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How Xero uses SweetHawk apps to make Zendesk an ITSM hero.

Case study date: 0ctober 2020

6

SweetHawk apps

 

10,000+

Change requests and counting…

 

 250+

agents

 

As part of Xero's implementation of Zendesk, they made broad use of SweetHawk's app offerings to build out vital ITSM workflows.

I can’t imagine us being able to operate as effectively without SweetHawk apps.
— Grant Foster - Internal Applications Specialist

Xero is a global small business platform that provides the most beautiful cloud-based accounting software. It helps small businesses thrive with better tools that range from accounting to invoicing, payroll and even inventory management. In 2020 Xero had more than 2 million subscribers in over 180 countries. 

We spoke to Dan Bowden & Grant Foster about their journey implementing Zendesk & SweetHawk into Xero to provide IT service management throughout the business.

Dan is an IT Solutions Architect who has been with Xero for over seven years. He's seen the number of employees grow tenfold and has played pivotal roles in evolving internal company processes as things have scaled. Grant is an Internal Applications Specialist who’s been looking after the administration and improvement of Zendesk for the last 4 and a half years.   

Dan explained that “before using Zendesk we had all our teams using different support tools. Some were using various ticketing systems while others were just using email. Zendesk simplified things by bringing everything into one place which allowed teams to collaborate much more easily”.

It’s no secret that Xero have loved using Zendesk for over 5 years now. But what is less well known is that from almost the very beginning, Xero chose to combine it with SweetHawk’s apps. According to Dan, “We found early on that we were wanting to expand the functionality of Zendesk and streamline workflows... So that’s when we started looking at other integrations, the first one being the Calendar app. We needed it to round out our change management process, help with audibility and to automate some manual processes.”

In one word - fantastic. The products integrate seamlessly
— Grant Foster - Internal Applications Specialist
The amount of time that we save is massive
— Dan Bowden - IT Solutions Architect

 Since those early Zendesk days, Xero has gone on to use other SweetHawk apps to solve a multitude of requirements. Grant said that “as we've grown we've had a lot of different types of tickets created through Zendesk requiring a range of different workflows. Every time we've needed to extend the functionality of Zendesk, SweetHawk apps have been there to help us.” Dan also noted that “The Tasks app has been really big for us. We use it in its basic sense to add task lists to tickets and require those to be completed before a ticket can be solved. But, we also use it to create sub-tickets, either manually or automatically, and that has been a huge win for us for all sorts of workflows. Take our change process, where we spin up sub-tickets for work to be completed by different teams; while keeping them all linked to the parent ticket.”

“The other big one for us is the Approvals app which we use frequently.” Dan continued, “Before Approvals, we had manual processes where we’d have to message somebody outside of Zendesk and often have trouble tracking them down. This meant a lot more time spent per ticket. Now we can send an approval in just a few clicks... That one alone saves us lots of time, on many tickets, every day.

We found early on that we were wanting to expand the functionality of Zendesk and streamline workflows
— Dan Bowden - IT Solutions Architect

Grant agreed, adding “I can't imagine us being able to operate as effectively without SweetHawk apps. Many of the apps are ingrained in the workflows which not only help us achieve greater efficiency but also allow us to comply with security standards and regulations.”

Another important factor is having the confidence to rely on SweetHawk, trusting that things are going to work when they’re needed most. Grant said, “The quality is very high and we rarely have any issues. Continuous updates and improvements as well the proven uptime, means we can consistently rely on SweetHawk to always deliver.”

Currently, SweetHawk provides over a dozen apps on the Zendesk apps marketplace that address hundreds of use case requirements. So, knowing where to get started might be a question new users have. Dan explains “For me, I think the Tasks app is a nice one to get started on. There’s a lot of functionality to be able to do a lot of interesting things, while still keeping it really simple. Just being able to add some tasks and make sure they’re checked off before closing the ticket adds a lot of value. There is also huge value in being able to link tickets together and link each task to external websites or spreadsheets, to save agents time looking up documentation separately.”

On an overall sentiment level, Grant coalesced his thoughts around SweetHawk into a single word. “Fantastic.” he remarked, “The products integrate seamlessly and when it's (rarely) needed, the support is great and gets things resolved quickly and the team is always there to listen to potential improvements or new opportunities.” Dan agreed and concluded, “All of us here at Xero really love the apps, just how easy they are to use and how friendly the team is there at SweetHawk”..

Date of case study: 0ctober 2020

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