Overview
- What is this all about?
A new IT service management (ITSM) initiative is now underway, designed to improve the quality of technology services and support for campus. The new initiative is being developed to increase the efficiency and consistency of services provided for faculty, students, staff, and the greater UF community.
- How is this program going to make life better for our IT Customers?
When implemented, the IT service management initiative will provide the campus community with increased:
- Clarity about what IT services are available from UFIT
- Consistency in how to access those services or request assistance
- Assurance that their needs will be met, with high-quality results-based on agreed-upon service level standards
- What are the expected UFIT outcomes from this initiative?
Standardized processes, common tools, and improved transparency are expected outcomes.
Approach
- What is “IT Service Management”?
IT Service Management (or ITSM) is all about ensuring that IT offers the right services at the quality levels, timeliness and price to meet customer expectations. ITSM is managed by IT service providers through an appropriate mix of people, process and technology. It is built on the premise that IT a service organization and it cannot optimize what it does not manage. ITSM provides accountability for end-to-end coordination and visibility across the delivery of IT services, and can be measured by tracking improvements in quality of service, efficiency and risk reduction. There are a specific set of processes and disciplines within the broader ITSM framework that address the quality of the IT services provided and the focus on the relationship with customers.
- How does this initiative align to the Strategic Plan for IT?
The ITSM initiative is aligned to the three key principles of the Strategic Plan:
- Efficiency: reducing manual tasks and redundant processes/tools across UFIT silos
- Responsiveness: Improving accountability and consistency of IT services delivered
- Innovation: Improve quality of service and competitiveness
Organization
- Who is leading and participating in this initiative?
Elias Eldayrie is the Sponsor and Dave Gruber is the Project Champion for this effort. Ayola Singh-Kreitz is the ITSM Deliver Manager. Process Owners have been identified for each process area. Each process workgroup consists of team members from across UFIT and campus IT areas. In addition, Steering Committee members have been included to represent the voice of the customer.
Process
- Is this just an “ITIL” project? Wait, what is this “ITIL” thing anyway?
ITIL, which stands for the “Information Technology Infrastructure Library” is a set of good practices for IT service management (ITSM) that focuses on aligning IT services with the needs of customers. In its current form, ITIL is currently published in a series of five core books, each of which covers an ITSM lifecycle stage.This UFIT IT Service Management initiative is not about “ITIL” or any books of best practices. It is about improving the clarity, consistency and quality of the IT services provided by UFIT. This initiative will leverage and align to standards as appropriate to avoid re-inventing the wheel.
Tool
- In the Task pane, what are the time entry and escalation options?
These are 'out-of-the-box' options that will be removed by go-live.
- Does the dashboard auto-refresh and can you change this?
Yes, the dashboard is normally set to auto-refresh every five minutes. However, this is disabled at the moment.
- How long before the tool logs me out?
You will be automatically logged out after 39 minutes.
- How can I find my tickets?
The best way to find your tickets is to use the Quick Search function.
- Will resolved tickets show up in the dashboard? How will we find them after they are resolved?
No, they will not be visible from the Dashboard view. You will be able to find them via the Search Tool/Ticket Tab.
- How do I get to the Dashboard?
Clicking the Home or Dashboard button will bring you to the Dashboard.
- As an IT person, do I have to go to the customer portal to see my own ticket?
No. While you can see the ticket from the customer portal, you can also access your ticket from the Service Portal.
- Can I see my own tickets on my dashboard?
Yes. You can configure the search to retrieve tickets that you have submitted.
- Will myIT replace time reporting in PPM?
No, myIT will only replace the ticketing function.
- Does myIT support attachments?
Yes. Simply click on the paperclip icon on the banner to attach a document.
- Are operational procedures staying in PPM?
Some of them are moving but some are not. There is a fit/gap analysis that shows the break down. For the most part, they are business operations. No time and no change moved over just yet.
- Are service request approvals in place?
They are. It isn't necessary to create a task, simply click "requires approval."
- After a ticket is submitted from the customer portal, where does it go?
Service desk: unprocessed portal requests
- What are locations? How do we know where they are?
A map will be provided. This is not a mandatory field, but it is preferred.
- Why do people show up more than once in the user groups?
This is temporary, a product of the testing process. They will be consolidated.
- Will we be able to search by location/university zone?
Not currently.
- When you change the service group why does it clear out the subsequent fields?
Due to the hierarchy of the classifications, if you change the Service Group, the Service Offerings and Subcategories must change since they are dependent on Service Group.
- What does subcategory really mean?
A subcategory lets us define whether a ticket is an incident or a request. If it is a request, it specifies whether it is a request for a new service, a request to modify a service offered, a request for information, or a request to remove a service.
- Why are there breakdowns of 'request'?
Currently, there are different types of requests (as explained in the previous question), but this may be simplified to "Service Request" by the time myIT is live.
- How do you numerically classify impact? What is large scale?
Large scale (University wide), Medium (College, multiple groups), Low (Single group or individual).
- How will we know the teams and where they are?
You will be provided a cheat sheet that specifies the team specifications.
- What does it mean to take ownership of a ticket?
Once you have taken ownership of a ticket, you can do whatever you would like to the ticket except close it. If you want to close/resolve the ticket, you must take first take ownership.
- Is there a way to assign a due date for a task?
Yes. A due date can be set for a Task by indicating that the Task is for a future date in the Task pane, then selecting the specific date in the calendar field next to this option.
- What is the best use for task?
Two different groups might have routine requests where they collaborate all the time. Within a particular group, if two people work on different parts of a fulfillment request, tasks can be used to break down those specific tasks necessary to complete the request.
- Does myIT integrate with Outlook?
Yes, but it requires a VPN connection. IT is determining whether this is a viable solution.
- Are Journal Notes public or private?
Journal notes are by default visible to the public, as part of our effort to increase transparency to our customers. The customer will be able to view journal notes by going to the customer portal, clicking “View My Requests and Incidents,” and then selecting the particular ticket.
- How will you be notified that a task has been assigned to you?
It will appear on your dashboard and you will get an email notification.
- Can the assignee reassign?
Yes, the assignee can reassign the ticket or task.
- Are tasks the only place where you can put a Journal Note?
No.
- Does myIT have wild card assignments for tasks (no user assigned)? Can you assign a task to a blank entry?
No, you have to specify the group and user. IT staff will be provided with a cheat sheet with the relevant team assignments.
- Once a task has been completed, can it be opened again?
No.
- What’s the difference between closed and resolved?
When a ticket is marked as resolved, that issue has been considered completed but can be reopened if it was resolved prematurely or if the issue resurfaced. Closing a ticket closes it permanently and it cannot be reopened. A new ticket would need to be created by the requestor. A service desk representative will never set an issue as closed, as a closed issue cannot be reopened. The requestor can choose to close the ticket through the customer portal. A ticket marked as resolved that has not been reopened for 14 days will automatically close itself.
- The resolution notification goes to the customer. Is this a mistake?
No, this behavior is by design, and is an effort to be more transparent to the customer. IT staff should use professional behavior and language at all times.
- What is the difference between cloning and duplication?
Cloning lets you create a new ticket with the exact same summary, description and classifications but with a new requestor. Close as duplicate lets you close a ticket as a duplicate of a previous ticket, though this option may soon be changed to resolve as opposed to closed.
- So is this whole initiative just a tool replacement project for Remedy then?
No, this is not just a tool replacement. The ITSM initiative is a broader effort that requires changes to aspects of people, processes, and technology. Although tools will be one part of the initiative, we need to do more than just replace a tool to standardize UFIT processes and improve the delivery of IT services.
- Are we moving toward one integrated toolset or a broad set of best-of-breed tools to support ITSM processes?
The strategic direction is to select a single integrated toolset. These ITSM systems are designed as an integrated suite and that is the direction we are pursuing. This will minimize non-value added efforts to internally integrate and maintain many disparate systems.
- How will reporting needs be addressed?
Reporting has clearly been identified as a top priority by users and stakeholders across campus. In addition to the near-term Remedy remediation efforts restore tactical reporting capabilities, the broader reporting and analytics capabilities will be a key evaluation area for selecting the future ITSM solution. Requirements for reporting, usability and other functionality will be incorporated to the selection process with input from stakeholders across campus and UFIT.
- If I currently don’t use the Remedy tool at all for my UFIT work, will I even be affected by this initiative?
Yes, you may still be affected by this initiative even if you don’t use Remedy today. The focus on this initiative is on broader standardization of process and tools across UFIT. Even UFIT teams that are using different tools besides Remedy will be part of the alignment for re-engineered IT processes and the selected ITSM toolset.
- Can’t I just keep using whatever tool I like to use now for my IT process work within UFIT?
No. Common processes and tools across UFIT are critical for increasing the efficiency, visibility and consistency of how we jointly deliver service to our IT customers. The strategic direction is toward standardization vs. maintaining many disparate and unconnected processes and tools across silos.