ITIL Incident Management in the Cloud

SCI taps Ivanti Incident Management tools

Products

Ivanti Neurons for ITSM

This service management system, with processes holding ITIL certification, is deployed in the cloud or on-premise. It’s designed to help IT departments modernize the service desk and deliver more value to the business. Organizations can: 1) reduce IT help desk call volume by up to 80%, maximizing operational efficiencies; 2) reduce downtime due to unplanned or unapproved changes by up to 75%, cutting IT costs; and 3) reduce the number of status calls received by up to 80%, improving service quality and compliance.

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The need for a centralised service management system

As SCI expanded its geographic footprint across North America, it became evident the company needed a centralised enterprise ticketing, tracking, and reporting system for both business and IT service processes in order to gain better control and insight into all its expansive operations. It also became apparent that SCI needed to move its service management capabilities to the cloud to better support mobile and remote users, including vendors and outsourcing partners.

Benefits to Service Corporation International

Insight into the business and specific divisions

Ivanti Service Manager deployed in the cloud functions as SCI’s incident management and reporting system for finance and accounting, human resources, sales, and procurement service management processes and workflows—as well as for IT.

Managing a major increase in ticket volume

Last year SCI handled 328,000 tickets, up from just a couple of thousand tickets when the original Ivanti Help Desk “Classic” software was first deployed in 2000. Says Thomas Smith, director of Information Technology Support, “We started with 3,000 computers. We now have about 18,000 computers in our network.”

Handling a broad spectrum of support requests

SCI supports requests for everything from name changes in HR systems to switches in payroll procedures for banking institutions via email, phone, walk-in, or self-service ticket requests. The Ivanti solution also enables SCI to track and analyse its gamut of data—from employee accrued-leave balances to the type of computing equipment purchased.

A more seamless connexion for funeral operators

A service management system in the cloud has provided a more seamless connexion between SCI’s widespread funeral operators, other providers, and key business workflows. And, says Thomas Smith, “being in the cloud enabled people to go from any device anywhere to open a ticket. If someone is away from the office and their payroll isn’t right, they can open a ticket from anywhere.”

A more modern look and feel

The Ivanti cloud environment has also provided a more modern look and feel for a new generation of funeral service professionals coming into the business. Smith says younger people are looking for an Amazon-, PayPal-, or eBay-like interface. Ivanti in the cloud “doesn’t look like your grandfather’s IT, which appeals to the younger workers and users.”

Benefits to telecom and networking services

A major plus for the IT department is that its telecom and networking services vendors and outsourcers can access Ivanti through the cloud to update tickets for the tasks they accomplish. “Telecom, networking, and computer instals get tasked from our system to their Ivanti instance and run there,” Smith says.

Easing the path to onshore IT operations

SCI moved its entire IT service desk operation from India to Orlando, Florida—and did so quickly and with no service interruption. “Moving our service desk from offshore to onshore was seamless because it was in the cloud,” Smith says. “There was no loss of any data. It was our biggest success with Ivanti Service Manager in the last three years.”

Reliance on a solid relationship

Thomas Smith knows he can continue to rely on the strong relationship SCI has enjoyed with Ivanti for 16 years and the “outstanding service” Ivanti has provided in order for SCI to see success with the next steps it may take. “Every day I come into work there’s a success in Ivanti,” he says. Why should tomorrow be any different?

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