Case Study
UST helps Adobe elevate IT support with consistent 98% satisfaction and SLA ratings
OUR CLIENT
Adobe is a multinational software company that creates and publishes some of the most widely used audio-visual applications on the market, including Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Acrobat. Founded in 1982 by John Warnock and Charles Geschke in Warnock’s garage, the company now employs 26,000 people worldwide and generates more than $17 billion in annual revenue.
THE CHALLENGE
Outsourcing IT support services to a knowledgeable, experienced partner
Adobe used internal staff to manage its desktop support, Tech Café, and depot services. While these teams were necessary to run its business at peak productivity, Adobe wanted to engage with a managed service partner so it could:
- Reduce costs - by eliminating the overhead expenses associated with the teams.
- Increase IT innovation - by upskilling IT resources from mundane, repetitive tasks to more strategic projects.
- Gain staffing flexibility - to quickly add or reduce headcount as necessary based on the needs of the business.
- Add cost-effective dispatch services - for specific offices, mainly in the Asia-Pacific region, where full-time IT support services weren’t necessary.
THE TRANSFORMATION
Elevating tech support and sustaining operations during the Covid-19 pandemic
After embarking on an IT support managed services engagement, UST seamlessly assumed responsibility for Adobe’s desktop support, Tech Café, and depot services. Our team enhanced existing service processes by updating operating procedures and running books with best practices and version controls. UST also implemented automations to provide Adobe employees with personalized self-service IT support capabilities. Through the implementation of home-grown automation solutions, we obtained detailed insights for continuous process optimization, leading to a reduction in support ticket volume, acceleration of mean time to repair (MTTR), and surpassing SLA and customer satisfaction targets. The entrenched, fine-tuned managed services engagement was serendipitous as the Covid-19 pandemic unexpectedly swept the globe in early 2020.
Immediately shifting to remote IT support during pandemic lockdowns
In March 2020, Adobe leadership decided overnight to shut down offices in the U.S. and shift to a work-from-home model. UST quickly implemented remote Tech Café support using a Slack channel. Adobe employees could easily request IT support from UST technicians as if they were in the office. As Adobe continued to shut down offices around the world, the Tech Café Slack channel expanded from the U.S. to worldwide, helping existing employees manage laptop issues and assisting new hires with onboarding IT needs.
Supporting limited office re-openings during the pandemic in 2021
Since pandemic restrictions fluctuated significantly worldwide throughout most of 2021, UST’s managed services IT support ebbed and flowed to keep pace with Adobe’s needs. As employees slowly started returning to work in offices, UST support technicians went into Adobe’s offices around the globe to test technology equipment, such as conference phones and projectors, and apply any necessary updates to ensure all equipment was in good working order. Meanwhile, the remote Tech Café remained in place until it was no longer needed as pandemic restrictions eased around the globe.
Implementing a “road to work” strategy as pandemic restrictions were lifted
When Adobe announced that employees were required to go back to work in offices a few days a week, company IT leaders and UST’s managed services team worked together to devise a staffing strategy to ensure UST could meet the IT support needs of employees as they returned to work around the globe. With one month to scale up, UST rapidly added 17 people to its managed service team in each office. UST maintained the additional headcount for six months to manage the initial return-to-work surge of employee IT needs.
THE IMPACT
Surpassing service delivery targets with consistent 98% ratings
For the last six years, UST has seamlessly managed Adobe’s desktop support, Tech Café, and depot services—before, during, and after the extreme circumstances of the pandemic—with a flexible staffing model providing top-notch services. Over the course of the engagement, UST has surpassed its KPI and SLA targets for MTTR, ticket volume, and customer satisfaction with consistent 98% ratings. Meanwhile, Adobe achieved its goals of reducing IT overhead expenses and reallocating internal IT resources to focus on other, more strategic projects.
RESOURCES
https://www.ust.com/en/what-we-do/strategy-implementation-operations