By Casey Mills, IT Help Desk Lead
Ruppert is growing faster than ever before and the scale/ nature of IT support is following closely along. In 2015, the IT team realized the traditional way of help desk support—via phone calls, emails, sticky notes, and desk “drive-byes”—was no longer an efficient or organized way to manage IT support for the company. We decided to leverage the additional capabilities of a system we’d had in place since 2011 (Dell KACE K1000 Systems Management Appliance) to allow us to better organize and track our efforts around end-user support.
The use of this additional feature has allowed the IT team to more effectively manage help desk requests, track the company’s PC inventory in real time, identify redundant issues, manage software updates, identify aging PC hardware in need of replacement, and more effectively manage help desk resources by allowing each team member to view all tickets at any time. In April, we will integrate Bomgar remote software into KACE, which will greatly enhance our ability to provide reliable remote control support of end-users’ laptops, desktops and in a limited fashion, cell phones as well.
It is our hope that our end-users feel confident in the ticket submission process, as they can be assured that requests are being assigned to the appropriate IT staff member and that there is increased visibility around the request’s progress and status until it is resolved. In addition to requests for help, this system also provides users with the ability to suggest modifications to the Ruppert Mobile App, request personnel changes including new hires, initiate IT requests for cell phones and computer equipment, and access a central “knowledge base” where users can find answers to common IT-related issues.
With its first full year of operation in 2016, we managed 3,489 tickets submitted through the KACE system, which averaged 106 tickets per branch/department. In 2017, we expect this number to increase slightly, trending along with company growth. The KACE system is by no means intended to replace the personal touch of a phone call or an in-person visit, as the ultimate goal of the IT team is always to provide the highest level of personalized customer service for our customers (YOU!). The benefits of the KACE system can only be realized by everyone embracing it as a method of reporting issues, making requests or offering suggestions. So keep those KACE tickets coming!