Georgia Enterprise Technology Services (GETS) update, Vol. 2, Issue 13 (June 25, 2010)

Georgia Enterprise Technology Services (GETS) Update
Volume 2, Issue No. 13

June 25, 2010

In This Issue
Additional customer survey under way
Focus groups discuss ways to improve ordering of computing
equipment

EUC refresh moving forward
IBM making site visits for EUC asset inventory

Keeping our commitment to meet customer expectations
At the beginning of this year, we began looking at our operations and services through a new lens. We named 2010 the Year of the Customer, and we are working diligently to make sure that improving the customer experience is central to every project and initiative. We ask ourselves repeatedly, "How will the customer benefit? What can we do to make the experience as smooth and effective as possible? How can we revise our processes to alleviate extra work and remove any hurdles or obstacles?"
Governor Perdue set the bar high early in his administration, pledging to make superior customer service a hallmark of Georgia as a "best-managed" state and challenging all state agencies to provide "faster, friendlier and easier"

Briefly... Clarification
Quick Links
Previous Newsletters GTA Web Site GETS FAQs
GETS Activities

service. That can be a tall order, particularly in an undertaking as monumental as an enterprise-wide technology transformation. We are committed to listening to your concerns, recognizing issues quickly and doing what it takes to resolve them. During the past few months, we have worked with our service providers to reorganize their teams, bring in additional resources where we need them and find ways to reduce backlogs and wait times.

July
Internet migration
Active Directory migration

In this issue of GETS Update you'll find articles about two additional customer service initiatives. We have added another survey to measure customer satisfaction primarily among our partial-service customers. Four other regular surveys are already in production. Also, focus groups met this week to offer their input about ordering computer equipment and services. These sessions complemented those held earlier this year to discuss telecommunication service orders.
Improving your experience as a GTA customer remains a top priority. Thank you for working with us as we aim to serve you better.

Preparations for e-mail migration and consolidation
Application remediation
Preparations for server and storage consolidation
IT asset refresh

Patrick Moore State Chief Information Officer GTA Executive Director

Disaster recovery planning

Additional customer survey under way

GTA has begun an additional effort to measure satisfaction among GETS customers. Earlier this month, a survey was sent to our partial-service customers as well as full-service customers who joined GETS after July 1, 2009.
The survey went to approximately 275 recipients in leadership roles in 56 agencies. Data gathered will be used to improve service to these customers.
Conducted by the University of Georgia, this annual survey joins others already in production, including surveys of executives and business owners in GETS full-service agencies, the survey of GTA's Service Management Organization, and the monthly Service Desk point-of-service survey. Also, customers can call 877.opinGTA (877.674.6482) to share feedback at any time.
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Focus groups discuss ways to improve ordering of computing equipment and services
IBM hosted focus groups this week to gain input from Service Catalog users who order computing equipment and services. Similar sessions were conducted by AT&T in April, focusing on telecommunication service orders. Improvements to the Service Catalog have already been implemented based on feedback from those sessions, and more are planned.
Recommendations from the focus groups are being compiled. The effort is part of the commitment to improving the overall customer experience for GTA customers.
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EUC refresh moving forward

More end-user computing equipment is being replaced as we prepare to close out FY 2010. By the end of this month, more than 1,700 desktops and laptops will have been replaced. The schedule picks up steam for FY 2011, with 3,300 planned for the first quarter and almost 2,800 for the second quarter.
By adhering to a well-planned schedule for EUC refresh, we are able to keep agency equipment up to date and reduce the risk of disruptions caused by old, troublesome machines. Desktops are being replaced every five years, and laptops are being replaced every three years, which means 20 percent of desktops and 33 percent of laptops will be replaced each year on an ongoing basis.
More information about EUC refresh appears in Frequently Asked Questions posted on the GTA Web site.
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IBM making site visits for quarterly EUC asset inventory
IBM is conducting the latest round of the quarterly inventory of end-user computing assets and making site visits to agency locations.
IBM is contractually required to inventory a sampling of agency assets each quarter for the Asset Inventory Tracking Key Measurement. Last quarter's inventory efforts were announced March 3, 2010, in a memo from GTA.
Throughout the quarter, IBM EUC field service personnel will visit numerous agency locations to validate asset information for a small number of end-user computing assets.
EUC technicians will come to sites to locate assets randomly selected from the asset database and make note of the serial number and asset tag information. The inventory validation for each asset should take no more than 2-3 minutes once the asset is located. IBM will work with previously identified agency site coordinators to ensure efficient technician access to buildings and asset locations.

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Briefly...
Mark Warr will leave his post as Vendor Management Officer to become GTA's Director of Enterprise Governance and Planning, effective July 1. Current EGAP Director Mark Reardon will return fulltime to his position as State Chief Information Security Officer.
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Clarification
An article in the June 11, 2010, issue of GETS Update highlighted recent changes to the Service Catalog and noted that agencies with expiring funds can purchase EUC equipment previously purchased through the Request For Solution (RFS) process. However, only expiring federal grants or other grant funding can be used to purchase EUC equipment through the Service Catalog.
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We welcome your comments about service delivery, the state's IT transformation and related topics.
You can submit comments online or call our toll-free number to leave a recorded message.

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