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A time for change Connecting TOPdesk to other programs Communicate your SSD to success!
editorial
22
Do I have everything?
Snow chains? Check. Sunglasses? Check. Ski socks? Check and check! Ive spent all week packing for my first skiing vacation. With these trips, you ransack your house and discover that you have factor 30 lip balm and even a pair of snow boots lying about. My more experienced friends also gave me handy to have tips. Without them, I never would have added bruise ointment or thermal underwear to my list! I always make a holiday checklist to make sure I dont forget any important things like my passport or tickets. Now I think about it, I actually use checklists for everything. Have I arranged everything for this magazine? Check. Do I have all my groceries for tonights meal? Check. These lists provide certainty and clarity for a variety of situations. TOPdesk also uses a lot of checklists and overviews. In this issue, for instance, you can read about how the St. Elisabeth Hospital maps and monitors all systems and equipment with TOPdesk. Our SaaS specialists also tell us about their checklist for the coming SaaS upgrade to TOPdesk 5. Hopefully these stories will inspire you to take a look at your own Configuration Management, or check whether youre running through all the required steps in a process, for instance. I think I have everything on my list, but Im still worried about forgetting something. Its not a disaster if I dont take my sun screen, but maybe I should make my checklist in TOPdesk and get a barcode scanner. Just in case... Enjoy reading! Nienke Deuss, editor-in-chief
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contents April 13
Now an installation takes only fifteen to thirty minutes
Erwin Bothof SaaS coordinator at TOPdesk
News
10
10 A time for change 13 Connecting TOPdesk to other programs 16 How we upgrade your SaaS 19 COLUMN Coming clean 20 Behind the scenes at the TOPdesk beta programme 22 Communicate your SSD to success! 24 working smarter Gain insight into time spent and costs 28 tips + tricks
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On the cover:
Aart van Stiphout and Hans Boonk of St. Elisabeth Hospital in Tilburg.
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@TOPdesk
A selection of our recent tweets:
@JeroenBoks Service Management and System Management combined: celebrating #LANDesk implementation at #TOPdesk with partner @Axle_IT
says that TOPdesk offers all capabilities the market is looking for. TOPdesk will be
@SITSLaura @itsmreview good freebies need to be memorable! Great example by @TOPdesk_UK Remember that for #SITS13!! @SITSLaura @itsmreview Great to hear you like our freebies. See you at the TOPdesk stand at #SITS13! @daniel_vicrea @TOPdesk it works well but Ive still got some ideas. Who can I contact?
@TOPdesk @daniel_vicrea Ideas are always welcome! You can send us your ideas via http:// extranet.topdesk.com > log incident (feature request)
@roelsnijders Started using TOPdesk as a knowledge base for application and technical management #verseon
TOPdesk was included in their review, and rated very favourably. In their overview, TOPdesk SaaS customer success was rated as a major success the highest attainable level in the report. TOPdesk are delighted to receive recognition for our SaaS ITSM
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The University of St Andrews uses the TOPdesk-based service management solution UniDesk. Developed by the University of Edinburgh in partnership with the University of Abertay Dundee and the University of St Andrews, this shared service is tailored to cater specifically to the needs of higher education institutions. Visit http://www.unidesk.ac.uk/ for more information about UniDesks shared service for universities and colleges.
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6 customer in focus
customer in focus 7
The Information and Automation department (I&A) is the invisible caregiver at the St. Elisabeth Hospital. However, supporting all employees and the various systems is no simple task. Over the past year, the CMDB underwent extensive changes to help the hospital gain more insight into its dynamic infrastructure.
The St. Elisabeth Hospital in Tilburg, the Netherlands has approximately 3,500 employees. For the I&A department, this means 3,500 login names and passwords and 28 different specializations, each with its own systems and equipment. There are also 2,500 workstations which are available to everyone, and therefore must have access to various types of software. Hans Boonk, integration specialist at I&A, says that the system has become increasingly complex: In the past ten years we have gone from eighteen to three hundred and fifty servers . We support all workstations for employees who perform administrative tasks, such as doctors, assistants or lab technicians who enter data in Electronic Health Records (EHR). The hospital also has a boulevard, complete with shops, a chemist and places to eat. We make sure that they can use the facilities as well.
8 customer in focus
In the past ten years we have gone from eighteen to three hundred and fifty servers
Hans Boonk Integration specialist I&A
figuration Management module to register all systems. However, in 2009 it became apparent that the TOPdesk set-up no longer accurately represented their situation. Aart van Stiphout, change and release manager at I&A, tells us more. When preparing for the Windows XP SP3 update, we discovered that our CMDB had a lot of incorrect and incomplete information; the data was about forty-five
per cent reliable. Apparently equipment was moved regularly, but the changes were not registered properly. With the CMDBs relational data often being incorrect, processes became less efficient. When dealing with an incident, change, or problem, it was impossible to quickly find all the relevant data to determine the impact, for instance, says Van Stiphout. This is why we
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started a large project to get the CMDB up to date and, more importantly, keep it that way.
the focus to the systems. All configuration items are now registered in a configuration. This let us create a relational object database, a kind of blueprint of our infrastructure. The graphical overviews grant us immediate insight into the relationships between servers and systems, for instance, and make it easy for us to respond to malfunctions.
them to the right configuration. The decision was made to create a central system management to ensure that the registered data remains up to date. The managers have to integrate management tasks in their departments daily routine. They have to keep track of changes or updates to their systems in Incident Management or Change Management, says Boonk. To make things easier, we purchased the TOPdesk Barcode Scanner module. After all, equipment and monitors are moved around. After moving something, you just have to use the scanner and the information is automatically updated in TOPdesk. The goal is to make the CMDB 90 per cent reliable. We aim for ninety per cent, but that doesnt mean much if you reach your goal for a single testing moment. If it turns out that eighty per cent is more viable and easy to maintain, Ill be satisfied.
Infrastructure blueprint
First they needed to determine the information the different processes required and how to register it. We decided to register all objects in TOPdesk, says Boonk. All servers, network components, printers, software, and so on. But we didnt want to just register our objects: we also wanted to gain insight into how the systems are related. After all, if a specific server goes down, you want to know the impact and which systems are affected. Many TOPdesk customers use configurations in the Configuration Management module to map out the relationships between objects. These are usually based on employees: person X has PC 1281-l, telephone 1455 and laptop Dell3401. When the employee in question moves or leaves the organization, the configuration can easily be linked to another employee or location. The St. Elisabeth Hospital decided against this user-based set-up for their configuration right from the start, as Van Stiphout explains. You cant link a group of assets to a single person in a hospital. Employees dont have a fixed workplace: they can log in to any workstation. This is why Van Stiphout and Boonk decided to completely change the configurations and shift
Escalating in TOPdesk
Hospitals have a wider range of systems than the average organization. In addition to the standard PCs, printers and company applications, the I&A department also has to deal with medical equipment and software to save x-rays, for instance. As a result, they have also saved a lot of information about the responsibilities and agreements relating to the systems. In the graphical overviews we can immediately see who manages a system, says Boonk. We have also included supplier contact information, so we can see the agreements made about repairs or round-the-clock services, for instance. The hospital has a number of critical systems that have a large impact on primary and supporting systems. We used the Object Cards Attention field to specify system priority, so how quickly it must be repaired, says Van Stiphout. The systems are classified based on the impact they would have should they become unavailable.
Future challenges
The project is not yet finished, but the next challenge is already on the horizon. The management of the St. Elisabeth Hospital will be fusing with the nearby TweeSteden Hospital, which also has a branch in another city. The goal is to concentrate the healthcare services on offer. As a result, a number of specialisms will be spread across the three locations. The management will be fused this year, says Boonk. All processes and systems must be linked. This also means that we need to coordinate the methods and tooling with I&A at TweeSteden. Van Stiphout continues, We dont know whether we can continue to use this configuration set-up, or even keep using TOPdesk, but its clear that uniformity should be our strength; we have to align our processes.
Staying up to date
There was already a lot of information in TOPdesk at the start of the project, but the CMDB was not complete. That is why we designated contact persons for each specialization. They have to help with the catch-up effort, says Van Stiphout. They are busy registering the missing objects and linking
irene kruijff
is a TOPdesk consultant and specializes in occupational psychology. Irene supports TOPdesk implementations and provides training.
If you wish to prevent or address resistance, it is important to understand the source. This lets you think about the expected resistance in advance and directly address it using this information. There are three general categories of resistance1:
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The participants do not understand the need for change.
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People are not motivated to participate in the change, because of bad experiences in the past or negative emotions, for instance.
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The participants do not have everything they require for change.
From resistance to willingness to change by Erwin Metselaar, Anton Cozijnsen, Peter van Delft, 2011
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consequences will be. If you notice that someone is having trouble with the change, a personal chat during office rounds can help considerably. Try to translate the company and departments interests to the individual colleagues interests.
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TIP: Link positive emotions to the change TIP: Train your colleagues
Train your colleagues in the new working method. Provide clear instructions and reference material so that it is clear how things should be done even after the project is finished. Celebrate reaching milestones, such as with coffee and cake. Reward employees who contribute, and reward positive results with an honourable mention or a positive evaluation during an assessment.
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connecting
14 tool
Can you connect TOPdesk to another software program? We seem to be getting this question a lot lately. In this article, you can find out how a connection process works, how you can prepare and how to spot potential pitfalls.
Phase 2: design
Once the right people have been selected, they can start working on the design: a document in which the specific linking details are recorded. It can be useful during this phase to determine step by step what needs to be made later on. TOPdesk has a so-called top-down approach when it comes to creating a design. The start of the design is very general, and becomes more detailed with each step. The design includes the following topics: 1. Connectivity: the programs need to communicate with each other via a medium. This medium can be an HTTP(S) connection, but also email or file transfer (either with or without FTP). Once the medium is determined, you need to establish the specific settings. This can include server names, URLs, IP addresses, file names, file locations and mailboxes. Security also plays an important role here. 2. Process: the use cases to be supported by the connection. This could include registering the time spent on an incident, which sends a message including time spent, operator and customer from TOPdesk to program B. 3. Messages: messages are exchanged between the programs and consist of several matching data items. These messages are defined in XML: a language to save structured data in a document. 4. Fields: a message is composed of fields. Fields can be caller, time spent or call type, for instance. Determine the source of the field within the program and where it needs to go in the other program. A field like time spent in TOPdesk, for instance, can be moved to the quantity field in the accounting software. 5. Values: data values will be sent from field to field, but in some cases the values might not match. For instance, because one package is in
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Functional expert
Functional expert
Functional expert
Integration expert
Integration expert
Dutch and the other is in English. You can prevent this by translating all the values before they are sent. These measures are documented in the design. Please note: you might not run into any issues until the development. An accurate estimate of the connection costs can be made based on the information in the design. You can then make a cost-benefit analysis to determine whether the project should continue.
Phase 3: implementation
Has a go been given to the rest of the process? Then the people identified in phase 1 can get to work. During development it often turns out that minor design adjustments need to be made. Each program needs a test environment for the development. If they do not yet exist, they should be set up first.
16 project in focus
Pouyan Daddeh
is a TOPdesk consultant. He specializes in technical issues.
Efficient updates
Optimizing and automating the technology we use for our updates increases efficiency, says Bothof. The first fifty environments we updated took four members of the SaaS Support team an entire Saturday, with most of the update performed manually. We expect upgrading five hundred environments to TOPdesk 5 to take six members of the SaaS Sup-
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an indication of the time required to update and test all the bespoke work. The current upgrade has an estimated duration of six to eight weeks. Writing and testing the scripts for installing and updating is done parallel to updating all the bespoke work, explains Bothof. We use a test network to perform the tests. Its an identical copy of the production network, with the exception of the customer environments. Once the scripts have been approved, we can start upgrading: first the test networks in March, then the production environments in April.
variety of manuals and videos. We have also prepared a knowledge item that customers can use as a news item to announce the upgrade to their end users.
and support. Customers are kept up to date through mail-outs, but we are also offering a number of supplementary services. For example, we are organizing webinars (free
SaaS team, from left to right: Patrick Nigrini, Menno van der Bijl, Xesc Arbona, Arjan s Gravendijk, Sietse Eling and Erwin Bothof
18 project in focus
Semi-annual update
All SaaS environments are updated at least once a year, but we strive to update environments without bespoke work twice a year. SaaS adheres to TOPdesks version planning, releasing a new version twice a year. The SaaS team waits for the first service pack before updating, so that they can guarantee the stability of the new version.
environment is not functioning properly, were already working on a solution, says Bothof. Meanwhile, the SaaS team is growing rapidly. In the beginning there were only a few people closely involved in the project. Nowadays, the team comprises 26 members from all departments. The biggest improvement is that the whole organization is becoming more aware that they have to keep SaaS in mind.
More information?
Visit www.topdesk.com/saas-update for more information about SaaS or to request a free demonstration environment.
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column
JASmijn moerman
...is a service management consultant at TOPdesk. She combines her consultancy activities with facility coordination within TOPdesk.
Coming clean
Research shows that the cleanliness in many holiday homes leaves a lot to be desired, says the radio news anchor. Unfortunately for me, she does not refrain from going into detail.
Kitchens may seem clean at first glance, but samples show that counters in holiday homes are often a major source of bacteria. Some were even dirtier than the toilet seat. Even the cleanest house could use some extra suds. The dirtiest holiday park reviewed is shocked and promises improvement. Ive had similar shocked reactions myself, such as whenever I get my hot plate out of the cupboard for the first time in months. Dust and crumbs somehow manage to accumulate under the box. This also happens with the cutlery tray. The cutlery itself is washed every day, but sometimes I need a kitchen utensil from a little deeper down. Apparently clean cutlery doesnt guarantee a clean cutlery drawer. As a consultant I get to take a look behind the scenes at various types of organization almost every day. Here too some things are not as tidy as they first seem. Take property management, for example.
When registering a call or change activity, incorrect naming or double Branch Cards do not immediately interfere with daily tasks. Until a new department starts using TOPdesk, processes change or a new version of TOPdesk is installed, that is. Then it becomes apparent that a clear overview of branches and rooms is very important. I once visited a customer I was helping implement the Reservations Management module. One of my first questions, whether they had already registered all their buildings and rooms in TOPdesk, was met with a nod. This indeed turned out to be the case. However, finding out that the main building was registered under five different names (on five different Branch Cards) was less wonderful. This made finding the right room for a reservation quite tricky. How many printers are in building X? Does this new employee work at the main office, the main building or the main Dutch office? Such questions remain unanswered.
You can also imagine how confusing the resulting reports would be. We had to sort out the underlying issues before we could get started with setting up the customers reservation process. An unexpected but unavoidable delay for the project. Hopefully the holiday parks have learned from their mistakes and will keep their buildings in order from now on. However, it is still bad that they didnt find out that their cleaning was not enough until it was too late. All previous visitors who had to make their sandwiches on a counter with more bacteria than a toilet seat will surely agree. The truth will come out, so coming clean is unavoidable. High time to tidy up those cupboards and drawers!
20 project in focus
bram verheij
is a technical product consultant and involved in the TOPdesk beta programme.
the quality of these releases. Each individual part of the software is tested thoroughly during the development process. The functional development ends three months before the planned release; after this point, individual parts of the version can no longer be adjusted. After completing the functional development, the so-called beta phase starts. In this period, the beta version is tested extensively, with the Development department setting aside time to address problems and implement improve-
used to perform further tests. Once the beta version has been in use without any problems for some time, the final important part of the beta phase starts: the beta programme for customers.
ments. Once the first tests have been successfully completed, the beta version is installed in TOPdesks own production environment and used intensively by our various departments. Any problems with the software during this period are immediately communicated to the Development department. This input is incorporated in the next beta version, which is then
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we were able to benefit from new features and bug fixes earlier than ever before
Arno van Turenhout
expected of the final release. The beta programme lasts a number of weeks. If there are no changes to be made, the new version of TOPdesk is made available to all customers. To ensure that this period progresses smoothly, customers who wish to use the beta version in their production environment are assigned a personal contact at TOPdesk Support. They also receive remote support during the beta version installation and the later update to the release version. Customers who wish to use the beta version in their test environment have access to the download and can provide feedback .
and customers four years ago. BRAIN FORCE is a corporate IT service provider that supports organizations in optimizing their IT and cloud infrastructures. Arno van Turennout (IT support and facilities manager) and Serge Wol (first line support specialist and TOPdesk application manager) were both involved in the beta programme, as Van Turennout explains. We make software, so we know how important it is to have customers take part in the development of new versions. By taking part in the beta programme, we were able to benefit from new features and bug fixes earlier than ever before . BRAIN FORCE takes a professional approach to implementing the beta version. After the test environment installation, we let several intensive TOPdesk users see if they encountered anything that would hinder their daily tasks, says Wol. We have never run into any-
thing that disrupted our working process, so we could install the beta on our production environment quite quickly. In our experience, TOPdesk beta versions are stable and perform well. Van Turennout continues, Because BRAIN FORCE makes software, we are not surprised by small imperfections in a beta version. In such cases, it is great that TOPdesk Support provides such excellent guidance, or we might not be able to take part in every programme. This gives us the feeling that our input is taken seriously for improving the eventual release. An added bonus from having more frequent contact with TOPdesk Support during the beta programme is that we get tips and ideas about utilizing TOPdesks possibilities.
The SSD lets service departments shorten the lines of communication with their customers, enabling them to help colleagues more quickly. Even if there is not an immediate solution for the logged problem, clear communication will improve customer satisfaction. Callers can track the status of their call in the SSD, and they always know where they stand. Quick support is important, but knowing that someone is working on your problem is just as reassuring.
The SSD should not only go live, but also keep its momentum
vate their employees. In practice this is often done by email, a message on the intranet, or a specially organized introduction session. This works at first, but is also easily forgotten. The organization then returns to the situation when it needed to implement a self service desk in the first place.
Communicate!
The key to successfully using the self service desk lies in communication. This means you should consider your employees acceptance of the SSD even before the implementation of the self service desk. How are we going to handle the implementation and promotion of the SSD within the organization? How are we going to gain the acceptance needed to innovate the company processes? The answer to these types of questions is not: Lets send everyone an email. It is important that you ask questions about the future SSD users during the implementation. Who fits the company profile and our target groups? But also: what is the specific aim of the SSD? Implementation and communication strategy go side-by-side.
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Communicate in phases
It is important that you continue to communicate during all the phases of the SSD implementation. Before the SSD goes live, you can focus on announcements like: Coming soon: the SSD! Once the SSD is live, it is a challenge to activate the target group with a different type of communication. Later on it can be useful to continue communicating as a reminder, keeping your employees motivated to use the SSD. It is important to make sure the SSD not only goes live, but also does not lose its momentum.
24 working smarter
patrick mackaaij
is an information coordinator at TOPdesk. He specializes in technical issues and optimizing processes.
A report displaying spent time and costs TOPdesks process cards let you register time spent and costs. Doing so helps you create overviews of how much time and money was required for incidents and problems, or project, change or operational activities. You can group these key numbers per module with the standard report wizards and widgets. In the pop-up you can register time spent for a specific operator or operator group. You can also antedate the time spent registration.
working smarter 25
The Salary value is determined based on the hourly rate of the operator (group) involved at the moment of time registration. If you based the report on a selection in Step 1, you are only able to select the values. This is because selections are always limited to a specific module. Step 3. It is also possible to group the key numbers per period or based
The report follows the same steps as the TOPdesk Reports Wizard. Step 1. Select the period to report on, and specify whether or not to include archived incidents. You can also base the report on a selection. The selection menu groups all selections per module. The report displays the module to which the selection applies. Your TOPdesk application manager can set up the module prefixes on the server. Step 2. Tick the modules for which you want to group the data.
on a property, such as branch, cost centre or department. You can also use free searchlists to report on project level, for instance. The default number of grouping levels is three, but your TOPdesk application manager can expand this to ten. You will be able to click on groups to access more detailed overviews. Step 4. Indicate whether you wish to create a dynamic or static table. With a dynamic table, you can click through grouping levels. Static tables display all data in a single overview, and are intended for export to Excel or PDF.
26 working smarter
Editorial
Want to comment? Go to www.topdeskmagazine.com The TOPdesk Magazine covers subjects that are topical in the world of professional service desks in IT, facilities and other service providing organizations. TOPdesk Magazine is intended for managers, service desk employees, facilities organizations and electronic city councils anyone who is involved with supporting clients on a daily basis. This concerns both the processes and the technology behind these services. TOPdesk Magazine is a TOPdesk publication Tel: +44 (0) 207 803 4200 Email: editorial@topdesk.com Chief Editor: Nienke Deuss Editors: Nienke Deuss, Timme Hos, Stefanie Klaassen, Milou Snaterse Translators: Leah Clarke, Nicola van de Velde Contributors: Paul Balvers, Pouyan Daddeh, Irene Kruijff, Jasmijn Moerman, Patrick Mackaaij, Bram Verheij Layout: Louise van der Laak Photography: Aad Hoogendoorn, Robin Kuijs Copy editor: Nicola van de Velde A print run of 6,000 Quarterly magazine Languages: Dutch, English
TOPdesk add-ons
TOPdesk offers Enterprise customers a number of add-ons to address questions relevant to several customers. Add-on installation usually happens under supervision of a TOPdesk consultant, who can provide information and take care of the initial set-up. You can request the Spent Time and Costs add-on via the TOPdesk Extranet.
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The more your end users use the SSD, the more time and money you will save. After a successful promotion, the number of calls logged in the SSD increases by 40% on average!
t Please feel free to contact us to discuss the possibilities of your Self Service Desk promotion.
e contact@designagencyddc.com w designagencyddc.com
28 klant in beeld
tips + tricks
Implementing many changes at once
TOPdesk has a trick that lets you apply the same change to 100 cards with a single click. This works in all versions of TOPdesk. Simply follow these steps: 1. Create an HTTP request* for the desired change. 2. In the Event Management module, link this HTTP request to an action that takes place for the event move to this card type from an archived card. 3. Create a selection of the cards you wish to adjust and archive them. 4. Create a selection of the desired archived cards and activate them. > The HTTP request will now be run and the cards will be changed. Please visit the TOPdesk Community for more information and a step-by-step guide: https://community.topdesk.com/showthread.php?t=1337 * The HTTP request manual is available in the Event Management module manual on the Help & Support site (PDF).
Mail import
Did you know: the mail import can also create and update changes? the mail import can also use IMAP on SSL? the mail import can also be used in combination with Office 365?* you can have the creator of the card filled in? you can have the creator of the card trigger an event for elapsed time (such as automatically sending a registered email)? * Contact TOPdesk Support for more information.
TOPdesk UK limited t +44 (0)20 7803 4200 e info@topdesk.co.uk w www.topdesk.co.uk TOPdesk Deutschland GmbH t +49 (0)631 624 00 0 e info@topdesk.de w www.topdesk.de
TOPdesk Belgium bvba t +32 (0)3 292 32 90 e info@topdesk.be w www.topdesk.be TOPdesk Nederland BV t +31 (0)15 270 09 00 e info@topdesk.nl w www.topdesk.nl
TOPdesk Danmark A/S t +45 7015 7500 e info@topdesk.dk w www.topdesk.dk TOPdesk Magyarorszg Kft. (Hungary) t +36 1 301 0190 e info@topdesk.hu w www.topdesk.hu
Copyright 2013 TOPdesk UK limited. Although this magazine has been produced with the utmost care and attention, the writers cannot be held responsible in any way for any damages that may occur due to errors and / or deficiencies in this publication.