A recent market study from TeamDynamix found that 78 percent of organizations surveyed listed resource constraints as one of their top challenges. If you’re familiar with ITSM (IT service management), it’s no surprise that many organizations find self-service and Knowledge-Centered Service (KCS®) to be effective strategies to mitigate this challenge. And while both self-service and KCS are sound tools for ITSM, there are other strategies you should consider adding to build out a true 360 platform.
Bringing IT Service Management (ITSM) Together with Project Portfolio Management (PPM)
In fact, to gain better control over all IT resources, many organizations use a one platform approach for ITSM and project portfolio management (PPM). Of those surveyed, 61 percent said they are planning to move to a single platform approach to manage all IT resources.
There are many benefits to bringing ITSM and PPM together for proper resource capacity planning, including improved IT productivity, improved quality of service (QoS) and improved IT performance measurement and reporting capabilities.
Yet despite these benefits, our market study found an astounding 77 percent of organizations surveyed are NOT currently engaging in resource capacity planning. To build a strong ITSM foundation and move ahead of the pack it’s recommended more organizations explore the benefits a one platform solution can have when building out their ITSM roadmap.
City of Sunnyvale, Calif., Embraces a Single Platform Approach
The City of Sunnyvale was looking for a two-in-one cloud-based SaaS solution that could handle service desk tickets, project management and time tracking. Today, that is exactly what they have, a single view of all tickets and projects. This helps with resource planning, increases visibility and improves communication. Here’s what they have to say:
“With one platform, we can actually see the tickets that are being worked on, as well as the projects that are in the pipeline,” explains Hema Nekkanti, project management officer at the City of Sunnyvale, Calif. “That gives us the ability to actually allocate the resources appropriately and there is no resource conflict. We have multiple dashboards for each of the departments so that they can see the entire portfolio of projects as well as their own projects.”
“I needed that resource management visibility,” adds Kathleen Boutté, CIO at the City of Sunnyvale. “Which is why TeamDynamix has been such a great tool for us. We have both the IT Service Management and Project Portfolio Management areas. So, I can see if my team is working on a ticket or project, and I can see what availability they have so that I can forecast more effectively.”
Manage all IT Work on a Single Platform
In most organizations, IT service requests are managed with one software platform and projects are managed with another. Bringing IT Service Management (ITSM) and Project Portfolio Management (PPM) together within a single, unified platform can improve IT efficiency in many ways.
When resources are limited, IT employees often wear several hats. Few organizations have the luxury of maintaining separate staff for project work and fulfilling service requests. If employees must use separate systems for tracking projects and service tickets, it’s hard to know which tasks they’re responsible for at any given time — and navigating between multiple systems and updating each one individually can be cumbersome. As a result, employees spend too much time on administration instead of their core responsibilities.
Having a single platform benefits IT leaders as well as employees. Managing IT incidents and projects in one location gives leaders an easy way to see the impact of both project and support tasks on IT resources. This helps leaders plan more effectively, enabling more efficient delivery of technology services. For IT teams buried in ad-hoc work, ever-shifting priorities, and chaotic project management, it might be time to ask yourself if you have the right platform to move your organization forward.
Organizations are also taking this a step further by expanding to enterprise service management and project management across the entire city for facilities, HR, and other services.
Making the Case for One ITSM & PPM Platform
By taking ITSM and PPM into a single platform, resource optimization becomes a reality. The next step is expanding service management across all city functions – facilities, human resources, marketing, legal, public safety and more. Each group can benefit from one platform, one approach, one enterprise view of all projects and requests.
TeamDynamix integrates project task and tickets (incidents, problems, changes, release schedules), allowing project team members to pull tickets onto a project plan. In addition, tickets can be escalated to a project or project request (permission based).
One “My Work” Desktop for Technicians
Highly configurable desktops provide technicians immediate access to open requests, project work, SLAs, and more. Easily accessible information and clickthrough charts make it easy for technicians to find and engage with the work they need.
In one glance, you can easily organize your work or the work of a team – view highly sensitive tickets, overdue tasks, SLA adherence, project status and risk; you can even get a news feed.
Clients often model their service pipeline via project requests and projects in the Project/Portfolio Management portion of the tool. Change and release tickets can be incorporated into existing projects. The tickets can also be converted to a project or project request. IT Leaders can gain a clear view of resources across all work — incidents, problems, change requests, release schedules and projects. Resource capacity planning allows for improved productivity and outcomes.
Combining the two solutions provides a clear view of the interdependencies between the functions of IT service delivery and IT project management. This enhanced insight, coupled with systematic processes and workflows make it possible to eliminate inefficiencies and optimize resources. Plus, with greater visibility and reliable tracking, IT teams can convey their value and communicate additional needs with clear proof points.
