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KONECRANES UTILIZES ITIL BEST PRACTICES INTERNATIONALLY
2008-02-04
 Konecranes and Efecte began cooperation in 2003 when Konecranes started to look into managing their IT assets, such as work stations and IT service requests, centrally through a global help desk function. Up until then, Konecranes’ IT support organization was scattered between different organizational units and none of the support cases or incidents were recorded in one central location. This resulted in a great deal of overlapping work and caused the service to be slow. Initially there were around 600 end users for the IT help desk function, and today that figure has grown past 3 000.
When Konecranes made the decision to move to a more formalized information management, the company sought to tread as lightly as possible. The most important thing was to get all service requests from end users recorded in one system. This way the knowledge database, where solutions to incidents are recorded, could start accumulating information as fast as possible.
"We spent the first couple of years studying the ITIL processes and centralizing information management operations. In 2006, we launched systematic development work and took Efecte’s tools into effective use. Today, we use Efecte’s ERP for IT® -solution, which contains a CMDB, IT services’ management solution, and service description management", says Mr. Kari Suominen, IT Director of KCI Konecranes Plc.
"Initially, we considered alternative solutions as well, however they felt too massive and had significantly higher start-up costs. Efecte’s solution was more flexible and could therefore be implemented faster than other solutions. Efecte’s flexibility also means that we can expand it as needed", explains Mr. Suominen, analyzing the arguments for choosing Efecte.
A Centralized Solution Keeps Costs Low
Konecranes chose Efecte’s ERP for IT –solution that covers ready-made models for building an effective IT support structure. All incidents are recorded, and managed through a centralized system, in which an owner, priority, classification, and deadlines can be set. A knowledge database, where solutions to known incidents or problems are stored, reduces the work load in IT support organization significantly and enables faster handling time for all support cases.
With Efecte’s solution Konecranes’ IT environment can be managed throughout its whole life cycle. All user groups, such as IT management, system administrators, and support personnel, will benefit from having the information in one central location and readily available.
"Using Efecte has given us clear efficiency gains, as new solution models are continuously recorded in the system. Moreover, it has bolstered our help desk operations and efficiency evaluation. Introducing ITIL to the company alongside integrated operating models has led to a major improvement in customer satisfaction in IT support", states Suominen, recounting the benefits of the solution.
International Operating Environment Challenging Processes
Konecranes has locations in various parts of the world, but every employee operates in the same IT network environment using the same tools and producing the same services. The objective is therefore, to provide integrated IT services regardless of the employee’s location. It is this international aspect that provides a challenge to Konecranes’ information management.
"Our dialogue with Efecte has worked well from the very beginning and their response to our modification requests has been excellent. It seems that Efecte has developed their ERP for IT –concept at exactly the same speed as Konecranes has uncovered new needs due to international expansion. Whenever we’ve expanded to a new area, Efecte has been right there with the solution”, Suominen enthuses.
"One of the main goals for Konecranes is to provide the management team with up-to-date information about IT services and guarantee their availability in all circumstances. When information management is truly a part of the business strategy, like at Konecranes, the main focus shifts from cost control to productivity and new service development. At the same time, the traditional IT organization becomes a real service organization", Efecte’s Country Manager Juha Berghäll emphasizes.
The practical realization of the whole project also involved two other partners, Tieturi and Deloitte. With Tieturi, Konecranes developed its ITIL concepts, while Deloitte provided the expertise to help take the new processes into use in the entire organization.
Outsourcing requires extensive knowledge of IT environment
Konecranes is planning to apply the ITIL models in over 370 service desks in 41 countries. At the moment, there are around 5 500 work stations to take care of, and the number is growing fast. For this reason, the company needs support services that, in practice, operate 24 hours a day seven days a week. In addition, challenges remain in measuring the service level and utilizing the licensing model globally.
"The more we purchase outsourced services, the more important it is that the services can be integrated into the same system. Currently, the number of separate systems can still be counted with one hand, however this figure will inevitably grow", Suominen predicts.
"In order to outsource successfully, you need extensive information on the services produced and their costs. Moreover, managing the relationship with the outsourcing partner effectively, requires a reporting system that provides a fully transparent equipment and application database as well as transparent operational processes", Berghäll continues.
“Efecte’s solution gives us detailed facts, with which we can evaluate the service levels and costs appropriately. Not only have we been able to improve the interaction between information management, the end users and the business management, but we have also been able to make the IT infrastructure more unified, reliable, and efficient. At the same time, by streamlining the operations we have realized significant cost savings", says Kari Suominen from Konecranes.
Konecranes is a world-leading group of Lifting Businesses, serving a broad range of customers, including manufacturing and process industries, shipyards, ports and terminals. Konecranes provides productivity-enhancing lifting solutions as well as services for lifting equipment and machine tools of all makes. In 2006, Group sales totaled EUR 1483 million. The Group has 8,000 employees, at more than 370 locations in 43 countries. Konecranes is listed on the OMX Helsinki Stock Exchange (symbol: KCR1V).
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