The Church of Sweden

Flexible IT Service Management for a unique organization: How the Church of Sweden extends support to 24 000 global users.

In 2017, the Church of Sweden started the procurement process for a CMDB (Configuration Management Database) with the main purpose of being able to improve the support of ITIL processes in the organization. However, selecting Efecte as a supplier led to a conversation around how the organization’s service management and user support could be improved. As a result, the Church of Sweden chose to not only collaborate with Efecte to implement CMDB but to also introduce a new, complete IT support solution for all users.

 

Employees 24 000
IT Support Personnel 19
Tickets per year 90 000
Service channels  Phone, email, self-service

 

The Organization: The Church of Sweden

The Church of Sweden is a unique institution in Sweden, with an extensive history of managing information and resources. However, the organization also has a growing base of modern users who expect to receive the same level of IT support as in any other organization. Having gone through a complete modernization process in the early 2000s covering areas such as parish registrations, member directories, and activities, the Church of Sweden today offers a progressive online presence for its six million members. 
E-services, apps, search functionality, social media and various contact channels – all these tools aim to bring the church closer to its members and making it accessible across all generations.

"Our goal is to have support systems that simplify the speedy resolution of issues, regardless of the individual’s competence and needs.”

ANDREAS SYNNING, HEAD OF IT SUPPORT AND EDUCATION

The Church of Sweden

The Challenge: Varied competencies across organization

As the number of digital activities increases, so does the need for IT support. The national office in Uppsala heads up the support for all shared internal systems, directories, payment systems, and email, as well as all the technical support for 16,000 Citrix users, 930 virtual servers, and VPN. The Church of Sweden has close to 24,000 employees who are distributed across the country and throughout the world, and all of whom are supported by the central IT platform of the national office.

”We know there are huge variations in competencies across the organization,” says Andreas Synning, Head of IT Support and Education. “Each parish is a separate administrative unit that delivers services on different levels and each has varying needs for central support. Our goal is to have support systems that simplify the speedy resolution of issues, regardless of the individual’s competence and needs.” 

svenska_kyrkan_andreas_synning_edit

Andreas Synning, Head of IT Support and Education, The Chruch of Sweden

The Solution: Service Management beyond the boundaries of IT

There are 19 specialists operating out of The Church of Sweden’s national office, providing IT and user support for 90,000 issues registered on the central service portal every year. Two-thirds of the user issues consist of phone calls, while the rest are logged by email or through the Efecte self-service portal which was launched in late 2018. The ambition is to redirect the majority of new issues through the self-service solution, mainly as an alternative to email, to speed up the logging process as well as the issue resolution.

”All change takes time,” Synning says. “Many users have a habit of picking up the phone or typing an email when they run into a problem, but this often leaves us with a bit of detective work to determine the root cause of their issue. The self-service portal helps to make that process faster and simpler – but it does require a very clear and intuitive structure for questions and problem analysis. That’s an area where we are continuously working to improve.”

Since introducing the IT service management solution from Efecte, The Church of Sweden has adapted its operations to be more closely aligned with ITIL processes and made huge strides towards an efficient, digital workplace. The next step was to take service management beyond the boundaries of IT by automating services for different processes.

The Benefit: One hub for all

"Efecte has become an increasingly important tool for us and is now a hub for all our case management at the Church Office in Uppsala. In addition to IT-related matters, Efecte also handles cases concerning finances, payroll, caretaking, and archives. It means our staff has a common portal that can handle most of the cases they may need help with." Synning concludes.

Customer benefits: 

  • Simpler and more efficient logging of issues
  • Improved ability to prioritize
  • Smarter and easier system reporting

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