nlit 2014 -rethinking av-vtc services
TRANSCRIPT
Rethinking AV/VC Conferencing Support Through Managed ServicesNLIT 2014
Jack Schmidt, Dana StasiakArgonne National Laboratory
Chad Karkos, Ron FordKemtah Group
Who are we?
Jack Schmidt– IT Service Manager/Process Manager– 1+ years at Argonne– 32+ years at Fermi– ITIL Zealot since 2007
Dana Stasiak– Service Owner– 17+ years at Argonne– User Experience Champion
Chad Karkos– AV/VTC Service Manager– 2+ years at Kemtah
Argonne National Laboratory
25 miles southwest of Chicago, IL1,500 wooded acres/315 buildings3,350 Employees15 research divisions/6 user facilitiesBudget of $722 million
Overview
About us What motivated us to change our service model A look back at where we started with AV/VC services and support Where we are today What we’re thinking about for the future Q&A
Multiple Service Providers
Past Present Future
Service drivers
Environment
• Budget, travel and sustainability constraints were driving an increase in videoconferencing
• Multi-disciplinary research pushing limits on existing services
• Increase in remote collaborators
• Sustainability efforts allowed build-out of VTC rooms
Technology
• 40+ rooms of various sizes with a wide range of audio, video (A/V) & video conference capabilities
• Multiple tools available with overlapping features
• Recent changes in ESNet Collaboration services
• Variances in funding for ongoing room maintenance
Support
• Largely unsupported due to budget limitations
• Remote collaboration requires some level of support to drive adoption across the lab
• Consistent support needs for a variety of events• On-site• Off-site• High profile
• No service delivery measurements
Timeline
Nov 2012• AV support
proof of concept
Mar 2013• Lab-wide AV
support contract in place
Apr 2013• Lab-wide
VTC support contract
• 4 room pilot• KPIs to
justify need
June 2013• Implement
initial VTC scheduling tool
Oct 2013• Spike in VTC
usage• Govt.
shutdown looms
Initial video conference scheduling tool
A la carte charging model
Pros– Provided options to customers
depending on needs Cons
– Hard to know what services to request
– Inconsistent billing
What did we learn?
Setting up a meeting …1. Define meeting requirements2. Ask admin staff for a room3. If none available ask admin staff in
another building4. Room found! Follow process from
local admin staff to request resource5. Ask local IT support for help.
– Can they access equipment in room? – Do they know how to use it?
6. Ask for room support– Facilities? Local building managers?
Lessons Learned Customers were confused by:
– Which service provider can help me? (when there are multiple)
– Al a carte pricing– Charging for parts of a service and
not others Managing two contractors with
overlapping services is time-consuming
Requesting service via phone/email resulted in personalized but inconsistent service
Lots of ways rooms are scheduled Need to track request -> billing
Single Service Provider
Past Present Future
Service improvements
Feb 2014 - Consolidate to a single vendor for both AV and VTC services
Create better way to request service Track all service requests in Service
Now Measure our service delivery
– Customer satisfaction– Utilization
Collaboration Services
VTC / Managed Service
Web / Self Service
AV / Staff Augmentation
Collaboration support services
Conference rooms
Special events
High profile event support
Auditorium events
Exchange integration
Exchange invite -> email list -> Service Now
Pros– Tickets created for every
calendar entry– Calendar view of all events
Cons– Tickets created for canceled
events too!– Overhead to manage tickets
How are we doing?Weekly service meetings to review service dashboard
How are we doing?Monthly review of KPIs – Support and engineering requests
How are we doing?Monthly review of KPIs – Customer satisfaction
Very Dissatis-fied
Somewhat Dissatisfied
Neutral Somewhat Satified
Very Satisfied0.0%
5.0%
10.0%
15.0%
20.0%
25.0%
30.0%
35.0%
40.0%
45.0%
50.0%
0.0%
7.4%
14.8%
44.4%
33.3%
How are we doing?Monthly review of KPIs –VC travel avoidance costs since June 2013
Savings CO2 (kg)$0
$50,000
$100,000
$150,000
$200,000
$250,000
$300,000
$350,000
$400,000
$450,000
$500,000445436
191,052kg
What did we learn?
Travel cost avoidance is significant Exchange/ServiceNow integration hard to manage
– Lots of overhead for the vendor– Customers were confused by multiple emails from ServiceNow and Exchange
Vendor able to sub-contract for– Peak requests– Special equipment needs
Need to partner with Facilities and Office of Project Management Multiple overlapping service offerings drive support costs up and adoption down
Managed Service
Past
Service improvements
Move to a managed service contract Continue to improve service request
process Create service bundles based on
room usage patterns Develop technology standards Look to consolidate offerings
– Driven by ESNet Collaboration Service changes
Managed Service
AV/VTC Engineering
Web Conf.
Support
AV/VTC Suppor
t
Consolidation of technology for simpler user experience
Today Adobe Connect
– 50 concurrent licenses – 2 seminar rooms with 250 users
ReadyTalk (ESNet)– Mainly used by ANL HEP community
PGI conferencing bridge– Integrates with Adobe Connect
Video endpoints– Polycom room systems– Mondo Pad
Whatever Best Buy has on sale
Future??? Single video conferencing and web
sharing solution??? Still need large seminar capability
(250+ people) May still need separate audio bridge
Standard supported configurations for:– Conference rooms– Auditoriums– Executive office suites– Digital signage– Video walls
Technology lifecycle management
Service request form
Service offering bundles
At a glance
Past
Multiple Service Providers• Local IT departments• AV vendor• VTC vendor• Web conferencing is self-service• Limited scalability
{Questions?
Dana [email protected]
Jack [email protected] 630-252-1533
Chad [email protected] 630-252-1976
Ron [email protected] 636-297-5206
Additional information
Service Design (AV)
Description: Provides support to facilitate video, audio and web communication for on-site or with off-site collaborators. Facilitate preparation for special requests. Includes consulting and design for new installations.
Entitlement: – Audiovisual operations, maintenance and consulting and installation services on a cost-
recovery basis covering over 40 conference rooms across the site. – Provide end-user training related to A/V systems.
Support Costs: A la carte pricing model. Support Availability: 3 business days. Emergency support available (higher cost) Service Availability: Mon thru Fri 7:30am – 5pm, excluding Lab Holidays. Off Hours
and Weekend support is negotiable. (ANL Service Desk)
Service Design (VTC)
Description: Provides support to facilitate video, audio and web communication for on-site or with off-site collaborators. Facilitate preparation for special requests. Includes consulting and design for new installations.
Entitlement: – Video conferencing resources and services are available in several dedicated conference
rooms around the Laboratory– (Video conferences scheduled, connected, and supported via use of the ESnet bridge.– Schedule and support external video conference connections through ESnet.
Support Costs: No cost recovery structure in place Support Availability: 3 business days notification recommended Service Availability: Mon thru Fri 8:00am – 6pm, excluding Lab Holidays. Off Hours
and Weekend support is negotiable. (Kemtah VCS Help Desk)
Service Design (Web)
Description: Provides support to facilitate web communication for on-site or with off-site collaborators.
Entitlement: – ReadyTalk: integrated audio and web conferencing for small meetings via the web. – Adobe Connect: web conferencing for small meetings via the web + PGI for audio
connections– Users are expected to setup & run their own sessions– Training assistance on request
Support Costs: No cost recovery structure in place Support Availability: Local IT support Service Availability: Mon thru Fri 7:30am – 5pm, excluding Lab Holidays. Off Hours
and Weekend support is negotiable. (Argonne Service Desk)