Central platform for IT Service Management
FKS IT is a managed services provider and member of the FKS group of companies. The group has around 270 members who provide a service for small and medium business customers in Hamburg and its surroundings. FKS offers them extensive solutions in the areas of IT on premises, as well as print and cloud services. This also includes consultation on optimal IT infrastructure, installation and their operation as managed services. FKS also assumes the operation of the IT infrastructure and service operations. FKS IT carries out its IT services operation in its own data center and in the Hamburg cloud, as well as in public clouds or alternatively on customer premises. The FKS Service Desk is, as the single point of contact, the central reception for defined contacts from the IT departments of customer companies and their questions on operation, care and maintenance of on-site IT. The service desk also provides support for end users, for example. FKS-internal IT also uses USU IT Service Management for staff support in its daily business activities.
Our new USU solution for IT support is a quantum leap for us compared to our old tool. The collaboration with USU is particularly important for us: We communicate on a level playing field and directly with each other, based on mutual trust and dependability.
Christine Rüller – General Manager, Process and Organizational Development, FKS IT GmbH & Co. KG
At a glance
The Organization
Industry
Key indicators
USU products deployed
Website
www.fks-it.de
About the Project
The challenge
The current ticket system reached its limits due to the strong growth of the customer base and the subsequent increase in the number of tickets. The tool also failed to cover the requirements for standardized and automated IT service processes. Additionally, the individual configuration options of the tool were important, as a managed services provider, to allocate and bill tickets to individual customers.
The solution
Based on its flexibility and its high level of process standardization, USU IT Service Management supports the relevant maxims of FKS to independently implement adjustments using customization and from coaching by USU. In this way, FKS can react flexibly to the requirements and wishes of users and adapt to dynamic market developments.
The result
FKS replaces the current stand-alone applications or integrates these into the central USU solution using an interface. Manual service processes still existing are standardized and extensively automated using tool-supported processes. This means that staff can work on other tasks and more productively.
Independent customization through coaching
For supplier selection, a team was created, consisting of the future project management, internal IT and the department head for managed services. This team created an extensive performance specification consolidating the requirements and selection criteria of departments. At least one representative from each department was involved in this process. Co-decision making and regular communication on the project progress were important factors for members to identify with the project and satisfaction was recorded and evaluated using a questionnaire.
The maxims of FKS are: “As an IT system vendor, we do it ourselves.” This is why the option to carry out future system adjustments to a great extent independently played an important role in the decision on the new tool. USU supported this project through intensive coaching and timely training of administrators, who in turn trained internal users. The internal key users are also available for user queries to release the application manager, who can then focus on system configuration and further development.
Higher service maturation stage for managed services
The goal of the project was to create both professional system support for the daily work of IT staff, and to offer customers a high level of transparency regarding current tickets and incidents. Most FKS customers still contact support via telephone or email. The intention is to significantly reduce telephone contact, which is why a first pilot customer was selected to test a self-service portal. After replacing the previous ticket system with USU IT Service Management, system support will be implemented for successive additional processes as the project continues, e. g., for problem management, change management and asset management. For example, processes that are still manual are to be automated. Through the flexible usage and adjustment options of the USU solution, managers were able to generate many ideas for further implementation of service management.
Other already available tools such as CMDB, Discovery and Monitoring will be integrated into USU IT Service Management or connected via interfaces. To reduce the dependence on a few people who have the know-how, and make knowledge available centrally, the introduction of the USU solution for knowledge management is conceivable. For staff, this means making work significantly easier, less manual effort and a higher throughput of tickets per person.