Ohio Five colleges are collaborating on a new work management system to streamline service requests, repairs, and technical assistance for facilities departments and IT help desks.
Four colleges (Denison, Kenyon, Oberlin and Ohio Wesleyan) are joining together to implement TOPDesk, a work management system which will create efficiencies in facilities operation and enhance IT help desk services. Led by Ohio Five Director of Strategic Procurement Christine Kimball, the one-year implementation is currently mid-stride with three of four the colleges underway and all colleges aiming toward a March 1, 2021 completion date. They join the College of Wooster, which is already using TOPDesk for its IT helpdesk services.
The TOPDesk project replaces TMA, the current work order system used at four-colleges, as well as two helpdesk systems used at Denison University and Kenyon College. The system transition will allow the facilities and IT groups to improve the efficiency of maintenance work orders and helpdesk communication and request completion.
For end users, a customizable, user-friendly service portal provides easy, on-line access to report service problems, request repairs and technical assistance, and receive community- wide communications. They can also access facilities and IT service instructions and query a dashboard of current and historical user requests. The TOPdesk system streamlines customer requests by routing tickets to appropriate staff for resolution and updating end users by email on service progress. The system is accessible on and off campus via desktops, laptops, tablets and phones.
For technicians, the TOPdesk system quickly routes work orders and links them to the Ohio Five e-procurement system. TOPdesk’s technician portal tracks and prioritizes customer requests for completion by college technicians, schedules maintenance work by both the asset and by its location on campus, and can escalate complex issues to specialized staff. The TOPDesk knowledge base helps technicians quickly diagnose and standardize responses to simple or repetitive issues. TOPdesk also links to the Ohio Five Jaggaer e-procurement system, providing a seamless process for ordering and accounting for supplies that are purchased under Ohio Five discounted contracts.
Denison University was the first college to implement TOPDesk in spring 2020. Director of Facilities Michael Supp and Renee Mascari, Director of Client Experience, Information Technology Services, have high hopes for its benefit to the college. "At Denison, one of our goals is to improve the efficiency of workflow in facilities and IT,” they commented, “TOPdesk's shared IT and facilities work management functionality has the ability to prioritize, streamline and build efficiencies into work processes. Denison has incorporated this functionality into our TOPdesk system design and we are looking forward to seeing the improved performance results of our optimized process workflow."