Background
ManageEngine was chosen as the company’s new ITSM toolset, which in order to meet the organisation’s objectives, needed to be landed quickly and efficiently in a relatively short period of time.
Due to the tight timescales, resource constraints and needing to ensure the new toolset was set up, configured, and embedded effectively so that key short and medium term ITSM goals could be achieved, our client quickly recognised that external help was needed from a partner with a proven track record of helping companies in a similar situation, and who could own and drive the implementation in its initial phases.
After a series of discussions to fully understand the brief and what was required, iCore were delighted to be chosen as the partner of choice for this engagement and were tasked with the following –
- Leading and supporting existing teams in day-to-day delivery and drive improvements to key delivery processes, including Incident, Change, Problem and Service Request
- Owning and driving the creation of user stories for ManageEngine against which it can be configured
- Ensuring the new platform was stood up and configured in line with the defined approach and supported day to day operational delivery requirements
- Documenting standard operating practices (SOPs) for use across the delivery organisation, to ensure correct use of the toolset aligned to the refined processes
- Devising and agreeing the CSFs and KPIs for all delivery areas, to provide visibility of operational performance that can be viewed through online reporting and dashboarding
- Developing a set of training materials that outline why the change is being made, the benefits it will deliver, and specific detail regarding the capabilities, workflows, and measures
Engagement
In order to shape the engagement and focus on the key drivers for success, iCore took the lead in a series of workshops. The outputs were:
- A detailed and common understanding of business goals and direction. This was important to target and focus on the priority areas for improvement.
- An understanding of the current delivery model and ways of working.
- The engagement of all key stakeholders, capturing their roles and responsibilities within the organisational structure, and agreeing their involvement in the project.
- A clear understanding of the service delivery processes, the day-to-day challenges, and their operational impacts.
- Definition of the key delivery requirements for the ITSM toolset and priority processes, in order to properly inform and shape the delivery plan.
- An end-to-end targeted project plan covering all aspects of the development, testing and implementation of the new ITSM toolset.
To ensure the engagement fully met its objectives, the approach taken during the initial discovery and data gathering phase included the creation of a detailed and prioritised set of user stories across all core service management processes. Building the requirements around user stories provided a modern approach which allowed iCore to focus on key priorities, value to the stakeholders and the business, particularly opportunities for greater efficiency and streamlining.
The processes selected were those that would most directly improve customer experience: Incident Management, Problem Management, Request Fulfilment and Change Management. Integration requirements with existing key processes such as Asset and Event Management were captured, recognising that such processes need to work in harmony to deliver successful outcomes.
With a fully defined project plan and set of user stories agreed and in place, iCore continued to lead on the implementation of ManageEngine, along with all associated operating procedures, training materials, KPI’s, reports and dashboards.
Throughout the engagement, the lead iCore consultant carried out a series of activities to ensure the right results were delivered. These included:
- Arranging and leading follow up workshops to `deep dive` on specific processes, including the detailed implementation of specific Change Management workflows.
- Co-ordination of the ManageEngine implementation and detailed configuration.
- Conducting weekly status meetings with the Global Service Delivery and Operations management team to track and report on progress across all user stories and key deliverables.
At the end of the engagement, iCore held a number of sessions with the Global Service Delivery and Operations team to review the final set of deliverables, the long-term improvement roadmap, overall success of the project and agree any handover actions to the operational teams.
Outcomes
- Standardising key operational processes and ways of working for UK teams with a view to rolling out globally across all regions.
- Providing visibility of IT service demand across all markets, including a system of truth for Incidents, Service Requests, Changes and Problems.
- Enhancing the overall user experience for raising Incidents and Service Requests through implementation of a new Service Portal and Request Catalogue.
- Providing a structured and consistent approach to Change Management ensuring all key stakeholders are involved and engaged in the process.
- Implementation of standardised, repeatable, best practice service operational processes, and improving ways of working across Service Operations and Delivery teams.
- Providing better visibility of operational performance through the implementation of standard KPI’s, reports and dashboards.
- Improving the overall end user experience through implementation of a Service Portal with standardised catalogue items for common types of incidents and service requests.
- Simplification and streamlining the recording of incidents and service requests by implementing standard ManageEngine templates with pre-populated fields where possible.
- Enhanced handling of change requests by implementing workflows for typical standard changes and more detailed workflows for normal changes.
- Better clarification of roles and responsibilities through creation of standard RACI’s and specific responsibilities detailed for each step of Incident, Request, Problem and Change Management processes mapped across the ITSM toolset.
- Improvement roadmap and recommendations providing valuable inputs into the client’s IT Service Strategy.
- Ensuring any recommendations and improvement opportunities align with the overall business strategy and goals.
