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GREE, Inc.
JBS supports GREE with Service Desk which helps improve troubleshooting time with high technical skill and communication capability.
Among JBS Managed Services portfolio GREE uses Service Desk and Monitoring Service to give users IT support. Continuous improvement based on KPI methodology keeps the customer satisfied with the level of support we provide.
Service Overview
Back in 2013 GREE, Inc. (hereinafter called GREE), who was in the process of expanding their business globally with the rapid increase of employees, was contracting a couple of companies for IT support services for their users. GREE decided to add Japan Business Systems, Inc. (hereinafter called JBS) for "Service Desk" and "Managed System Service". JBS's Service Desk can handle inquiries from users with flexibility and hospitality. JBS makes continuous improvement based on KPI so as to keep the customer satisfied with the quality of support it offers.
Background / Challenges
Outsourcing administrative IT support to cope with the rapid increase of the employees
Around 2011 as GREE was expanding the business with ever-increasing employees, it became difficult for Information Systems Dept. to handle PC deployment, to manage data especially confidential data, or to give various IT support to users. That's why GREE decided to get support from external resources. Mr. Okada, Senior Manager, Management Information Systems Unit, Infrastructure Dept., Development Division, explains, "As our business expanded so rapidly and the number of employees increased dramatically, we looked for a partner with high IT skill and quality who can handle with speed and flexibility. We needed to strengthen our support structure by having JBS join newly.
Development Division
Infrastructure Department
Management Information Systems Unit
Senior Manager Hiroshi Okada
Development Division
Infrastructure Department
Management Information Systems Unit
Toshiyuki Suzuki
Reasons for Selecting JBS
Among three companies JBS's Service Desk was selected.
Prior to 2012 GREE had been in contract with two companies for IT support. JBS's Service Desk, one of the menus of "Managed Services", was added. Now it's consolidated to only JBS, who offers Help Desk. Mr. Okada says, "As far as flexibility and technical skill are concerned, the other two companies were evaluated as much as JBS. However, the communication skill of JBS staff was so high, and our users evaluated JBS the most. That is why JBS is the only partner we currently ask for support."
Mr. Toshiyuki Suzuki of Management Information Systems Unit, Infrastructure Dept., Development Division, also says, "JBS embraces a 'continuous Kaizen' mindset even when they got business transferred from the other vendor, I felt. Having understood our business and kind of support we need, JBS is good at proposing ideas or suggestions for improvement.
Effect & Result
Continuous improvement is the key to keep quality of service high.
Mr. Okada recognizes the value of JBS's Help Desk with the comment, "We ask JBS staff for not only handling inquiries but also controlling access authorizations and account IDs for internal systems. Needless to say their technical skills, they also have a good communication skill with deep knowledge on our facilities and operations. Therefore we feel very comfortable when we ask them for end user support. We have no hesitation to ask even for executive support."
Ms. Akiko Sato of Customer Support Center, Managed Service Division of JBS, who is stationed at GREE, talks about the things she keeps in mind as a support member. "In order to shorten the turnaround time for an inquiry it is very important how the initial contact person handles it. I make sure to listen carefully and grasp the question or request, and prioritize. Then I try to set the expectation for the response time. Sometimes there are measures to be taken to improve security or regulations. We make sure to understand the meaning of the measure and we explain in our own words to end users until they feel comfortable."
System Solutions Unit
Managed Service Division
Customer Support Center
Customer Support Group
Akiko Sato
System Solutions Unit
Managed Service Division
Customer Support Center
Customer Support Group
Akira Sugawara
Mr. Akira Sugawara of Customer Support Center, Managed Service Division of JBS, indicates that he began with incident management to record the inquiries properly because the inquiry record was not well kept. "By grasping incident record history a new way of support or improvement of response time can be achieved. By analyzing incident record history we are able to identify improvable points in rules and operations previously defined. We work together with the customer so that better service can be delivered. I believe that these activities help win their trust."
Incident management makes it possible to offer support in better quality by measuring and analyzing the lead time between the initial inquiry and the time of closing. We hold a meeting weekly based on the weekly report and discuss problems and concerns to find where to improve. Mr. Okada says, "Same report is submitted to our management as well. We try hard to improve by looking at the same figures throughout the company based on KPI visualizing the operation. We always brush up the KPI so that operational improvement can be made in various aspects." By repeating the PDCA cycle the lead time from the initial inquiry to closing was shortened by almost half in comparison with one year ago. For instance the lead time for delivering a personal computer after request is now 40% improved.
In addition to incident management we are accumulating knowledge base and FAQs. Sharing knowledge base helps improve the overall skill level by eliminating dependency upon individuals. Now we are in the better position to cope with known problems. We continue to improve FAQs so that users can solve the problems by themselves, which leads to reduce the number of inquiries.
Members of MIS Unit of GREE and members of Service Desk have a weekly meeting and discuss operational improvement measures based on the weekly report.
Future Plans
We aim to keep the support quality high. Our next goal is further operational automation and shifting to cloud.
Mr. Suzuki talks about Service Desk of the future. "We are very pleased with the support of JBS's Service Desk in terms of hospitality they are giving to our end users. We plan to improve the process of kitting personal computers. It is our challenge to create a new mechanism to improve the service level including skill and knowledge transfer from the 'best' member to others within Service Desk.
In addition to Service Desk GREE added JBS's system monitoring service called 'Managed System Service' in Oct. 2013. The number of monitored servers is increasing gradually. Mr. Suzuki says, "Prior to this our internal systems were not fully monitored. It often happened that users had found the trouble before MIS Unit. JBS monitors remotely for 24 x 7 via monitoring tools installed in our system such as ERP or information sharing tool. We receive a phone call as soon as any problem occurs. To minimize the impact by the trouble the initial reporting is very important and we find 'Managed System Service' very effective."
Having partnered with JBS for Service Desk and Managed System Service, GREE expects more from JBS with its technical expertise and a variety of solutions for the future IT plans. Mr. Suzuki continues, "The range of solutions JBS can provide is very broad. We look forward to the proposal on areas especially like effective cloud utilization and improvement of systems operation management." JBS will continue to be a trusted partner for GREE by proposing solutions to support GREE's businesses.
GREE, Inc.
http://corp.gree.net/jp/ja/
- Headquarters
- : Roppongi Hills Mori Tower
6-10-1 Roppongi,
Minato-ku, Tokyo - Founded:
- Dec. 7, 2004
- Capital:
- 2,198 million yen (As of June 30, 2014)
- Number of Employees
- : 1,882 (Group total as of June 30, 2014)
- Business Overview:
- Social Game, Social Media, Platform, Advertising, License & Merchandizing, Venture Capital
- Corporate Overview:
- GREE celebrated its 10th anniversary in Dec. 2014. With an idea "Making the world a better place through the power of the Internet" we've been launching new businesses using the potential power of the Internet. We are also expanding globally by opening offices in Korea, USA, Canada, and Singapore. In the arena of social game business GREE has shifted from web games to native games. We offer attractive social contents for mobile users by uniting global network capabilities and ideas among Development Studios and group companies.
Published: 2014.11.20
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