Technopolis - proactive incident management .

From solving tickets and repairing fault modes, the current trend in incident management is towards a proactive approach to solve workstation issues before they become visible to users. Through proactive incident management, Enfo is able to serve users at Technopolis more effectively and actively.

The proactive model also improves transparency, as the IT department has a sharper view of the current status and its monitoring. 

The idea of introducing proactive incident management for Technopolis was born in spring 2018, when Enfo and Technopolis sat down to review end user satisfaction and performance metrics. On the face of it, everything seemed in order, but internal feedback had been received on a few of the systems. 

"A view of the current system status was lacking and predicting future issues was difficult. We decided to begin developing proactive incident management together with Enfo. Our goal was to achieve a mode of operation where instead of relying on guesswork, we would have an accurate understanding of the current status and our performance. Monitoring is no longer based only on the number of incident tickets, for example," says Risto Kivisilta, CIO at Technopolis. 

Close collaboration in developing a modern model for proactive incident management 

Proactive incident management is a fairly new and modern method for workstation management. The experiment began with a pilot test, in which both Enfo and Technopolis looked to gain a new insight. 

"We refrained from setting specific numerical goals for the pilot test, but for myself, there were three important issues. Firstly, the aim was to gain a comprehensive view of the state of production. Secondly, when defects are detected, the processes and procedures to repair them must be in place. And thirdly, how Enfo can act proactively in the model," says Kivisilta.  

During the pilot test, a few joint sessions were held to determine the reports and views that Technopolis requires. 

"We had good, open dialogue in the project. All our proposals for improvement that were reasonably attainable have been implemented. Enfo also showed flexibility and an understanding of our needs. As Enfo has basic service management in very good order, the newly developed service can be seen as an add-on of sorts," says Kivisilta. 

Users prefer proactivity – streamlined incident management for both users and IT support 

Kivisilta was initially apprehensive of how users would feel about being contacted by Service Desk and informed that their computer has an issue. Fortunately, this concern has since proved to be unfounded. 

"Although we had notified users of the new model, we were uncertain of their reaction. There has been little feedback, which in IT-related matters is usually a positive sign. The little feedback we have received has been exclusively positive. We have also discussed this with Enfo, and their experiences have been similar," Kivisilta says. 

From an effective pilot test to production: Technopolis is satisfied with the developed model 

In terms of the overall picture, it is also essential to consider how proactive incident management fits in with other processes. A crucial moment for the project’s success took place last August, when Kivisilta received the first report on the findings of proactive incident management. The report listed observations, repairs and a list of issues requiring correction that Enfo would tackle next. This proved that the service could provide tangible benefits. 

"The report was the first to demonstrate in practice the kind of benefits that could be achieved with the service. After the pilot test, our collaboration continued and the project entered production in early autumn," Kivisilta recounts. 

In the future, the goal of Technopolis is to introduce the proactive approach to business applications, such as the ERP and CRM systems. As advice for similar projects, Kivisilta recommends the following: 

"As I am personally an advocate of experimentation, we did not set any specific numerical goals for the pilot test. Still, setting them may help to clarify the project. For myself, it was important to consider how proactive incident management can be efficiently integrated with the service production process as a whole," Kivisilta sums up. 

Technopolis is a shared workspace expert. Technopolis provides efficient and flexible offices, coworking spaces and everything that goes with them. Their services run from designing the workspace to reception, meeting solutions, restaurants and cleaning. Technopolis' 17 campuses host 1,600 companies with 50,000 employees in six countries within the Nordic and Baltic Sea region. Technopolis Plc (TPS1V) is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki.