Ivanti Blog: Posts by

A University-Wide Service Management Platform Fit for Purpose and Student Success

Tue, 23 Jun 2020 23:17:40 Z

Mark Temple, IT Service Project Manager at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, is no stranger to keeping technology fit for purpose and expanding its uses. April 15, 2020 marks his 29^th year of employment with the university—the fourth oldest university in the English-speaking world, founded in 1451. It’s a member of the prestigious Russell Group of leading UK research universities and welcomes students from more than 140 countries.

Mark spent the first 12 years of his career at the University of Glasgow working as a motor mechanic, repairing and maintaining tractors, motor boats, lawn mowers, chainsaws, and more. “We worked on anything that had an engine,” he says. While in that full-time job, he attended another university two evenings each week over six years to earn a degree. An opportunity in IT opened up at the University of Glasgow and Mark jumped on it.

As Mark explains, he worked in desktop support for a couple of years and also worked on the IT service management (ITSM) tool the IT department had used for more than a decade—an on-premise system with an installed client. However, the university needed a flexible, cloud-based, enterprise-scalable solution that could support the numerous requirements of all departments, and deliver from one point of contact a smooth, responsive service experience to 28,000 students and 8,000 staff members.

Today Mark is the Service Owner for the university’s enterprise service management platform, powered by Ivanti® Service Manager, which went live in April 2019. Mark manages the staff and student IT Help Desks as well as the IT Tutors and IT Trainers, numbering around 40 employees full-time and part-time.

Publicizing the Public-Tender Process

A solid writer in his own right, Mark has blogged for the Service Desk Institute (SDI), a global network and community of service desk professionals. Published under the SDI banner of “Service Desk Journeys,” Mark has journaled about the public tender process that resulted ultimately in the selection of Ivanti Service Manager.

Since the University of Glasgow is a public institution, the IT team was bound by public-sector procurement rules, which meant the search for a new Enterprise Service Management (ESM) solution needed to be open to public tender. Mark writes, “So, the tender process began, and we were all a bit more tender by the end of it!”

Ivanti Checked All 150 Requirements

The tender process included a 150-point “does it do this and that” checklist. Nineteen submissions were received from an array of vendors, several of which were proposing the same solution. “After much deliberation,” Mark writes, “the list was narrowed down to three vendors, each proposing a different solution. On-site demos and follow-up web clarification sessions ensued, and we were pleased to announce that Ivanti and their Service Manager product had been selected as the preferred bidder. Ivanti’s Service Manager software-as-a-service platform scored highest against our list of criteria and licensing requirements, and they were awarded preferred bidder status.”

Mark explains that this then led into the mandatory ‘stand still’ period, “where unsuccessful bidders could seek clarification or challenge the award. No challenges were forthcoming, so that closed the door on the procurement process.”

He adds, “Having moved out of the procurement phase, we then met up with Ivanti’s project team and set about the daunting task of creating the blueprint for our staging environment.”

The Grand Plan: To Underpin the Service Delivery Model for the New Campus

According to Mark, the University of Glasgow is in the midst of a huge expansion process, and Ivanti Service Manager will underpin the service delivery model of the new campus, of which the first building is the Learning and Teaching Hub.

In one blog for SDI, Mark writes: “I’ve been saying to colleagues for long enough that this isn’t just a change of platform, but an opportunity to change the way we deliver and support the services which our students and staff rely upon to achieve their objectives. We’ve been working closely with service providers and other work streams to reinforce the need to adopt ‘Shift-Left’ thinking, utilizing Ivanti Service Manager’s Knowledgebase, and where possible, empowering front-line services to ‘push the buttons’ that back-end teams and even other services were traditionally responsible for—a concept that IT has been making good ground on, but one that works just as well in other areas.”

For example, through Ivanti Service Manager, staff in the new Learning and Teaching Hub are able to provide students with the information they need for a better student experience, rather than being sent from one building to the next to find the experts that have the information.

In terms of ratings, we’re up to a 4.8 out of 5.0 on our Knowledgebase articles. People do want to help themselves where and when they can. If you lead them to the tools to do that, they appreciate it. It’s a win-win.”

Mark says, “Our students are experiencing less of ‘sorry, I can’t deal with this for you; you’ll need to go and see someone else.’ More and more often it’s colleagues that can help students, or that other students and staff can help them—and help them help themselves. That’s a real measure of success that service requests are being well used, and that people are finding answers they need when they need to through the Knowledgebase.”

He adds, in terms of ratings, we’re up to a 4.8 out of 5.0 on our Knowledgebase articles. People do want to help themselves where and when they can. If you lead them to the tools to do that, they appreciate it. It’s a win-win.”

An Enterprise Service Management Platform vs. an IT Platform

Ivanti has a powerful platform. It is not just an IT ticketing tool. It is a platform that can be used outside of IT as easily as within IT. It’s flexible, it’s powerful, and we can make the changes we want to do ourselves.

Focused on the vision of service management across the enterprise, the system will support staff and student services such as student records, accommodation, library services, student registry, exams, finance, HR, and campus security, as well as performing the traditional IT service desk role. For Mark’s IT team, the Service Manager implementation means that the university’s four colleges—Arts; Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences; Science and Engineering; and Social Sciences; as well as operational services—will be unified under one central service desk.

“We always took the view that we were looking for an Enterprise Service Management platform, not making or bending an ITSM system into a shape that was acceptable for other functions to use, but was in the end, still an ITSM system,” Mark says. “We didn’t want a system that could be made to look attractive to HR, college professional services, campus security, or our data protection office, we wanted a platform that did all of this out-of-the box anyway, but that we could configure without being beholden to the vendor every time we wanted to make a change.”

Mark says the old system was an installed client that wasn’t going to work going forward. “When you made a change,” he says, “it tended to be a global change. Other functions were being forced to use an IT system that didn’t always work for them.”

He adds, “Ivanti has a powerful platform. It is not just an IT ticketing tool. It is a platform that can be used outside of IT as easily as within IT. It’s flexible, it’s powerful, and we can make the changes we want to do ourselves.”

Dashboards Have Helped Significantly

The university’s vision of enterprise-wide service management is one that supports staff and student services such as student records, accommodation, library services, student registry, exams, finance, HR, and campus security, as well as performing the traditional IT service desk role. The focus on streamlining processes is particularly important for the busy autumn period when student registration and enrollment support requests are at their highest.

Mark speaks to the value of dashboards: “We use the system across all support teams and can surface useful data in meaningful formats—lists, pie charts of what happened over the weekend, etc. It’s very easy for the teams to drill into the data and spot trends. For example, why are we seeing an increase in demand? How quickly is that demand being fulfilled? Is the backlog going down? I would say it’s a different approach to managing volumes and spotting emerging trends. It’s been quite revolutionary for us.”

I would say it’s a different approach to managing volumes and spotting emerging trends. It’s been quite revolutionary for us.”

Taking Paper-Based Forms Out of Circulation

In one of Mark’s blogs for SDI, he acknowledges that service management isn’t about “presenting the same old services in a new skin.” He writes that many of the supporting processes “haven’t been looked at for ages,” and that many of them “rely on ‘cut out and keep’ Word docs which need to be printed out, signed, then scanned back in for authorization—a perfect opportunity to streamline and speed up these processes.”

Mark’s team is working to remove these Word docs from circulation and describes the image of a pile of paper forms rising from the floor to above his desk. “Turning those into smart forms will help symbolize the transformation we’ve been going through that’s leading to greater success for students and staff,” he concludes.

Note: A customer’s results are specific to its total environment/experience, of which Ivanti is a part. Individual results may vary based on each customer’s unique environment.

Windows 10 Migration: An Engine for Change?

Wed, 10 Jul 2019 08:09:40 Z

Sooner or later (the sooner the better), you’ll be in the throes of migrating your enterprise to Windows 10. This Windows-as-a-Service operating system represents a new way to modernise your business—plus the fact that end of support for Windows 7 hits January 14, 2020. Continuing to run an unsupported OS means no updates, is expensive and risky as hackers look for victims, and could mean system downtime and loss of business due to non-compliance.

The fact is, Windows 10 migration can be an engine for change—an ideal opportunity or “excuse” to improve the management and effectiveness of IT efforts, performance, and processes.

The Sweet Spot Between User Expectations and Enterprise Requirements

The line between personal and professional computing continues to blur, with younger and older workers alike having more options and flexibility in the technology they use daily—from increasingly powerful mobile devices and computers to social networks. They want to use the same technology on the job that they use at home. While such a scenario can offer significant benefits for enterprises, it can compound security, privacy, and compliance risk. IT departments must continually work to find the sweet spot between user expectations and enterprise requirements.

So, where is the sweet spot between the experience on each device and what you want to deliver to your users? What does it look like if you take that same experience and move it between devices—a common scenario in NHS hospitals, schools, and retail stores? How can you know what’s on every device and make sure it’s running the latest? These are the types of challenges that Ivanti Endpoint and Workspace Management solutions can help you answer, particularly within the context of a migration to Windows 10 and the opportunity to make improvements.

It’s Simpler with Ivanti

Ivanti makes it simpler for you to provide your organisation’s employees the right experience, resources, and privileges to be more efficient and productive in their work—without confusion, added anxiety, or worse.

Update new or existing devices using provisioning templates that minimise PC configuration steps and propel your IT team to new levels of efficiency. Gain the flexibility to download device drivers based on PC or device type and have users up and running with fewer incidents.
Eliminate the need for multiple images in order to migrate machines of varying models or manufacturers. Use a simpler, standardised image, then let the solution lay down the device-specific drivers, apps, and profiles related to the user.
Capture personal settings from users’ existing desktops automatically and store the data centrally, then re-apply it on-demand. Leverage this personalisation to apply during a migration to a particular device, or to roam seamlessly between any machine running any Windows OS.
Workers save their files and data in many places—on computer drives, network shares, removable storage, and in the cloud. Ivanti gathers all user data and stores it centrally in existing IT storage, then makes it available as part of the user’s new modern desktop, on any device, in any location.
Cut the time and cost of application-package customisation by decoupling application settings from the package itself. Automate app configurations based on the destination OS and elevate user privileges dynamically to install. Track all licenses from the time of the new installation.
Migrate most machines using less time than side-by-side migrations. The majority of complete migrations, including user personalisation, can be done in a short lunch break of 30 minutes or less.

Automate the Windows 10 Migration Path

As shown in this infographic, two Ivanti solutions—Unified Endpoint Manager and File Director—not only automate the Windows 10 migration path, they can help you manage and maintain the OS, apps, and user profiles workers need to stay productive:

Ivanti Unified Endpoint Manager automates the large, frequent Windows-as-a Service updates with minimized network overhead. The solution also helps you onboard new Windows devices quickly by leveraging Windows Autopilot, without requiring Microsoft Intune, giving you a way to provision users’ devices with “zero-touch” from IT. When the user receives their new Windows 10 device, powers it on for the first time, and it connects to the network, it’s ready to go.
Ivanti File Director provides invisible file sync to users, so they can continue to work and save documents in their usual locations unaware that, in the background, files are being synced securely through an HTTPS connection to either on-premises file storage or OneDrive, or a mixture of the two. File Director integrates easily with existing IT infrastructure with no impact on existing data storage, redundancy, disaster recovery, and business continuity plans.

Take a few minutes to view the infographic, register for a demo, and consider how Ivanti can help you leverage your Windows 10 migration as a change engine for improvement.

UK Healthcare Organization Unifies IT with Smarter Business-Intelligence Tool

Mon, 27 Aug 2018 20:52:01 Z

IT departments have their hands full providing services to end users while protecting, maintaining, and improving their enterprise IT environments. And when it comes to producing reports and visuals about how IT allocates its resources, service and support performance, or security concerns for example, nothing’s worse than going through spreadsheet after spreadsheet to consolidate data.

The good news is that the Ivanti® Xtraction solution enables you to quickly sort through masses of data and display it visually yourself to understand what’s going on, without coding or opening separate applications.

Consider for example the success of Ivanti healthcare customer Arden & GEM in the UK (NHS Arden & Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit). This organization estimates that Xtraction has reduced its reporting overhead by as much as 60%—a huge time savings.

Arden & GEM is a provider of commissioning, clinical and business support, and integrated solutions for the healthcare sector in the UK. Read the case study to learn how Xtraction helps Arden & GEM understand the health and financial impact of its IT.

Xtraction: The Ultimate Unified IT Tool

Xtraction is a self-service, real-time reporting software that produces dashboards, making relevant data quickly and easily understood. It consolidates data from multiple vendors’ tools and enterprise applications into a single, consolidated business view instantly.

“The solution proved to be even more powerful than we initially expected,” says Paul Miller, Head of End User Services at Arden & GEM. “Once you define the parameters of your analysis, it crunches through the data extremely quickly to provide detailed reports. We also use it to provide dashboards to our support teams, helping them manage their workloads more effectively.”

Digging Deeper

Xtraction’s unified IT power not only allows for faster reporting, but also a level of analysis previously unachievable because of siloed tools and data.

Arden & GEM experienced this first-hand when it implemented Xtraction. It needed a powerful dashboard solution that would allow it to dig deeper into the data and drive smarter business intelligence decisions.

“Before [Xtraction], our understanding of IT service delivery was limited to fairly basic internal and client-facing reporting,” said Paul Miller. “We built reports in spreadsheets using snapshots of our databases, which was a very labor-intensive process that did not produce the most visually appealing results.”

Implemented in just two days, Xtraction now allows the organization to look at its complex IT services landscape from a variety of different perspectives, revealing where it’s performing particularly well or where there is room for improvement.

Arden & GEM is using these more extensive reporting capabilities to also enhance its relationships with clients. Paul Miller elaborated, “We are able to show them our performance against Service Level Agreements in much greater detail, helping us demonstrate the value that we deliver. By allowing them to drill down deeper into the data, we can drive more intelligent conversations with them about how we can provide an even better service.”