The Salvation Army, one of the largest and most diverse providers of social services in the UK and Ireland after the Government, has selected a new helpdesk solution from Polym orph – one of the UK’s fastest growing IT services companies – to manage the organisation’s International IT helpdesk calls. The solution, HelpDeskPro, eliminates multiple Lotus Notes call tracking systems to provide the Salvation Army with a unified repository for call data. For the first time, the organisation’s IT staff can now log, action and resolve incidents from across five international zones in under a minute – compared with up to four minutes with the previous system – via a Blackberry device.
The Salvation Army’s previous system was based on a number of different Lotus Notes and Excel spreadsheet applications, which were cumbersome and expensive. After investigating a number of Lotus Notes specialist and non-Lotus Notes suppliers, it chose Polymorph’s HelpDeskPro for its fully integrated service desk software and its comprehensive management reporting capability that analyses and processes data very quickly and effectively.
“From seeing what Polymorph’s HelpDeskPro solution could offer at the 2007 Service Desk & IT Support show, we knew we were on to a winner,” commented Mark Calleran, Chief Information Officer at the Salvation Army International Headquarters. “We were very impressed with the breadth of functionality Polymorph’s HelpDeskPro was able to offer in a simple and easy-to-use application. As we handle complex IT calls, ranging from hardware and software queries to support requests, we needed a solution that would help us not only gain control over these increasingly complex environments, but also allow both our experienced, on-site and roaming IT staff to deal with such requests more efficiently.”
“Once the system’s template was completed, things moved very fast!” Mark continued. “We were fully up and running on HelpDeskPro in just two days. Training only took a couple of weeks to carry out so there were no time lags between us implementing the system and us going live. Polymorph’s support professionals were also able to offer us many additional capabilities that we have incorporated into the solution. This added flexibility has proven really valuable to us to provide faster and more efficient call resolutions.”
HelpDeskPro seamlessly integrates with the Salvation Army’s existing IT infrastructure. Its fully integrated service desk software has enabled the Salvation Army to collate all necessary data from the very first interaction. The system provides automatic notifications of nearing warranty expiration dates, giving time to IT staff to action such requests. Staff can provide detailed incident reports – sorted by zone, country or call priority for example – but also extract information by department, expert or status much easier than its previous systems that relied on excel spreadsheets and manual input.
“These are exciting times to be working with the Salvation Army,” commented Steve Harris, Managing Director of Polymorph. “Having been chosen after a comprehensive selection process – and standing out from our competition – is a great endorsement of the skills, quality and capability Polymorph has to offer and we look forward to building on this international project.”
PRESS RELEASE: Nov 2008
- Polymorph consultants carry out strategic and technical review of Graduate Prospects' IT infrastructure
- Will ensure fast, effective communication between Universities, students and careers advisors - for the best careers advice
- Polymorph assists in recruiting Graduate Prospects' new Chief Technology Office
Polymorph has been working with Graduate Prospects (Prospects.ac.uk), the UK's leading provider of information, advice and opportunities to students and graduates, to review its IT strategy and infrastructure. Polymorph consultants will be working closely with Graduate Prospects to provide guidance, advice and recommendations to help the organisation ensure optimisation of its new online and digital communication channels, which include its website, newsletter and e-zines. These will provide a critical link between students and graduates, careers support services, UK Universities and graduate employers to ensure that all students and graduates have instant access to up-to-the-minute careers advice and the latest vacancies.
In order to optimise Graduate Prospects' new communication channels, the company needed to address some challenges inherent in its current IT architecture. Polymorph's consultants conducted a series of structured interviews with key staff members across all sections of the company to understand the strategic direction of the business and existing pain points. A number of assessment tools were used, including Microsoft's Infrastructure Optimisation Framework, to review the technical infrastructure and to analyse how well it satisfied the business objectives. Polymorph's consultants proposed a set of recommendations and highlighted the primary need for Graduate Prospects to appoint an IT Executive who would focus on driving IT developments and provide strategic technical leadership.
"With the continuing changes in our key markets and the growth of IT reliant products and services, we had come to an important junction at Graduate Prospects," commented Allan Brown, Sales Director at Graduate Prospects. "We were increasingly developing our digital channels, our website, newsletters and e-zines, which meant that we were more and more reliant on IT to deliver these to our audiences. In Polymorph we found a comprehensive solution, as the company's consultants understood our particular business needs, which in effect are led by our technology needs, and provided the most holistic approach."
On the back of Polymorph's recommendations and with its support and involvement throughout the recruitment process, Graduate Prospects hired Adrian Preston as its new Chief Technology Officer. He brings over 17 years of strategic leadership, solution architecture, programme management and delivery experience.
Stephen Harris, Managing Director of Polymorph, said: "Growing organisations such as Graduate Prospects now see their IT operations as a key competitive differentiator and a way of improving the service they offer to their clients and customers. We look forward to continue working with Graduate Prospects to provide assistance and support for the development of the company's new streamlined IT infrastructure, as well as helping it achieve true value and return on investments."
On the 21st of September 2008 six adventurous workmates from Polymorph successfully completed this year’s Trans Peak challenge raising £2,032.01 for the British Heart Foundation.
Team Polymorph, fittingly dubbed Lock, Stock and Two Stumbling Ramblers ( Steve Harris, Greg Skorski, Ged McGrath, Andy Dunbar, Nick Hallam and Rachel Swanick, with the support vehicle manned by Matt Scott), scoured 26 miles of rugged terrain through Derbyshire’s spectacular peak district, using a combination of foot and pedal power to reach the finish line.
Eventually their hard work and determination paid off and they came 7th in the gruelling 12 hour challenge. Each team member received a medal and T-shirt to commemorate their achievement.
Polymorph would like to thank our corporate sponsor Zen Internet www.zen.co.uk as well as all our other sponsors and supporters. Their donations and kind words of encouragement can be viewed at www.justgiving.co.uk/polymorph.
Although Polymorph is happy with our achievement there is still room for improvement! Next year we are aim to finish in a top three position in the competition....
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