IMPERIAL Online achieves improved SLA delivery, enhanced management information in support of improvement initiatives with Marval

IMPERIAL Online is an IT services company within the IMPERIAL Group. The company focuses on providing IT services, including infrastructure and cloud services, to clients both within the IMPERIAL Group and externally. As a services company, IT service management (ITSM) forms a critical component of the business. When the organisation’s existing call logging system failed to deliver the necessary intelligence for service improvements, IMPERIAL Online turned to Marval South Africa (SA) and its MSM Expert web-based ITSM tool to provide the solution.

“Our previous call logging system was purely to keep track of service calls, and therefore the reporting capability was limited. We were unable to extract intelligence from this solution to assist us with better strategic decision-making going forward, particularly around profitability, cost of services and so on. With this in mind, we went out on a tender, and Marval SA was one of three shortlisted candidates,” says Nicolé Mey, Commercial Director of IMPERIAL Online.

“A list of more than 450 functional criteria was used as a basis for short listing, which the Marval solution obviously met. However, from a cost and implementation period perspective, Marval was the obvious choice. Not only did they come in at a lower cost bracket than competitors, they were also able to deliver the full system within an estimated time frame of between three and six months, a far shorter period than any other provider,” she adds.

The MSM Expert tool forms part of IMPERIAL Online’s strategy of implementing the ITIL framework within their organisation, in a drive to become more economical and more efficient. This in itself is part of a larger project to achieve ISO/IEC 20000 certification by December 2013.

“We want to establish processes and have the automation in place to highlight small issues which we have in the past been unable to detect until they become major problems. This will assist us to identify trends, to gain more control over our environment proactively rather than reactively as we have done in the past,” Mey adds.

Implementation began in February 2012, and the first phase of the solution went live in April 2012 without a hitch and within a shorter timeframe than initially estimated. IMPERIAL Online is currently running the two systems concurrently, as some customers have not been migrated to Marval as yet, but plan to have the migration complete before 2013. Further phases will include mapping the infrastructure into the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) for control purposes, allowing the company to manage their risks better and make tasks simpler to execute.

“Marval MSM provides a reliable and scalable ITSM technology to support IT business services and future growth, with full support for IMPERIAL Online’s ITIL and ISO/IEC 20000 path. Not only does it improve IT Governance within the business through enhanced visibility and accountability, it also allows IMPERIAL Online to deliver more cost effective, reliable and efficient services to both internal and external customers,” adds Edward Carbutt, Executive Director at Marval Africa.

As part of the implementation, Marval provided product training sessions that facilitated skills transfer.  Part of Marval SA’s offering is IT Governance and Service Management education.  IMPERIAL Online is also working with Marval SA to deliver ITIL training throughout the organisation.