IS 483 Information Systems Management

IS 483Information Systems Management James Nowotarski 8 May 2003

Today’s Objectives • Recap operations management • Understand end user training • Understand help desk • Discuss assignment 3

Today’s agenda Topic Duration • Recap operations mgmt 15 minutes • Quiz 15 minutes • End user training (finish) 30 minutes • *** Break 10 minutes • Assignment 2 reports 20 minutes • Help desk 60 minutes • Assignment 3 45 minutes

Operations Management - What is it? Operations Management is the planning and management of . . . • Computer hardware (servers, workstations, etc.) • Communications lines and equipment (hubs, routers, switches, gateways, etc.) • Software (applications, system software, utilities) • Data centers (control rooms, console operations, libraries, backup, etc.) • Disaster recovery - detailed procedures/processes for recovering data and applications • Security (firewalls, intrusion detection, user authentication, etc.) • Personnel for the above (e.g., operators, programmers, technicians, etc.)

Data Centers Data Center Functions • Console monitoring • Input/Output control • Manual media distribution • Backups • Production coordination

Data Center Set-Up Managerial Considerations • Evaluation of user expectations • Use of vendors • Proximity issues • Measures and controls • Procure needed human resources • Define test plan • Physical security • Buy vs. lease the facility

Data Center Set-Up Technical Considerations • Location of the data center (access to needed resources) • Power issues • Fire suppression • Telephone-company connectivity • Cable management • Cooling system • Security/Backup procedures

Operations Management - How to Improve Approaches to Meeting Objectives • Centralize resources • Automate operations • Replace/Streamline legacy applications • Outsource • Continuous process improvement

Operations Management - How to improve Centralize resources • Locate resources in same physical location(s) • Can reduce support costs without jeopardizing service levels • Enables greater standardization of processes • Enables continual streamlining of operations processes

Operations Management - How to improve Continuous Process Improvement Plan Act Do Check

Service Types to Be Measured Service Types Disciplines Availability Reliability Performance Management Response time Application versions & enhancements Configuration Management Accounting Management Reporting procedure Fault Management • Incident management, e.g., • database failure • workstation failure Security Management Backup Recovery Management Recovery Capacity Planning Online Systems Output handling Batch Systems Schedule execution

Small Group Discussion Identify metrics and targets for each of the SLA service types below: • Performance? • Reliability (outages)? • Security management? • Incident management (i.e., responding to problems)? • Schedule execution (i.e., batch runs)?

Disaster Recovery Planning What is meant by this statement? • Disaster recovery planning is not a two-month project, neither is it a project that once completed, you can forget about. An effective recovery plan is a live recovery plan. • - Computing and Network Services (CNS)

Disaster Recovery Planning vs. Business Continuity Business Continuity • Disaster recovery • Business resumption and recovery (workplace to rebuild systems and the business) • Crisis management (how executives respond to and make decisions during a crisis)

Service Management Agreements (SMAs) Service Management Agreements (SMAs) address important gaps that typically occur in SLAs • 1. IT foundations • Standardization of metrics • Standardization of service descriptions • Standardization of reporting • 2. Process foundations • Account manager is assigned to a customer • Account manager and customer develop SLA • Service performance metrics are established • Service performance is published monthly • Account manager reviews quarterly with the customer • 3. Management foundations • Service quotes • Communication • Billing questions • Customer interviews and reviews Source: Gartner Group

Benefits of SMAs • Measuring IT • Managing IT • Quantifying IT’s contribution to the enterprise

BPR vs. ERP BPRERP Business process impact Software delivery approach Software upgrade responsibility Biggest challenge Radically redesign process Use process imposed by package Mostly custom Package Enterprise Vendor Adoption by the enterprise Adoption by the enterprise

Tech Process People Human Resource Impacts of BPR and ERP Both BPR and ERP are high risk projects that frequently fail to live up to expectations • Lack of visible leadership/sponsorship • Lack of adequate training • Lack of communication • Death by 1000 initiatives • New/Changed roles not implemented • New/Changed incentives/rewards not implemented

End User Training Benefits • Helps to overcome resistance to change • Boosts productivity • More knowledgeable and effective workers • Drives down support costs • help desk support • support from colleagues • Increases self-worth, confidence, morale, retention

End User Training Major Types of Training • Third-Party Training Classes • In-House Training Classes • Traditional Self-Study • Computer-Based Training • Web-based training • Video-based training (“highly animated cave paintings”)

User training and total cost of ownership call volume call complexity time

Increases total cost of ownership Increases user productivity/ effectiveness Decreases user productivity/ effectiveness Decreases total cost of ownership User training and total cost of ownership • Not providing any training • Providing training at the wrong time • Providing ineffective training • Replacing software with same level of functionality • Providing functionality not required by user • Process-related, rather than application-specific training • Additional software functionality (new or existing software) • Providing FAQ’s from the help desk • Training new users • Retraining existing users on functionality they have forgotten Source: Gartner

Training IT Training Emphasis • Management training • Customer service training • Communication skills training (e.g., presentations, writing)

Help Desk What is it? • Central point of contact that solves technical problems by providing support and information • Provides general information, responds to customer requests, logs problems, and has first-level responsibilities for problem determination and resolution • Collects information about customers and the types of problems they encounter

Help Desk History • Mainframe Era • User documentation manuals from training • Onsite specialists (for “platinum” customers) • Maybe an 800 number from a vendor • Online bulletin boards, user- or vendor-driven • Decentralized Era • Help screens appear • Computer-based training (CBT), available just-in-time (JIT) • Distributed Era • Help desk appears • Internet Era • Consolidated Service Desk

Help Desk Responsibilities • Planning • Collect trend information and evaluates trends • Gather planning information to avert problems and promote the use and further development of network capabilities • Development • Provide development assistance to end users on business controls, recovery management techniques, etc. • Evaluate new applications for inclusion on distributed network • Deployment • Provide/Coordinate user training on hardware, software, procedures • Support • Provide first tier of support for problem resolution • Compile and maintain online knowledge base

Tiers of Support Role Help Desk Tier 1 Product Specialists Tier 2 Product Developers Tier 3

Help Desk Ticket System • User calls with an incident • Incident is entered into a “User Support System” • Ticket number is assigned for tracking purposes • Call is routed to appropriate individual for resolution • User who reported problem may be able to view status of reported problems online

Help Desk Strategies used by successful Help Desks to obtain user satisfaction • Competent help desk representatives • technically competent, current • attitude (calm, patient, thick skin, empathetic, respectful) • Variety of help vehicles, e.g., • FAQ/knowledge base • online chat/discussion groups • super users • Regular communication during problem resolution • report status • be available • practice effective listening skills • Follow-Up afterward • survey/feedback • ensure customer satisfaction • Measure and assess (SLA) • Train users to eliminate need for support in the first place

Help Desk Help Desk Service Level Agreements (SLAs) • Performance goals are set for • all help desk agents • all support resources (e.g., vendors, tier 2, etc.) • Sample list of performance goals: • % of calls resolved on the first call • % of calls where user hung up before talking to agent • % of calls resolved at each tier • Mean Time to Repair (MTTR) for all trouble tickets • Number of tickets for each severity level • MTTR for each severity level • Number of tickets for each tier • MTTR for each tier • MTTR for specific hardware or applications • Number of problems resolved proactively before a telephone call made

Help Desk Product standards enable higher quality help desk service • Limits the amount of knowledge needed by help desk agent • Ensures users have same level/version of products, reduces complexity of multiple version support • Limits number of vendors and suppliers to be dealt with, enables more standardized interactions with these firms

Small groups • Identify groups (business or IT) that the help desk depends on • Identify groups (business or IT) that depend on the help desk

Help Desk Consolidated Service Desk (CSD) Scope of Functions • Coordination of support across tiers utilizing single point of contact and ownership transfer concepts • Ability to integrate and automate service, problem, change and asset management processes • Provision of quality and easy-to-use knowledge-based authoring tools • Capacity to offer tight integration of these elements: • legacy tools • telephony • Web chat • VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) • self-support • software distribution • remote control • network and system management (NSM)

Help Desk Benefits of Consolidated Service Desk (CSD) • Provider Perspective • Lowers people costs associated with service • Offers complete picture of all application and system costs • Reigns in support “chaos” that resulted from multiple help desks • User Perspective • Higher quality support and service • More seamless interaction with help desk/IT • Anywhere, anytime support • Users can be more self-reliant

No respect The lowest paid IT professionals continue to be in help desk or IT support, with median compensation at $39,000 - Information Week, 4/29/02 Lots of responsibility . . . “go home mentally exhausted at night” . . . good entry point into an IT career . . . e-support helpful in preventing burnout - Information Week, 6/25/01

Discuss “The help desk has responsibility to make its own value more visible” - Chris Martins, Aberdeen Group - Information Week, 6/25/01

Help Desk - Trends How Help Desks are evolving • Consolidation • Call avoidance, self-help, WWW • Central role in management and quality assurance • Professional/Customer-oriented attitude (convergence with customer service) • Better training and career opportunities • Use of help desk software • Use of outsourcers

Reactive, demand driven Fixes results of problems, not their causes An information dead end A career dead end Isolated Passive - awaiting approaches Techically oriented staff Struggling for resources A “back room” function Proactive, strategy driven Fixes the causes of problems at source Gathers/disseminates info. A worthwhile career path Integral Aggressive - markets itself Customer service oriented Justifies resourcing The public face of IT / Customer Services Help Desk - Trends Traditional Modern

Help Desk - Trends Young adults’ comfort with technology could change IT support • “Hacker mentality” • More likely to handle minor technical problems on their own • More likely to use Web-based self-service tools • Example: DePauw University • “At the help desk crew I supervise, the goal is to head off 60% of call traffic by using self-help resources” • As callers get younger, that figure could rise to 80% • - Information Week, 10/21/02

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IS 483 Information Systems Management