IS 483 Information Systems Management

IS 483Information Systems Management

James Nowotarski

8 May 2003

• Recap operations management• Understand end user training• Understand help desk• Discuss assignment 3

Today’s Objectives

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

Today’s agenda

Operations Management - What is it?

• 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.)

Operations Management is the planning and management of . . .

Data Centers

1. Console monitoring

2. Input/Output control

3. Manual media distribution

4. Backups

5. Production coordination

Data Center Functions

Data Center Set-Up

• 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

Managerial Considerations

Data Center Set-Up

• Location of the data center (access to needed resources)

• Power issues

• Fire suppression

• Telephone-company connectivity

• Cable management

• Cooling system

• Security/Backup procedures

Technical Considerations

Operations Management - How to Improve

• Centralize resources

• Automate operations

• Replace/Streamline legacy applications

• Outsource

• Continuous process improvement

Approaches to Meeting Objectives

Operations Management - How to improve

• 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

Centralize resources

Operations Management - How to improve

Continuous Process Improvement

Plan

Do

Check

Act

Service Types to Be Measured

Disciplines

Performance Management

Configuration Management

Availability

Reliability

Response time

Application versions & enhancements

Accounting Management Reporting procedure

Fault Management Incident management, e.g., • database failure• workstation failure

Security Management

Recovery ManagementBackup

Recovery

Capacity Planning

Online Systems

Batch SystemsOutput handling

Schedule execution

Service Types

Small Group Discussion

• Performance?

• Reliability (outages)?

• Security management?

• Incident management (i.e., responding to problems)?

• Schedule execution (i.e., batch runs)?

Identify metrics and targets for each of the SLA service types below:

Disaster Recovery Planning

• 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)

What is meant by this statement?

Disaster Recovery Planning vs. 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)

Business Continuity

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

Topic Duration


• Quiz 15 minutes






Today’s agenda

BPR vs. ERP

BPR ERP

Business processimpact

Software deliveryapproach

Software upgraderesponsibility

Biggest challenge

Radically redesignprocess

Use process imposedby package

Mostly custom Package

Enterprise Vendor

Adoption by the enterprise

Adoption by the enterprise

Human Resource Impacts of BPR and ERP

Both BPR and ERP are high risk projects that frequently fail to live up to expectations

Process Tech

People

• 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

• 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

Benefits

End User 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”)

Major Types of Training

User training and total cost of ownership

time

callvolume

callcomplexity

User training and total cost of ownership

Increasesuser productivity/effectiveness

Increasestotal costof ownership

Decreasestotal costof ownership

Decreasesuser productivity/effectiveness

• 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

• 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

Source: Gartner

• Management training• Customer service training• Communication skills training (e.g., presentations,

writing)

Training

IT Training Emphasis

Topic Duration


• Quiz 15 minutes






Today’s agenda

Help Desk

• 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

What is it?

Help Desk

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

History

Help Desk

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

networkDeployment• Provide/Coordinate user training on hardware, software,

proceduresSupport• Provide first tier of support for problem resolution• Compile and maintain online knowledge base

Responsibilities

Tiers of Support

Tier 1

Tier 2

Tier 3

Role

Help Desk

Product Specialists

Product Developers

Help Desk

• 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

Ticket System

Help Desk

• 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

Strategies used by successful Help Desks to obtain user satisfaction

Help Desk

• 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 Service Level Agreements (SLAs)

Help Desk

• 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

Product standards enable higher quality help desk service

1. Identify groups (business or IT) that the help desk depends on

2. Identify groups (business or IT) that depend on the help desk

Small groups

Help Desk

1. Coordination of support across tiers utilizing single point of contact and ownership transfer concepts

2. Ability to integrate and automate service, problem, change and asset management processes

3. Provision of quality and easy-to-use knowledge-based authoring tools

4. 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)

Consolidated Service Desk (CSD) Scope of Functions

Help Desk

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

Benefits of Consolidated Service Desk (CSD)

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

No respect

Lots of responsibility . . . “go home mentally exhausted at night” . . . good entry point into an IT career . . . e-support helpful in preventing burnout


“The help desk has responsibility to make its own value more visible” - Chris Martins, Aberdeen Group


Discuss

Help Desk - Trends

• 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

How Help Desks are evolving

• 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

• “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%


Young adults’ comfort with technology could change IT support

Topic Duration


• Quiz 15 minutes






Today’s agenda

End of slides

IS 483 Information Systems Management

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