Service Desk Manager (SDM) Upgrade and Enhancement Project
GOAL: Enhance user interaction and usability of the system to better meet the organizations’ needs
PROJECT STATUS
REPORTING
A solution for reporting needs has been identified as the tool is moving to a new platform and upgraded. Additional work is being planned to engage users in reporting and training offered.
HARDWARE
An Architecture Overview Document has been completed to document the infrastructure design and architecture needs. Then environments have been requested and are currently being developed. A recommendation has been made to change the SDM link from https://sd.uillinois.edu to a more identifiable URL of http://support.uillinois.edu. This change will be reflected in the documentation for the tool as well as communicated to the end users in advance before go-live.
TRAINING AND DOCUMENTATION
The team has started analysis on training needs, methods of delivery, and documentation needs. A training plan has been drafted and will be finalized next week. The purpose of this training plan is to provide a detailed, standardized system of training to ensure individuals receive appropriate and relevant information in relation to the Service Desk Manager (SDM) tools. The goals of this plan are to define the strategies, tasks, and methods that will be used to meet the training needs. In addition, this plan will address the lessons learned recommendations and analyst concerns.
COMMUNICATION
The focus for communication has been on an email update to users and a system website. The email will be a general overview update to analysts that includes information on the project, timeline for the next 2.5 months, and a website where they can get more information. The website will include a project overview, updated news section, a FAQ section, milestones, documentation and tutorials, training information, help and support, and an area to submit feedback. This website will be located at https://www.sdm.uillinois.edu.
KNOWLEDGE TOOLS
A project plan is being created specifically for the knowledge tools tasks and timelines. Also, the Knowledge Tools (KT) Sub-Team has been created and will assist the SDM project team in completing the KT phase of the overall SDM project and will be reviewing and making recommendations to the Steering Team on the following aspects:
§ Finalize requirements for KT (Knowledge Tools)
§ Finalize KT category structure
§ Create and standardize policies and documentation required
§ Determine process for managing knowledge creation, validation, publishing and retiring
§ Input into KT development test plans
§ Input and determining training and communication plans
§ Identify and regulate reviews for KT documents
§ Input for creation of KT submission forms
The first meeting for this sub-team will be April 21, 2010.
ENHANCEMENT PLAN
In January of 2010, a survey was distributed to analysts to gather additional input about the way the USD tool is currently used and how it could be further enhanced to meet clients needs. A report has been created to describe the results from the survey respondents as well as related efforts associated with the Service Desk Manager (SDM) Enhancement project. This will be discussed further in the HDST meeting and will also be sent to analysts in the general overview update.
PROJECT OBJECTIVES
After extensive consultation with the software vendor CA, the Enterprise Architecture Committee (EAC), system administrators and internal database administrators (DBA), the recommendation has been made to re-platform the Unicenter Service Desk (USD) tool and upgrade to version r12.1 and migrate to a Windows/SQL platform to not only stabilize and improve system maintainability, but also to expand the reporting options and add additional resources for the end users.
The main outcomes of this project are;
1) Upgrade to version r12.1 moving us to the Service Desk Manager (SDM) suite of products that will provide advanced knowledge management for support, interactive online support, self-service and advanced root cause analysis through CA CMDB, as well as comprehensive reporting tools.
2) Migrate to a Windows/SQL platform to stabilize and improve system maintainability.
3) Integration of Knowledge Tools to capture and store experience of experts in a knowledge base and provide rapid access to content through multiple retrieval methods and a single knowledge repository.
4) Analysis and implementation of user survey enhancements to improve user interaction and usability of the SDM tool to better meet organizational business needs. .
BUSINESS NEED
This project is required to maintain and improve current service levels and reduce the chance of downtime to our clients. Completing this project will allow for:
§ Improved support from the vendor by maximizing the knowledge of the client base they currently serve (e.g. Microsoft Windows platform users).
§ Delivery of a Knowledge Tool workflow to manage knowledge creation, validation, publishing and retiring as well as bookmarks to retrieve favorite documents.
§ Improved knowledge management for Service Desk support and self service online support
§ Ability to provide comprehensive reporting tool options
§ Reduced downtime for the clients by providing stabilization, better support from the vendor, and improve the system maintainability
§ Addressing client concerns as discovered in the analyst user survey; these included lack of training, reporting, and problem documentation.
CONTACT
For more information regarding this project, contact the SDM Project Management Team:
Christina Vann: ,
Kristin Cordova:
Rita Bates:
SDM Upgrade and Enhancement Project Status Update: April 12, 2010