Matt Peters has spent greater than a decade working for cybersecurity distributors. He was a group 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 means of all these experiences: IT groups have been pissed off as a result of expectations round know-how hardly ever matched up with actuality.
Organizations demand quite a lot of their IT departments. In line with one ballot, almost a 3rd of workers on the common firm financial institution on a response from IT inside an hour. Roughly the identical share count on assist with any new instrument 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 methods, like Jira and ServiceNow, to routinely categorize tickets and establish downside “hotspots.” Utilizing AI, Fixify tries to establish the foundation 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 couple of,000 workers that care about offering a high-quality IT assist desk expertise, however aren’t capable of put money into the workers and tech stack required,” Peters stated. “We cost an annual subscription primarily based on the variety of workers a buyer has. For an organization with 750 workers the price could be $9,000 per thirty days, or about the price of one full-time assist desk analyst.”
Peters says that Fixify makes use of a sentiment evaluation instrument to gauge the tone and urgency of incoming requests. This not solely helps with triage, he says, however offers analysts an thought of what to anticipate and reply.
“By monitoring sentiment from the begin to the shut of a ticket, we are able to monitor the consumer expertise and shortly spot when further consideration is required,” Peters added.
As analysts work by means of tickets, Fixify prospects — and their very own IT staff — can help in the event that they select. Fixify routinely updates ticket statuses to make sure stakeholders stay on the identical web page.
From Fixify’s admin dashboard, prospects can specify which classes of tickets they need analysts to prioritize. They’ll additionally view efficiency metrics (e.g. time to decision) and solutions to proactively tackle points, in addition to file requests to delete delicate information from Fixify’s platform. (By default, Fixify retains knowledge for 12 months topic to “buyer wants and contractual obligations.”)
“Our purpose is to handle round three-quarters of the client’s ticket quantity from begin to end – not simply re-route them,” he continued. “Our AI assists IT analysts by suggesting subsequent steps primarily based on every buyer’s particular processes. In addition they establish 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 features like finance and buyer help, within the subsequent 12 months.
The concept of high-tech IT outsourcing isn’t new. A number of startups try the concept, 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 whole spending on IT outsourcing to achieve $519 billion by 2023 — a 22% tick up from 2019.
Buyers 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 Collection 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 really created a few alternatives for us,” Peters stated. “This sequence A funding gives funding for the foreseeable future – and positively by means of the anticipated uptick within the financial system that many economists are predicting.”
Arlington, Virginia-based Fixify, which launched in 2023, has raised $32 million so far. The agency’s near-term focus is rising its 41-person workforce and buyer base, which at the moment stands at 15 firms.
