Improving efficiencies and offering better customer experience were the primary goals for OIT Technology Support Services (TSS) this fiscal year. Toward this end, TSS inaugurated three new IT service management (ITSM) initiatives in the ServiceNow platform:
The IT Service Portal, not to be confused with the MyPack Portal, was launched on Sept. 16, replacing the NC State Help Desk website. This new portal is the preferred place to submit requests to the help desk instead of emailing them.
With the portal, users will also have enhanced access to Knowledge articles, which provide helpful information about various services. A number of customer requests are now automated, and once a problem or request is submitted, its progress can be tracked by the customer. The full benefits of the IT Service Portal are available to users who log in at help.ncsu.edu with their Unity credentials.
The OIT Service Catalog is crucial for ITSM integration. This service-aware inventory gives improved visibility into the services that OIT offers, including the type of service and service contacts. OIT continues to enter its services into the catalog and classify them according to the Service Catalog taxonomy of the EDUCAUSE Center for Analysis and Research (ECAR).
The Configuration Management Database (CMDB) is the foundation of all other ITSM work. It integrates with and supports many ITSM processes, including change management and incident management. TSS is using ServiceNow Discovery to locate configuration items and maintain the CMDB.
In addition, OIT Security & Compliance and TSS have begun developing a best practice Change Management process, which is intended to reduce IT disruptions and outages. This process can be adopted by colleges that desire a standardized Change Management process.
The three initiatives continue the work that OIT is doing to improve service management processes, which will lead to a better experience for end users and greater efficiency of service delivery. These initiatives will continue in the 2020-21 fiscal year and will establish a foundation for other service improvements.