GETS Update - July 23, 2010

Georgia Enterprise Technology Services (GETS) Update

Volume 2, Issue No. 15

July 23, 2010

Second quarter survey results heading in the right direction

We've spent some time reviewing the results of the second quarter customer satisfaction surveys. 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. Scores for both IBM and AT&T showed an improvement from the first quarter of this year.

While it is still too early to pinpoint trends, we hope that our efforts to improve the customer experience are making the impact we believe they are. Our program is a long-term commitment to improving the service you receive. It includes an array of initiatives, including focus groups to gain agency input and recommendations, the online Customer Resource Center to make service delivery information easier to find, a new council to better align the interests of business and technology within agencies, and process improvements to reduce backlogs and wait times. We'll keep you posted regularly on these efforts; in fact, you'll read about several of them in this issue of GETS Update.

Our service providers have demonstrated their willingness to make changes to better meet our customers' needs, and we are working closely with them to make sure your input is heard.

In modernizing the state's IT operations, we are turning around almost 30 years of poor technology management. It's like renovating an old house; every time we tear down a wall, we find something else that needs to be fixed.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Patrick Moore
State Chief Information Officer
GTA Executive Director

New GETS Customer Resource Center brings assistance to users

End users who have questions about GETS services can now find the information they need all in one place on the GTA Web site: the GETS Customer Resource Center. The Web page brings together a variety of helpful information.

Contacts - GTA Service Delivery Consultants, the Consolidated Service Desk and GETS agency leads

Quick References - GETS Web portal for self-service ordering of services and equipment, submitting trouble tickets and more

Frequently Asked Questions - in-depth information about service delivery and transformation activities

GETS Update - quick access to our e-newsletter

GETS Customer Training - online training on demand for a variety of GETS-related topics, including Chargeback for IT and telecommunications invoices, GETS Web portal, Service Catalog (OrderNow!) and Maximo

GTA will continue to build the Customer Resource Center, adding more information to assist users with IT service delivery.

Agency support helps keep EUC refresh moving forward

Through the regular refresh of end-user desktop and laptop computers, agencies can remain current with advancing technology - one of the most visible benefits of the state's IT transformation.

During the past fiscal year, slightly more than 1,700 out-of-date and inadequate computers were replaced. We will need help and participation from agencies to complete the almost 3,000 refreshes planned during the first half of FY 2011.

Agency CIOs have been working with IBM and GTA to develop detailed refresh plans. In general, the plans call for replacing about 20 percent of desktops and 33 percent of laptops each year.

We are beginning with older computers. Out-of-date machines often cannot run current anti-virus and anti-spyware applications. They are also far more likely to break down, which reduces employee productivity and increases maintenance costs. Through the state's refresh program, we are standardizing desktops and laptops on the agency's choice of Dell or Lenovo. By doing so, we are able to simplify support processes, which in turn increases reliability and security while constraining costs.

There are several important activities in which we need agency IT and business leaders to take part so that replacements happen on schedule with as little disruption as possible:

Identifying specific computers to be refreshed. A list of specific computers and a date for their replacement should be finalized well in advance of actually beginning the refresh process.

Selecting new desktop and laptop computers. The model of computers to be deployed should also be finalized well in advance.

Identifying software to be loaded on end-user computers. Different teams often need different software programs to perform their jobs. These programs must be fully identified before refresh begins so they will already be loaded on the new computers and staff can get right back to work after refresh.

Making sure staff are present for refresh. If someone cannot be present to receive a new computer, it is important to make arrangements for another staff member to work with the refresh team on their behalf.

Agency assistance will help us ensure that staff have modern, secure and well-managed technology.

Focus groups to offer input about IMAC process

IBM is hosting focus groups on July 27 and 28 to discuss the IMAC (Install, Move, Add, Change) process. The groups will focus on IMAC processes for computing equipment and services.

Participants will discuss their IMAC process experience and recommend improvements. It is part of IBM's and GTA's commitment to improving the computing equipment and services experience for GETS customers and follows similar focus groups hosted by IBM and AT&T on improvements to the Service Catalog (OrderNow!).

Business Council holds initial meeting