency of different conditions on context (eg, time, place, and culture). Although it was indicated that trust in the dashboard and transparency needs may change over time, limited insights were gained into how conditions for RI may depend on other contextual factors, such as place and culture. Despite the co-design activities being carried out in multiple countries, no cross-country differences in conditions for the responsible design and deployment of the dashboard were found.

Practical Implications

As argued by Fischer et al [ 22 ], differences regarding who is involved in the co-design of care technologies, and how, when, and why they are involved, result in different types of outcomes. To this respect, we discuss 4 considerations that designers and co-design facilitators could take into account to increase the potential for co-design processes to contribute to ethically acceptable, societally desirable, and sustainable deployments of AI-based care technologies.

First, one could strive for balanced attention on both positive and negative implications throughout co-design processes. The co-design process in this case study was focused mostly on functional (ie, what the technology must do) and nonfunctional (eg, usability and reliability) requirements. However, rather than merely eliciting information on the needs, preferences, and requirements of users, co-design processes should go back and forth between needs and opportunities for innovation on the one hand and associated implications on the other hand. In addition, RI necessitates striking a balance in co-design practices between focusing on design aspects, such as usability and esthetics, and considering ethical and social implications. Adhering to specific design standards holds importance to meaningful field tests and the implementation of innovations in practice. However, excessive emphasis on these aspects during early phases of innovation may detract from fostering the innovation’s desirability and acceptability. Although research and development projects that integrate anticipatory elements into co-design may yield more in-depth insights and be able to more flexibly adapt to insights than projects that anticipate implications separate from the co-design process, a few remarks can be made here. For instance, implications of innovation may need to be anticipated and addressed not only as part of co-design but also in parallel to and beyond the co-design process through methods such as impact assessments, ethical reviews, and foresight exercises. Besides, caution should be exercised to prevent co-design processes from becoming dominated by the anticipation of long-term and wider societal implications, as this may go at the expense of fast iterative design cycles exploring and addressing requirements and direct benefits for users. Further, Sumner et al [ 21 ] argued that co-design may require the commitment of a significant amount of time and resources and that some projects may have to rationalize limited resources. Naturally, the same applies to anticipating implications as part of or in parallel to co-design.

Second, one could engage with the perspectives of people who are willing and able to imagine how their interests and their role as users of technology evolve over time (ie, future users), rather than merely involve people from contemporary care practices in co-design. Innovators should not just examine the needs of current users because they may then be insufficiently able to respond to future needs [ 51 ]. For instance, in the context of the HAAL project, which was investigated in this study, this could concern the involvement of progressive and technology-savvy dementia caregivers who reflect on how the adoption of increasingly advanced DSSs and other AI technologies will change their work.

Third, one could deliberate on which stakeholders, apart from users, should actually participate in co-design and regularly evaluate how their views guide the underlying direction of innovation. Due to the focus of co-design often being on the needs, expectations, and contexts of individual users, innovators may fail to address potential negative implications, especially implications for other stakeholders or in the long run [ 52 ]. Accordingly, it might be relevant to involve certain stakeholders such as intermediary user organizations or social advocacy groups in co-design to articulate societal demands and consider societal implications from a systemic perspective [ 25 , 53 , 54 ]. For instance, in the context of the HAAL project, this could concern involving nongovernmental organizations that are committed to the privacy interests of older people.

Fourth, one could not only invite but also actively enable users to contribute to the anticipation of implications in co-design. As users are often no experts in (responsible) innovation, they may have difficulties in explicating implications and how they could be addressed, even if explicitly asked for. In this case study, it became more natural for co-design participants to come up with implications in the later phases of co-design (ie, steps 3 and 4) when the dashboard concept had become more tangible. To enable the anticipation of implications early in the co-design process, it may be useful to develop inspirational tools that use, for instance, examples of negative impacts of AI technologies [ 55 ], envisioning cards [ 56 ], or design fiction [ 36 , 57 ] to evoke consideration of the possible intended and unintended short- and long-term effects of future technologies. In addition, in the context of AI-based innovation, one could ensure through training that co-design participants have a basic understanding of what AI can do and how its behavior may be unpredictable and change over time while accumulating data [ 58 , 59 ].

In sum, for co-design processes to result in more RI outcomes, designers and co-design facilitators may need to broaden their scope and reconsider the specific implementation of the process-oriented RI principles of anticipation and inclusion [ 17 , 60 ]. Even though there are still many uncertainties about the potential uses and consequences of technology during early phases of co-design and before users can “experience” the technology in practice, the anticipation of implications with users ideally starts early, before the technology design has been locked in and change becomes difficult, time-consuming, and expensive [ 61 ]. Besides, anticipation should be a recurring element of the innovation process, as people’s values and perspectives on what is responsible may evolve over time and under the influence of technological innovation [ 62 ].

Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research

Given that this paper studies merely a single case, our aim is not to generalize, but rather to illustrate a typical co-design process of an AI-based technology to support the care for older adults and contribute to building a nuanced view on the relation between co-design and RI [ 63 ]. Although we use a broad definition for co-design, we acknowledge that there are multiple ways, methods, and instruments to integrate users into the innovation process [ 21 ]. Therefore, our findings about the role of anticipating implications in co-design are not generally applicable to co-design. For instance, it is plausible that projects that adopt the value-sensitive design approach yield different results, as this approach aims to explicitly consider the values of users and other stakeholders and how these values are affected by the envisioned technology [ 64 - 66 ]. In other words, some approaches to co-design may in themselves impose on facilitators to explore the values at stake and thereby the implications of innovation. Future research could examine to what extent such approaches support RI.

Further, we recognize that there are limitations to the RI exploration that was part of our study and thus to the insights gained into conditions for the responsible development and deployment of DSSs in dementia care. Our RI exploration initially focused on the perspectives of PMs to stimulate and facilitate whole-team participation in exploring how RI could be addressed throughout the HAAL project. The underlying assumption was that RI cannot be prescribed to innovators but needs to be conceptualized and addressed “in context” by those who actually perform the research, design, development, and testing with users [ 67 , 68 ]. However, soliciting PMs’ perspectives provided neither a complete nor necessarily an accurate picture about implications and ways they can be addressed. To this end, future studies could consider embedding trained ethicists in the research team who can provide top-down guidance and inspiration (eg, contextualized ethics principles) during bottom-up engagement with users and other stakeholders [ 49 , 69 ]. Besides, future research could explore the perspectives of users on RI in the context of AI-based care technologies, such as DSSs, for instance, what values come to matter most to them, what positive and negative implications they foresee, how they perceive the urgency of (other) known implications in their context, and how they look at certain strategies to address implications (eg, see the study of Lukkien et al [ 70 ]). In doing so, the perspectives of stakeholders from different care contexts (eg, care organizations or countries) can be captured with sufficient detail and be compared to learn how to account for the context specificity of values in technology design and deployment [ 71 , 72 ]. In addition, the perspectives of people with dementia should be clarified, even when they are only a passive user of the technology (as is often the case with DSSs), and despite these people often having difficulties in expressing their needs [ 73 , 74 ].

Finally, even though all co-design activities and the RI exploration had already been completed by the time the objectives for this case study were established, the RI exploration had a minor effect on the co-design process. For instance, some co-design researchers were also participants in the RI exploration, which could have affected the co-design activities. Besides, at the request of DRML (who led the RI exploration), the usability study (co-design step 4) included 2 RI-related questions. In our results, we explicated that co-design participants already discussed more implications before these 2 questions were asked. Without this minor effect, there may have been a greater knowledge gap between the results from the co-design process and RI exploration in HAAL. However, to gain more robust results into the role of the anticipation of implications in co-design, future research could study co-design processes completely separately from an exploration of associated implications.

In this paper, we explored how the co-design process of an AI-based DSS for dementia caregivers is complemented by the explicit anticipation of social and ethical implications. Co-design is an essential means to feed the development and deployment of AI-based care technologies with insights about needs of targeted users and collectively translate these needs into requirements for technology design. Besides, as found in this empirical study, certain implications and strategies to address these implications may be naturally anticipated in co-design, even though users may not necessarily think in terms of implications or risks, but rather in terms of conditions before the technology can be used. At the same time, this case study indicates that a co-design process that focuses on opportunities rather than balancing attention for both positive and negative implications may result in knowledge gaps related to implications and how they can be addressed. In the pursuit of responsible outcomes, co-design facilitators could consider broadening the scope of co-design processes, for instance, by moving back and forth between opportunities and associated implications of innovation, involving future users and social advocacy groups in such an inquiry, and ensuring that co-design participants are provided with inspiration and have basic knowledge and skills to contribute to anticipating implications. Explicit anticipation of implications in co-design and broader inclusion of stakeholders in doing so increase opportunities for innovators to start addressing implications of innovation before the technology design has been locked in.

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge support from the Active and Assisted Living (AAL) program, cofinanced by the European Commission through the Horizon 2020 Societal Challenge Health, Demographic Change, and Wellbeing. In particular, the work reported here has been supported by the AAL Healthy Ageing Eco-system for People With Dementia (HAAL) project (AAL-2020-7-229-CP). In addition, the authors thank their HAAL project partners in the Netherlands, Italy, Taiwan, and Denmark for organizing and participating in the research activities that provided the basis for this study.

Abbreviations

Multimedia Appendix 1

Authors' Contributions: DRML contributed to conceptualization, methodology, validation, investigation, formal analysis, writing the original draft, reviewing and editing the manuscript, and funding acquisition. SIA contributed to methodology, investigation, formal analysis, and reviewing and editing the manuscript. NES contributed to methodology, investigation, and reviewing and editing the manuscript. BMH contributed to formal analysis and reviewing and editing the manuscript. HHN contributed to conceptualization, methodology, validation, reviewing and editing the manuscript, project administration, and funding acquisition. WPCB contributed to conceptualization, methodology, and reviewing and editing the manuscript. AP contributed to conceptualization, methodology, and reviewing and editing the manuscript. EHMM contributed to conceptualization, methodology, and reviewing and editing the manuscript. MMNM contributed to conceptualization and methodology. All authors contributed to writing (original draft).

Conflicts of Interest: None declared.

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Case studies for safe working in general practice

Case study: a realistic rota, how it works.

• We limit consultations to 13 per session. 
• Have a number of appointments that are pre-bookable either by the GP or by patients with different timeframes from when they are available. 
• The duty doctor then calculates how many on the day appointments are available that day.  The duty list is then capped at this number.   
• This includes the duty doctor doing 10 consultations as well as the triage, but these are for simple things like med3s rather than complex care 
• Comments are added to the duty list in the morning of when to move to the pm duty list 
• The pm duty list has a comment adding at what point to turn off online consulting and another comment added, typically about 10 slots further down, stating 'emergencies only discuss with duty doctor prior to booking'.  Typically we have 10-15 of these slots. 
• The 111 list sits separate to this with 2 appts in the morning and 2 in afternoon but the duty doctor will move these to the triage list if they are going to need a consultation so that they are included in the capacity count. 
• When we move over to emergencies only, the telephone message changes to make the patient aware that we only have emergency appointments that day so that they are not on hold for 30+ minutes to be told we have nothing left for that day. 
• We don't hold a waiting list, if we are at the points of emergencies only, the patient doesn't need an emergency appointment and there are no pre-bookable appointments available, the patient has the option to put in an econsult the next day, call for an appointment the next day or if they feel it can't wait contact 111, IUC etc. This is the one bit of our system that I don't like as I would like a solution that doesn't require a patient to call back. The reason we don't add them to the list for the next day is that a sig proportion never call back and we can't fill up the following days capacity as the system fails. 
• We do use apex Edenbridge to monitor our appointments, as I think it would be hard to challenge our approach if we are also demonstrating that we are offering more than the average number of appointments per 1000 patients per week than the other practices in our ICB. 

This has made a huge difference to our clinicians. We spend longer with patients but it is based on a realistic rota which also enables us to do the clinical administrative work and complete all tasks in the allotted time so I no longer work 2 sessions in a day which actually take 11 hours to complete, this use to be the case. 

Case study: Standard and on-call days

Standard gp day.

Morning 

• 12 x 15mins consultations (face-to-face or phone) - split between advance and on-the-day. 
• 2 x 15mins consultations for GPs to book into (eg. Telcon with DN or task necessitating them to initiate call to patient). 

Lunch 

• 1x visit maximum (unless at care home, where may be 2x).

Afternoon 

• 12 x 15mins consultations, as per morning.  

On-call GP day

• As per standard day. 
• As per standard day but ONLY visits if all others have a visit already (duty triages requests). 
• 6x 15mins advance-booked consultations. 
• 3x 15mins 111-bookable slots. 
• Rest of afternoon for admin, answering queries from reception and urgent (EOL/hot kids/DN calls), also reviews and actions any abnormal bloods/urgent scripts coming in after 5pm. 

Case study: Practice example using triage

This practice serves 20,000 patients in a deprived, multi-cultural population using a GP led total clinical triage called CAS (clinical assessment screen) GPs. 

• Patients access appointments via reception, telcon or accuRx. 
• GP appointments default to telephone: 11 telcons and 3 face-to-face per session. If more face-to-face sessions are needed, telcons are blocked.
• Slot types are either red (same day), amber (1 week), amber (2 weeks), or routine.
• AHPs such as ANPs/paramedics/MHP are used for face-to-face appointments only.
• CAS GPs have no booked appointments - they make clinical decisions on RAG rating of clinical triage and use F12 protocol to communicate this. Routine patients may go on a waiting list if there are not enough appointments.
• CAS screen is capped at either 3:30pm or when each CAS GP has clinically triaged 50 patients per session (which may happen earlier at 2pm). When the cap is reached, all on-line access is closed and patients are told it's urgent only, which are first triaged by care navigators and then CAS GP.  
• GPs much happier 
• Continuity much higher 
•  Complaints have gone up as patients don't like waiting when it's not urgent.

Case study: Fully online triage

Breakdown by day .

• 12 patient consultations every 4 hours (counted as one session). 
• Face-to-face majority, couple of phonically, and 2 GP Follow ups (mainly MH and continuity of care). 
• 13-minute appointments.  
• One third protected admin time. 
• 15-minute break per session worked.  

System was fully online triage:  

• initially Egerton and then switch to Accurx
• clinical triage by GP in the morning (previously did two sets of triage, am and pm, but this proved difficult to manage workload and demand, as too open ended and labour intensive in terms of GP time and resource)
• window for online triage forms open from 7.30am to 11.00am - clear communication to patients re timings (used to be open over the weekend and all day, but risky in terms of safety if people ignore the red flags, and demand management)
• closed earlier if capacity reached, or if staff sickness etc.

Capacity is mapped out, and a RAG (Red/Amber/Green) rating approach taken according to clinical prioritisation, patients with specific needs and vulnerabilities have alerts on system:  

• on the day urgent: red
• less urgent but not routine: amber (48 hours)
• routine - next available: green (safe to wait, no clinical urgency). 

Appointments capacity mapped out in terms of:

• clinicians 
• practice - in house 
• enhanced access - GP Fed - on the day evening and any the weekend (routine) 
• PCN: mole clinic, women's health, minor surgery, social prescriber, physio (this is in addition to the city wide FPOC physio)
• straight to physio (FPOC city wide offer) 
• external services eg Pharmacy first, minor ailments.  

We stopped the PCN MHPs, and reverted to direct practice ones as the MH trust offer didn't really address our needs.

Booking of appointments

• Patients are sent booking links to self-book face to face on the day via Accurx (this helps reduce DNAs as patients can pick the most convenient time). 
• Appointments can be booked in via telephone for nurse and bloods/smears etc (helps prevent inappropriate booking). 
• If patients are unable to use online triage, the forms are completed on their behalf by reception or direct booking into an appointment.  

In tandem with the above, we use an Oncall GP:  

• they have a lighter clinic in place, with empty slots for ad hoc queries  
• their capacity would be used only if the on the day capacity had been reached, and for those patients that could not wait  
• they would also deal with urgent docman (usually mental health or safe guarding. cases), third party queries and review urgent bloods that needed to be actioned for those clinicians that were not in  
• the workload of the on call has greatly reduced since the introduction of total triage ( I used to do the Mondays and art times would have 26 urgent consultations in addition to usual workload, from the morning!)
• if the urgent, moderately urgent and routine appointments are all used up patients are either signposted to other services or, if not appropriate, informed that they will be allocated an appointment once this becomes available
• all text messages including failed contacted have safety netting advice included with NHS111 contact information.  

Case study: A new system for patients

This example is from a practice that services 23.5k patients, semi-rural, deprived population with no UCC locally.

We are not quite down to 25 contacts a day yet but at 28 on routine days and 15 per session for on call clinicians (mix of GPs and ANPs).  

Some routine appointments are pre-bookable, some embargoed for on the day use (more embargoed on Mondays). 14 appointments per session, about half face to face although many of us convert telephone/online slots to face-to-face if needed. All appointments are fifteen minutes.

Triage hub 

2-3 clinicians per session in a triage hub with receptionists. 2 clinicians ‘on call’ seeing the urgent face to face appointments booked by the hub clinicians - 15-minute appointments.  

Can flex clinicians if needed to/from triage/on call.  

We switch off incoming electronic forms when the hub clinicians judge that we have no more slots to book into. Usually they go off around three pm but can be earlier or later depending on demand and clinical capacity. Patients can then ring in and will be triaged if emergency/directed to 111 if absolutely no capacity left.  

Recently we’ve changed so that if we are on maximum clinicians off for leave we load more on the day appointments.  

Separate appointments

We have separate twenty-minute appointments for coils, implants, first menopause appointments and joint injections. We have a GP with an hour blocked for visits (and visiting matrons) and one with an hour blocked to deal with the blood results of any clinician not in that day.  

Clinicians are generally happier than when we had unending duty demand. Patients objected at first but now seem to be mostly okay with the system. 

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Case Studies Show Positive Youth Development Empowers Young Workers

A new Child Trends series explores how employ­ers can use pos­i­tive youth devel­op­ment prac­tices to bet­ter sup­port young workers.

Com­prised of three case stud­ies, the series details promis­ing prac­tices for ensur­ing young peo­ple suc­ceed in the work­place . They draw on insights from focus groups at Gen­er­a­tion Work sites in Chica­go, Illi­nois, and Birm­ing­ham, Alaba­ma, as well as inter­views with work­force devel­op­ment practitioners.

“ Young adults are an inte­gral part of America’s work­force, and employ­ers play an impor­tant role in their suc­cess,” said Rani­ta Jain , a senior asso­ciate with the Annie E. Casey Foun­da­tion. ​ “ Using direct input from employ­ers and young adults, Child Trends has shared valu­able rec­om­men­da­tions for cre­at­ing work­places where young peo­ple can learn, grow and thrive.”

Child Trends is a key part­ner in the Foundation’s Gen­er­a­tion Work ini­tia­tive , which part­ners with employ­ers to con­nect young adults — espe­cial­ly young peo­ple of col­or and those from low-income fam­i­lies — with sta­ble jobs.

Young Adult Work­ers’ Pro­fes­sion­al Development

Promis­ing Prac­tices for Incor­po­rat­ing Pos­i­tive Youth Devel­op­ment Into Young Adult Work­ers’ Pro­fes­sion­al Devel­op­ment rec­om­mends four pro­fes­sion­al devel­op­ment strate­gies that incor­po­rate pos­i­tive youth devel­op­ment principles.

• Cre­ate a struc­tured, sup­port­ive and safe envi­ron­ment. By cre­at­ing work­places where young adults can ask ques­tions and take respon­si­bil­i­ty for their train­ing and work, employ­ers fos­ter a sense of belong­ing and commitment.
• Ensure man­agers and young adults work togeth­er toward shared goals. This includes hav­ing man­agers set clear pro­fes­sion­al goals with their young employ­ees and ensur­ing man­agers meet with them through­out the year to help them accom­plish those goals.
• Pro­vide young work­ers with inter­nal and exter­nal train­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties. Inter­nal­ly, employ­ers can con­nect young peo­ple to on-the-job train­ing and work­shops that help them build impor­tant skills and gain valu­able expe­ri­ence. Exter­nal train­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties from a third par­ty or post­sec­ondary insti­tu­tion help mold young peo­ple into valu­able long-term employees.
• Estab­lish clear path­ways and process­es for pro­mo­tion. Employ­ers with trans­par­ent and well-defined poli­cies for advance­ment cre­ate trust and moti­va­tion among their young employees.

Young Adult Work­er Voice

Promis­ing Prac­tices for Incor­po­rat­ing Pos­i­tive Youth Devel­op­ment Into Young Adult Work­er Voice Ini­tia­tives out­lines three ways employ­ers can seek out and incor­po­rate young adults’ feedback.

• Nor­mal­ize col­lect­ing feed­back as a part of day-to-day oper­a­tions. Solic­it thoughts from each team mem­ber — includ­ing staff who are just begin­ning their careers — and ensure feed­back is col­lect­ed at des­ig­nat­ed inter­vals dur­ing projects.
• Rec­og­nize young work­ers for their con­tri­bu­tions. Pub­licly acknowl­edge and reward good ideas or help­ful suggestions.
• Posi­tion lead­er­ship and man­age­ment to pro­vide feed­back to work­ers ear­ly in their careers. This empow­ers young work­ers to speak out when issues arise and pro­vides them with coach­ing and men­tor­ing that will ben­e­fit their careers in the long term.

Young Adult Work­er Supervision

Promis­ing Prac­tices for Incor­po­rat­ing Pos­i­tive Youth Devel­op­ment Into Super­vi­sion of Young Adult Work­ers urges work­force prac­ti­tion­ers to lever­age their unique under­stand­ing of super­vi­sion struc­tures to encour­age employ­ers to adopt prac­tices that build on young adults’ strengths. This case study high­lights four employ­er super­vi­sion prac­tices that can enrich young work­ers’ expe­ri­ences on the job.

• Set clear expec­ta­tions for young work­ers. Out­line expec­ta­tions as ear­ly as the first job inter­view and ini­tial onboard­ing to devel­op a shared under­stand­ing of work respon­si­bil­i­ties. When employ­ers find that young work­ers are strug­gling with work-relat­ed duties, they can iden­ti­fy ways to sup­port workers.
• Get to know younger employ­ees as peo­ple. Under­stand young peo­ple’s goals, inter­ests, strengths and per­son­al­i­ties and treat them as val­ued team members.
• Equip man­agers with what they need to be good man­agers. Employ­ers can pro­vide for­mal man­age­ment train­ing on top­ics rang­ing from racial equi­ty and inclu­sion to goal set­ting. Train man­agers to cre­ate envi­ron­ments where young work­ers feel comfortable.
• Encour­age pro­fes­sion­al rela­tion­ships with man­age­ment-lev­el staff. By estab­lish­ing rela­tion­ships between young work­ers and mul­ti­ple man­agers or men­tors, employ­ers can ensure young team mem­bers are heard and sup­port­ed. In turn, man­agers bet­ter under­stand the needs of younger employees.

Learn more about pos­i­tive youth devel­op­ment approaches

This post is related to:

• Frontline Practice
• Generation Z
• Positive Youth Development
• Workforce Development
• Youth and Young Adult Employment

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Methodology for selection of sustainable public transit routes: case study of amman city, jordan.

1. Introduction

2. research aims and contributions, 3. the literature review, 4. methodology, 4.1. problem fomulation, 4.1.1. objective functions, 4.1.2. constraints, 4.2. multi-objective optimization process.

• Right of way (ROW): all links that have the number of lanes less than two lanes per directions are eliminated.
• The horizontal alignment: all links that have a deflection angle more than 60° are eliminated.
• Vertical alignment: all links that have a gradient more than 6% are eliminated.

4.3. Input Data

4.3.1. case study, 4.3.2. road network, 4.3.3. travel demand and modal split, 4.3.4. travel times, 4.3.5. emission rates, 4.3.6. traffic safety measures, 4.4. assessment process, 4.4.1. total emissions measures, 4.4.2. safety measures, 6. discussions, 7. conclusions, author contributions, data availability statement, acknowledgments, conflicts of interest.

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Al Tamseh, A.; Osama, A.; Hussain, M.; Alsobky, A. Methodology for Selection of Sustainable Public Transit Routes: Case Study of Amman City, Jordan. Infrastructures 2024 , 9 , 147. https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures9090147

Al Tamseh A, Osama A, Hussain M, Alsobky A. Methodology for Selection of Sustainable Public Transit Routes: Case Study of Amman City, Jordan. Infrastructures . 2024; 9(9):147. https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures9090147

Al Tamseh, Amani, Ahmed Osama, Mona Hussain, and Alsayed Alsobky. 2024. "Methodology for Selection of Sustainable Public Transit Routes: Case Study of Amman City, Jordan" Infrastructures 9, no. 9: 147. https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures9090147

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