Arco, the UK's leading supplier of safety clothing and equipment, has recently selected Hornbill's Supportworks ITSM to provide support to over 1,500 staff using IT systems across its 46 locations. Since implementing Supportworks ITSM, customer satisfaction ratings for IT service delivery have gone up from 'Average' to 'Good' as a result of adopting ITIL best practice in its processes and meeting its agreed Service Level Agreements.

The Arco IT team is using call reports from Supportworks ITSM to report to the business management on its service provision. The reports enable IT staff to analyse and prioritise calls to manage support proactively, resource more efficiently and provide a more streamlined service that better supports the business.

According to Lilian Parker, IT Service Delivery Manager at Arco: "We had been using Hornbill Supportworks successfully for just under a year when we decided to upgrade to Supportworks ITSM. We wanted to get the most from the system by adopting ITIL best practice and this was the most natural path.
"Since implementing Supportworks ITSM, many of our users are using the web SelfService portal for information and to log calls. The reports are excellent and enable us to carry out root cause analysis and demonstrate to the business managers exactly how we are managing the service. We have improved our service levels and been able to meet our Service Level Agreements in a much more managed way and there is still much functionality that we have yet to optimise."

The first line IT service desk uses Supportworks ITSM to log all incoming queries to support users across the UK, Ireland and India. The developer and infrastructure teams are using Supportworks ITSM to log requests, while the second line support service team – for specialist applications - also uses the system to log calls and manage workload. The SelfService option enables staff in India to log calls even out of European daytime working hours.

Calls are classified according to priority levels, based on the impact to the business, which then enables the team to set expectation levels for response and resolution times. Features within Supportworks ITSM enables the IT team to gain feedback from users on its service. The results have been very positive, as Lilian Parker explained: "At the start of the financial year we were rated 'Average' on service, now at the end of the year we are rated as providing a 'Good' service. Not only have we been able to measure this with Supportworks, we are able to respond much faster to feedback and issues highlighted because we are now able to capture the information so much more easily. As a result we are now aiming to provide a 'very good' or 'excellent' service."

In addition, Supportworks ITSM is used to capture segmented user response to the implementation of new systems. Using the ticketing functionality within Supportworks has enabled new projects to be managed separately, analysing the success of individual projects and making recommendations, such as additional user training required or phased rollouts.
Gerry Sweeney, CEO of Hornbill Systems, commented: "In larger organisations where a service desk is responding to a large number of users in different locations, it is important to capture details and analyse the type and number of calls that they are handling. A service management tool like Supportworks ITSM automates many processes, freeing up IT teams to focus proactively on the support and performance issues that have maximum impact on the business. Adopting ITIL best practice enables IT teams to manage their resources effectively to ensure that they provide the best possible service to end users, whilst also meeting the daily and long-term needs of the business."

NOTES TO EDITORS
About Arco
Founded in 1884 and a 4th generation family owned business, Arco is the UK's leading supplier of personal protective equipment, workwear and workplace safety products and is widely recognised as a provider of expert advice, services and safety solutions for businesses in every market sector. Through its team of product specialists, its extensive product catalogue and a 40-strong local branch network, Arco offers a world-class range of over 20,000 quality assured, branded and own-brand products, including personal protective equipment, clothing, footwear, gloves, workplace safety and hygiene products. Headquartered in Hull, Arco has sales of over £200m and employs approximately 1500 people.

Arco is dedicated to its Corporate Social Responsibility policy and continually demonstrates its support of local business communities and charitable organisations, donating in excess of 1% of pre-tax profits annually. In 2007, Arco became a member of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) and in 2009 it was awarded a Big Tick for its supply chain management from Business in the Community. The company has also received the highly prestigious Family Business Honour by JP Morgan's Private Bank and the Institute of Family Business (IFB). For more information, visit www.arco.co.uk.