partnered together with

present

Presentation Outline

Introduction Project Background Current System Analysis The Problem The Solution Costs & Benefits Development Approach Application Demonstratio

n Lessons Learned Future Improvements

1

Introduction

2

Team Introduction

Hammad HussainProject

Manager

Kevin Dickinson Assistant

Project Manager

Taimur Ghazi

Primary Technical

Writer

Andres Montoya

Primary DBA and

App. Developer

Matthew Johnson

Secondary DBA and

Tester

3

Organization Chart

Jaime BuilesProject Sponsor

Hammad HussainProject Manager

Kevin DickinsonAssistant Project Manager

Andres Montoya DBA/Application Developer

Taimur Ghazi Technical Writer/IT Support

Matthew Johnson DBA/IT Support

Will Rubit IT Consultant

Bret Detillier Executive/Consultant

Additional Contacts:Jorge Cossio

Kurt Hall

Additional Contacts:Ruben Builes

Eben BuchananKaren Olson

4

Project Background

5

Background

Xenco has recently expanded its business to an international level with the opening of several business and service centers in

Columbia and India

Xenco has multiple locations throughout the United States with Houston serving as its headquarters

They specialize in the testing of hazardous materials, ground waters, soils, airs, molds, etc

Xenco is a network of laboratories that has been providing services to the environmental testing industry since 1954

6

Project Inception

• Xenco laboratories has an in-house helpdesk support team dedicated to solving hardware and software issues for the company’s

• The current process involves email communication between the client and the helpdesk team, resulting in over 100 emails per day.

• Apex Solutions was brought on to develop the Ticket Automation System and Knowledgebase.

7

Current System Analysis

8

Objective Statement

To..•…produce a help desk support system that provides XENCO Laboratories the ability to

efficiently and effectively manage and resolve IT-related problems or incidents.

In a way that.. •…improves efficiency, reliability , and response times.

•…limits ticket submission to Supervisors and IT Personnel while adding proper routing of tickets, priority, and assignment.

So that… •…technicians can avoid reading 100+ emails on daily basis.•…support tickets are not lost, forgotten or overlooked.

And can be measured

by… •…Increasing customers by 50 per year equating to $30,000 increased revenue.•…Saving 4 Hours of wasted labor per day at $60/h saving $62,400 per year.The goal of this project is:

9

Scope

10

Current Business Process

Users submit trouble request

via email

IT Department receives email

and assigns task to

technician

Users wait while problem is being fixed

When the problem is fixed users get email

notification

Move on to next issue

11

Current Business Process

Inadequacies

• Email request for IT related issues can be sent by any employee to support@xenco.com

• The email is then distributed to everyone in the IT group (8 Administrators)

• An IT admin then takes initiative and assigns the ticket to technician(s), as well as technicians accepting tickets on their own.

• More emails are sent to the distribution list and customer(s) between initiation and completion as an acknowledgement

12

The Problem

13

Current System Issues

emails…(n)

14

Current Business Process

LikesAbility to submit tickets

Single email address to consult for all issues

DislikesAnyone can

submit tickets

Email sent to at least 8 people every

time

Redundant submission of tickets

Inability to track ticket status and

priority

Vs.

15

The Problem

Anyone can submit tickets

Email sent to at least 8 people every time

Redundant submission of tickets

Inability to track ticket status and priority

Heavy email communication

Wasted labor

Client dissatisfaction

No checks and balance on ticket

Dislikes Problems

16

No checks and balance

on ticket

Tickets are sent without the

knowledge of Supervisor

Spending unnecessary

time in submission of

tickets

Work is backed up while the

issue is resolved

Heavy email communicat

ion

Spending time in reading

irrelevant email

No standards of email subject, causing extra

time being spent in

reading the context of the

issue

Wasted labor

Spending nearly 4 hours

a day in unnecessary

email communication

total

Wasting valuable labor resources on solving issues

that have already been addressed

Client dissatisfacti

on

No priority given to Critical or high priority

client

Client frustrated by not being able

to see the status of their repair

Preventing increase of

customer base by at least

50/year

Impacts of problems on business

17

The Solution

18

The Solution

Develop web-based ‘Ticket Automation System and Knowledgebase’, or simply ‘TASK’.

Make IT staff’s operations more efficient by reducing redundant tasks and eliminating lost requests.

19

The Solution (cont.)

TASK will allow IT support members to: Track and store each submitted request. Limit submissions to Supervisors and IT Personnel. Assign Technicians from the proper department to the

most critical ticket. House a knowledgebase of solutions for

troubleshooting Generate informative reports

20

The Solution (cont.)

Receiv

e

email

Submit

ticke

t

Receive requestResolve

issue

21

Costs and Benefits

22

Performance Goals

Reduce total wasted technician labor by 4 hours per day, which equates to approximately $62,400 saved per year.

Increase customer-submitted projects by 50 projects per year. This will bring an estimated $30,000 in additional revenue per year.

The sponsor has also created an internal goal of saving $100,000 per year in operating costs.

23

Costs Breakdown

Task Resources Time Cost

Systems Analysis Entire Project Team 205.5 hours x $50.00/hr $ 10,275.00

Database Development Lead and Assistant DBA’s 67 hours x $50.00/hr $ 3,350.00

Develop Web Application Lead and Assistant ProgrammerOther Team Members

371 hours x $50.00/hr $ 18,550.00

Application Testing Entire Team 125 hours x $50.00/hr $ 6,250.00

Server/Application Debugging IT Support 120 hours x $50.00/hr $ 6,000.00

User Manual IT Support 45 hours x $50.00/hr $ 2,250.00

Technical Manual IT Support 40 hours x $50.00/hr $ 2,500.00

Project Consultants B. DetillierW.Rubit

60 hours x $125.00/hr30 hours x $75.00/hr

$ 9,750.00

Sponsor Analysis Time Sponsor 5 hours x $130.00/hr $ 650.00

Training IT Team + Training 25 hours x $60.00/hr $1,500.00

Sub Total 1093.5 Hours $ 61,075.00

UH Discount $ (58,925.00)

Total (Sponsor Time) 1093.5 Hours $2,150.00

24

Recurring Costs vs. Benefits

Costs Resources Time (monthly) Cost

Monthly Database Maintenance DBAs 1 hour x $60.00/hr ($720.00 /year)

Paper Costs Paper 2 reams x $4.20 ($100.00 /year)

Monthly IIS Server Maintenance Networking 2 hours x $60.00/hr ($1440.00/year)

Emergency Funds for Critical Failure Entire Team 100 hours x $60.00/hr ($6000.00 /year)

Subtotal ($8,260.00 / year)

Benefits Resources Time Savings

Wasted Labor Redirected IT Support 4hours * $60.00/hr $62,400/year

Increase of 50 customers/year $30,000/year

Subtotal $92.400/year

Minus Costs -($8,260 /year)

Total Saved $84,140/year

25

Total Cost of Ownership

Costs Resources Profit Total

Year 1 -($10,410) $92,400 $81,990

Year 2 -($8,260) $92,400 $84,140

Year 3 -($8,260) $92,400 $84,140

Year 4 -($8,260) $92,400 $84,140

Year 5 -($8,260) $92,400 $84,140

Total -($43,450) $462,000 $418,550

26

Development Approach

27

Tools and Technologies

Developed using industry standard software Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 – Programming and

debugging user interface Microsoft SQL Server 2008 – Programming and

debugging database Adobe Creative Suite 5 – Create and edit graphics for

user interface and project documents

28

Database Development

29

Testing Process

Dedicated Testing Process

30

Application Overview

31

Application Overview

Web-based system for universal access

Simple layout for quick navigation

Authorized user access for security

32

TASK Demonstration

33

Summary

34

Summary

Xenco laboratories continues to expand and develop its core business.

This was causing an influx of support tickets to an outdated system.

IT helpdesk support at Xenco faced some inadequacies in the current business process .

Apex solutions saw an opportunity to improve the business process and justified the costs with an overall positive return on investment.

TASK was created as a result of dedicated efforts from Apex Solutions’ team.

35

Questions?

36

Lessons Learned

37

Project Management

What worked? Daily status updates Google groups Subversion Control for documentation Weekly in-person meetings GoToMeeting

What didn’t work? Untimely reporting hours daily Difference of hours between WBS and Status Reports Transfer of responsibilities mid-semester

What could’ve been done differently? More meetings with sponsor to better quantify costs & benefits More in-person meetings

38

Application Development

What worked? Visual Studio 2010 for application development SQL Server 2008 for database development Google docs for testing SubSonic

What didn’t work? Tortoise Subversion Control Team Foundation Server Microsoft Reporting

What could’ve been done differently? Use a web based code version control

39

Future Improvements

Enhance the application knowledgebase section in order to create a more comprehensive solution base.

Enhance reporting tools.

Cross-browser compatibility

40

Questions?

42