Experian modernises and transforms the employee experience with ServiceNow

Experian modernises and transforms the employee experience with ServiceNow

Experian relies on IT infrastructure as the backbone of its operations
Experian is the world’s leading global information services company. IT forms the backbone of Experian’s operations, helping its employees to deliver world-class information products and expertise. However, rapid growth, both organically and through acquisition, meant that the company was running multiple legacy IT service management systems.

Experian looks to standardise IT globally and consumerise the employee experience
Faced with disparate processes, disconnected systems, and high costs, Experian needed to transform how it delivered IT services. As part of a global IT transformation programme, Experian has a three-year vision to modernise IT service management and consumerise the employee experience. Critically, this vision extends beyond IT to transform every business line on a global basis.

Jonathan Hayes, VP Global IT Service Excellence, Experian IT Services, explains, “Experian had an unnecessarily complex and inflexible IT services set up with a multitude of disparate technologies and processes. We were putting veneer on veneer to keep up, rather than making inherent and lasting changes to evolve our approach.”

Experian’s CA Service Desk was a core concern. “Our service desk tool was no longer fit for purpose. Even some of the basic functions were long and slow, which put an unfair expectation on our agents to effectively manage a situation and deliver a great level of service,” says Jonathan.

ServiceNow powers seamless delivery of services for all business functions at Experian
“Rather than simply finding replacement systems, we knew we had the opportunity to drive service transformation across the business,” says Jonathan. “Choosing ServiceNow was a conscious decision to move away from standard tools and adopt a single platform to power the seamless delivery of services for every business function.”

Working with Ernst & Young, Experian launched phase one of its ServiceNow deployment, using Incident Management, Problem Management, Change Management, and Knowledge Management to power the customer service desk and an employee portal for IT service requests. It also extended its ServiceNow solution to include HR Service Delivery.

ServiceNow helps deliver efficiency and productivity gains for Experian with faster, smarter service delivery
Experian has seen notable benefits since moving to the Now Platform®. In just 12 weeks, approximately 3,000 Experian employees were already using ServiceNow to handle cases, service requests, and incidents for a client or employee. Globally, more than 12,000 Experian employees have now interacted with the new platform. Productivity gains are significant, with automation and intelligent workflows speeding processes to free agents and employees to focus on more value-added tasks.

Jonathan continues, “Previously, it would take two to three minutes for managers to approve a simple request, but now it’s a matter of seconds. Likewise, agents would battle through an incident form to log a ticket. With ServiceNow this effort has been reduced by over 50% in many situations.”

Access to high-quality data through ServiceNow enables Experian managers to proactively address potential issues
With ServiceNow, Experian gained significant insights into its IT service management, informing future platform development and a proactive approach to client engagement.

“Previously, we had to bring together data from our various tools and spreadsheets to be normalised and sanitised for analysis,” says Jonathan. “Now, we have access to clean, high-quality data that provides a clear picture of everything moving through the service platform. For example, we can quickly identify if a client has called numerous times and flag this to the account manager to proactively speak to them.”

ServiceNow also allowed Experian to change the way service desk tickets are categorized, helping to ensure the most appropriate resolution workflows. Previously, all client calls were assigned as an incident, with agents trying to complete fields that weren’t relevant. Now, all incoming calls are logged using the ServiceNow case management capability.

ServiceNow and Salesforce integration provides Experian with real-time insights that lead to richer customer engagement and higher satisfaction
The integration capabilities of ServiceNow were a critical decision-making factor for Jonathan and his team, and particularly the ability to bring together siloed service and CRM functions. “Through ServiceNow and its seamless integration with Salesforce, we are on the path to unlocking the real power of digital transformation with a single source of reference data that can be leveraged across the organisation. The real-time insights are leading to richer account management conversations and high levels of customer satisfaction,” states Jonathan.

For example, when a client used to call the service desk, the agent could only see any previous service desk-related contact. Likewise, an Experian account manager talking to a client could only access information held in Salesforce. Following the introduction of ServiceNow, sales and service are now intrinsically linked. If a sales or account manager looks in Salesforce, they don’t just see sales-led or account management interactions—they also have the context of any issues or tickets logged into the Now Platform.

“We pride ourselves on unlocking the possibilities that data holds to empower organisations and individuals, and this is exactly what ServiceNow supports for Experian,” says Jonathan. “With ServiceNow, we created a single system of engagement that expands far beyond IT.”

Productivity gains are significant, with automation and intelligent workflows speeding processes to free agents and employees to focus on more value-added tasks.

“Previously, it would take two to three minutes for managers to approve a simple request, but now it’s a matter of seconds. Likewise, agents would battle through an incident form to log a ticket, yet with ServiceNow this has been reduced by over 50% in many situations,” says Jonathan.

Access to high-quality data through ServiceNow enables Experian managers to analyse service workflow and proactively address issues
“Previously, we had to bring together data from our various tools and spreadsheets to be normalised and sanitised for analysis,” said Jonathan. “Now, we have access to clean, high-quality data that provides a clear picture of everything moving through the service platform. For example, we can quickly identify if a client has called numerous times and flag this to the account manager to proactively speak to them.”

Often, identifying ongoing low-level contact with Experian can be more telling about a customer’s mind-set, and, if dealt with in a timely manner, leads to an overall more positive client experience than just the successful handling of priority one incidents that naturally always get the right exposure and attention.

ServiceNow also enables Experian to change the way service desk tickets are catagorized, to ensure the most appropriate resolution workflows. Previously, all client calls were assigned as an incident, with agents trying to complete fields that weren’t relevant. Now, all incoming calls are logged using the ServiceNow case management capability.

Seamless integration between ServiceNow and Salesforce provides Experian with real-time insights that lead to richer account conversations and higher customer satisfaction
The integration capabilities of ServiceNow were a critical decision-making factor for Jonathan and his team, particularly the ability to bring together silos that may arise between the service and CRM functions.

Before, if a client called the service desk, the agent may only see any service desk-related contact. Likewise, an Experian account manager talking to a client may only be able to access information held in Salesforce.

Following the introduction of ServiceNow, sales and service are now intrinsically linked. If a sales or account manager looks in Salesforce he or she will not only see details on any sales-led or account management interactions, but also have the context of any issues or tickets logged into the Now Platform.

“Through ServiceNow and its seamless integration with Salesforce, we are on the path to unlocking the real power of digital transformation with a single source of reference data that can be leveraged across the organisation. The real-time insights are leading to richer account management conversations and high levels of customer satisfaction,” states Jonathan.

“We pride ourselves on unlocking the possibilities that data holds to empower organisations and individuals, and this is exactly what ServiceNow supports for Experian,’ says Jonathan. “With ServiceNow, we have created a single system of engagement that expands far beyond IT.”

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