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OVERVIEW

The current support model has many duplicative services (i.e. inventory and asset tracking).  The way that departmental technology support staff interact with centralized management tools varies in approach and the technological skillset of the team is varied, leading to mixed customer experiences. This initiative would strive to eliminate duplicative services, standardize and enhance technology training, develop consistency in departmental support and improve asset purchasing and acquisition.

Purpose

The current support model has many duplicative services (i.e. inventory and asset tracking).  The way that departmental technology support staff interact with centralized management tools varies in approach, not ensuring a standard of quality.  The technological skillset of the team is substantially varied leading to mixed customer experiences.

While attempts have been made in the past, standardization across the University has proven difficult due to low and varying levels of influence over departmental technology lifecycle and support.  Standardization gaps includes workforce management, technical training, student staffing, asset acquisition, quality assurance, tool sets, processes and documentation.  The field team does not have a single point of contact to serve as their escalation point to centrally provided services.

Currently there is little consistency in how lines for support personnel are funded.  Some are fully funded by the department, others are fully funded by Information Technology, and others are split (at varying percentages) between Information Technology and the department.

The purpose of this effort is to eliminate duplicative services, standardize and enhance technology training, develop consistency in departmental support, and improve asset purchasing and acquisition by leveraging volume and discount purchasing.

Objectives

• Reduce cost by centrally managing procurement of computing systems and technology.
• Increase efficiency through centralized management of field team.
• Increase customer satisfaction scores from an unknown to a measured and managed standard.
• Reduce risk and increase security through standardization of system configuration and management.

Deliverables

• Creation of a centralized shared services technology support team
• Creation of a centralized field support and training team to provide personalized support for the shared services team
• Development of standardized documentation around procedures and system configurations
• Standardization of computing technologies in labs and academic spaces
• Standardization of training for shared services technology support team members
• Establishment of centralized hardware and software purchasing cycles
• Standardization of how student workforce is managed and leveraged
• Standardization of technology management and inventory
• Establishment of baseline customer service ratings
• Establishment of department specific service level agreements that considers departmental needs and Information Technology related initiatives
• Centralize the scheduling and training of student techs
• Establish refresh cycle guidelines for all departmental technology

Project Team

• Leaders:  John Rathje, Information Technology. James Raber, Information Technology/Education Tech Support
• Jay Frye, Information Technology/Support & Training
• Josh Talbott, Information Technology/College of Arts & Sciences
• Kevin Acierno, Information Technology/Regional Campuses (Ashtabula)
• Jona Burton, Information Technology/Federated Desk Support
• Andy Martineau, Information Technology/Library
• Ward Souders, Information Technology/Federated Desk Support

Primary Contact

• James Raber, Information Technology - jaraber@kent.edu