RMIT has 100,000 students and 11,000 staff in five Melbourne and regional Victoria campuses. Technology and its delivery had to be simple to access and use. Under its Techbar Service, Compnow reimagined the end user experience through rigorous processes, personalised expertise and targeted information.
RMIT University enjoys a global reputation for excellence in education, research and engagement with industry and commerce. It is a member of the Australian Technology Network, contributing to a new generation of universities.
Sinan Erbay, CIO at RMIT University says: “IT was creating too much noise. RMIT’s staff and students had to be able to focus on what’s important to them – be it learning, research or admin.
“We threw it out to the market to bring us something that reimagined our end user computing services. How do we get things done more easily, simpler and faster?”
RMIT and Compnow started with a clean slate: with any current technology available to support the new systems, how do we best set up the delivery of and access to devices?
Key to the success of the new processes was starting with an accurate picture of what was and wasn’t working under the existing services. Compnow and RMIT’s Hypercare team analysed help desk patterns. Also critical to the information gathering were user surveys and internal workshops.
Ben Doubleday is Senior Manager of End User Technology at RMIT and says: “When you map user experiences, I think you’d be surprised at how disconnected they can be. Support needs to be consistent and frictionless and it may mean changing the way you look at your issues.”
The resulting new model for end user service delivery was Techbar Service. Sinan says: “Compnow’s answer was to move away from delivery to desk or home, and help liaison via phone or email. The new Techbar service hubs – located strategically across our five campuses – provide person to person, expert help to solve issues on the spot.
“The concern was users wouldn’t like having to come to us. It sounds counterintuitive but having people come to the hubs is actually a time saver. Staff and students were wasting enormous amounts of time trying online troubleshooting, waiting for help desk, missing calls. Now they turn up without an appointment, take a number and waiting in a short queue for a direct personal fix of any level one or two problem.”
RMIT’s Compnow support has “made sure we have a really tight understanding of how we respond to particular inquiry types, and
have rigorous processes in place,” Ben says.
For new devices, ordering to collection is integrated into a workflow. And Compnow also helped develop the Tier Zero self-help content.
Ben says: “What has reduced so much noise is that pre-imaged devices are ready and waiting for user collection at secure PC Locs smart lockers. They have immediate access and log-ins for onboarding launches.
“We used to handle numerous enquiries relating to Wi-Fi access. As an example of Compnow’s lateral thinking, their answer was to adjust our digital signage. The problems dropped away. Users now have the information they need without having to contact support,” he says.
Now, 12 months on, some 6,000 devices used in staff, learning and teaching environments are under Techbar’s streamlined management.
The new solution also considered the administrative side covering invoicing and deployment charges. The Techbar Service is covered by a single monthly managed fee which reduces the overall cost of delivery for both RMIT and Compnow.
“Whether you’re dealing with one of us or a Compnow tech, we’re branded as one to provide a seamless service to our community. The trust and transparency we’ve developed has made such a difference,” Sinan says.
Ben says the Techbar Service has proven itself having “reduced costs and cut the overall number of IT tickets. We’re getting terrific feedback and user satisfaction surveys have gone through the charts – never dropping below 84.
“Plus there’s a growing confidence in using and sharing IT knowledge and experience.”
Sinan says: “With immediate service rather than having calls and messages going backwards and forwards, we’ve gone from frustration on all sides to happy users and staff. Everyone gets the same high standard of care”.
Techbar is a dynamic service that, through the Compnow/RMIT partnership, is constantly evolving. “The way we work through problems together and how we’re exploring the future is really exciting,” Sinan says. The next logical step is to extend the Service to AV and infrastructure – using the same approaches and efficient model.
With the Service, Compnow has a proven, cost effective, efficient model for large scale customers. At time of writing it has three others in the higher education sector onboarding Techbar.
Ben says Techbar is: “interconnected on a personal level and from a technology perspective. It’s frictionless and we’re providing consistency of information and experience. We’ve joined the dots for our user base.”
