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Session 1303Self-Service Tools and Delegated Administration Solutions

David RaananStarfish Associates

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Introduction

Self-Service – Context

Self-Service – Implementation

Customer Case Study – Self-Service

Customer Case Study – Delegated Administration

Summary

Agenda

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Introduction

Starfish is the leading provider of telecom management automation, self service and optimization tools. Our technology seamlessly integrates with and leverages and organization’s business systems and applications to streamline and optimize business processes. As an Avaya, Cisco and Microsoft partner, our solutions efficiently unify telecom and IT.

Our solutions are deployed globally at midsize to large enterprises including many Fortune 1000 companies. We are headquartered in Bridgewater, New Jersey.

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Common functions:

• Add, edit, delete accounts (Provisioning)• Role based entitlement management• Password management• Self-service provisioning and request initiation• Delegated administration• Workflow for provisioning and approval• Event logging and reporting• Resource usage, monitoring and optimizing

Self-Service Management: Context

Identity managers and roles based provisioning technologies include Automated User Administration

Technology platforms:

Automation

Self-Service

Monitoring & Optimization

• Integrate, Leverage and Complement IT Infrastructure

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Value proposition of self service within the context of management automation:

• Reduce administration overhead• Streamline processes; increased productivity• Empower users to control and refine resources

Business Value

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Self-Service and Delegated AdministrationSelf-Service is a specific use case of “Delegated Administration”

Implementation is based on:

• User Authentication

• User Authorization

• Simple and easy to use user interface

• Data Validation

• Execution of configuration changes on target system

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Self-Service Architecture

Self-ServiceApplication Server

Enterprise

Directory

Enterprise Databases

Self-Service UI

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User Authentication and Authorization

Enterprise directory infrastructure is the foundation for Authentication and Authorization

• Users are authenticated leveraging enterprise directories:• Need to be a recognized network user

• If currently not authenticated the self service application prompts for username and password

• Delegated administration can authenticate to security groups

• Helpdesk staff or local administrators should be members of user groups

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User Authentication and Authorization

Authorization is based on a reliable mapping of users to their telecom resources:

• An authoritative directory with up-to-date information is a hard requirement.

• Creating this directory requires synchronization of telecom data with user data, ensuring the integrity of the mapping.

• Users may be associated with multiple resource like station, agent login ID, voice mailbox and a CES account.

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User Authentication and Authorization

Delegated Administration requires one to many mapping of administrators to user and resources:

• Help Desk Staff may need authorization to manage all extensions.

• Executive Assistants may need authorization to manager multiple extensions.

• Branch Managers may need authorization to manager extensions associated with the branch.

Delegated Administration requires a data store to maintain the authorization mapping.

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Self-Service User Interface

The target audience can be end users, local administrators, helpdesk staff, etc. The UI should be:

• Simple and easy to use

• May contain customer explicit instructions

• Focused functionality

• Well defined scope

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Customer Case Study

Highmark Health Services (Highmark) is a national diversified health and wellness company based in Pittsburgh that serves millions of people across the US. The company is among the largest health insurers in the United States.

Business Challenges

• Reduce telecom administration burden and increase operation efficiency

• Empower users to provision and manage some telecom services

• Maintain tight integration between telecom and AD

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Customer Case Study

The following resources/services may be associated with a user:

• Active Directory user object

• CM Station

• Voice Mailbox (Modular Messaging)

• CM Agent login ID

• CMS dictionary entry

• Nice recording

• MS Lync click to call

Users may have multiple stations and agent login IDs

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Starfish Self-ServiceApplication Server

CM

Active

Directory

Self Service UI

MM

CMS

Nice

Microsoft Lync

Starfish

Directory

Starfish Directory maintains theassociation of users to telecom resources.

Customer Case Study

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Authenticated users with no telephony resources submit provisioning requests based on location and roles.

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Users with associated resource can manage specific settings

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Users with associated resource can manage specific settings

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Users with associated resource can manage specific settings

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Voicemail passwords can be reset to default values. The mailbox is then set to prompt the user for a new password.

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After Deployment – First Month Stats:

201 – De-provisioned accounts (stations, voice mail)

295 – Stations added via self-service including voicemail accounts setup and click to call setup

577 – Voicemail Password resets

181 – Telephone Password resets

(Note: These stats were taken during the holidays when many employees were on break!)

Customer Case Study

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Starfish Self Service Manager empowers end-users within the context of a business process defined by the Telecom team.

Customer Feedback

“Self-service solutions from Starfish allowed us to quickly setup whole departments with very little staff intervention……

By implementing Starfish Self-Service Manager, users no longer have to wait for help desk staff to respond to them. With over 20,000 employees, self-service allows the telecom staff to work on more complex problems. As we add call center agent login ID provisioning, we will be able to just as quickly turn up entire new call center departments with login credentials and get them ready to take calls faster.”

Customer Case Study

Customer Case Study

One of the world’s largest third party logistics providers

One of the largest third party logistics providers with more than 11,000 employees located throughout a network of branches in North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

Business Challenge: Given the number of branch offices throughout the organization’s system, the volume of help desk requests for various telecom related changes (new names, new extensions, new ring groups, etc.) for the telecom management team was overwhelming. The challenge was to gain operational efficiencies by off-loading administration of these changes to each branch manager individually – but in a controlled way, with limited functionality since branch managers are not experienced telecom administrators.

Customer Case Study

One of the world’s largest third party logistics providers

Solution: The technical solution included creating two web portals: one for Telecom Managers which would assign scope to the Branch Managers defining what functions they could perform; and the other for Branch Mangers defining a set of functions they could administer. The portals were designed to limit the scope of which extensions branch managers could manage (within their branch), and limit the functionality of changes that could be made.

Key Benefits: The organization saw an immediate benefit from streamlining and decentralizing help desk tickets while enabling branch managers to administer simple telecom changes immediately to meet the daily business needs of their branch.

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Telecom administrators define the scope for Branch Managers

Delegated Administration

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Telecom administrators define the scope for Branch Managers

Delegated Administration

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Branch Managers are limited to control their defined scope

Delegated Administration

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Customer Case StudyOne of the largest insurance & financial services

companies in the world

Business Challenge

To achieve operational efficiencies by automating and streamlining business processes in a multi-vendor communications environment with more than 31,000 employees.

Solution

Deploy a phased approach that immediately injected automation to assist Help Desk personnel with password resets and extend end-user self-service functionality. Secondarily, Directory and Provisioning solutions were integrated with the IT infrastructure to synchronize data and to streamline and automate work orders.

Customer Case StudyOne of the largest insurance & financial services

companies in the worldKey Benefits

• Initial impact significantly reduced the strain on Tier 1 Help Desk personnel.

• Feedback from the end-user community was positive as they preferred freedom to control elements of their enterprise devices and their ability to reset passwords without waiting.

• The largest ROI came from the auto-provisioning element. With over 31,000 employees and significant contact center presence, a portion of the workload related to move/add/change (MAC) activity was automated. This provided faster in-service times in the contact center and back office.

Customer Case StudyOne of the largest insurance & financial services

companies in the world

Automation Tools – Business Value

• Automates provisioning to reduce telecom costs by streamlining MAC activity and enhancing operations team productivity

• Improves the organization’s system security

• Eliminates human interaction and errors by automating changes consistently and accurately.

• Expedites time to service for telecom resources by processing requests in real-time (especially important for customer facing employees such as Contact Center agents)

Customer Case StudyOne of the largest insurance & financial services

companies in the world

Self-Service Tools – Business Value

• Allows end users to reset their own voicemail passwords and make pre-approved changes to their phone buttons (auto-dial, request call forwarding)

• Reduces help desk calls, requests and tickets

• Enables help desk personnel to focus on higher priority tasks

• Expedites time to resolution for simple requests which increases end user productivity

• Increases end user satisfaction with their telephony devices and services

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Customer Case Study

Self-ServiceApplication Server

Self Service UI to Manage Avaya Resources Self Service UI to Manage Cisco Resources

Active

Directory

Avaya CM & MM Cisco CUCM & Unity

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Customized User Interface: Manage Avaya Phones

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Customized User Interface: Manage Cisco Phones

Thank you

Starfish Associates1200 US Highway 22

Bridgewater, NJ 08807

908-243-2900starfishassociates.com

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1303: Self-Service Tools and Delegated Administration Solutions