The only University in the world... 4 star SDI accreditation

Regular readers of my blog will have followed us on our journey with the Service Desk Institute (SDI) certification process since May 2012.    I am thrilled to report that following our third and final audit, we have achieved the top prize of FOUR STARS!  I am very proud of my team who have embraced continuous service improvement - for the benefit of the University community who use our IT services.  Over the year, we have been approached by universities and organisations from all over the world who are keen to find out more about how we have delivered change and service improvement. 

Press Release: 

Seeing stars

University IT rated best in world with new award

The University of St Andrews is seeing stars after being awarded a top honour for its IT provision.

St Andrews is the first University in the world to be accredited with a 4-star Service Desk Certification by the sector’s professional body. The award from the Service Desk Institute (SDI) paves the way for the University to lead the way in setting ‘exceptionally high’ standards in IT for fellow universities across the world.

SDI is the leading professional body for the IT service and support industry. The four-star rating was awarded following a rigorous two-and-a-half year auditing programme.  The period saw the University improve its audit score on each of the nine measured concepts, during each of the annual audits (December 2012, 2013 and 2014). 

The IT Services department was rigorously assessed in the following areas: leadership, policy and strategy, people management, processes and procedures, partnerships and resources, customer satisfaction, people satisfaction, performance results, and social responsibility.

Pauline Brown, the University’s IT Business Relationship Manager said, “We embarked on our journey with SDI in May 2012, with the aim of improving the service we provide the University community and improving our internal operations.  The changes and enhancements we’ve put in place have been considerable and we’re absolutely delighted to achieve 4 stars. We know it’s been worthwhile because the overall feedback we receive from staff and students who use our service is excellent. 

“Our 4 star award means we are now classified as a business-led function, which is aligned with where we want to be strategically within the University.  IT underpins all aspects of University life and we want to be an IT service that is proactive, forward-thinking, enables innovation and provides the very best customer service. 

“Having the SDI evaluating our operations against an internationally accepted global standard for best practice and a benchmark for service improvement has been hugely beneficial.”

The award completes a successful period for the University’s IT Services Team, which won the ‘Best Small Service Desk’ award at last summer’s SDI annual conference and award ceremony.  SDI sets the internationally recognised best practice standards for service desks and service desk professionals around the world.

 

SDI’s Master Auditor, Howard Kendall, said, “It is brilliant to see St Andrews achieve the first ever 4-star university certification. This success is well-deserved and has been driven by the focused management and service desk teams and through an ongoing programme of service improvements.

“There is an excellent culture of collaboration amongst the IT teams as well as a high level of customer engagement, which has been achieved by working closely with the University community of staff and students alike.  We look forward to seeing the improvements continue and for this desk to lead the way in setting an exceptionally high standard for universities across the world.”

ENDS

Issued by the Press Office, University of St Andrews

Contact Gayle Cook, Senior Communications Manager on 01334 467227 or email gec3@st-andrews.ac.uk

Ref: Seeing stars 220115

Interview with Whitehall Media - about Enterprise Mobility and Mobile Device Management

I spoke last year at a Whitehall Media event on Enterprise Mobility and Mobile Device Management.

Many organisations continue to struggle with BYOD and the many variants which now exist - BYON, CYOD, etc.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z099lbzwLD0

Related to this, my Business Relationship Manager, Pauline Brown, wrote an article about BYOD at the University of St Andrews for Brightsolid: 

https://www.brightsolid.com/guest-blog-byod-weve-been-doing-it-for-years/

Going for GOLD again (CEEDA)

I previously reported that we were participants in the Certified Energy Efficient Data Centre Awards Scheme (CEEDA).

I'm delighted to report that we were awarded the GOLD standard again for our Data Centre - following our recent audit. 

Data Centre Dynamics made a short film about us, which you can view here:

http://vimeo.com/111534152


University of St Andrews Press Release:

Gold Standard

University of St Andrews recognised for advanced energy efficiency

The University of St Andrews has retained the GOLD award for its Butts Wynd Data Centre by the The British Computing Society (BCS) for CEEDA (Certified Energy Efficient Data Centre Award).

Two years ago, the University became the first public sector organisation to achieve accreditation, and an organisation has to undergo an audit every two years, so in September 2014 a BCS CEEDA Auditor visited the University.

The BCS has now confirmed that, as result of this recent re-accreditation audit, the University has retained the CEEDA GOLD award for energy efficiency across all areas of its Data Centre - and remains the only public sector organisation in the world to hold the Gold standard.

During this latest assessment, for the first time the University was measured against new CEEDA GOLD+ criteria - used to enable feedback and reporting of some of the most advanced energy efficiency criteria available. The assessment looks at the way an organisation approaches energy-efficiency best practice across all areas of the data centre including; IT equipment, procurement and operational processes, cooling and power systems equipment, building control systems and the monitoring and management of energy usage.

The BCS has confirmed that the University has met the new CEEDA GOLD+ criteria.

The University of St Andrews data centre opened in 2011, built at a cost of £2.4 million on the site of the University’s former squash courts, and runs entirely on energy from renewable sources.

The University turned to the CEEDA framework as a way of defining a common approach and standard that would help different parts of the organisation work together, while ensuring stringent processes and continual improvement.

Modifications based on the recommendations from the original CEEDA audit have been implemented, resulting in additional energy savings significantly greater than originally forecast.

Steve Watt, Chief Information Officer explains more about the benefits of undergoing the assessment;

“When we decided to have our facility assessed under the BCS’s Certified Energy Efficient Data Centre Award (CEEDA) framework, back in 2012, the top priorities were the university’s efficiency and sustainability goals – and we were delighted to achieve the Gold award, however we’ve reaped many other benefits since. 

“Not only did the scheme help to meet those goals, aiding in a significant reduction of energy expenditure and carbon emissions, it has also encouraged migration to the facility from across the campus, The kudos of the accreditation has made the job of selling the data centre as the facility of choice much easier, especially as the management of the facility can be seen to follow best practice and there is a clear focus on energy usage reduction, which is a key strategic aim.  The data centre project also continues to generate significant internal and external interest – and the project team have won a number of awards for the innovative methods and practices we adopt.  This has opened new opportunities for learning and sharing best practice with organisations from all over the world.”

You can find out more about CEEDA here:
http://ceeda.bcs.org/

Mobile Working and the Microsoft Surface Pro

BYOD continues to be a challenge for organisations for all the obvious reasons of security, integration and interoperability.

With the emergence of devices such  as the Microsoft Surface Pro, for many SME's and larger organisations such devices provide a real alternative to providing a laptop, especially for executives.

I've  recently started to use a Microsoft Surface Pro 3 and have very quickly adapted to it and to Windows 8.1. With the availability of all of the applications I require and a docking station this is very likely to replace both my current laptop and iPad.

Whether the Surface Pro starts to become prevalent as a BYOD candidate remains to be seen but in the corporate world where CYOD is an option this device will likely quickly gain ground as the executive device of choice. Its slightly heavy however its small enough to easily fit in a briefcase without the bulk of a laptop. The ability to run line of business software applications and to manage the device using the standard toolsets are the two primary benefits in my opinion.

Best Service Desk Award 2014

As I've reported many times, we're a member of the Service Desk Institute and are currently the only University in the UK to hold 3 star accreditation.  Last week our Service Desk team attended the SDI annual conference, which features their annual award ceremony - IT Service Excellence Awards.  Earlier in the year, the team put forward an award submission for the title of Best Service Desk (small team) at the event.  Taking part in the award process was no easy task - writing a 5000 word report, producing an extensive evidence folder, a judges visit, presentations - and making a fun film featuring the Service Desk.  At Tuesday nights award ceremony, the University of St Andrews was announced as the winner of this prestigious award. 

 

The award ceremony was attended by around 500 IT professionals - including companies such as 02, Liverpool Direct, Virgin Media, TopDesk, Telindus and several other Universities. This category was judged by IT professionals from other industries.

I just want to congratulate everyone in IT Services on this success - particularly of course the IT Service Desk team.  

This award is well deserved by IT Services.   In recent years, significant effort and hard work has improved our customer-facing support and services, which resulted in us earlier this year being ranked #1 in the iGrad survey for IT Support.   This of course is underpinned by highly available and robust systems and services to which everyone in IT Services contributes.

Awards such as this provide great external validation that we are delivering our services in a very professional way and are amongst the best in our industry vertical and beyond.


http://www.servicedeskinstitute.com/events/it-service-excellence-awards/winners-2014/

a very happy team!

Award-winning Data Centre

Last year I reported that we achieved Participant status from the EU Code of Conduct for our data centre.  An achievement in itself - as participant status was not easy to achieve.

I was therefore shocked and delighted to be told last month that we had won the 2014 annual award for the category.   Unfortunately I was not able to attend the lavish award ceremony in Monaco, as part of the Datacentres Europe conference!

http://www.datacentreseurope.com/#&slider1=2 

It’s almost two years since we were awarded GOLD CEEDA (Certified Energy Efficient Datacentre Award from the BCS).   Having this accreditation has brought many benefits -  in terms of our own internal management of the DC - and externally in terms of raising our profile and reputation in this field as experts and promoters of Green IT. 

To continue with accreditation, Data Centres are re-assessed every two years.  Work on gathering evidence has begun and the audit will take place later this summer.  The Data Centre Ops Group continue to meet regularly to report on and recommend actions to demonstrate continuous improvement in order to maintain future CEEDA accreditation status and to continue to operate the facility as efficiently as possible.

 

Microsoft Scottish Apprentice of the Year - Sam Foster

Sam Foster, who is an IT Apprentice in my IT Service Desk team, won Microsoft Scottish Apprentice of the Year - at an event recently at the Scottish Parliament.  Sam beat off 450 other nominated apprentices to win the prestigious title.

Sam Foster - Microsoft Scottish Apprentice of the Year

Our first three IT Apprentices joined IT Services in September 2012 (including Sam) - and it’s been a huge success.  Since then, we recruited another four IT Apprentices in 2013 and I’m delighted that we’ve received approval to recruit a further four later this year. 

It’s really important we give these young people the best opportunity and training we can - and I’m delighted that everyone in IT Services has embraced this  - as these young people really benefit from being supported and mentored by a wide range of very talented and experienced staff.

QA (who provided Sam's training in year one) made this great film about him last month.   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtzzsLWNkvE&feature=youtu.be

Sam also did a blog:  "How I became Microsoft Scottish Apprentice of the Year", to encourage others to consider an apprenticeship as a great start to a career. 
http://blogs.apprenticeships.qa.com/how-i-became-microsoft-scottish-apprentice-of-the-year/