Georgia Enterprise Technology Services (GETS) update, Vol. 3, Issue 2 (Feb. 4, 2011)

Georgia Enterprise Technology Services (GETS) Update

Volume 3, Issue No. 2

February 4, 2011

In This Issue

GETS team provides timely support to DHS

GETS Annual Symposium set for April 21

Fourth quarter customer satisfaction scores in

Reminder: Escalation process in place to address service issues

Briefly...

Reaffirming our direction and commitment

Quick Links

In the days since the GTA Board of Directors confirmed my appointment at GTA last month, I have been working to gain a clear understanding of the technology needs of our state and our organization. I have begun introductory meetings with leaders of GETS agencies, and I look forward to meeting more of you over the next several weeks.
The more I study the performance of the state's IT transformation initiative, the more certain I am that it is the right solution for the state. It is reducing risk and delivering benefits the state has never had - and should not operate without. I am equally certain there are issues we must address. I know, for example, that call wait times at the Consolidated Service Desk have recently been too long, and the Request for Solution (RFS) process has sometimes been slow.

Previous Newsletters
GTA Website
GETS Customer Resource Center
GETS Financial and Billing Resource Center
GETS FAQs

Improvement measures were already under way when I arrived, and I will keep the focus on enhancing the service you receive as I work with our service providers.
On another note, GTA has just published the State IT Annual Report for 2010. The report offers a picture of how state government is using technology, including a snapshot of the current IT environment, examples of agency accomplishments and successes, technology plans for the future, ongoing efforts to reduce risk, and a summary of IT investments and financial challenges. We appreciate your participation and cooperation in submitting data for the report.
Thank you for your support.
Calvin Rhodes State Chief Information Officer GTA Executive Director
GETS team provides timely support to DHS
When staff in the Department of Human Services discovered more than 10,000 energy assistance applications that had to be submitted to the federal government in less than a week, they called Kent Replogle, their GTA Service Delivery Consultant, for help.
"The applications, which were left behind by a former employee, had to be submitted in six days or the state would risk losing significant federal matching funds to help Georgians," Kent said. "We worked with DHS to expedite their OrderNow! request for additional VPN accounts so that their team could immediately begin keying the information."
Members of the GETS team (IBM, Dell and AT&T) set up the accounts right away. Wendy Bailey-Hooks of DHS' Energy Assistance Program expressed her gratitude to the GETS team: "I just want to thank each and every one of you for helping in the expediting of this job...we all greatly appreciate this and the

agency staff, program and customer will benefit from your expedited response."
Kent credited both service providers for their immediate willingness to help. "They responded within minutes, and then within just a few hours, the request was fulfilled."
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GETS Annual Symposium set for April 21
GTA, AT&T and IBM are sponsoring an event on April 21 focused on the state's technology environment. The day-long program will feature a series of presentations and discussions about enhancements being made and how they benefit your agency and the constituents you serve.
The day will begin with a general session on the current IT environment, improvements to be made over the next 12 months and the impact of these changes. Breakout sessions will be held on specific topics, including:
q service desk q financial issues q IT security
Please join us on Thursday, April 21 from 8:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. at AT&T Midtown Two, 725 Peachtree Street, Atlanta. Seating is limited, so please contact your GTA Service Delivery Consultant to confirm your attendance.
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Fourth quarter customer satisfaction scores are in

The results of the fourth quarter customer satisfaction surveys are in, and they indicate a decline from the previous quarter. Between October and December, the surveys asked a portion of executives and business managers from GETS full-service agencies to assess the performance of the state's IT service providers. View scores for both IBM and AT&T.
One possible contributor to the decline was the extended wait times many customers experienced when calling the Consolidated Service Desk last fall. GTA worked with our service providers to take steps to improve the situation, including adding more staff to answer calls during peak times, using recorded messages to give estimated wait times and alert callers to widespread outages or problems, and keeping service desk agents informed about projects and transformation activities. Those changes have had a positive impact, and we are working closely with IBM and AT&T to continually enhance service to customers.
For calendar year 2011, GTA is modifying the survey schedule to make data more usable and statistically comparable. The new, streamlined survey schedule calls for a semi-annual survey of all business managers in the second (April-June) and fourth (October-December) quarters. Agency executives will receive their survey in the third quarter (July-September). The methodology used in 2010 required quarterly surveys of customer groups.
We appreciate your participation in our surveys. Your high response rates continue to ensure that the data is valid and accurately represents your views.
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Reminder: Escalation process in place to address service issues

GTA and service providers AT&T and IBM are committed to ensuring that each service request or incident receives the attention it deserves. When an issue arises that requires extra attention, such as a service request or incident that is not resolved within the negotiated time, an escalation process is available to customers.
Both AT&T and IBM follow a process to make it easier for customers to escalate issues when necessary, engage team members equipped to resolve such issues, and be kept informed of progress as issues are addressed.
If you have questions about when and how to escalate issues, please consult your agency lead or GTA Service Delivery Consultant.
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Briefly...
New schedule for GETS Update
GETS Update will continue to bring you news about the state's IT transformation and service delivery, now on a monthly basis. Look for our next issue on March 4, 2011.
Latest Service Catalog enhancements
Several enhancements were made to the Service Catalog (OrderNow!) in January and February. Here is brief information about a couple of the updates:
q The training presentation linked in the Application Help section of the catalog now reflects all updates made in 2010.
q The Request for Solution (RFS) checklist has been updated to expedite the use of the new work order forms. Also, you can now download the RFS checklist into the RFS catalog category description. This change was made in response to user feedback.

We will keep you posted as we continue to improve the usability of the Service Catalog. 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.