IT reorganisation reduces cost, improves service at design firm

Stephen Withers
Friday, 27 August 2010 13:30

Business IT - Technology

Architecture and design firm Hassell has dramatically improved the effectiveness of its IT operations by reorganising it around a service desk with selective outsourcing.

The company, which has offices around Australia and in several Asian cities, found itself in a situation where it had three separate IT teams - one supporting CAD, another for finance applications, and the third for general IT matters. These teams were competing with each other rather than effectively sharing information, said Bill Rue, Hassell's CIP.

Hassell wanted IT to support the more effective delivery of projects to clients, so Rue was given three weeks to generate a plan to reorganise the operation.

A traditional outsourcing arrangement was not attractive, as Hassell wanted to keep the focus on design. Rue's solution was to set up a service desk operating from 8am to 9pm (reflecting normal working hours in the time zones where the offices are located) with an escalation mechanism for urgent and important after-hours issues. A few IT staff remained in the individual studios to provide on-the-spot support, but most of the team was reorganised around the service desk. In addition, the company appointed regional delivery managers to take care of compliance issues that vary in different countries.

The service desk approach means that Hassell's staff always know who to phoneregarding IT issues. If the person that answers the call can't help, they can find someone that can.

Rue also engaged key vendors to work on a partnership basis to provide additional support as required. In return, Hassell acts as a reference site for those vendors.

"Being a partner means there's no arguing about who owns an issue," explained Wally Eastland, principal operations consultant at Microsoft.

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