Xcession TV
Everything Service Management

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Introduction to Xcession TV & ESM Podcast

Watch our intro to Xcession TV here:

We’re here to cut through the marketing noise and uncover the reality of ESM - what’s working, what’s hype, and what’s next in this dynamic and growing market. Each episode, we bring together experts, vendors, customers, and partners to broaden the dialogue - sharing real-world experiences, showcasing innovation, and highlighting the trends shaping the future of service management. Whether you're an IT leader, a business strategist, or just passionate about the power of service management, you’re in the right place. New episodes fortnightly!

Xcession TV

Sunil & Daniel talk about the recent Xcession rebrand and the ESM Market in general
A really insightful conversation with Chris where he shares views on changing customer expectations, the impact of AI, and the importance of proactive service delivery. There is also an exceptional use case of how and where introducing AI capability can make a HUGE difference! Highlights 00:00 🎙️ Introduction of Chris Williams as CIO of Community Fibre. 10:15 📈 Evolution of customer expectations over the years. 18:45 📱 Transition from voice services to data-centric connectivity. 27:30 🛠️ Innovative projects aimed at reducing drop calls and improving service reliability. 40:00 🤖 Integration of AI in services for procurement, security, and customer support. 52:30 🔄 Shift towards proactive and pre-emptive customer service strategies. 01:05 :00 🏆 Community Fibre’s approach to maintaining high customer satisfaction and Trustpilot ratings. Key Insights 📊 The evolution of customer expectations has transformed connectivity into a necessity rather than a luxury, pushing companies to adapt quickly. 🔍 Community Fibre leverages AI to enhance risk management across procurement and security, showcasing innovative applications beyond traditional use. 🤝 Building strong vendor partnerships is crucial for effective service management and achieving holistic business goals. 🛠️ Innovations such as proactive service models anticipate issues before customers notice them, enhancing trust and satisfaction. 🚀 Community Fibre is focused on not just solving customer issues but transforming the customer journey for consistent, positive experiences. 🌐 Mobile technology's role has evolved significantly; customers now demand seamless data connectivity for various aspects of life. 🎯 Successful implementation of AI requires aligning the technology with business needs, focusing on improving service quality rather than merely cutting costs. Find out more, reach out to Chris or check out 👉 https://communityfibre.co.uk/
We're talking with Chris Williams - CIO Community Fibre about customer expectations...
Following a comprehensive Freedom of Information outreach, we offer insights into what does the actual 'bottom line' look like specifically for the 'human' costs across a number of organisations and their solutions of choice. We talk through the statistics, what they might mean and invite vendors, partners and users to offer their viewpoints (leave a comment and/or get in touch). If you'd like further detail on the research undertaken, let us know 👍 Highlights 📊 Public Sector Insight: The data presented is primarily based on the UK public sector, but the findings likely resonate in the commercial sector as well. 💰 People Costs Breakdown: Approximately 75% of the total spend on ITSM solutions is directed toward running the platforms rather than development. 🏆 Vendor Dominance: ServiceNow captures a substantial share of people costs, indicating a strong presence and influence in the market. 🔄 Low Development Budget: Only about 6% of the total market spend is allocated for ongoing platform development and enhancement. 📈 Market Penetration: The top ten vendors, including ServiceNow, account for two-thirds of the market instances and spending. 💡 Unrealized Potential: Many organizations are not realizing the full potential of their ITSM solutions, as evidenced by a significant amount of unused capabilities within these platforms. 🎯 Request for Engagement: The hosts encourage audience interaction, inviting feedback and inquiries to further explore insights from their research. Key Insights 🔍 Understanding Cost Allocations: The data reveals a significant skew in cost allocations between internal personnel costs and vendor services, with 77% of spending directed toward vendors. This implies organizations need to reassess their budgeting to ensure adequate investments are being made for internal development and to balance their operational costs. 🌍 Relevance Across Sectors: Although the findings are rooted in the public sector, the hosts argue for the applicability of their insights to commercial organizations, suggesting that the financial dynamics remain consistent across both sectors. Thus, businesses in the commercial space should recognize parallels in spending patterns and user engagement. 💸 Prioritizing Continuous Improvement: The stark reality that only 6% of the budget goes toward ongoing development emphasizes a critical gap that organizations face. This lack of investment could hinder the long-term value of ITSM platforms and organizations will need to prioritize setting aside a budget for continuous improvement initiatives to maximize their IT investments. 📈 The Need for Engagement with Vendors: The overwhelming data supporting ServiceNow as a major player indicates that organizations are likely to invest significant resources into platforms that promise efficiency and effectiveness. However, this should prompt a discussion around whether the expected return on these investments justifies the high costs, especially when lower-cost options may still meet business needs. 🧩 Vendor Selection and Management: Organizations must consider the implications of vendor choices beyond merely the acquisition cost of the solution, but also involve their operational longevity and associated people costs. They need to perform rigorous due diligence when selecting vendors and ensure they understand the total cost of ownership throughout the lifecycle of the solution. 📉 Focus on Support and Administration: The analysis indicates that certain solutions, like Halo and Fresh Service, can offer lower support costs, potentially due to less complexity or different operational needs. These insights encourage organizations to weigh these factors during procurement processes to ensure they select a solution best suited for their operational capacity. 🚀 Extracting Maximum Value: With a significant percentage of features within ITSM solutions left unused by organizations, it’s crucial for decision-makers to focus on training and development to ensure that their teams are leveraging the full potential of the tools at their disposal. This could involve reassessing the training budgets for teams managing these systems to ensure comprehensive understanding and operational efficiencies. Through thorough analysis of the financial data and spending patterns associated with ITSM platforms, this podcast episode underscores a pressing need for organizations to reevaluate their approach to both internal staffing and vendor partnerships, paving the way for enhanced service management and a greater return on investment in technology solutions. The hosts’ expert insights provide a valuable framework for understanding how financial metrics can guide more strategic decision-making in the realm of IT service management.
We delve deeper into the FOI research and look specifically at the people costs.
Fireside chat with Mark Twomey, Tim Mills & John Haagensen where we cover the 3 key themes of SDI Spark - Customer Experience, AI & Automation and Digital Transformation 👍 Highlights 05:30 - 🧑‍💼 Mark Twomey (Xcession) discusses the importance of customer experience in service management. 12:15 - 💡 Tim Mills (ITSM People) emphasizes leveraging technology for improving customer experience. 25:00 - 🤖 John Haagensen (Freshworks) provides insights on Freshworks’ approach to enhancing customer experience. 35:00 - 📊 Data strategy is fundamental for effective AI implementation and automation. 45:50 - 🔄 ESM (Enterprise Service Management) should integrate multiple business services for efficiency. 50:30 - ❓ Audience Q&A wraps up with questions on service management tools and strategies. Key Insights 🎯 **Customer Experience is Central**: Service management must evolve from focusing on SLAs to enhancing overall customer experiences through effective technology and processes. 🔍 **AI as an Enabler**: Organizations need to assess their current data and understand their goals for AI integration, focusing on incremental improvements rather than sweeping changes. 📈 **Data Readiness is Crucial**: Having a clear and organized data strategy is vital for leveraging AI and automation in service management, ensuring clean data feeds into systems. 🔗 **Interoperability of Tools**: Successful ESM requires integrating various business functions, allowing seamless access and improving service delivery across departments. 🤖 **Incremental AI Adoption**: Start small when implementing AI solutions to facilitate gradual adaptation for employees and achieve manageable success. 🛠️ **Focus on Knowledge Management**: Implementing and maintaining a robust knowledge management system is key to supporting all service management functions, including AI efficiency. 📅 **Proactive Strategy Development**: It’s essential for IT and business leaders to engage other departments early, ensuring the service management platform can effectively support all internal services.
SDI Spark 2025 - Live Podcast - Kings Suite on Thurs 27th March 2025
They've gone live!! In this session we chat with Stuart and Anca from Transputec to hear more about their experience in transitioning from one service management solution to another and the process they went through to ensure the right choice was made and how that's working out for them now they've gone live. Stuart and Anca share some tips and suggestions on what to do (and what not to do) if you're thinking of evolving your service management platform. @XcessionTV www.xcession.co.uk www.linkedin.com/company/xcession-ltd
We talk with Transputec about their Service Management transition journey pt2
Following a comprehensive Freedom of Information outreach, we offer insights into what does the actual 'bottom line' look like across a number of organisations and their solutions of choice. We talk through the statistics, what they might mean and invite vendors, partners and users to offer their viewpoints (leave a comment and/or get in touch). If you'd like further detail on the research undertaken, let us know 👍 Highlights 📊 FOI Research Overview: We used FOI requests to collect data from public sector organizations, focusing on ITSM and ESM solutions. 💰 Cost Disparities: The total cost of ownership varies dramatically by vendor, with ServiceNow occupying a significant share of the market spend. 🔍 Market Diversity: Out of over 60 solutions identified, only a few dominate spending, while many others hold minimal market share. 🧩 Internal versus External Costs: Analysis considers internal staffing needs alongside external vendor costs, revealing complexities in total cost assessments. 🌍 Enterprise Usage: While many organisations use ITSM only for IT, there is a visible trend toward extending these solutions across various departments. 💬 User Consultation Importance: The data calls for better engagement between vendors and organizations, emphasising the need for a two-way dialogue to assess value. 🛠️ Opportunities for Improvement: Despite some vendors showing impressive growth, most organisations still rely on outdated practices, highlighting areas for development in ESM implementation. Key Insights 📉 Cost vs. Value Relationship: The research underscores a complex relationship between total cost and perceived value. Just because one organisation spends more does not inherently indicate better outcomes. Organisations need to evaluate the ROI of their ITSM solutions thoroughly. 🔄 Market Concentration Insights: ServiceNow and Ivanti control over 50% of the total market spend, highlighting a concerning trend of vendor consolidation that could stifle competition and innovation. The dominance of a few vendors may deter smaller, potentially more agile solutions. 🏛️ Public Sector Investment Trends: The data shows substantial investment in service management solutions across the public sector, reflective of broader trends in digital transformation and modernisation initiatives. This indicates that public sector organisations are increasingly recognising the need for integrated service management. 🚀 Potential for ESM Expansion: The data suggests that organisations that have embraced ESM are more likely to explore cross-department usage. The insights reveal a trend towards adopting ESM to improve operational efficiency and public service delivery, indicating significant room for growth. 👥 Role of User Engagement: The podcast highlights the importance of open lines of communication between vendors and customers. Organisations considering ESM must engage with vendors to better understand not only the features but the potential value each solution can bring to different business areas. 📈 User Licensing and Cost Structuring: The analysis demonstrates significant variance in average costs per agent among vendors. ServiceNow, while possessing the highest average total cost of ownership, does not necessarily have the potentially highest licensing fees, indicating that managing internal labour effectively can yield lower running costs even for pricier solutions. 🔧 Spreading Out into Non-IT Functions: The listeners are encouraged to consider extending ITSM solutions beyond IT into other business functions. As organisations begin to leverage these tools across additional departments, they can drive efficiencies and streamline operations, which will better align with the shift toward integrated service delivery models.
Xcession looks at the Total Cost of Ownership of ITSM
In this insightful webinar, Sunil Duggal, Chief Revenue Officer at Xcession, joins industry experts from Freshworks, the University of Strathclyde, and RWK Goodman to explore the evolving landscape of Enterprise Service Management (ESM). 🔹 How organisations are extending ITSM best practices across HR, Finance, and Facilities 🔹 The role of automation, AI, and unified service portals in improving efficiency 🔹 Real-world success stories from businesses leveraging Freshservice for Business Teams 🔹 Key challenges, best practices, and strategies for driving ESM adoption Sunil and the panel share practical insights on breaking down silos, streamlining workflows, and delivering a modern employee experience through seamless digital transformation. If you're looking to enhance your service management approach and maximise operational efficiency, this session is a must-watch! 📌 Watch now and discover how to future-proof your service operations.
A Fresh Approach to Enterprise Service Management: Webinar with Xcession & Freshworks & friends
In this episode, we cover topics such as what the most important aspects of the day to day life of a Group CISO is and how these activities are best entrenched within the wider organisation. We also cover aspects of why neurodiversity is a strength and what it can mean to enhancing your business outcomes and daily operations. Stuart also shares his views on AI and automation and what impacts, positive and negative, this poses from a security viewpoint. Highlights 🎙️ Stuart is the Group CSEO at Virgin Media O2, focusing on security for the second-largest telecommunications company in the UK. 🔒 Holistic Security Approach: Stuart emphasises the importance of physical and cyber safety for both customers and employees as a core aspect of his role. 🎉 Innovative Security Culture: Stuart’s team uses engaging and fun methods to educate employees about security risks, moving away from fear-based tactics. 🤝 Collaboration Between Teams: We highlight the importance of cooperation between security and service management teams to foster better outcomes. 🌈 Embracing Neurodiversity: Stuart discusses the strengths of neurodiverse individuals in cybersecurity roles and their unique contributions to problem-solving. 🤖 Future of AI in Cybersecurity: The conversation explores how AI and automation can enhance security operations while emphasizing the need for human expertise. 🔄 Partnership over Contractual Relationships: Stuart stresses the value of genuine partnerships in service management to achieve better collaboration and outcomes. Key Insights 🌟 Customer-Centric Security: Stuart prioritizes the needs of customers and employees, ensuring their safety from both physical and cyber threats. This dual focus cultivates trust and loyalty, essential for a telecommunications provider navigating a competitive market. By enhancing safety measures, Virgin Media O2 not only protects its users but also builds a strong reputation in the industry. 🎨 Innovative Engagement Strategies: By incorporating fun and competitive elements into security awareness initiatives, Stuart’s team has successfully shifted the perception of security from a dry, fear-inducing topic to an engaging and proactive culture. This educational approach makes employees more invested in their own safety and that of their customers, leading to a more informed workforce. 🔄 Collaboration as a Success Factor: The podcast highlights that successful security measures require collaboration between diverse teams, particularly service management and security. This partnership encourages open communication and fosters an environment where both teams can thrive, ultimately leading to improved service delivery and incident management. 🌈 Neurodiversity in the Workplace: Stuart champions neurodiversity, viewing different cognitive styles as assets rather than liabilities. His personal experience with dyslexia informs his understanding of how neurodiverse individuals can contribute uniquely to problem-solving in cybersecurity. This perspective can help organizations tap into a broader talent pool and leverage varied strengths for enhanced performance. 🔍 AI as a Complementary Tool: While acknowledging the potential of AI in cybersecurity, Stuart warns against viewing it as a panacea. He emphasizes the importance of human oversight and expertise in interpreting AI-generated insights, arguing that technology should augment rather than replace human capabilities. ⚖️ Ethical Considerations in AI: Stuart raises concerns about the potential misuse of AI technologies in cybercrime and the importance of developing robust safeguards. This insight underscores the need for ongoing vigilance and ethical considerations in technological advancements to mitigate risks. 🌱 Culture of Continuous Improvement: The importance of fostering a culture where employees feel empowered to take intelligent risks and pursue innovative solutions is a recurring theme in Stuart’s philosophy. By encouraging curiosity and creativity, organisations can adapt more effectively to evolving security challenges and improve overall resilience.
We're talking with Stuart Seymour - VMO2 Group CISO
We’re here to cut through the marketing noise and uncover the reality of ESM - what’s working, what’s hype, and what’s next in this dynamic and growing market. Each episode, we bring together experts, vendors, customers, and partners to broaden the dialogue - sharing real-world experiences, showcasing innovation, and highlighting the trends shaping the future of service management. Whether you're an IT leader, a business strategist, or just passionate about the power of service management, you’re in the right place. New episodes fortnightly!
Intro to the Xcession channel
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Vendor Interviews Series

Vendor Interview Series

Our aim in this series, following our review of the solutions themselves, is to talk with the vendors and get their viewpoint on their solution, understand their views on the ITSM marketspace in general, learn about developments and ‘what’s on the roadmap’ and more…

Xcession interviews Efecte

Xcession interviews Fresh

Xcession interviews 4me (now Xurrent)

Xcession interviews ServiceNow

Xcession interviews BMC

Xcession interviews Sunrise

Xcession interviews Atlassian

A career with  Xcession 

We are always looking for talented people to join our team at Xcession. If you have a passion for helping others make the most of their investment in ESM technologies, are always willing to learn and can align with our company values, then forward your CV to careers@www.xcession.co.uk

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