While considering Service Desk Automation one of the key things to consider is how to reduce the cycle of Incident to Problem Management and Change Management thereafter without compromising quality.

PROBLEM MANAGEMENT

Let’s narrow down key tasks of Problem Management in the End-User Support space which are Root Cause Analysis , Solution and Deploying the solution including Change Management.

PROBLEM WITH PROBLEM MANAGEMENT

While up to 50% of the IT service desk issues are repeat in nature many of which have an underlying root cause, most organizations fail to address these repeat incidents inspite of knowing what they are and why they occur.

We realize that there are operational challenges to reduce the lifecycle of Problem Management owing below:

• fetching relevant actionable information for Root cause Analysis
• creating and deploying the fix takes costly skills and is time consuming

DESIRED FREQUENCY OF END POINT INFORMATION COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

When you really look at historic data you realize very few new categories of Incidents pop up every two quarters or so. But when they do, it takes hell lot of time to figure out the Root cause, find and deploy a permanent fix.

IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES

Most often, it is not feasible to do a RCA (Root cause analysis) due to lack of relevant information from the end points at the right time . While there are free tools like Event Viewer and paid End Point Analytic tools available to aid this process, organizations continue to grapple with too much noise in the data besides operational issues to implement such solutions given the implementation constraints on the ground, read

REAL-LIFE SCENARIO

Let’s look at a probable real-life scenario of incident to problem management along with challenges that IT faces in conducting RCA and executing the identified solution:

• 0 to 12 weeks for moving from Incident to Problem management (PM) àITSM reports indicate a trend of up to 25% systems experiencing occasional crashes in the last 12 weeks
• 12 to 17 weeks for Root Cause Analysis and identifying a Solution àProblem Management (PM) team rules out low RAM or hard disc as possible causes based on ITAM reports for these impacted machines PM team in 2 weeks catches hold of only 10% of the impacted users to pull out Event viewer logs Log analysis indicates required permissions were missing from some of the component services causing the crashes, read more here A PowerShell script was developed and tested to check necessary registry settings and grant permissions, read more here
• 17 weeks onwards – Roadblock while Deploying the fixNon Microsoft signed PS scripts are not allowed in environment so now Engineers have to manually run this as an Administrator on thousands of impacted machines and there is no way to proactively identify from hundreds of thousands of machines (the situation doesn’t improve even if it is just double digit number of machines as the Service Desk time is always constrained)

After nearly 17 weeks this is not a nice and expected outcome, IT is burn out, Management is not happy and users continue to loose time / productivity ….not a desired state to be in!

Anakage provides a remediation platform:

• with hundreds of pre-built solutions
• that facilitates accelerated Root cause Analysis by a Collector that pulls only the relevant info you need
• with a scriptless workflow creator to create new Solutions
• and a updater to push your new solutions to end points

Proactive CoBot can reduce 80% of your effort and time to pull out necessary information from logs using CoBot’s collector and then use CoBot’s services to run newly built remediation solutions without requiring Admin privileges.

For known issues which require user intervention and which can not be prevented from occuring sporadically, Anakage offers Online and Offline CoBots.

Anakage has consistently reduced upto 50% of the incidents at source at reduced prices from competition, thus creating stronger business outcomes for clients and partners. Get in touch with us to know more about we can help you implement a successful IT Service Desk Automation,

There has to be a better way of leveraging the SSPR to create stronger ROIs and quicker paybacks than with organic user adoption of SSPR.

Anakage with its proactive remediation platform, has successfully been able to achieve the adoption of the SSPR by the users. Let’s see how Anakage platform achieve this.

Anakage proactive module is an agent installed on the user’s machines or the end points (laptops/desktops) which:

i) Forces the users to register on the SSPR portal

ii) Reminds users and enforces them to self-reset their passwords before password expires

(iii) Provides the link for Password reset/ unlock account in the windows login screen itself. This swings up the SSPR adoption by making SSPR available even to the locked users when the user needs it without having to memorize the SSPR URL.

Let’s review in detail the usage jerkiness of SSPR and how the Anakage platform smoothens out:

Case 1 – Employees do not register on the SSPR web portal and tickets gets created for resetting the password/ unlocking the account

Solution – Force users to register on the Self-Service Password Registration Portal.

The organization will have a list of users who have not registered on the portal. Admin can import this data into admin dashboard of Anakage’s proactive remediation platform which ensures that the platform does not need deep integration to the enterprise systems, if the frequency is higher then a one time API integration is recommended to get the runtime data. Depending on the number of users and your password reset timelines, you can choose whether you want an API integration for real time updates or periodic upload of non registered users’ list . The next step is executed by the Proactive module, which will start showing messages to users on screen by detecting the time of password expiry of the user as per the password reset policy which is generally 90 days. Users can act on the message and they would be directly taken to the Password registration portal for registration. Alternatively, if the user is busy when reminder pops up they can snooze the message for allowed time and post the last reminder the proactive module (agent installed on the end user’s machine) would force the user to act. This results in boosting  SSPR registrations, a key step especially if you have challenge questions setup instead of OTP based resets . Now even when the user forgets the password or the account is locked they can go to this portal and reset it on their own by answering their challenge questions

Case 2 – Employees do not reset their passwords on time in spite of repetitive notifications or emails

Solution – Detect when the password is going to expire and coax user with on screen reminders to reset it.

Reset can be through a self-service password reset portal or usual way of CTRL+ALT+Del and reset. The mechanism of snooze and reminders are same as case 1.

Case 3 – Employee’s password has expired due to the password reset policy and they are locked out of their machine or their account is locked out manually by the Admins (for various reasons)

Solution – Press CTRL+ALT+Del. User would get a hyperlink in Windows log on screen to open up the  SSPR portal  where the Employee can self reset their password or unlock their account.This solution is independent of the first two cases and does not require a Proactive agent to be installed on the user’s machine. It works for the usual on-premise set up as well as for Remotely connected systems (laptops/desktops). The link to the SSPR web portal is configurable  as per  Organization’s SSPR.

1. On desktop/laptop in Windows Lock screen

2. On Remote desktop login screen

BENEFITS OF ANAKAGE SELF-SERVICE PASSWORD RESET (SSPR) SOLUTION

• Increase ROI on SSPR portal. Users actually start using SSPR effortlessly without having to remember the URL or to act on missed email or subtle AD prompts.
• Improved user experience. Users are happy to self-service AD related issues in minutes than waiting on IT Help Desk technician.

Anakage is an end-user support automation platform that empowers the Shared Services Center or NOC Model automation using the concept of Multi-tenancy. It is a smarter way of handling IT Service Desk Automation. Let us see How.

HOW?

Multi-tenancy is a software architecture where a single instance of a software application running on a server serves multiple tenants.

We can take the example of the apartment. At the main gate, they have a centralized administration for security, electricity, water, and other facilities. These facilities would be owned by the apartment owner and shared by the tenants.

Apart from the software application, each customer can also share a multi-tenant database as well.

TYPES OF ARCHITECTURE  FOR SHARED SERVICES CENTER OR NOC MODEL AUTOMATION

There are 2 main types of Multi-Tenant Architecture for Shared Services Center or NOC Model automation:

• Single Data Base with one Application server
• Multiple Data bases with one Application server

Anakage self-service application supports both the Multi-Tenant models. Each customer is called a tenant or facility in Anakage platform which will access content or solutions assigned to them specifically using a Content Management System, read more. Each tenant or facility will see a personalized version of the Application including custom content and personalization like banners and logo.

Below are the two Multi-Tenant options:

In both the Muti-Tenant options, the application can show different solutions for different Tenants or Customers or Users.

ANAKAGE ARCHITECTURE   FOR SHARED SERVICES CENTER OR NOC MODEL AUTOMATION

Below is the basic Multi-Tenant Architecture diagram of the platform for Shared Services Center or NOC Model automation:

This type of multi tenant architecture allows different set of users to have different sets of solutions specific to their requirement and the Admins can manage the Multi-Tenants easily.

Both the Anakage platforms- i) Self-Help and ii) Self-Heal supports remote solution firing of Admins, without taking the control of the User’s machine using remote control software.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR SHARED SERVICES CENTER OR NOC MODEL AUTOMATION?

An Engineer/Admin can easily handle multiple clients. There is no need of client-specific onsite engineers for each client. Depending on the rules set by the Admins, the Self-Heal agent can collect and report the required information across the multiple end points. One engineer can easily handle the remote solution firing for multiple clients, both in terms of Self-Heal and Self-Help solutions. The engineer can easily fire the solutions across multiple end points, depending on the solutions failed and also when the users are not doing the self-service. You can read more on the remote solution firing blog here.

BENEFITS

1) Avoid Capex and reduce Opex

Cost avoidance of OnPremise deployment and ongoing maintenance itself is a big savings lever to move towards a secure cloud model. Since the shared infrastructure is scalable, there will not be any resource constraints to growth at a marginal cost increment without additional Capex. If you only need offline application or a self-heal agent, there is no need of thinking for AD integration for SSO, thus further cutting down on Deployment costs by limiting to configure the required solutions for each client. Finally fewer NOC resources can handle up to 50% of the calls remotely thus reducing the need for onsite engineers.

2) Scalable

The architecture of the multi-tenant application ensures every client can grow its user base on the platform without having to add Capex. The modules can be configured easily and this makes using the application expedient. There is no need to change the codes or the data structure because the shared codes are always common.

3) Faster Deployments

With a plug and play platform that does not require on-premise deployment you will just need to plug in custom solutions that address clients’ top volume drivers. So, room for infinite customizations while still maintaining an underlying codebase which remains constant for all the users, including old and new customers.

4) Secure

• Anakage follows OWASP top best practices and regularly scan our application using standard tools.
• Crucial information like IP, network or any user credentials are not sent to the server. Hence, it is a secure environment.
• At no point in time the solutions of other clients will be intercepted by another client because they are not authenticated to do so.
• Tunneling of information through VPN can also be done to enable security.

CONCLUSION

In terms of resources, few engineers who were already maintaining other accounts can easily maintain new accounts. In terms of scaling and deployments, even the time required to deploy can be drastically reduced. If there was a need for 6 weeks for a typical single-tenant architecture, the same can be reduced to 2 weeks, depending on the Anakage components. This will reduce the overall costs, in terms of deploying solutions which indirectly can also save the costs of the business impact, if otherwise.

To get in touch with us or to know more on these, Please click here. Thanks for the time!

Although Windows 10 does a decent job of identifying and establishing time zone settings according to your region during installation, there could be a variety of reasons why your device isn’t showing the right local time.

It could be because your settings weren’t recognized correctly, you’re traveling to a new place with a different time zone, or you bought a gadget preconfigured with different settings from another country. Whatever the reason for your computer’s inability to display the right local time, Windows 10 has a number of choices for changing the time zone, including the Settings interface, Command Prompt, and PowerShell.

Environment:

Time Zone

Solution:

Using Settings

1. Open Settings.
2. Go to Time & Language.
3. Select Date & time.
4. Switch on the Set time zone automatically.

Once you’ve completed these steps, the time zone will automatically change to your current location. However, you may have to wait a while before seeing the accurate time.

  Adjust time zone manually using Settings

To change the time zone settings manually on Windows 10, follow these steps:

1. Open Settings.
2. Click on Time & Language.
3. Click on Date & time.
4. Turn off Set time zone automatically.
5. Go to the “Time zone” drop-down menu and choose India Standard Time.

  2. Using Command Prompt

1. Click on Start.
2. Look for Command Prompt, right-click and click on Run as administrator option.
3. Type this to confirm the current time zone and press Enter:
   tzutil /g
4. Type this and note the time zone that you want (IST) and hit Enter:
   tzutil /l

1. Type the following command and press Enter to set:
   tzutil /s “India Standard Time”

1. Type the following command to check if the time zone was updated successfully:
   tzutil /g

  3. Using PowerShell

1. Go to Start.
2. Search for PowerShell, right-click and Run as administrator.
3. Type this to confirm the current time zone:
   Get-TimeZone
4. Type the following command and note the time zone that you want to use:
   Get-TimeZone -ListAvailable

1. Type the following command to set the new time zone:
   Set-TimeZone -Name “India Standard Time”.

1. 
   Note: Type the full name exactly as shown by PowerShell.
2. Type this to make sure the time zone was updated successfully:
   Get-TimeZone

Conclusion:

From the above steps the engineer or the user can setup the time zone with respect to their host country, Anakage Proactive Cobot which is an agent at the endpoint can detect the missing time zone and can fix the issue silently.

Anakage also has user guided solution from offline cobot which could guide the user by opening the live application eventually reducing the efforts and following the above procedure.

Click here to see a video on “Anakage IT Help Desk Chatbot Integrated with Microsoft Teams | Chatbot which Acts” There is much more you can automate, check out our website for more details.

Would you want your users to self-resolve such issues?

About us: Anakage End User Support Automation platform for IT Help Desks enables Enterprise IT to reduce support tickets at source, improve end point compliance, accelerate onboarding and help users self service and digitally adopt applications. Also reduce tickets by eliminating them at source by user self service, proactively resolve before user notices it, maintain compliance and automate your high volume processes

Fix the calculator application in windows, In this blog you will learn How to fix the calculator application in windows to help you in numbers

We can help if your calculator is acting up, won’t open, freezes, or has other problems. You’ll find answers and solutions to fix the calculator in minutes in this blog.

Environment:

Windows Calculator

Cause:

• The calculator won’t open or launch: When individuals try to run the calculator program, it does not open. The program is completely unresponsive, with no indication that a process is about to begin.
• Calculator opens and closes immediately: There is a problem in which the calculator opens, but then closes again. This could be the result of corrupted files in your system.
• Calculator not working for one user or administrator: Some face an issue where the calculator only doesn’t work for one specific user or the administrator. This can be solved easily by following the steps outlined below.
• Calculator Crashes: The app unexpectedly crashes or closes, leading users to start over multiple times.

Resolution:

1. Re-register Windows 10 apps via PowerShell

• Step 1: Press the Windows + S keys and type “PowerShell.”

• Step 2: Right-click “Windows PowerShell” > Select “Run as administrator.”
• Step 3: If asked, click “Yes” to allow PowerShell to make changes on your PC”.
• Step 4: Once PowerShell opens, copy and paste the following script into it, and hit Enter: Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | For each {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)AppXManifest.xml”}
• Step 5: These re-registers the Windows 10 apps, try opening the Calculator app again.

2.   Reset the Calculator app from your settings

• Step 1: Go to the Start menu and select “Settings.” You can also tap Windows + I to access Settings.
• Step 2: Click on the “Apps” tile and wait for all the installed applications to appear on the list. It could take a long time, if you have many apps installed
• Step 3: Type “calculator” to search for the app.

• Step 4: Click “Calculator” > “Advanced options”.
• Step 5: Click on the “Reset” button and wait for the reset process to complete.

3.   Reinstall the Calculator app

• Step 1: Go to the Start menu and select “Settings.” You can also tap Windows + I to access Settings.
• Step 2: Click on the “Apps” tile and wait for all the installed applications to appear on the list. It could take a long time, if you have many apps installed
• Step 3: Type “calculator” to search for the app.
• Step 4: Click on the “Uninstall” button.
• Step 5: Press the Windows + S keys and type in “Microsoft Store” and click on it.
• Step 6: Type in “calculator” in the search bar.

• Step 3: Choose “Windows Calculator” by Microsoft and select the “Get” button.
• Step 4: Click the “Install” button and launch the app once the installation is complete.

4.   Run the System File Checker

The System File Checker (SFC scan) is an inbuilt tool. It’s the quickest way to automatically fix corrupted system files and other problems.

• Step 1: Press the Windows + R keys to bring up the Run window.
• Step 2: Type in “cmd” then press Ctrl + Shift + Enter keys to launch the Command Prompt with administrative authority.
• Step 3: If asked, click “Yes” to permit the Command Prompt to make changes on your PC.
• Step 4: Type in the following command and press Enter: sfc /scannow.

• Step 5:  Wait for corrupt files to get repaired. This could take a long time. Don’t close the Command Prompt or shut down the PC until it completes.
• Step 6: Restart your PC

5.   Download the Windows App Troubleshooter

Windows 10 has many troubleshooters for users to automatically resolve issues. While the Windows Store Apps troubleshooter isn’t on your device by default, you can easily download it and run it to restore your Calculator app.

Here are the steps you need to follow:

• Step 1: Download the Windows Store Apps troubleshooter here.
• Step 2: Launch the troubleshooter
• Step 3: Select the “Advanced” link.
• Step 4: Check the “Apply repairs automatically” box, and click Next.
• Step 5: Allow the troubleshooter to do its work and identify any faults. The troubleshooter will instantly repair and restore your Calculator app if problems are discovered.
• Step 6: Close and launch the Calculator app again.

Conclusion:

The windows calculator application is very handy to use, with its various features and capabilities, but we as users tend to rely on it in an emergency task outbreak.

The Engineer can resolve various calculator issues by reinstalling the application or manually running the steps in sequential order as mentioned above.

Depending upon the User requirement, Anakage Cobots has multiple ways to resolve various issues related to “Calculator” using both Portal or Desktop Application (Agent) at the endpoint.

There is much more you can automate, check out our website for more details. Click here to see a video on “Offline Cobot”, which is a desktop application and has the catalog of “One Click” solutions” along with “User Guided” solutions.

Would you want your users to self-resolve such issues?

Please fill up this form, let us connect and walk you through IT Help Desk Automation use cases.

• Working with the registry
• Working with processes
• Working with services
• Performing hardware inventory
• Working with files and folders
• Working with event logs

WMI is complicated

However with time and features WMI has become slightly difficult to use. Powershell tries to solve few of the problems. Powershell 2.0 supports registry, processes, services, event logs etc. Powershell 3.0 with windows 8 and server 2012, introduced hardware inventory access as storage and network adapters.

Powershell is easy

Windows powershell used Get-WmiObject which simplified WMI. It saves minimum of 7 lines/vbscripts/perl script as compared to WMI. The single-line commands in powershell are also called cmdlets. The underlying technology of Powershell is still WMI, but the classes are basically wrapped and exposed as functions that behave like Windows PowerShell cmdlets

Powershell can access the below modules –

• WMI– Windows Management Instrumentation. It is the Microsoft implementation of Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM) allowing access to data. WMI uses the Common Information Model (CIM) to describe objects such as systems, applications, network equipment.
• CIM– Common Information Model. It is a set of standards that describes how information is structured and represented at the heart of the system. It was created by the DMTF (Distributed Management Task Force), a working group to which Microsoft belongs.
• PSWA– PowerShell Web Access. This new function allows secure access to a Windows PowerShell console from a browser so as to interact with any system, even if it is outside the domain.

Sample commands in WMI vs Powershell –

Advantages of Powershell

• Powershell has access to all .NET libraries in addition to the items mentioned above so you can take advantage of anything you could with a language like C# or VB.NET.
• Powershell often allows you to do more with less compared to VBscript. In some cases you can reduce VBscripts that are hundreds of lines to just tens of lines in PowerShell.
• Microsoft has designed powershell for the OS and application automation across all its platforms.
• PowerShell is also interactive. This allows to try out things at the console first and integrate them into larger more complicated scripts.

With Anakage intelligent training technology it is easier to learn these concepts. It guides you step by step on your system. Above topic being discussed is also part of our “Learning Application” for Windows Active Directory. If you want to evaluate it let us know by sending a mail to us at enterprise@anakage.in . You can know more about our offering for training.

• Working with the registry
• Working with processes
• Working with services
• Performing hardware inventory
• Working with files and folders
• Working with event logs

WMI is complicated

However with time and features WMI has become slightly difficult to use. Powershell tries to solve few of the problems. Powershell 2.0 supports registry, processes, services, event logs etc. Powershell 3.0 with windows 8 and server 2012, introduced hardware inventory access as storage and network adapters.

Powershell is easy

Windows powershell used Get-WmiObject which simplified WMI. It saves minimum of 7 lines/vbscripts/perl script as compared to WMI. The single-line commands in powershell are also called cmdlets. The underlying technology of Powershell is still WMI, but the classes are basically wrapped and exposed as functions that behave like Windows PowerShell cmdlets

Powershell can access the below modules –

• WMI– Windows Management Instrumentation. It is the Microsoft implementation of Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM) allowing access to data. WMI uses the Common Information Model (CIM) to describe objects such as systems, applications, network equipment.
• CIM– Common Information Model. It is a set of standards that describes how information is structured and represented at the heart of the system. It was created by the DMTF (Distributed Management Task Force), a working group to which Microsoft belongs.
• PSWA– PowerShell Web Access. This new function allows secure access to a Windows PowerShell console from a browser so as to interact with any system, even if it is outside the domain.

Sample commands in WMI vs Powershell –

Advantages of Powershell

• Powershell has access to all .NET libraries in addition to the items mentioned above so you can take advantage of anything you could with a language like C# or VB.NET.
• Powershell often allows you to do more with less compared to VBscript. In some cases you can reduce VBscripts that are hundreds of lines to just tens of lines in PowerShell.
• Microsoft has designed powershell for the OS and application automation across all its platforms.
• PowerShell is also interactive. This allows to try out things at the console first and integrate them into larger more complicated scripts.

With Anakage intelligent training technology it is easier to learn these concepts. It guides you step by step on your system. Above topic being discussed is also part of our “Learning Application” for Windows Active Directory. If you want to evaluate it let us know by sending a mail to us at enterprise@anakage.in . You can know more about our offering for training.