Predictive analytics technology is changing the nature of every industry. Companies are projected to spend close to $65 billion on predictive analytics tools and services in 2028.
In the age of digital transformation, every business is under pressure to apply predictive analytics and other emerging technologies and deploy solutions in the most productive and streamlined ways. Everyone is looking to reap the benefits of expediency through automation, artificial intelligence and the various cloud technologies, but finding the right strategy is another issue entirely. This takes careful planning, consultation with experts and a little experimentation.
Support services are central to the running of any business, so finding the best way of integrating these into your operations is an important issue. Tech support needs to be both effective and fast, and any shortcomings here will affect the running of the entire organisation.
If you are finding your tech support is pushed to its limit, then you look for tech support for your startup that will deliver a reliable and productive service.
The potential of predictive analytics
Predictive analytics is a series of techniques that can be used for the purposes of analysis, prediction and finding solutions. The advanced techniques in predictive analytics include data mining, statistical analysis, text analytics, machine learning, predictive modelling, real-time scoring, and optimisation. Predictive analytics considers different probabilities, trends and the variables involved in a particular process to make predictions about future occurrences and activity. It looks at current and historical data to analyse the causes of past failures and then develop strategies to prevent them from reoccurring. This is hugely beneficial to organisations for a range of purposes.
The power to understand what will happen in the future is something humans have dreamed of for millennia. Predictive analytics is not the oracle that can provide a perfect vision of the future with complete certainty, but it is as close to a glimpse of tomorrow that we can get in the current time. This use of technology allows us to use statistical analysis to systematically assess what is more likely to happen.
Predictive analytics has a wide range of applications in the real world. Chief among these is business management and risk assessment, which includes credit scoring for the processing of credit history and loan applications. Other uses of predictive analytics include crisis management, financial modelling and sales forecasting.
Predictive analytics can be incredibly useful for organisations of all sizes for its capabilities in identifying risks and opportunities. But more importantly, predictive analytics can be used as a way of vastly improving your tech support services.
The proactive approach
It is fairly common for businesses to manage their solutions for IT support on only a reactive basis. This means that technical issues are only dealt with after a problem has been experienced. So, when there is an area of difficulty with an IT system then company employees will reach out to the tech support team to find a viable solution. To many people, this may seem like the most intuitive approach, whereby you ‘cross that bridge when you come to it’.
However, there are many reasons that this approach is no longer sufficient. In the 21st century, the average company is so reliant on IT systems, networks, and servers that problems are frequent and solutions must be immediate. Actively reporting technical issues will take time and then lead to bottlenecks with the escalation of subsequent problems. This lowers productivity as a result of the need for identifying and reporting issues, and even in the cases that SLAs are met, customer satisfaction may not be achieved as a result of low productivity and delays.
A vast improvement on reactive methods in IT support is to adopt a proactive approach whereby the IT systems, network and devices are continuously monitored using automation and analytics. Through this approach, technical issues will cause little disruption to operations as they don’t require any immediate attention, and alerts can offer information on potential issues. Support providers using proactive approaches will contact their clients before problems occur as a way of avoiding bottlenecks, and they can therefore offer an improved customer experience.
How predictive analytics can streamline tech support
DXC Technology published a very fascinating article on the intersection of predictive analytics and tech support. Experts have found that predictive analytics can be invaluable in streamlining various aspects of tech support.
With a greater dependency on technology, such as cloud-based services and software-as-a-service (SaaS), as well as a higher level of mobility and outsourcing, there is more chance for technical failures that will hinder productivity. This drives businesses to turn to automation as a way to deliver efficient support services that will save hours of time for employees.
Predictive technology has made a huge difference to business operations by building on the efficiency, accuracy, and speed that automation has already provided. The combination of proactive and predictive approaches means that you can streamline your tech support to make it much quicker and more effective.
With predictive analysis, support is able to offer synchronous intervention that is in direct response to any issues with technology as they arise. In addition to this, predictive analytics techniques can take pre-emptive measures to identify problems and prevent them before they occur. This involves the use of diagnostic tools that can ensure action is taken quickly.
Predictive analytics means that pressure on the IT department can be reduced, as staff members don’t need to wait for the resolution of technical issues due to automation and predictive technology. As a result, productivity and IT performance will considerably increase. It also delivers a customer experience that is vastly improved as the tools provided ensure that problems are resolved more quickly, and less time is spent waiting.
Predictive Analytics is Driving Positive Changes in the Tech Support Sector
As is often the case with emerging technologies in the market, once customers have become familiar with more efficient methods, they will come to expect them from providers. This puts pressure on businesses to be at the forefront of every technological development, or better still, pioneer new technologies. Predictive analytics is a powerful tool that any forward-thinking enterprise would do well to harness.
