iot case study

The ITSM’s Challenge

A large US based ITSM and Data Storage provider wanted to create a number of automated processes to ensure quicker response to their clients, reduce human error, and bolster security in number of sectors. Initially, many of the internal ordering actions were manual, being done through basic portals, spreadsheets, and emails. This left the possibility for human error to affect the ordering and provisioning of server requests.

Furthermore, as new servers were being added, architecture had to be inserted manually making each new request taking extensive human capital to create every time new environments were partitioned. They required a better way to spin up new servers quickly and accurately as need required.

Lastly, their customers were having to manually request reports when desired, which then was taking up internal resources to fulfill. Without a way for clients to access the information themselves, further tasks and backlogs were created to respond in a timely manner.

The Clovity Solution

Clovity leveraged it’s Digital, Automation and AI Studios’ to develop robust code that would ensure many of the traditionally manual tasks could now be deployed automatically without additional human tasks. To start, engineers developed a simplistic AI to assist in coordinating shipping, handling and packaging which were initially managed through emails between departments. By creating reminders and automated processes around these task SLAs were reduced to under 2 days with almost 100% accuracy. Ensuring each service request was promptly acted on the client was quickly able to increase their customer satisfaction levels.

Next, Clovity’s technologists set to work building a robust solution for IaC server partitioning by leveraging automation technologies like Python, Django, Ruby, and Shell Scripting. As each new environment needed to be spun up, servers could utilize the main manifest, validate against the parameters and automatically configure each new rack of devices while simultaneously flagging any potential issues. The next part of the solution was how to upload assets to server through automated processes. Architects simply required a design and configuration settings which would create a template. This template could then be uploaded on to the portal. As each new server would be created, it would ping the portal and download the parameters without additional work.

The final aspect of the solution involved allowing greater insights on each customers network performance to be accessed without needing to contact our client directly. To ensure our customer’s clients could access reports on demand Clovity’s engineers built a tool kit and web app allowing individuals with the right credentials to expose system data. A hexadecimal token generated using a custom algorithm is validated by the system. Once a client’s token is validated and their system allowances have been verified for a match, they can export reports in JSON, PDF or Excel formats.

In addition, a new job manager functionality was introduced that is able to do device specific tasks like releasing new updates and job runs periodically or manually as desired. This module deals with the configuration and maintenance of various jobs which are a part of different vendor specific devices, bios, and firmware. It is an intelligent module which is capable of allowing the admin to monitor the job status for each client’s environment.

By introducing newly automated IaC processes for server set up and partitioning, plus increasing intelligence for operational tasks within logistical divisions of the company, Clovity’s client was able to significantly reduce their operational costs while simultaneously creating a consistent customer experience.