Georgia Enterprise Technology Services (GETS) update, Vol. 2, Issue 7 (Apr. 2, 2010)

Georgia Enterprise Technology Services (GETS) Update
Volume 2, Issue No. 7

April 2, 2010

In This Issue
DNR customer care team Changes make SDO e-mails
easier to manage
Transformation update
Reminder: April 21 kickoff

At one-year anniversary, continuous improvement of the customer experience tops our list
April 1 marked the first anniversary of the initial phase of our service transition, the transfer of IT infrastructure services to IBM. On May 1, we will complete our first year of AT&T's operation of managed network services.

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These milestones remind us of how much we have achieved together as well as the work we have yet to do. I have been meeting with business leaders in our full-service GETS agencies over the past few months to listen to their concerns. These include frustration with how long it takes to fulfill orders for new services, close trouble tickets and deliver new PCs and laptops. We are taking action to change that, and continuous improvement of the customer

experience tops our list of priorities.
Recently, we completely restructured the format for our weekly GETS meetings with agencies. Our Service Management Organization has developed a workbook that highlights accomplishments, coming events and concerns. More importantly, it drives follow-through on outstanding issues, with action items for the service providers, GTA and the agency. Target completion dates are assigned, and concerns are given greater visibility and focus, all with the goal of clearing backlogs and bringing issues to closure.
We continue to work with the service providers to refine processes. As an example, IBM has implemented a plan to reduce order fulfillment time for desktops and laptops after an extensive end-to-end look at the EUC environment.
Agencies are also taking initiative and partnering with IBM, AT&T and GTA to solve IT problems, and we are looking for the use of best practices by agencies in technology management and leadership. I hope you will read the article in this issue about the IT customer care team that the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has formed to help end users better understand GETS processes and get the support they need.

April
Internet traffic migration to AT&T security
Transformation kickoff
Preparations for e-mail migration and consolidation
Preparations for server and storage consolidation
IT asset refresh
Disaster recovery planning

Through process improvements and strategic changes we have made with the state's service providers, we are seeing substantial progress in reducing backlogs, queues and meantime to repair in our customer agencies - all residual issues from start up. DNR's work with the customer care team is a complement to these efforts, which are united by a common theme: Collaboration has helped to drive our initiative from the earliest days of the RFP development, through service transition and now transformation. I am confident that spirit will continue to guide our success.
Thank you for your continuing support.

Patrick Moore State Chief Information Officer GTA Executive Director

DNR customer care team works with service providers to assist end users
When DNR CIO John Martin realized last fall that end users in his agency were becoming increasingly frustrated, he turned to an approach that had proven successful throughout his more than 20 years in IT.
"Our users in the field were disengaging," Martin said. "They had given up trying to get answers, and they were trying to solve IT problems on their own, which is never a good thing. There was a lack of understanding of processes."
Martin established an IT customer care team for DNR. The team includes representatives of the agency's six divisions throughout the state. Some are super users, while others have a particular skill or interest in IT. Also on board are Mark Lange, the service delivery consultant from GTA, and representatives from IBM and AT&T.
The team conducts an operations call at 8:00 every morning. "For the first month, we spent most of our time managing issues," Martin said. "Then, as we began to see which issues were recurring, we shifted to managing problems and refining processes that didn't work right."
Some issues can be resolved quickly during the call. In other instances, the call alerts the team to something that is "completely off the tracks," Martin said. He added that GTA, IBM and AT&T have been very willing to make changes to processes to decrease the time necessary to meet customer requests.
As issues are discussed on the daily calls, they become action items for the weekly GETS meetings with GTA, the agency and the service providers. Fewer people have to attend the meetings because they know their issues are being addressed.
The daily calls were lengthy at first, sometimes lasting 90 minutes and covering a list of 400 items. Now, with a far more manageable queue of 50-60 items, calls typically take no more than 15 minutes. The calls are open to

anyone, and Martin said the DNR commissioner and deputy commissioner even participate occasionally.
A solid success
The customer care team has been a solid success, Martin said.
It gives users a voice. "They know they are being heard, and they know their problems are being solved," he explained.
It also serves as an educational vehicle. "DNR collaborates with GTA, IBM and AT&T to help customers understand what they need to do," he continued. "When they understand the processes related to the GETS Portal, Service Catalog and Maximo, they can more easily make the transition from the old world to the new world."
The DNR customer care team is among several collaborative efforts throughout the state's IT enterprise that are helping IBM and AT&T reduce service request and incident backlogs. The daily calls improve communications with DNR, creating awareness and helping end users understand how their issues are resolved.
"We are finding that as we socialize GETS, the daily calls become more traditional ops calls with fewer big problems," Martin said. "We are seeing less frustration among our end users. They are beginning to embrace GETS, and they're telling me that things are vastly improved."
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Changes make SDO e-mails easier for recipients to manage

GTA's Service Delivery Organization (SDO) has improved its e-mails to agencies (known to insiders as Jody Grams). Recipients will find it easier to determine what message is being shared and whether action on their part is needed. The SDO implemented the improvements April 1.
The e-mails, which are usually sent to full-service GETS agency leads, are now identified in the subject line as GETS Communications. When they open the e-mail, recipients will see whether it addresses a service delivery or an IT transformation issue. The e-mails will also be designated as informational or action required (i.e., the recipient is being asked to take a specific action).
These changes should help recipients more easily organize e-mails from GTA's SDO and set priorities for responding to them. We are also planning an online repository for full-service agency leads where GETS Communications will be categorized for easy retrieval.
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Transformation update
Here's a quick rundown of the latest transformation highlights:
q Application remediation is well under way at DJJ, DDS and OPB, with all projects in green status.
q The GETS hosting environment at the North Atlanta Data Center is now complete and ready to accept servers. Server and storage consolidation will be implemented in seven waves concluding in September 2011.
q IBM is building and configuring the core infrastructure for e-mail/ BlackBerry service. Migration of the first group of agencies will occur this summer.
q About 20 percent more bandwidth is now available on the state's network with the rerouting of Internet traffic from DTAE.
q DNS/DHCP (IP addressing) migrations will begin in late April with DJJ. q Agency migration planning for SSL VPN will begin this month.

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Reminder: April 21 kickoff
Don't miss the transformation kickoff event hosted by GTA, AT&T and IBM on April 21. The day will begin with a general session on the state's current technology environment, what will be done over the next 12 months to make improvements and the impact of these changes. In the afternoon, breakout sessions will be held on specific transformation topics, including server consolidation, financial issues and Internet security. Questions about attending? Contact your GTA Service Delivery Consultant. Back to top
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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