Software House International Deploys ITIL(R) Standards-Based FrontRange(TM) IT Service Management.

Software and hardware reseller accelerates first-call closure rates and supports global teams with quickly customized client service

DUBLIN, Calif. -- Software House International (SHI), one of the world's largest software and hardware resellers recently launched an initiative to develop services that add value on top of its sales. The reseller, whose primary product lines include Microsoft[R], McAfee[R], and IBM[R], had to evaluate its own help desk capabilities internally and externally.

With multiple modules of IT Service Management (ITSM) from FrontRange Solutions in full use, SHI notes significant efficiency and service improvements in its internal help desk. Readily available information and a tiered help desk have driven up the first-call closure rates to approximately 83 percent - significantly higher than before. With built-in communication around tickets, fewer internal customers call the help desk asking for ticket status. Online status with Self Service will further reduce those calls, allowing agents to focus on new issues. Automatic notification about ticket closure improves customer satisfaction. Bill Santos, general manager, Services Development for SHI, also notes a decrease in the volume of repeat incidents with the ability to identify problems and their root causes. Reporting on service-level performance ensures that SHI meets its own and clients' service guidelines.

"Our goal is to get customers from signed to operational and customized in 30 days, and ITSM will allow us to do that," said Santos. "We have a market-leading platform that balances performance with flexibility, and allows us to adjust processes to react to clients' specific requirements - without having to incur tremendous cost."

SHI needed a strong platform on which to build the new service. At the same time, the company wanted to improve its own internal help desk to support its 850 worldwide employees through rapid growth. The help desk's incumbent Lotus[R] Notes-based application lacked built-in capabilities for call analysis and reporting, issue escalation or self help. Moreover, SHI needed to adapt its system easily and rapidly to the unique processes and knowledge bases of each client. Finally, demonstrating a commitment to industry best practices was essential to marketing the new service.

After various on-site demonstrations, the company selected ITSM for its strong, open standards architecture and price point. SHI first implemented ITSM as its internal help desk application. As a FrontRange partner, SHI deployed the software in just 60 days beginning with the Incident Management and Problem Management modules. SHI easily customized fields and screens to fit its workflow and to match the previous system.

With the Incident module, agents log, and track every issue to resolution. ITSM enables SHI to tier its help desk, automatically passing tickets on to level two or three agents when needed as tier one agents indicate the type of issue. The Problem Management module aggregates multiple incidents into problems, so SHI can address root causes and reduce the frequency of certain incidents.

Adding to its solution, SHI recently implemented the Service Level Management, Knowledge Management and Self Service modules. Service Level will be particularly critical to staying within established service level agreements for its outsourced service. Knowledge Management gives agents a customizable base of information from which to resolve issues, improving first-call resolution rates. With Self Service, end customers can log and check on their incidents online, ultimately reducing call volumes.

"ITSM was a more complete solution with the multi-tenancy, scalability and customizability to support our help desk service," Santos said. "We can accommodate each client's unique entitlement processes and custom knowledge bases."

About FrontRange Solutions

FrontRange Solutions develops award-winning software and solutions used by more than 130,000 companies and over 1.7 million seats worldwide to manage a wide variety of business relationships and provide exceptional service. FrontRange product families are designed to optimize customer investment by their interoperability, specifically for small-to-medium-enterprise (SME) and distributed enterprise organizations.

Solution families are defined by three customer-centric market areas: Customer Relationship Management (CRM) including GoldMine([R]); IT Service Management including the HEAT([R]), ITSM and Infrastructure Management product lines; and Communication Interaction Management, including IP Office, GoldMine([R]) IP Voice Suite and IP Contact Center. This comprehensive product set provides a unique customer service and support scenario, unrivaled in the market today.

Customers representing 44 percent of the Fortune 100 and 76 percent of the FTSE 100, include Coca-Cola, Shell Oil, Prudential Securities, Electricite de France, Mack Trucks, Campbell Soup, Avaya, Bechtel Corp, Bank of America, and Turner News Network. For more information, call [phone] or visit www.frontrange.com.

GoldMine, HEAT and other FrontRange Solutions products, brands and trademarks are property of FrontRange Solutions USA Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. Other products, brands and trademarks are property of their respective owners/companies.