Launching a central service management system for schools: an innovative funding project for IT management in educational institutions
“We now have it in our own hands,” says Heiko Dittrich, IT coordinator at Pirna town council. With the introduction of a central IT service management system (ITSM) for schools a year ago, the district town has met several challenges: As schools become more technically equipped, the administration of IT infrastructures is getting more and more complex and the support effort is constantly increasing. However, the staffing ratio often remains unchanged, which leads to overload. Too many work steps, too many communication channels and too little transparency also complicate the situation. Teachers can now report their problems via a self-service portal, school administrators and the city’s IT department can keep track at all times and manage the work of external service providers. In the end, communication between the various stakeholders has improved, problems are solved more quickly and IT administration has been significantly optimized.
More transparency and rapid problem solving
Imagine the following situation at one of your schools: A teacher is preparing an important lesson. Thanks to the DigitalPakt School, the teaching staff have access to state-of-the-art devices and are happy to use them. But in this case, the interactive whiteboard goes on strike. Unsure whether the problem has already been reported, he tries to contact the IT department. But the contact person is not there. So all that remains is an email and the hope of quick help. At the same time, the principal wants to track the status of several IT requests-Wi-Fi incidents, a defect printer and a recent request to install new educational software in the computer labs. She speaks to a representative from the IT department, but he is unable to provide any information. There is no overview of the IT problems.
IT Coordinator Heiko Dittrich remembers: “In the past, requests were made via various channels—by email, telephone or in person. A lot of things were dealt with directly between the school and the IT service provider and we as the responsible body were not aware of this. This often led to delays and a lack of overview.” The introduction of the ITSM application in Pirna has significantly improved IT management. “We now have a central platform on which all requests converge. We can immediately see which service provider is working on which problem and what the processing status is. This makes it easier for us to implement our IT strategy at the schools—we now have it in our own hands,” emphasizes Dittrich.
Learn more about ITIL®—the ITSM framework for more user-centricity and efficient processes.
Working together towards a common goal
The “Service management for schools” funding project arose from the desire for greater transparency and efficiency in IT administration and started in 2021 with a comprehensive tender. OMNINET was awarded the contract for its standard software OMNITRACKER. The project is supported by various partners, including the cities of Aue-Bad-Schlema, Freiberg, Limbach-Oberfrohna, Pirna, Plauen, Radeberg, Stolpen, Schkeuditz, Wilsdruff and the communities of Königswartha and Weischlitz. The city of Plauen is a contractual partner of the Saxon State Ministry of Culture (SMK) and has commissioned KISA to implement the project. This ensures that the necessary measures for professional and targeted IT management are implemented in the schools.
The close cooperation in the project made it possible to flexibly adapt the ITSM application to the specific needs of the school authorities.
Nick Grimm, Digitalization Coordinator at the City of Plauen, sees this as a great success: “The flexibility of the solution allows us to make the IT processes at our schools much more efficient. It is a sustainable solution that will take the pressure off us in the long term.”
The aim was to create a flexible and future-proof ITSM application that is provided as software as a service (saas), can be used without major implementation costs and can be set up for new school authorities and schools with just a few configurations. In an intensive workshop phase, the requirements of all project participants were systematically identified and implemented in a test system. The various masks and views of the application were then tested together in order to coordinate the necessary fields and displays. After these adjustments, the productive system was set up and the gradual introduction of the project participants for the pilot operation began.
However, this onboarding process is not yet complete. This structured approach has already enabled valuable initial experience to be gained and new requirements to be identified, which are being incorporated into ongoing development. As further project participants have been added and additional requirements have arisen, the project has been extended until the end of 2024 and is expected to be completed this year.
More than just a ticket system: knowledge management and optimized work processes
The new browser-based ITSM application fundamentally changes the situation: The teacher whose whiteboard is out of order can report the problem directly via the self-service portal. Thanks to the stored device data, they can immediately specify the room and the affected whiteboard, eliminating the need for queries from the IT department. The IT department knows exactly which device is involved and can start the repair work in a targeted manner. At the same time, the teacher receives real-time updates on the processing status and can track progress at any time.
Susann Lenk, teacher and PITKO at the Carl-Friedrich Gauß secondary school in Pirna, particularly appreciates the user-friendliness and transparency of the system: “I think the self-service portal is very good, it makes work easier—especially when we can also see other tickets.” The school management also benefits: the portal gives them a complete overview of all current IT inquiries.
Whether it’s Wi-Fi problems, a broken printer or a request to install new learning software in the computer rooms—she can see the current status of every request. This also makes work clearer for the IT department and the school authority: They can see exactly which requests are pending, which service provider has been commissioned and how far processing has progressed. It is particularly helpful if the system recognizes that the defective printer has already been repaired several times and should now be replaced. The IT service management system goes far beyond mere ticket management.
By integrating a configuration management database (CMDB) and comprehensive knowledge management, it offers considerable added value. The CMDB makes it possible to keep an eye on all devices and their status, while knowledge management helps to solve frequently occurring problems independently. The division into first-, second- and third-level support structures the processing of requests, increasing not only transparency but also processing speed.
Rico Lindner, IT Project Coordinator for schools in Freiberg, also emphasizes the advantages: “Transparency and efficiency have increased considerably since the system was introduced. In the past, it was often unclear who was reporting which problem, who was responsible for which problem and what progress was being made. Now we have clear structures and can coordinate the work much better.”
A key benefit of the ITSM application is the implementation of a “Single Point of Contact (SPOC)”. This means that all support requests—whether by phone, email or via the self-service portal—are recorded and categorized centrally. IT support can process the requests in a structured manner, minimizing work interruptions caused by incoming emails or calls. This not only shortens processing times, but also optimizes work processes. In addition, the self-service portal allows requests to be made outside of service hours, which increases flexibility and improves service quality.
Are you interested in an automatable ITSM solution that you can easily and flexibly adapt to your requirements?
Different requirements demand flexible solutions
As with many complex IT projects, the introduction of the IT service management system also presented various challenges. During the course of the project, new requirements arose time and again, particularly due to the addition of further school authorities and schools during the project period. This required flexible adaptation of the existing structures and functions.
Another key issue was data quality. Much of the device data was unstructured, in different systems or of varying quality. Therefore, a standardized format for recording and managing IT infrastructure data had to be developed first. In addition, some school boards wanted to continue to maintain their equipment data in separate inventory systems, while others wanted to use the central ITSM application. These different requirements called for flexible solutions in order to satisfy all parties involved.
Anchoring the ITIL* approach was also a challenge. Clear processes for incident management, service request management and knowledge management had to be established. In addition, the separation of first-, second- and third-level support had to be clearly defined and adapted to the specific needs of the various project participants. These different approaches and processes took time to establish in the schools and IT departments.
Despite these challenges, the project is already well advanced and the experience gained is continuously being incorporated into the development of the application.
The “Service Management for Schools” project is designed in such a way that it can be extended to other school authorities and schools after the pilot phase.
Co-initiator and KISA Department Head Frank Uhlig sums up: “Complicated ITIL processes were standardized specifically for the constellation of school authorities, schools and service providers, stored in the system and real reusability was achieved.” The ability to add new clients with little configuration effort means that the system can be put into operation quickly and without complex implementation projects. In the long term, the project partners are aiming to introduce the ITSM application throughout Saxony. There are also plans to set up a knowledge database that can be provided by the school authorities for their schools. This database is intended to provide users with access to numerous solutions for frequently occurring IT problems and thus noticeably relieve the burden on support. The ITSM application has noticeably improved the management of all requests and incidents.
The central platform makes communication between schools, school authorities and service providers much easier. The knowledge database helps to ensure that frequently occurring issues can be solved directly by the users themselves, which reduces the number of tickets.
The central IT service management system based on OMNITRACKER offers a future-proof and tailor-made solution for the IT challenges of Saxon schools. Thanks to the close cooperation between the project partners, KISA and OMNINET GmbH, it was possible to develop an ITSM application that not only increases efficiency, but is also sustainable and flexible to use.
The project represents significant progress in the digitalization and professional management of the IT infrastructure of school authorities as well as educational institutions. The experience gained and the implementation of ITIL4 best practices form the cornerstone for the continuous improvement of IT services, which ultimately benefits schools, teachers and students. Further information on the project can be found on the website: https://itsm-schulen.kisa.it/.
*ITIL provides a framework that enables IT departments or IT service providers to design their processes to better meet the needs—in this case of local authorities. The aim is to improve the quality of IT services and solve problems more efficiently.
This article was published the magazine Sachsenlandkurier in the edition 05|24.
We would like to thank all participating schools and educational institutions as well as KISA for the excellent cooperation and joint project implementation. Many thanks also to the ächsischen Städte- und Gemeindetag e. V. for the informative report on our ITSM solution in use in schools and the education sector.
The participants
Katrin Simoneit: Project lead and project management, KISA
Jan Fischer: ITIL Expert – Technical and functional support as well as advice on the implementation and optimization of ITIL processes, KISA
About KISA
KISA is the municipal IT service provider in the Free State of Saxony. The special-purpose association mainly supports administrative districts, cities, municipalities and other institutions under public law with innovative IT solutions. KISA supports its customers in the municipal sector through contract data processing and is your contact for integrated IT solutions in the public sector.
About the SSG and Sachsenlandkurier
The Sächsische Städte- und Gemeindetag (SSG) is the mouthpiece of Saxony’s towns and municipalities and gives them a strong voice. The association aims to be the association of a large municipal family in which all municipalities and towns in the Free State of Saxony, regardless of whether they are large or small, feel well represented and networked.
The Sachsenlandkurier is the association magazine of the SSG. It contains informative articles, exciting insights and relevant information on current developments in local government. The local government magazine is published 6 times a year as a printed and digital edition.
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