Before Applixure
- Visibility belonged to the MSP, not Pihla. Asset inventory was only visible to their Service Provider. Reporting came from the provider's own tools, based on snapshots of certain situations, without full transparency into what they were being told.
- No shared facts to work from. As IT Director Jouko Oksanen puts it: "We needed common metrics for both parties, we lacked full transparency into what they told us. We needed a joint solution based on which we can undeniably discuss the same facts."
- Acquisitions meant inheriting unknown environments. With acquisitions a core part of Inwido Group's growth strategy, every new company brought a computer environment that Pihla had no visibility into.
- Productivity loss went unnoticed. Not every employee reports computer issues to IT. A Windows crash that never gets reported quietly costs productivity, and nobody sees it happening.
Why Pihla Chose Applixure
Oksanen had clear goals from the outset: greater transparency in the cooperation with Pihla's IT Service Provider, and visibility into the IT environments of newly acquired companies. The piloting process confirmed it was the right fit, Oksanen describes it as one of the best piloting experiences of his career, with the team signed up, agents distributed, and data flowing within about 15 minutes.
How Pihla Uses Applixure
- Asset inventory. Visibility that previously belonged only to the Service Provider is now available directly to Pihla.
- Software usage and licensing. The team can see whether they're paying for licences employees aren't using, and save money accordingly.
- Issue identification. Applixure helps IT identify problems and monitor the health of the environment, helping confirm whether the agreed service level with their MSP is being met.
- Security readiness monitoring. Confirming encryption software like BitLocker is active, tracking GDPR compliance, and accessing information that their MSP's own management tools can't provide, all from one place.
- Service Desk enrichment. Pihla's Service Desk has full access to Applixure, which presents information more clearly than other systems do, plus information that those systems don't show at all.
What Shared Visibility Changed
With Analytics in place, Pihla and their Service Provider now work from the same information, the building blocks for reporting that's more transparent and comprehensive than the snapshot-based reporting they relied on before.
On acquisitions, Applixure became one of the first-stage solutions deployed after acquiring new companies, giving Pihla visibility into each one from early on. The approach has since scaled beyond Pihla itself. Applixure is now used by other companies across the Inwido Group.
On the productivity side, Oksanen describes the shift directly: "When you can see and respond to computer issues without employees needing to report them, you can avoid such drops in productivity, and that is a concrete financial benefit."
In Their Own Words
"We needed common metrics for both parties. Traditionally, service providers have their solutions for reporting, but the reporting is based on snapshots of certain situations, and we lack full transparency into what they tell us. We needed a joint solution based on which we can undeniably discuss the same facts."
— Jouko Oksanen, IT Director, Pihla Group
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