Startup Mode to Mature IT in an Agile Environment

Alex Rust spoke at Moveworks Champions Event about how he was able to utilize bot implementation to not only meet those needs but also reach the stunning milestone to where IT tickets are now predominantly automated.

The appeal of an agile work environment drew Engineering Manager Alex Rust to Mercari US. Since joining in 2019, Alex has helped cultivate change through creative problem solving in the journey from startup mode IT to mature IT, while not hindering the environment that brought him there.

The nature of the Mercari platform demanded instant progress rather than email paced advancement or creating a ticket in JIRA, and waiting for a resolution. While a traditional IT Support solution like email and manual ticket creation addressed a needed compliance improvement to solve IT related questions, it was a step back for Mercari’s work culture. This created a process of round the clock access requests through Slack needing to be resolved manually.

As Mercari grew, Alex began to see startup mode IT responsibilities combine with: supporting a growing workforce, supporting outsourced agents 24/7, and the need to transition to a remote-first Corporate strategy (putting an even heavier reliance on Slack and the agile expectations that come with it).?

On Tuesday December 6th Alex spoke at?Moveworks Champions Event?about how he was able to utilize bot implementation to not only meet those needs but also reach the stunning milestone to where IT tickets are now predominantly automated.

Hosted in Moveworks’ Mountain View-based HQ, the event brought together a diverse group of more than 200 professionals to network and share how they’re transforming their businesses with conversational AI. Leaders from Cox, Solidigm, Mercari, and other companies sat down with Gwen Thorn, Vice President of Customer Success, to discuss their experience using the Moveworks platform to drive innovation across their support functions, from IT to HR to Finance and more.

Before Bot Implementation?

Before using this innovative process users would message IT agents directly for help.Tickets were created through the helpdesk portal or by email. This led to an increased strain on agents and less than ideal quality of detailed solution content.?

“We knew there was a better way to get things done”, Rust said. “We had to find a more efficient way of servicing our employees, while continuing to find effective solutions for them”. If an in-house bot was created there was a risk of a learning curve leading to a period of less than ideal request comprehension which in turn could delay responses. “It was important that the solution we came up with had to be built for the everyday user” Alex continued, ``the more natural and fulfilling the conversations are the more successful the solution”.

Post Deployment

Once deployed the bot was able to direct 94% of traffic to the proper place at the point of contact. Within the first month Mercari US reached the milestone of our bot directly resolving 40% of all IT requests. Since then, that number has gone up to 74%. In fact, the bot implementation has been so successful that IT is expanding the deployment to support both the Human Resources and Finance Departments. To better tailor the bot to handle multiple departments,?Alex is layering in more capabilities such as enterprise answers, employee communications, and a Slack channel resolver.?

Keys to Continued Success:

• Be prepared to launch-?You want first impressions of the bot experience to be positive. Ensure you clearly communicate what the bot is capable of by setting expectations. Mercari US IT had the initial focus of software provisioning and knowledge content.
• Be responsive to change-?Continue to invest in the bot capabilities to ensure users are getting ongoing value by keeping it current.
• Drive change from communications- Use the communications platform to send targeted comms to ensure everyone is aware of changes and to get ahead of questions as you make changes on the IT side.

Link to Making Mercari blog: https://blog.mercari.com/making-mercari/home