Performance Evaluation: Desktop Support Services

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Mission 

Desktop Support Services (DSS) provides installation and repair services to University owned hardware and software.  DSS is responsible for maintaining Gateway, Dell, Macintosh or IBM clone University purchased PC’s and Hewlett Packard printers.  DSS will also install and support University purchased software.   In an effort to provide specialized service and support some of the DSS engineers are assigned permanently to support departments such as IT&E, CAS and CNHS.   DSS will assist all departments with major and non-major moves or relocations.  At the Arlington and Prince William Campuses, DSS also maintains Academic and Student Labs.  At Prince William they will also assist with Electronic Classrooms, loan audio/visual equipment as needed for instruction, server support and other non standard support services as needed at Prince William.

This includes:

Desktop hardware & software

Back-end desktop server support

Networked applications

Data space (secure & shared) authentication

Data backup/recovery

Microsoft based application services (Web and traditional

  vertical applications)

Organization

2001 – 2002 Goals

Field Services and the Server Support Group are tied very closely together because of the tight integration of the technology they implement.  These two groups must work as one to ensure that our customers receive the most professional support possible.

LAN/Desktop Support Services depends upon the Support Center to provide clear customer work requests, and Network Engineering to provide reliable Desktop/Server connections.  Clear, effective communication between these groups will ensure that our customer’s needs are met professionally and efficiently – and will eliminate ‘surprises’.

LAN/Desktop Support Services provides a multitude of services for George Mason.  By documenting and publicizing our offerings, our customers will be able to determine what services we offer, and more importantly, how to take advantage of our services.  This will also improve our ability to manage existing and new services.

Currently, it can require hours to days before a customer’s inaccessible desktop is repaired.  Modern technology will allow us to minimize this downtime for (presumably) the bulk of our customers.  We need to investigate other organizations and vendors to determine alternative support methods, and work with our customers to implement the technology that best fits their needs.

Several departments have begun to provide their own Desktop Support services, which is a duplication of centralized support.  We need to determine why these departments feel that their needs are not being met, and make internal remedies (where appropriate) to offer desirable services to all departments. 

Accomplishments

1.  Efforts have been made to improve COMMUNICATIONS in all Desktop Support Services departments servicing George Mason’s three campuses. Each department holds regularly scheduled meetings with their staff to discuss customer satisfaction, response time, upcoming projects, technical advances, training opportunities and a variety of other topics related to customer support.

            On the Fairfax main campus Desktop Support Services has two active groups of engineers, the Core group is housed in Thompson Hall and is managed by Laura LeVine.  Her group meets every other Thursday.  Michael Bellinghoven manages the Departmentally Based Engineers; they meet each week on Wednesday.   At the Arlington campus Demetrius Winston manages the Desktop Support Services, his engineers meet every other Thursday.  At our Prince William Campus, Desktop Support Services are managed by Steve Broaddus.  His engineers meet every Monday.  The managers, as a group meet with the Sr. Manager Field Services, every other Wednesday.

Issues discussed at each meeting are: Customer Satisfaction, Response time, Survey results, and other issues directly related to employee performance and overall customer satisfaction.

In addition to the Desktop Support Services internal meetings, many of the Field Service Managers attend meetings throughout the community with various department heads and groups to keep abreast of individual needs, technology demands and the direction the groups/departments are migrating.  The Technical Coordinators, Move meetings are regularly attended, as well as the ITU Technical Managers meeting. 

Early in the Spring Desktop Support Services started developing our Website.  Desktop Support Services' first website went live in June 2002.  The site's goal is to introduce our customers to the services we provide, answer any frequently asked questions they may have and allow them to contact us with comments and questions.  Performance Statistics for the Desktop Support Services teams are updated monthly and provide our customers with a better idea of how out services are utilized. The address for the site is http://desktopsupport.doit.gmu.edu/.

2.  Keeping abreast of technology through TRAINING (classroom & OJT) is an ongoing effort for Desktop Support Services.

            So far this year we have been fortunate in having the ability to send three engineers to MAC Troubleshooting and Repair training.  Now all three campuses have qualified and Certified MAC Engineers.  They are:  Larry Hennsey, Arlington; Mike Snipas and Johnny Gerhard, Fairfax; Steve Broaddus (previously Certified), is at Prince William.  In addition to the hardware training, Steve Broaddus went to MAC OS X training and has since trained Larry Hennsey, Demetrius Winston, Mike Snipas and Aly Lo on the OS X operating system.  Steve Broaddus was Apple Certified earlier in the fall of 2001, Byung-Soo Kook passed his Apple Certification this Spring.

            IT&E has been generous in sending Juan Carlos Blandon to MCSE training.  Juan Carlos is also taking advantage of MIS training offered by the University. 

            In an effort to support the VTEL systems at Prince William, Sarah Gingerich attended training in January and since that time Greg Gillette has received instruction on the VTEL systems and has successfully supported a VTEL conference between Prince William and San Diego. 

            Sarah Gingerich attended STI Knowledge Help Desk 2000 training in Atlanta so that the Prince William Campus could have their own help desk.  

            Microsoft XP training has been provided to all LAN/Desktop Support Personnel in June and July.  All of the DSS personnel have been XP trained.

            Desktop Support Services Managers have attended the following structured classes:  Michael Bellinghoven and Steve Broaddus attended Time Management; Michael Bellinghoven attended MIS, Accounting, Decision Sciences, Inventory, Career Strategies and Breaking Down Barriers; Steve Broaddus attended Dreamweaver 101 & 102 classes and calendar; Chuck Sterling attended Magic Asset Management, Motivating and Rewarding Employees, Herding Cats, IRC classes in Excel and PowerPoint, HR classes in Travel, Calendar and GMU 101.

3.  In December of 2001, we instituted call tracking by engineer and department.

January of 2002, December’s statistics showing calls closed per day by engineer and were averaged to show calls closed per team (department) per day.  These were totaled for the month and published. 

Each week, starting in January, the Desktop Support Services Managers total the calls that week per engineer and indicate how many were closed by engineer and how many are open.   This data is then keyed into a spreadsheet that will automatically calculate the total calls per month and then the average calls per day per engineer taking into account the time the engineer may have been unavailable to take calls due to illness, vacation or training.  This data is then published in chart form at the end of each month.  In addition to the call tracking, the Field Service Managers were required to provide a written report that covered “Hot Issues”, “Top Priorities/Tasks”, “Completed Items/ Items Delayed” and “Accomplishments” .   These reports were condensed and forwarded onto the Director of Lan/Desktop Support Services.               

4.  In March of 2002 changes were made to the Customer “ticket”. 

            The “ticket” is now referred to as the Customer Satisfaction Survey Card is left at each customer site upon completion of the service request.  In addition to the color being changed, four questions were added that have a “yes or no” box to check.  These questions tell Senior Management if the Engineers are communicating with the customers before, during and after calls.  It also has the previous one-word opinion questions regarding that call.  The most valued questions are the “Overall Quality” and the “Would you recommend GMU DoIT Support Services?” questions.  As of the end of May 2002, with only 230 responses of the 3930 service calls completed, Desktop Support Services is averaging 97.02% Excellent rating on the Quality question and 98.5% rating on the “…Would Recommend DoIT Services” on the Customer Survey Cards left at the customer sites following each call.

5.  In the Spring DSS looked at the phone charges to the various accounts.  Erroneous charges were redirected to the proper departments; phone service not being used or needed was terminated.   DSS savings of approximately $700.00 a month were realized. 

6.  The June Conference at UWM was attended by Steve Broaddus and Chuck Sterling along with Kathy Gillette, Buz Grover and Johanna Lizardi.  The purpose of the conference was to explain the successful programs that UWM has implemented regarding Student Growth and their specific utilization to perform Desktop/Lab/Helpdesk support to all Faculty, Staff and Students at UWM.  The conference provided some insight on procedures and policies they use to maintain a successful program.  We as a group came away with some very good ideas that could be implemented here at GMU. 

7.  Developed the DSS Business Continuity and Unit Disaster Recovery Plan.  The information contained in the document explains the recovery procedure for DSS in case of a disaster that affects the University as a whole or any part therein.            

Departmental Accomplishments

            Prince William Campus

Core Team – Fairfax Campus

Departmentally Based Engineers – Fairfax Campus

Arlington Campus

Areas Needing Improvement

Technical knowledge skills improvement training in both hardware and software has been scheduled for FY02.  Microsoft XP Operating System training that started in June of FY01 has carried over into July of FY02.  All of the engineers and managers will be trained by the end of July.   Hardware training on Dell Omniplex PC’s will begin in earnest in August 2002.  We anticipate that 40 to 50% of our engineers will be certified by the start of the fall classes.  In addition classes have been scheduled in July to train selected engineers on HP printers, this will enable faster response and resolution to major printer calls.  

Service response to external and internal customers is an area that needs improvement.  In order for the Desktop Support Services to accomplish a significant improvement in this area we need to fill an open position in one department, improve engineer work skills, have parts on hand to support products approved by the University, instill pride in accomplishment and an understanding as to the impact on the University when service is delayed. 

Improve the overall image of Desktop Support Services to the extent that those organizations that currently have their own support staff would consider switching to DoIT’s Desktop Support Services.

2002-2003 Goals

Voice/pager Communications – Contract with a solid reputable company that can provide communications devices that will work consistently in the various buildings and closets and across campus. 

Metrics – Work within Magic’s capabilities to track and report those service requests that are responded to and completed the same day the call is reported.  In addition track emergency calls that are responded to and repaired within four hours.

Student Support – Incorporate the use of Students to perform tasks that will enable DSS technical staff to respond to and close service requests the same day.  In addition students could run parts to engineers working on site, thereby reducing the time a client is down for repairs or a call is open.  Students could also input customer data in Magic to start building a useable University inventory of all PC’s and peripherals supported by DSS.  Data collected would enable DSS to properly plan parts usage and project support costs.

3-Year Goals

Additional support responsibilities – When the University community is aware of the excellent performance and quality service provided by the Desktop Support Services Teams, it is our intent to expand our service offerings to those departments that currently provide internal hardware and software support to their organizations.  Centralizing DSS across campus will ultimately reduce redundant costs to the University.

Training and Education – Train all engineers on new technology, both hardware and software prior to it being introduced at GMU.  Training can be formal instruction or OJT.

Awards & Recognition

Engineers and Managers who have received “Thank you” notes and letters from Faculty and Staff are: Steve Broaddus (2), Teresa Scott (2), Mohammed Boukhira (3), Laura LeVine (2), Greg Gillette and Sarah Gingerich.  Most of the Engineers have received very nice comments on the Customer Satisfaction Survey cards that are left at the completion of each service request.  The Customer Satisfaction rating for “Overall Quality” has averaged 97.14% from those who have returned the Survey cards.  Of those who answered the “Would you recommend DoIT”, the rating has averaged 98.5% to recommend.  This reinforces our commitment to continue to excel in providing and meeting our customer expectations.

Certificates of Appreciation have been awarded to: Steve Broaddus, Laura LeVine, Mike Bellinghoven, Demetrius Winston, Tom Deike, Joe Anderson, Mohammed Boukhira, John Gerhard, Kristen Jennette, John Kofler and Teresa Scott.

 The University Outstanding Achievement Award was presented to Laura LeVine at the Spring ITU meeting. 

Statistics

Tracking Charts

Engineer Call Closure

 Departmental Call Closure

Departmental Call Closed Percentage