Process Analysis

ANALYSIS OF IT SUPPORT FUNCTION: CONTRACTOR TO CLIENT

ATOS IT SOLUTIONS AND SERVICES

METLIFE

 Atos provides the IT support to one of its biggest clients, MetLife, across the United States. Contracts are generally written every three years, but on occasion they can be modified for single year contracts. 

Within the body of the contract lie all the details about how Atos will provide MetLife with Information Technology support and more importantly, how it will be charged. Mainly, the contracts are written on a transactional basis.

MetLife will provide Atos with a specific number of transactions for the year or for the length of the contract. Each transaction has a dollar amount, and that dollar amount will be paid to Atos for the services rendered. On average a transaction can cost the client up to $90 to $100 depending on the complexity of the work performed. If all the transactions are not used up in the time period specified, Atos will have to buy those transactions back from MetLife.

LOCAL SITE SUPPORT

The local site support team is the real money maker for the firm. They are the onsite technicians that visit with the user face to face to help them solve their issue.
Common inquiries include:

• hardware issue
• software 
• operating system problem 

or something as simple as delivering a mouse or keyboard, they are the team that provides front line support. 

The issues are based in an online ticketing system.

When a user calls the help desk, it creates a ticket. The ticket will include all the information about the user and their problem.

 Once the ticket is created a clock starts and Atos must make an attempt to reach the user with the issue either by email or phone within a reasonable amount of time.

This timeframe is established in the contract language. If it is not met, Atos can face a penalty for not meeting the service level agreement. Certain lines of business require a quicker response time for Atos. These groups need to be serviced on a priority basis, as well as VIP’s in the company. 

These tickets are marked accordingly as VIP or top priority so that the technicians know that these tickets are high severity and need to be addressed first.  As the ticket is transferred or escalated, notes are included in a section of the ticket to keep the next technician on track as to the progress of resolution. Once the ticket is resolved, the technician will close it out and record the time spent on it and make sure that the proper kind of transaction is being taken. The transactions must be recorded accurately to ensure that Atos is paid properly for the services rendered.

 For example, if the user complains about the machine shutting down automatically, the technician will do several steps to troubleshoot. He or she will test the hard drive of the machine for errors, and then attempt to back up the user’s files so that they are not in danger of being lost. If the error cannot be repaired after troubleshooting, the technician will decide that the machine needs to be reimaged. In other words, the operating system will be wiped out and reloaded as a fresh install. He will then be sure that all the user’s data and software are restored and return the machine to the customer. 

When closing a ticket the tech must record all of his or her efforts to make sure that it is billed correctly. If they are not billed correctly, the firm can lose out on additional transactions and money that could be made.

PROCESSES

There are several different processes that are followed to provide the client with different services. These processes are formed in a different system called tasks. Tasks come through the system in various ways; basically, anything other than a problem ticket comes in as a task.

Tasks include:

• New asset acquisitions
• peripheral acquisitions
• Cascading of existing machines to new or existing employees
• Software transfers or installs
•  as well as several other upgrades or requests from users

Tasks have a much longer SLA time frame than problem tickets, meaning the technician has a little more time to get these types of jobs done.

 

TECH REFRESH

The main task performed is that of technical refresh. This is when a user’s laptop or desktop is at the end of its three year lifecycle and is to be “refreshed” with a new laptop. 

 

The process is a follows.

1.       The invitation for tech refresh is sent to and accepted by the user.

2       The acquisitions team places an order for the machine and accessories needed.

3       The order is received by the receiving team on site via the mail room.

4       The order is processed and prepped by the receiving team for the technician.

5       The technician picks up the order from receiving and begins the build process.

6       The software is cloned from the user’s old asset to the new one and installed properly.

7       The technician will schedule a day/time to perform the refresh

8       Upon refresh, the tech will copy all data files from the user’s old machine to the new.

9  The tech sets up and orientates the user on the new asset.

10   The old machine is collected, wiped and processed before the ticket is closed.

The idea here is that the user gets an exact “like for like” machine. Everything that is on the old will be on the new. For this, Atos gets 1.5 transactions. It is a continual flow of tickets throughout the year and is a big money maker for the company.

CASCADES

Cascades are done when an existing asset is already in the user’s possession and needs to be configured for a new user. In this instance the machine must be reimaged, and prepped for the new user’s ID’s for that user’s use and his/hers alone. These types of tasks are done on a time and materials basis and are billed directly to the user’s cost center as opposed to getting a transaction. The company will pay a direct rate to Atos based on how long it takes to get the job done.

  Other cascades include: 

Existing assets going to existing employees

New assets going to existing employees

Assets being swapped between existing employees. 

All are done on a time and materials basis.

Other tasks include orders of peripherals such as:

• monitors
• keyboards
• mice
• docking stations
• power adapters 

and any other computer apparatus that may be required. 

The same procedure applies where the user makes the order via the help desk;

 it is placed, 

              received, 

                        picked up by the technician,

                                                             and deployed to the end user. 

Each task is recorded in terms of how long it takes and transactions are taken accordingly.

Tasks can be placed on hold status if the customer is not available to schedule a time and place to get the work done. Each task has different timeframes for completion but tasks are given more time than problem tickets which must be handled quicker.