A leading retail chain faced operational challenges due to outages in its stores and distribution centers. The company was eager to resolve this as it threatened to decrease customer satisfaction and lead to financial losses.  

As part of our Full Lifecycle Observability approach, we used an AI-powered observability platform to enrich and correlate alert data, resulting in an 86% reduction in store incident volume and a 91% reduction in distribution center incident volume. This significantly enhanced the retailer’s operational efficiency and reduced downtime, showcasing the strategic value of employing advanced observability methodologies. 

Introduction: Efficient Operations are Crucial for Retail

In the competitive world of retail, efficient operations are crucial for maintaining customer satisfaction and achieving business success. Our client, a well-known retail chain with numerous stores and distribution centers across the US, was determined to address its outage challenges and optimize its operational strategy. 

The Problem: Difficult-to-Diagnose Outages

The outages in the retailer’s stores and distribution centers were difficult and time-consuming to diagnose and resolve. The high volume of alerts these incidents generated put pressure on our customer’s IT department, and it was challenging to identify the root cause quickly and effectively. The company sought to streamline incident management, reduce downtime, and improve overall operational performance. 

The Solution: Connecting the Dots and Taking Action

By leveraging our Full Lifecycle Observability approach, we collaborated with the retailer to address these challenges. We integrated the gathering of data from numerous systems and sources with advanced AI and machine learning to provide comprehensive insights into IT operations, enabling businesses to proactively resolve issues. Here’s how Compucom implemented the solution: 

1. Detection and Alert Enrichment

• Compucom utilized an AI-powered observability platform to detect device availability alerts and enriched the alert data by integrating it with relevant information. 
• This enrichment allowed the IT team to gain valuable context about each incident, facilitating faster diagnosis and resolution. 

2. Alert Correlation and Incident Management

• The enriched alerts were then correlated to identify a single probable location outage, consolidating numerous alerts into one actionable incident. 
• This correlation process drastically reduced the incident volume, enabling the retailer’s IT team to focus on critical issues rather than getting overwhelmed by alert noise. 

3. Implementation of Observability Practices

• This proactive approach enabled the identification of potential issues before they escalated into outages, minimizing disruption and enhancing operational continuity. 

Results: Reduced Outage Incidents

The solution provided through Compucom’s services yielded impressive results for the retail chain:

Reduced Incident Volume

• The retailer experienced an 86% reduction in store outage incidents, creating 366 incidents from 2525 alerts. 
• Distribution center outage incidents were reduced by 91%, with 32 incidents generated from 333 alerts. 
• Overall, there was a 23% reduction in incident volume, significantly alleviating the pressure on the IT and support teams

Enhanced Operational Efficiency

• By providing immediate situational awareness of probable location outages, the retailer’s technicians were able to respond swiftly and efficiently, minimizing downtime. 
• Improved incident management led to reduced response times and enhanced service levels. 

Strategic Business Value

• Our Full Lifecycle Observability approach enabled data-driven decision-making, empowering the retailer to optimize its IT processes and infrastructure. 
• The reduction in downtime translated into cost savings and increased revenue potential.  

Addressing Operational Challenges with Compucom and Full Lifecycle Observability

“Observability is the ability to understand what is happening inside a system based on the external data released by that system. Observability requires that actionable data from multiple sources is appropriately connected, optimized and enhanced for context.”

Gartner

As part of our services, we provide Full Lifecycle Observability. We define Full Lifecycle Observability as the ability to understand what happens throughout your company’s entire IT environment, from sourcing through integration, support, and disposition. It requires that actionable data from multiple sources is correlated and enhanced for context.  

The partnership between Compucom and the retail chain exemplifies the strategic value of advanced observability methodologies in addressing complex operational challenges. Our Full Lifecycle Observability approach helped the retailer achieve remarkable improvements in incident management and operational efficiency.  

Looking ahead, Compucom remains committed to supporting the retailer’s ongoing digital transformation efforts and exploring new opportunities to enhance its IT operations further. To learn more about how Full Lifecycle Observability can benefit your organization, contact us today to explore our comprehensive range of services and solutions.