Common UIT/ITS service management platform is live

An enhanced version of ServiceNow – the common service management platform used by University Information Technology (UIT) and Information Technology Services (ITS) staff – went live on July 9. Previously, each organization requested and managed IT incidents, problems, and changes on separate systems – ServiceNow on campus, ServiceDesk at the hospital.

CTO Jim Livingston

“A tool like ServiceNow allows us to integrate our processes across UIT and ITS, to deliver a consistent experience to the end user,” said Chief Technology Officer Jim Livingston. “It allows our teams to use one tool that has a seamless flow of information, and hand-off of a ticket from team to team, so that it’s transparent to the end user that we’re not dropping the ball.”

Users will notice an updated look and feel to the form used to submit IT trouble tickets and work order requests, as well as a new ticket status dashboard. Access requires uNID and CIS password authentication.

Phase 1

The improved platform is a deliverable from Phase One of the IT Service Management (ITSM) Initiative – a collaboration between UIT and ITS.

ServiceNow is accessible on desktops and mobile devices via a cloud-hosted, native application, something that’s expected to expedite Request for Change (RFC) approvals, a process that previously took place via email and meetings.

“The mobile application is going to be a big benefit to our staff,” said Phil Kimball, associate director of ITS Service Management.

Open incident tickets in the old iteration of ServiceNow and ServiceDesk have been migrated into the new platform. RFCs that were open three weeks prior to the launch remain in the former tool. The legacy Service Catalog, Knowledge Base, and Service Request information and workflows were also migrated.

Kimball said that self-help articles in the UIT Knowledge Base and the ITS Knowledge Base in Pulse are being vetted for inclusion in a common public-facing knowledge base. This resource will be useful for people at the University seeking clinical and academic information, such as a medical student who takes classes on campus. Meanwhile, help desk personnel have access to an internal-facing knowledge base that contains shared content.

Following the ServiceNow launch, users alerted UIT and ITS help desks to several issues, which staff have been working to address and resolve. A FAQ website features an evolving list of transition-related issues.

If you have any issues with the new platform, please direct questions to:

• Main campus: UIT Help Desk (801-581-4000 or helpdesk@utah.edu)
• Hospitals and Clinics: ITS Service Desk (801-587-6000 or servicedesk@hsc.utah.edu)

An additional component to ITSM Phase One is the creation of policies, processes, structure, and technology to support the incident, problem, change, and portions of release management. Service management policy and process documents are now available. UIT and ITS employees are also encouraged to access related online training modules in the Learning Management System (LMS - formerly eduCAT) in Campus Information Services (CIS). After authentication, scroll to Employee Resources on the left navigation bar and find the LMS link. Those unable to access the training in LMS can access the modules in Canvas.

The goal of the training is to provide a base understanding of policies and processes related to IT service management.

"If you take a look at the outages we have, the majority are process related,” Livingston said. “Rarely it’s a piece of hardware failing. More commonly, it’s because there was a breakdown in some process.”

He said change management, for example, “brings a strong discipline to any change we bring into the environment.”

“Let’s say we have any outage, one of the first things we ask ourselves is, ‘What changed?’ … With a thoroughly vetted process, it’s ensured that we’re doing the proper requirements-gathering, testing, validation and release of that change in the environment, and the proper follow-up,” Livingston said. “If that change fails, we also can determine the backup plan to take that change out of the environment. And all of these things add up to a dramatic reduction in downtime.

“The tool doesn’t fix your process,” Kimball added. “The toolset helps compliment your refined process.”

Phase 2

ITSM Phase Two involves a new instance of the ServiceNow Service Catalog, which Livingston calls a “one-stop shop” that will incorporate ITS services with UIT services.

Sr. UX Developer Kelsey Loizos

The online catalog will feature a more user-friendly user interface with more intuitive terminology, something Kelsey Loizos, senior User Experience (UX) developer in UIT’s University Support Services (USS) said was “one of the biggest road blocks.”

Loizos tested the original UI and prototype website twice with volunteers, and conducted two card-sorting tests – during which users physically sort services into categories that seemed most logical.

“There have been three iterations of the design that we are still improving on,” Loizos said. “Eventually, our users should see a clean design that has a new look, new interactions and new vocabulary that is geared directly to them. Now it’s starting to be implemented into the amazing system that [Service Management Technical Team Manager] Adam Howsley’s team has created.”

On the prototype, USS updated the look to current University brand standards, with new icons and greater functionality.

“Instead of having to go through a Knowledge Base article every time you want to request the service, you can choose to go straight to the request, or click to find out more information from the same page,” she said.

Loizos added that users will be able to “favorite” a service, making it immediately available upon log-in.

The launch for the new version of the Service Catalog is scheduled for the end of August. Fine-tuning of the site may continue through the end of December, when the ITSM initiative is set to conclude.

 

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