Elsevier's Digital Transformation: A Cloud-First Approach to IT Services & Operations

Elsevier is a global information analytics business that helps scientists and clinicians find new answers, reshape human knowledge, and tackle the most urgent human crises. For 140 years, they have partnered with the research world to curate and verify scientific knowledge. Today, Elsevier is bringing that rigour to a new generation of platforms. As one of the world’s major providers of scientific, technical, and medical information, Elsevier publishes more than 470,000 articles annually in over 2500 journals. Its archives include over 16 million documents with yearly downloads crossing 1 billion. Elsevier’s products and services include the entire academic research lifecycle, including software and data management, instruction, and assessment tools.

Elsevier, a global information analytics business, was facing several challenges with its IT environment. As a digital-first and data-driven business, Elsevier’s IT team was required to operate at an unparalleled scale, speed, and efficiency. However, the existing ITSM tools could not support the fast-moving, agile organization or do justice to Elsevier’s strategic investment in AWS cloud infrastructure. This resulted in a suboptimal experience, with engagement between employees and IT hindered by legacy processes, tools, and questions relating to ownership. Furthermore, with slow time-to-value and limited user efficiency, IT at Elsevier was reactive rather than proactive. To move into the next phase of growth, Elsevier launched a digital transformation initiative to move to a cloud-first approach.

Elsevier decided to bring IT service management in-house and upgrade the IT operating model. After evaluating the market, Elsevier chose Freshservice, a cloud-based, out-of-the-box ITSM solution that is robust yet easy to use. Freshservice delivered unparalleled time-to-value, which was key to Elsevier’s success. Elsevier launched in a record time of 8 weeks and rolled out the new ITSM platform across 65 offices and 7500 employees in the next 6 months. With Freshworks’ Direct Partnership Model, Elsevier effortlessly implemented & configured Freshservice and easily onboarded and trained IT agents and end-users. Elsevier also rebranded the service desk as the TechDesk and devised a communication plan with Freshworks, which resulted in the successful rollout and adoption of Freshservice in under 40 days.

• The implementation of Freshservice transformed Elsevier's IT operations from reactive to proactive. The knowledge management capabilities in Freshservice such as categorisation, the ability to tag and smart search for knowledge base articles helped promote a culture of self-service and improved resolution times and agent productivity. The branded 'TechDesk' communication campaign improved the end-user adoption of Freshservice. Elsevier aimed to provide end-users with an experience similar to what they would get on a big consumer website, including personalisation and a welcoming look and feel. This resulted in improved IT agent productivity and exceptional end-user support. Elsevier's operations with Freshservice became responsive, adaptive, and agile, ensuring the TechDesk fits right into Elsevier’s ecosystem and that IT agents could build on the key modules of Freshservice.

• First line resolution improved to 67%

• First contact resolution improved to 92.8%

• Customer satisfaction increased to 95.9%