Thursday, September 18, 2003
FAA Selects Eden Help Desk for NexGen Implementation
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the United States government body responsible for overseeing air transportation in the United States and for operating the world's largest and safest aviation system. An arm of the US Department of Transportation, the FAA focuses primarily on air transportation safety and enforcement. It is also responsible for the around-the clock operation of the US traffic control system through a network of control facilities at more than 19,000 airports. Outside the US, the FAA works with international aviation authorities in developing common global safety practices.
With more than 70,000 employees and 12 major centers nationwide, maintaining superior IT Help Desk support is more than a daunting task, it's critical to the agency's core mandate. Handling issues across business systems quickly, reliably and the first time, is crucial.
That's why, when the FAA needed a reliable, enterprise-wide solution for an IT Help Desk, they selected Eden Help Desk.
The Situation
By June of 2003, the FAA's 1,200 technicians were managing calls through a myriad of Help Desk applications. These applications were inefficient, costly to maintain, and did not provide the required collaborative and networking capabilities. In addition, they did not fit within the FAA's plan for complete IT system reorganization, code named NexGen.
"In the [original] FAA environment, there was no single organization-wide help desk solution," says NexGen Program Manager, Russell Hayslett. "NexGen had just finished implementing a new consolidated messaging infrastructure. As with the introduction of any new software, help desk tickets were on the rise. We found it impossible to track the number and type of tickets being generated. More importantly, we were unable to conduct any type of trend analysis that would allow us to recognize and resolve problems that would benefit the most number of customers."
"It was also extremely difficult to share knowledge. One group would resolve a problem, but because we did not have a common knowledgebase, another group would spend time trouble shooting the same problem. This was an impractical use of the limited resources we had. Establishing a single and central help desk solution was the best way to resolve these difficulties."
The Solution
The FAA needed a robust collaborative tool that could handle both the massive volume of calls and the complexity of their internal IT requirements. In order to meet these exhaustive requirements, multiple profiles needed to be maintained for various levels access. Furthermore, particular groups within the FAA had to be allowed to choose from categories specific to their region, with robust security and access determining the access to the ticket. The FAA also needed to track Service Level Agreement (SLA) information based upon the actual user and priority of the help ticket.
To ensure that any new Help Desk solution met all of the FAA's technical requirements and business objectives, the NexGen team went through a rigorous selection process. According to Hayslett, "We developed a comprehensive requirements document that detailed the functionality that a product had to have. We then did a comparison of several different products, which narrowed the field. Cost was the final deciding factor, once we had a list of products that could provide similar required functionality."
In less than two months, the NexGen team selected the solution that best meet their requirements. Says Hayslett, "There were a number of reasons we selected Eden Help Desk. Primarily, it met all our requirements at the price-point we needed. The product was customizable and the licensing agreement made the FAA the owners of their customizations. Many companies sell their products and offer their services, but a winning situation for NexGen was the fact that we could also purchase the actual code. This gives the FAA more control and more options for the future."
The FAA recognized the performance advantages and value of the Eden Help Desk, but there were still some steps before the FFA would realize its full potential. Eden faced several challenges to a smooth installation and migration. Foremost among them were that Eden needed to replicate the complex server set up and test ID's used by the FAA. With "availability" the primary concern, the application was deployed across multiple sites within the FAA; each site having a real-time back-up to eliminate down-time. Eden worked closely with the FAA to obtain and use their test ID's; worked with all profile information that was being tested and shared testing documentation.
The Result
The Eden Help Desk is now providing the FAA with the collaborative tool they need to greatly expand the capabilities and features asked for by users and to reduce time and cost, maximize IT resources, and leverage their investment in Lotus Domino. Issues are now analyzed and prioritized to provide the most benefit to the most users. Further, the FAA is benefiting from Eden's renowned technical support which assures continued, flawless operation.
Says Hayslett, "Eden was very responsive to our needs. They delivered their work on time and within budget. Any "issues" found with our customizations were promptly fixed at no additional cost. Our overall experience with Eden was very positive and we look forward to doing business together in the future."
--link--
¶ 9/18/2003 09:42:00 AM
With more than 70,000 employees and 12 major centers nationwide, maintaining superior IT Help Desk support is more than a daunting task, it's critical to the agency's core mandate. Handling issues across business systems quickly, reliably and the first time, is crucial.
That's why, when the FAA needed a reliable, enterprise-wide solution for an IT Help Desk, they selected Eden Help Desk.
The Situation
By June of 2003, the FAA's 1,200 technicians were managing calls through a myriad of Help Desk applications. These applications were inefficient, costly to maintain, and did not provide the required collaborative and networking capabilities. In addition, they did not fit within the FAA's plan for complete IT system reorganization, code named NexGen.
"In the [original] FAA environment, there was no single organization-wide help desk solution," says NexGen Program Manager, Russell Hayslett. "NexGen had just finished implementing a new consolidated messaging infrastructure. As with the introduction of any new software, help desk tickets were on the rise. We found it impossible to track the number and type of tickets being generated. More importantly, we were unable to conduct any type of trend analysis that would allow us to recognize and resolve problems that would benefit the most number of customers."
"It was also extremely difficult to share knowledge. One group would resolve a problem, but because we did not have a common knowledgebase, another group would spend time trouble shooting the same problem. This was an impractical use of the limited resources we had. Establishing a single and central help desk solution was the best way to resolve these difficulties."
The Solution
The FAA needed a robust collaborative tool that could handle both the massive volume of calls and the complexity of their internal IT requirements. In order to meet these exhaustive requirements, multiple profiles needed to be maintained for various levels access. Furthermore, particular groups within the FAA had to be allowed to choose from categories specific to their region, with robust security and access determining the access to the ticket. The FAA also needed to track Service Level Agreement (SLA) information based upon the actual user and priority of the help ticket.
To ensure that any new Help Desk solution met all of the FAA's technical requirements and business objectives, the NexGen team went through a rigorous selection process. According to Hayslett, "We developed a comprehensive requirements document that detailed the functionality that a product had to have. We then did a comparison of several different products, which narrowed the field. Cost was the final deciding factor, once we had a list of products that could provide similar required functionality."
In less than two months, the NexGen team selected the solution that best meet their requirements. Says Hayslett, "There were a number of reasons we selected Eden Help Desk. Primarily, it met all our requirements at the price-point we needed. The product was customizable and the licensing agreement made the FAA the owners of their customizations. Many companies sell their products and offer their services, but a winning situation for NexGen was the fact that we could also purchase the actual code. This gives the FAA more control and more options for the future."
The FAA recognized the performance advantages and value of the Eden Help Desk, but there were still some steps before the FFA would realize its full potential. Eden faced several challenges to a smooth installation and migration. Foremost among them were that Eden needed to replicate the complex server set up and test ID's used by the FAA. With "availability" the primary concern, the application was deployed across multiple sites within the FAA; each site having a real-time back-up to eliminate down-time. Eden worked closely with the FAA to obtain and use their test ID's; worked with all profile information that was being tested and shared testing documentation.
The Result
The Eden Help Desk is now providing the FAA with the collaborative tool they need to greatly expand the capabilities and features asked for by users and to reduce time and cost, maximize IT resources, and leverage their investment in Lotus Domino. Issues are now analyzed and prioritized to provide the most benefit to the most users. Further, the FAA is benefiting from Eden's renowned technical support which assures continued, flawless operation.
Says Hayslett, "Eden was very responsive to our needs. They delivered their work on time and within budget. Any "issues" found with our customizations were promptly fixed at no additional cost. Our overall experience with Eden was very positive and we look forward to doing business together in the future."
--link--
¶ 9/18/2003 09:42:00 AM
