Matt Peters has spent greater than a decade working for cybersecurity distributors. He was a crew lead at Verify Level, climbed the company ladder to VP of worldwide operations at FireEye, and spent over 4 years at Expel, a managed detection and response agency, as chief product officer.
Peters says a shocking frequent thread ran by all these experiences: IT groups have been annoyed as a result of expectations round expertise hardly ever matched up with actuality.
Organizations demand a variety of their IT departments. In accordance to at least one ballot, practically a 3rd of employees on the common firm financial institution on a response from IT inside an hour. Roughly the identical proportion count on assist with any new software that their employer requires they be taught.
In these challenges, Peters perceived alternative. Together with Peter Silberman and Mase Issa, each ex-Expel colleagues, Peters based Fixify, an IT assist desk platform with an automation twist.
Fixify connects to current IT ticketing programs, like Jira and ServiceNow, to mechanically categorize tickets and determine downside “hotspots.” Utilizing AI, Fixify tries to determine the basis causes of issues, then recruits IT analysts that it employs to diagnose and resolve the issues.
“Fixify is designed for tech-centric organizations between 100 and a pair of,000 staff that care about offering a high-quality IT assist desk expertise, however aren’t in a position to spend money on the employees and tech stack required,” Peters stated. “We cost an annual subscription based mostly on the variety of staff a buyer has. For an organization with 750 staff the price could be $9,000 per 30 days, or about the price of one full-time assist desk analyst.”
Peters says that Fixify makes use of a sentiment evaluation software to gauge the tone and urgency of incoming requests. This not solely helps with triage, he says, however provides analysts an thought of what to anticipate and the way to reply.
“By monitoring sentiment from the begin to the shut of a ticket, we will monitor the consumer expertise and shortly spot when further consideration is required,” Peters added.
As analysts work by tickets, Fixify clients — and their very own IT employees — can help in the event that they select. Fixify mechanically updates ticket statuses to make sure stakeholders stay on the identical web page.
From Fixify’s admin dashboard, clients can specify which classes of tickets they need analysts to prioritize. They will additionally view efficiency metrics (e.g. time to decision) and options to proactively tackle points, in addition to file requests to delete delicate data from Fixify’s platform. (By default, Fixify retains information for 12 months topic to “buyer wants and contractual obligations.”)
“Our purpose is to handle round three-quarters of the shopper’s ticket quantity from begin to end – not simply re-route them,” he continued. “Our AI assists IT analysts by suggesting subsequent steps based mostly on every buyer’s particular processes. Additionally they determine related instruments for every job by analyzing the ticket context and playbook directions.”
IT groups have proven a willingness to embrace automation as they discover themselves stretched thinner and thinner. In a December 2023 Digitate survey, 90% of IT decision-makers stated they plan to deploy extra automation, significantly in capabilities like finance and buyer assist, within the subsequent 12 months.
The thought of high-tech IT outsourcing isn’t new. A number of startups are attempting the thought, together with Primo (which focuses particularly on {hardware}), Fleet (which additionally has a {hardware} bent), and Wizeline.
However there’s plenty of cash within the phase. Avasant Analysis’s 2023 IT Outsourcing Statistics survey discovered organizations elevated their annual IT outsourcing budgets by 8.1% final 12 months. Deloitte projected complete spending on IT outsourcing to succeed in $519 billion by 2023 — a 22% tick up from 2019.
Traders appear taken with Fixify’s automation angle — maybe due to automation’s potential to spice up productiveness whereas decreasing overhead.
This month, Fixify closed a $25 million Sequence A spherical co-led by Costanoa Ventures, Decibel Companions, and Paladin Capital Group with participation from Scale Enterprise Companions. Mourad Yesayan, managing director at Paladin, plans to affix Fixify’s board as a part of the deal.
“The broader tech slowdown has truly created a few alternatives for us,” Peters stated. “This sequence A funding gives funding for the foreseeable future – and definitely by the anticipated uptick within the financial system that many economists are predicting.”
Arlington, Virginia-based Fixify, which launched in 2023, has raised $32 million up to now. The agency’s near-term focus is rising its 41-person workforce and buyer base, which at the moment stands at 15 firms.
