Efecte Provides University with Comprehensive Service Desk Tool

Efecte has supplied the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) with a joint, efficient tool for the university’s seven service desks. However, Efecte is spreading beyond the IT departments: The next step will be to implement Efecte ICT WebShop for use in all types of service functions at SDU.

“Up until 2009, there were six different service desks at SDU. Of these, some used a joint service desk tool, while others used their own tools. This was not efficient, from an overall perspective. In addition, we were working at the time on an ITIL project that required us to obtain a joint CMDB and to gather all the service desks in a single tool,” explains IT Support Manager Claus Trap Christensen, IT Service at SDU.

The result of this was that SDU entered into a dialogue with Efecte, which created a Proof of Concept in order to test whether the use of Efecte’s tools would have the desired result. After this, SDU was ready to get started.

“We agreed to use a combined solution from Efecte comprising CMDB and Service Desk. With this, we gained an overview of all our equipment, right across SDU, as well as a joint tool for handling IT support. Through Efecte we acquired a single, combined system that satisfied the needs of the six IT departments, and a tool that bound us together as a university,” says Claus Trap Christensen.

Easy to Make Changes

“We found Efecte to be an extremely flexible system that was easy to adjust according to our needs. This took place in workshops, where Efecte’s consultants received input about our needs and, on the basis of this, were able to make the relevant adaptations and then to implement them. The entire project process was characterised by unanimity among the departments involved and by good co-operation with Efecte. On 25 September 2009 we were able to bring the system on line, and we were very enthusiastic,” says Claus Trap Christensen.

“The system has now become a part of our everyday lives, yet we are constantly pleased with it, in part because to a large extent we can make changes ourselves without having to call for a consultant when we need to adjust the functionality. Not because we are making changes all the time, but because it provides a different atmosphere and gives us a different level of access, inasmuch as the system can be altered in line with our changing needs. In addition, we are not limited by a static system.”

The result of introducing Efecte is that, internally at SDU’s service desks, we have an overview of both ongoing and resolved support issues. It also enables us to provide higher quality support.

In Progress with ICT WebShop

Since the implementation of Service Desk, Efecte has begun to spread out from the IT departments to other service organisations.
“We are in the process of introducing Efecte ICT WebShop – a portal solution that can handle several different types of services and orders,” says Claus Trap Christensen.
“With Efecte, we have acquired a system across the IT departments that helps us to structure and improve the efficiency of our work. The departments that deal with building maintenance and broad service tasks have employed e-mail as their case management system up until now, although they have requested a more structured form of access,” explains Claus Trap Christensen.

The next step therefore is to introduce the ICT WebShop portal system as a joint user interface for all kinds of service.

“It can be difficult for a user to know how he or she should act when dealing with various types of task. And why should a user use one form of enquiry with regard to IT services and when ordering IT equipment, and another when it comes to services for buildings or to order printed material, for example. With ICT WebShop, we are providing users with a common platform for all types of service enquiries, making it easier for users as they do not need to consider where a particular order will arrive,” says Claus Trap Christensen.

Fast, flexible Self-Service 

In addition, people nowadays are used to being able to serve themselves quickly and flexibly, for example through municipal citizen service solutions or webshops.

“With ICT WebShop, a user can see all of SDU’s various types of service and choose between them. In other words, it is easy to see what goods are ‘on the shelf’, irrespective of which departments are supplying them.

We also save time, which is good both for service departments and users, as orders placed in ICT WebShop are implemented within certain frameworks. This means that the user can specify his or her order at once, with the result that the relevant service department receives the correct information straight away, making the execution of the order simple and fast.
Such frameworks will not be present if the order is placed via e-mail, and there is consequently a risk that a longer correspondence will be required before an order is sufficiently complete that it can be delivered. In other words, the new solution enables us to save time on standard tasks, leaving more time for specific duties and ensuring that users can enjoy a better, faster experience,” says Claus Trap Christensen.

Great Expectations for the Process

SDU is currently improving the implementation of the new portal. This is taking place in a process in which Efecte is arranging workshops for the departments involved, with the aim of charting needs and determining relevant functionality, just as was the case in the first round.

“The new workshops are involving more, and to some extent new people, and are covering a wider range of requirements. However, I am absolutely certain that the project will be a success, since my perception is that Efecte is taking SDU seriously as a customer.

Efecte’s consultants are good at listening and at turning our input into functionality. So I have great expectations, both as regards the introductory process and the results,” concludes IT Support Manager Claus Trap Christensen, IT Service at SDU.

 

The University of Southern Denmark (SDU) is an independent, state institution, and was the first Danish university to have a decentralised campus structure. As a consequence, the University has campuses in Copenhagen, Odense, Kolding, Sønderborg, Slagelse, Esbjerg and Flensborg. IT at SDU encompasses 7,500 clients and more than 200 servers, a large proportion of which are based on a virtual infrastructure. There are also a number of data centres, mainly located in Odense, with high-speed connections to the other campuses within SDU. The combined Efecte solution, including ICT WebShop, is expected to be used in the IT departments (there are currently four departments, the largest being IT Service) as well as in the Service area and the Construction area. In the long term, around 170 people will be using Efecte as their day-to-day task management system.