The new Desktop Support contract has got off to a good start, thanks to internal IT co-operation and a considerable effort on behalf of Serco, which has held the contract since 1 July 2004.
The centralization of services and the passage of the majority of problems through the Helpdesk meant that contract management would be easier and more rational through the UDS (User Services and Documentation) Group, which already looked after Helpdesk and user relations matters. We thank both Alan Silverman and Matthias Schroeder for their previous work on the desktop contract, and we are sure they will continue to follow closely the progress of the work.Our first priority is continuity and user satisfaction. We have already highlighted three areas where we feel improvements can be made. First, the Desktop Support meeting for managers held on Tuesdays has been modified to reflect the new arrangement, and some points have been changed. What is important is that all managers can provide input even in their absence. We are establishing a procedure whereby managers can send Remedy ticket numbers or comments on case handling in advance. We can then review these comments and modify procedures if necessary.
Second, a drawback with the previous contract was a lack of training for procedures that are specific to CERN. Although new staff may have been well qualified in areas of PC support, they knew little or nothing about the CERN installations and environment. We have now requested IT Group leaders to provide weekly training on specific topics so that levels of knowledge are increased in scope and depth.
Third, the topic of transport has not yet been completely solved, especially for broken machines. We will be studying this closely in the coming months and taking the necessary steps to ensure that machines are collected and delivered promptly, so that users experiencing hardware problems do not have their work interrupted for too long.
Since the start of this year the AIS helpdesk has also been manned by Serco staff. Following a short training period, the new support area is being closely monitored and will be integrated completely into the general Helpdesk configuration in the coming months.
Please remember that if you have problems with Remedy tickets passing through the Helpdesk, you may at any time contact the IT manager on duty (mod@cern.ch) or send an e-mail to user.relations@cern.ch with any comments you have on the desktop service.
Mick Draper and Roger Woolnough, IT/UDS