O-I Glass Inc., the largest manufacturer of glass containers for leading food and beverage companies, committed itself to offering its 24,000 employees spread across 20 countries a seamless, easy way to consume IT services. When the company determined that it needed to provide more of a consumer-like experience and improve system uptime, it looked to strategic partner DXC — O-I Glass’ number one supplier for essential IT services to run day-to-day operations — to take on the job of helping it evolve to meet its technology goals with innovative solutions like the DXC UPtime™ Experience Platform.
“As we thought about [having a] modern workplace, we knew that we wouldn't be able to innovate and provide new solutions to our end users, and we saw DXC as the partner that can help us do that,” says Rodney Masney, chief information officer at O-I Glass. It makes sense for the company to turn again to DXC, which it has partnered with since 2008, to support the new mission. In just the last few years, DXC has performed a comprehensive technology refresh of O-I Glass’ hardware platforms, operating systems and applications, and also provides ongoing security services, reducing costs by 35%. Read more about it in our story O-I Glass shapes future of manufacturing, cuts IT costs to invest in modernisation.
“Working in a global company, it's very difficult to provide services worldwide in a simple, seamless fashion,” says Masney. “One of the great things about managed services, when it comes to modern workplace, is the fact that you have a partner that can innovate.” Masney refers specifically to the innovations delivered by DXC UPtime, which integrates multiple capabilities designed to enable a friction-free technology experience for employees in the moments that matter to them the most.
Artificial intelligence is a core underpinning of UPtime. UPtime Digital Assistant is an AI-powered conversational assistant that provides 24x7 IT support. With UPtime Digital Assistant, O-I Glass employees get questions answered in real time without requiring the assistance of human support agents, according to Masney.
Employees are responding positively to the solution. “We've seen an uptake in use of UPtime Digital Assistant in a very rapid manner. And we want to continue to push our end users to leverage that because it's good for them,” he says. “They get quicker response time, and it's good for us in terms of the amount of labor and human involvement we need to have.”
Additionally, the UPtime Experience Platform incorporates UPtime Marketplace, a modern, self-service employee storefront for ordering IT devices, peripherals, accessories and more.
“UPtime Marketplace allows us to procure the components that we offer to our end users,” says Masney. “They're validated, they're tested and we know they work, which saves my team time from ordering and purchasing products.” DXC handles the orders, delivering items directly to the end user, and also gives O-I Glass weekly inventory and fulfillment reports.
In addition to that, O-I Glass is working with DXC on implementing kiosks and locker boxes where employees can pick up new PCs or other components themselves.
The balance that DXC UPtime brings to the modern workplace is the ability to manage the policies and procedures of a company while providing the experience its employees expect in the moments that matter — whether that is ordering new equipment or receiving a device that is configured with the correct software.
DXC offers value way beyond what O-I Glass could do for its employees’ workplace experience on its own, says Masney. With UPtime, O-I Glass can provide the same workplace services to its users around the world on any device, including mobile devices, no matter where they are. “Through innovation and use of new technologies, and extension of their UPtime solutions, [DXC will] make it easier, faster and cheaper for our end users on a day-to-day basis,” he says.