SaaS Insights, Software, Customer Service and Help Desk Best Practices | Giva - Software as a Service-SaaS

Key Elements of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Support Models for Customer Service Excellence

Fri, 12 May 2023 10:20:00 -0000

Photo Attribution: FGC/Shutterstock.com

In today's hyper-connected and highly competitive business landscape, providing excellent customer support is more critical than ever. The rise of the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model has changed the way companies deliver their products and services. Customers now expect instant and responsive support through various channels.

[More]

What Is Shadow IT Policy and Its Worth to Your Organization?

Wed, 15 Feb 2023 10:26:00 -0000

In most organizations, there's an extensive "shadow IT" network, also known as a shadow IT system.

In every mid-size and large organization, there's usually an extensive interconnected network of approved software solutions and systems. In some cases, these software or hardware solutions are proprietary and have been developed exclusively for that organization.

However, since the turn of the century, there has been rapid proliferation of cloud-based software, hardware, apps, and other systems that organizations are now using. Businesses are often spending anywhere from tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars annually on software, hardware, and IT vendors and IT Service Management (ITSM) partners.

[More]

Our Big List of As-A-Service Acronyms

Mon, 26 Sep 2022 09:43:00 -0000

Photo Attribution: veryp/Shutterstock.com

The cloud is so much more than new-era data storage. It has grown to offer services of all kinds to businesses, healthcare organizations, educational faculties, and more. You may already be familiar with "Software as a Service" or the SaaS meaning. While that is a well-known expansion of cloud as a service, there are many other acronyms you may be unaware of. Each acronym reflects another capable service of the cloud — one or more of which may be of value to you and your organization. Continue reading as we have created a master listing of each service related to today's cloud technology.

[More]

What is Total Cost of Ownership: How to Calculate TCO and How It Applies to SaaS

Mon, 15 Aug 2022 10:56:00 -0000

Photo Attribution: chrupka/Shutterstock.com

What Does TCO Stand For?

As everyday consumers, we often consider price one of the top indicators to justify a purchase. When we say "price," we mean the sticker price, but rarely do we factor in other costs involved with maintaining a product. The same goes for organizations. They are often home to various software and services with an upfront cost. That upfront cost is likely an attractive number, strategically formulated to obtain a signed service agreement. Licenses and maintenance fees associated with the purchase are usually a small component of the overall total cost of ownership (TCO). Where actual costs can begin to pile up are in the areas of labor to maintain software, infrastructure, and hardware.

Calculating true total ownership cost can be a tedious process, though it is necessary. Before sending your IT team out to solicit new SaaS products, be sure they have a standardized template of data to look for beyond the sticker price.

[More]

What is XaaS and How It Can Benefit Your Business

Fri, 06 Aug 2021 10:14:00 -0000

Photo Attribution: johavel/Shutterstock.com

XaaS stands for "Everything as a Service" or "Anything as a Service". It's an acronym for providing any products, tools and technologies that businesses may need as a service instead of on premise or with a physical product. The term has been popularized by cloud computing services, such as SaaS (Software as a service), IaaS (Infrastructure as a service) and PaaS (Platform as a service).

[More]

3 Top Ways to Provide More Cost-Effective Customer Service

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 10:34:00 -0000

Photo Attribution: BoBaa22/Shutterstock.com

From the right tools to adequate staffing, customer service can turn out to be an expensive venture for businesses of all shapes and sizes. Most of the expenses incurred come from in-house teams, usually those working in a call-center. If customers get off of the phone with your in-house team and still don't have a resolution to their issue, that can also be seen as both time and money wasted. This is especially true if the customer decides to forego your business thanks to that particular experience.

According to Hannah Steiman of Peak Support, there are a few ways in which in-house customer service can become costly:

[More]

The Difference Between Help Desk, Technical Support & Desktop Support & Skills Required

Wed, 06 Jan 2021 10:00:00 -0000

Photo Attribution: Rosadu/Shutterstock.com

With continued growth in computer and hand-held device use in the lives of many brings increasing technical questions and problems that arise. And so, the field of supporting these systems grows along with it, which brings business opportunities for entrepreneurs, and employment opportunities for support personnel.

But there are different types of support needs accompanied by varying required responsibilities and skills. The following are the differences between, and skills required for, three common areas of support: Help Desk, Technical Support, and Desktop/Deskside Support.

[More]

The MetroHealth System Launches New Giva HR Employee Interface

Fri, 23 Aug 2019 10:06:00 -0000

On Monday, August 19th, Giva customer, The MetroHealth System, launched a new internal Human Resources (HR) service using Giva's HIPAA compliant SaaS Customer Self-Service Portal. The MetroHealth System has for the past five years already been utilizing Giva's Service Management Suite™ in the cloud for their IT Service Desk and a number of other departments such as Facilities and Environmental Services. They are now pleased to be expanding their services by offering Giva's Customer Self-Service Portal to their employees in an effort to offer streamlined HR services.

[More]

5 Types of Help Desk Examples: Which is Right For You?

Fri, 07 Jun 2019 11:08:00 -0000

Help desks are typically grouped according to their form of deployment, the size of a client's business and whether the software's source code is accessible and easy to alter. When searching for the perfect help desk, you must take these elements into consideration. The following is an explanation of the five main types of help desk examples currently on the market:

[More]

3 Types of Service Level Agreements

Mon, 03 Dec 2018 13:30:00 -0000

A service level agreement (SLA) is a contract between a business and its customer outlining the details that the two parties have agreed to in a transaction. The types of SLAs that an organization can use depends on many significant aspects. While some are targeted at individual customer groups, others discuss issues relevant to entire companies. This is because the needs of one user differ from those of another. Below is a list of the types of SLAs used by businesses today, and how each one is utilized for specific situations:

[More]

6 Important Considerations for Cloud Service Level Agreements (SLA)

Wed, 25 Oct 2017 11:46:00 -0000

When it comes to cloud computing, Service Level Agreements (SLAs) act as both the structure and warranty of the terms of the relationship between the consumer and provider. SLAs that are tailored toward services in the cloud often include information that differs from other agreements of the same stature.

The following are six important considerations to be aware of for service level agreements customized for the cloud:

[More]

Giva Customers Are Talking! Athens Regional Health System Case Study

Wed, 20 Jul 2016 12:25:00 -0000

Athens Regional Health System is one of northeast Georgia's largest healthcare systems. ARHS is made up of an acute care hospital with 350-plus beds, four urgent care centers, a network of quality physicians and specialists, and a home health agency. ARHS was named the Large Hospital of the Year for the State of Georgia by the Georgia Alliance of Community Hospitals. Today, ARHS is recognized as one of the top 100 hospitals in the nation preferred by women.

[More]

6 Ways To Tell If a 'Green' Product Is REALLY Eco-Friendly

Wed, 09 Mar 2016 11:46:00 -0000

In today's world, many consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about the state of the environment. They worry about the depletion of natural resources, the overflowing of landfills, and the pollution of airways and water sources. To address this concern, more corporations are introducing 'green' or eco-friendly products into the market. The sad truth, however, is that there is a lack of regulation when it comes to claims companies can make regarding how 'green' their products are. More often than not, a product is not as eco-friendly as a company declares it to be.

So how can one tell if a product really is 'green'? Here are a few red flags to watch out for, and a few tips for being a smarter, greener consumer.

[More]

The Giva Challenge: Giva Customers are Talking! Miles & Stockbridge

Thu, 14 May 2015 12:38:00 -0000

Working around-the-clock to meet a client's needs is what a great attorney does. If that clock is slowed down in any way it costs extra money. Miles & Stockbridge P.C. has enjoyed a rich history of well-planned growth, enduring client relationships and loyal community leadership for over 80 years. They support approximately 500 employees in 8 offices across the east coast of the USA. "Since we are providing IT technical support to attorneys that work around-the-clock, we needed a solution that could be accessible anywhere and anytime by our staff. Our attorneys' time is our 'stock in trade', so we must keep the firm up and running and highly productive on a large number of applications and various hardware platforms in order to generate revenue." (Ken Adams, Chief Information Officer) They were spending a lot of time and money on managing and maintaining servers and software to host their previous application.

[More]