Introduction
A nationwide retail chain (with over 50 shops, typically located in county towns and larger cities) entrusted our company with the management of its IT operations across Hungary. Under the SLA, we were required to begin troubleshooting faults within 4 hours and to attempt to resolve the fault within 8 working hours. All this took place between 2007 and 2009, at a time when remote support was still in its infancy, internet access was slow and unreliable, and computers either had no antivirus software installed at all or only had it installed sporadically.
The network’s computers were frequently affected by virus infections: they slowed down, became unusable, were plagued by annoying pop-up windows, and work was disrupted or brought to a complete standstill. On average, each shop had 2–3 computers and the same number of staff, so any IT fault had an immediate and direct impact on customer service.
Getting started and initial problems
During the initial phase of operation, the following problems became apparent:
- Frequent virus infections, which rendered the machines virtually unusable.
- There was no standardised, centralised virus protection; the computers had individual, ad hoc solutions – if any at all.
- Slow, unreliable internet connection; remote support was not standard practice.
- Fault rectification typically involved on-site visits, involving a great deal of travel and significant downtime.
- During the outages, shop staff were generally unable to work or serve customers.
Although we tried to resolve some of the faults over the phone, this proved to be extremely cumbersome, time-consuming and unreliable. If the virus infection proved stubborn, we either had to reinstall the system on site or take a freshly installed machine with us and set up the network drives, printers, scanners and all the necessary configurations on site.
This is the operating model:
- with a lot of travelling,
- requiring a significant amount of IT time,
- and resulted in a significant amount of stock sitting on the shelves in shops.
It has become clear that the operational strategy needs to be radically overhauled.
Steps for implementation
1. Introduction of a remote assistance system
As a first step, we installed software enabling remote support on the computers in our shops. The effects of this are:
- It was no longer necessary to deal with many faults by sending staff out on site.
- Instead of troubleshooting over the phone, the technician was able to see the problem directly on the screen.
- Faults could be diagnosed and rectified more quickly and accurately.
However, remote support alone did not solve the virus problem: in cases of persistent infections, it was still necessary to replace the machine on site or reinstall the system. Nevertheless, in all cases where the fault was not linked to a serious virus infection, the time taken to resolve the issue was significantly reduced.
2. Implementation of a managed antivirus system
The next step was to install a centrally managed antivirus system on all the computers in the shops. From then on, the computers were delivered to the shops with the antivirus software already installed.
The effects of this are:
- The number of faults caused by viral infections has fallen dramatically.
- Within about a year, disruptions caused by viruses had virtually ceased.
- The performance of the machines has become more stable, and day-to-day operations have become more reliable.
- Data security has improved as a result of systems operating in a more closed and controlled manner.
Due to centralised management:
- the condition of the entire fleet has become clear,
- updates and virus databases could be rolled out uniformly and centrally,
- It was possible to intervene quickly in the event of suspicious incidents.
Results over a two-year period
Around two years after the project was launched, IT support and the IT operations of the shop network underwent fundamental changes.
Results achieved:
- The number of on-site visits has been reduced to a minimum, and most faults can now be resolved quickly via remote support.
- Business downtime caused by faults has been significantly reduced.
- Problems caused by viral infections have almost completely disappeared.
- Compliance with SLAs has become more predictable and stable.
- The work of our shop staff was disrupted to a lesser extent, and customer service became more consistent.
- IT security has improved.
In the previous model, a significant proportion of the work was „physical”: travelling, moving equipment, and on-site reinstallation. Following the reorganisation, the nature of IT operations has changed:
- the emphasis was placed much more on intelligent, detached, intellectual work,
- greater emphasis has been placed on prevention, standardisation and regular maintenance,
- IT specialists’ time could be channelled into tasks with higher added value.
Lessons learnt
The case study highlights that:
- Well-designed, centrally managed systems are fundamental to an organisation’s efficiency.
- Prevention (virus protection, standardised configurations, remote management) offers much more predictable costs and greater security in the long term than constantly putting out fires.
- The value of IT support increases significantly when the focus shifts from physical presence to the quality of knowledge, processes and tools.
- A well-thought-out IT operations strategy not only makes life easier for the IT department, but also directly boosts the company’s productivity and the standard of its customer service.
