Streamlining Information Services

November 12, 2018
IS prepares to implement a new service management system.

Information Services continually seeks to provide a high level of service to the University community. From desktop support to management of more than 300 servers, we have focused on providing the right technology at the right time to faculty, staff, and students. And the consensus is that IS is doing a good job. In the 2018 MISO Survey, more than 94% of faculty, staff, and students said that they were somewhat satisfied or satisfied with overall computing service. That said, IS is always working to improve. More than a year ago, IS began research on Information Technology Service Management (ITSM) systems, with a goal to provide better and more efficient support.

ITSM systems support the vast array of IT services, from Help Desk calls (known as incident management) to asset management and project portfolio management. These are the first parts of ITSM that Information Services plans to rollout in the coming months. After implementing these services, there are plans to build an online knowledge base and self-service support website (known as a service catalog) that will describe all the services provided by IS, making them available on-demand.

Scott Tilghman, User Services Manager says, “As Frank Zappa so wisely put it, ‘Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.’ We strongly believe that going in this direction will take what we already do well and make it better!”

What’s the timeline? Information Services has already undertaken the request for proposal (RFP) process and conducted two simultaneous proof-of-concept tests of vendor products. We have selected TeamDynamix as our ITSM system, with plans to begin implementation of the incident management, asset management, and project portfolio management features in December 2018. While it will take time and effort to implement ITSM, members of the University community should begin to see service improvement as soon as the Spring 2019 semester. Be sure to check the IS website in the coming months for updates on our progress.