AxizWorkgroup streamlines IT helpdesk with Epicor ITSM

Challenges and opportunities:

* Optimisation of IT helpdesk was essential.
* Business intelligence capabilities were lacking with old CRM system.
* IT service management (ITSM) solution had to be ITIL-compliant.

Epicor solution and services:

* Epicor IT service management (ITSM)

Why Epicor?

* Epicor offers a complete ITSM solution that is ITIL-compliant with flexible business intelligence capabilities.

Benefits:

* IT helpdesk is achieving unprecedented levels of efficiency.
* More precise SLAs in place.
* Staff accountability and performance management.
* Asset management and tracking.

Company facts:

* Location: Midrand, South Africa
* Industry: IT
* Number of locations: five
* Web site: www.axiz.co.za

AxizWorkgroup is a leading IT infrastructure distributor committed to providing technology intelligence to its business partners through the supply of world-class hardware and software products and solutions.

As a top supplier of IT brands like Intel, Acer, HP, Seagate and Intel, AxizWorkgroup's helpdesk supports many channel resellers and retail partners. Support is provided by AxizWorkgroup's team of highly trained engineers, who are responsible for resolving technical problems experienced by customers. These problems range from out-of-box-failures to various types of faults. Some of which are resolved quickly, while others require more intensive man-hours and resources.

The level of support provided by AxizWorkgroup's support team is of paramount importance to the company and its customers. Having access to detailed business intelligence (BI) data on the IT helpdesk facilitates planning and employee performance to support management in the decision-making process.

Without this data, there is no way to measure the performance of the IT helpdesk; ensure that customers' needs are met on time; manage and track assets; anticipate problems; allocate training where necessary; accurately measure employees' performance; and base planning on reliable data.

The IT industry is very competitive; a fact further compounded by the current economic climate. Providing customers with top-class service is essential to staying ahead. The ability to anticipate challenges, carry out strategic planning based on accurate and up-to-date facts, and hold employees accountable is invaluable to management.

Managing a team of engineers and agents tending to hundreds of helpdesk calls can be complex. There are many factors that come into play and need to be considered, such as time management, reporting, progress tracking, resources and assets used and time spent on calls. All of which must be directly linked to an employee and his or her performance.

AxizWorkgroup and New Era Solutions have enjoyed a prosperous 10-year working relationship, which began with the Epicor CRM solution in 2001. However, due to a management change and the perceived cost saving of implementing a customised CRM system, AxizWorkgroup switched over to a different provider.

New ERA Solutions specialises in integrated and customisable IT solutions in partnership with global specialists in enterprise resource planning (ERP), warehouse management systems (WMS), customer relationship management (CRM) and mobility, offering a single-source solution.

Over time, this 'custom-designed' CRM system was not able to deliver on expectations. The system was very problematic and unable to meet AxizWorkgroup's needs when it came to reporting and reliability. It became obvious that a more effective solution needed to be found to sustain profitability and support planning.

“We realised that having a proven, out-of-the-box solution that offered scalability and flexibility was what we needed,” says Pedro Maia, IT manager for Axiz. “A fully customisable solution may seem like the answer on the surface, but in reality the result is quite the opposite.”

Epicor IT Service Management (ITSM) proved to be the best solution because it offered AxizWorkgroup a comprehensive out-of-the-box solution that is intuitive, flexible and scalable.

With Epicor ITSM, an organisation can provide its IT team with accurate, complete and clear information because it's easy to create, trace, summarise and close incidents, problems and change requests. Epicor ITSM enables companies to set and monitor varying service levels based on specific agreements, and offers a powerful structured solution for IT management processes.

One of the key criteria when AxizWorkgroup was seeking a replacement for its unreliable CRM system was that the new system had to be ITIL compliant.

Epicor ITSM provides a robust set of service management features that support key IT processes outlined by the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) version 2 and version 3, and have been certified by Pink Elephant as ITIL compatible for:

* Incident management
* Problem management
* Change management
* Configuration management
* Service level management

The best practices of ITIL along with Epicor ITSM and Epicor IT Operations Management (ITOM) solutions provide IT departments not just the opportunity to learn from the knowledge and experience of people who have faced the same challenges, but the ability to cost-effectively manage the strategic deployment of IT resources and assets. The net result - greater productivity, seamless change management, and efficient IT service.

New Era Solutions worked closely with AxizWorkgroup to conceptualise the structure of the new system. Then the implementation and changeover began.

“Our concept was easily implemented by Epicor ITSM. The New Era Solutions team's technical ability and understanding of our business meant that the project flowed with ease,” says Maia.

The installation and configuration of the Epicor ITSM customer support module formed the basis of the IT helpdesk solution implemented for AxizWorkgroup.

The system was installed and configured to facilitate call logging either manually or using a centralised support e-mail address. Calls are then assigned to the relevant call queues and managed by the responsible teams. The system was set up with the necessary support categories, service level agreements (SLA) and support queues in place.

It took two weeks from the start of the project for Epicor ITSM to be up and running, and within a month, AxizWorkgroup was able to pull reports on all aspects of the helpdesk.

Calls are tracked by category and there are eight categories which make up the helpdesk's workload. Calls are automatically allocated by the system, based on the skills required to resolve the call.

Added to this, customers are able to track the progress and details of their call via an online portal. They also receive e-mail notifications updating them on their call's progress.

“Epicor makes it possible for us to slice and dice business intelligence (BI) data so that we can accurately manage resources and see our helpdesk from all angles,” says Maia. Using the BI data, which is now readily available through Epicor ITSM, AxizWorkgroup has revised its customers' SLAs and can now set workable objectives for staff that can be accurately measured.

“We are able to identify problem areas with both staff and assets. Performance bonuses and training can then be allocated based on this data. This facilitates planning and control,” adds Maia.

Using Epicor ITSM, AxizWorkgroup can now assign resources to users and track their life cycle within the organisation. Data can pinpoint whether a resource is problematic as it is passed from one user to the next, or that it is only problematic with one user. The necessary action can then be taken and training can be arranged. This helps to enrich staff and to prolong the lifespan of assets.

Tangible BI data makes it possible to set realistic performance objectives and accurately measure them. These objectives can then be tied to performance appraisals, bonuses and disciplinary processes.

“We are very happy with the results we have experienced to date. Epicor ITSM has added a huge amount of value to our business and the reporting it offers has been invaluable to both ourselves and our client base. I would have no hesitation in recommending New Era Solutions and Epicor as a solutions provider,” concludes Maia.