Business challenge
We all want greater value from public spending. How can government agencies such as the Slovenian Ministry of Public Administration respond to pressure to do more with less?
Transformation
The ministry unlocked huge savings and responsiveness, by deploying new processes supported by IBM Control Desk, enabling it to manage IT services and assets within a new private cloud infrastructure.
Results
EUR250,000+
savings achieved, offering citizens greater value from public spendingEnables
faster responses to citizen and public administration employee requestsHelps
ministries work more productively by reliably meeting SLAsBusiness challenge story
Rising expectations, contracting budgets
Government agencies around the world are under increasing pressure as the populations they serve grow in size and average life expectancy. They also face demands to react faster when citizens get in touch—in today’s connected world, people want immediate responses.
The Slovenian Ministry of Administration is, among other tasks, responsible for the provision and optimization of IT resources for Slovenia’s governmental departments and other public sector organizations, therefore it must find ways to improve services and at the same time lower costs—no small task.
The ministry recognized that providing IT services to the organizations it supports via a centralized private cloud infrastructure could meet its twin goals of cutting costs and boosting performance. To ensure that the cloud model delivered the necessary service continuity, the ministry needed strong insight and control.
“As we moved towards a shared services model, we had the opportunity to replace systems—some older than 20 years!—with new alternatives,” comments Albert Črnologar. “But we only get the true benefits of a centralized infrastructure if we have a single view and point of control of all our assets, since that would enable us to optimize resources.”
Albert Črnologar M.Sc., Head of Sector for Services at the Slovenian Ministry of Public Administration, elaborates: “We must balance limited budgets with the need to fulfill citizen requests quickly and effectively. Citizens get in touch with our communications center with questions on a range of topics, from queries about driving licenses to public services. Technology is essential to meeting these demands, which makes it vital for us to ensure that we choose the right tools.”
“ Last year, IBM Control Desk indirectly enabled us to reduce our reliance on external support so much that we saved EUR250,000. ”
— Albert Črnologar M.Sc., Head of Sector for Services, Slovenian Ministry of Public Administration
Transformation story
In the driving seat
To get the most out of its new private cloud infrastructure, the Slovenian Ministry of Public Administration deployed IBM Control Desk software to enable unified IT service and asset management.
“We chose IBM Control Desk because we believe it is the best solution in the marketplace,” explains Albert Črnologar. “It offers all the capabilities we need straight out-of-the-box, unlike competing solutions, which either needed to be customized or augmented with other tools. In particular, IBM Control Desk combines IT asset and service management in a single package, making it a more cost-effective option than deploying separate solutions to meet these two needs.”
The ministry engaged IBM Gold Business Partner TROIA to help with the implementation. Albert Črnologar adds: “TROIA won the public tender process and have been a trustworthy deployment partner. We have worked with TROIA on previous projects, and continue to be impressed by their efficiency and flexibility.”
In IBM Control Desk, the ministry gains a central control center for management of business processes for both digital and physical assets, used to serve all 16 Slovenian ministries and some public sector organizations. As a result, the shared services team gain unprecedented insight into the usage of IT services and solutions.
“For the first time, we have visibility of who is using which IT services, helping us focus on optimizing those that are most essential,” remarks Albert Črnologar. “This transparency is also transforming our ability to provide IT support: our users can view the status of their support requests, and our service desk employees can search a knowledge base when resolving problems. Users can also escalate requests, to draw our attention to the most urgent ones.”
Soon, the ministry will begin using the solution also for asset and change management, as Albert Črnologar explains: “We plan to use IBM Control Desk to track hardware and software solutions throughout their lifecycles, making sure that we take advantage of warranties and don’t underutilize assets. With change and incident management supported by IBM Control Desk, we will be able to minimize the impact of such events on services.”
“ By giving us greater control over our new private cloud infrastructure, IBM Control Desk is helping us to fulfill our central mission: serving the citizens of Slovenia to the best of our ability. ”
— Albert Črnologar M.Sc., Head of Sector for Services, Slovenian Ministry of Public Administration
Results story
Huge savings, faster reactions
Equipped with centralized control over IT services, the Slovenian Ministry of Public Administration has already achieved considerable cost savings, with more to come.
“Last year, IBM Control Desk indirectly enabled us to reduce our reliance on external support so much that we saved EUR250,000,” comments Albert Črnologar. “We now have the ability to make optimizations to IT services without adding to headcount. We expect additional savings in the future, such as an estimated 10 percent on hardware and software purchases due to better asset management. By making public funds go further, the IBM solution helps us deliver greater value for money to citizens.”
The solution offers the ministry the insights it needs to ensure that it reliably meets service level agreements (SLAs), giving the organizations it supports the tools to excel.
“IBM Control Desk helps us to resolve IT issues at greater speed, so that we can provide exceptional service continuity to users,” says Albert Črnologar. “With the IT services they need at their fingertips, the ministries can respond to citizens’ request faster and more effectively. At the same time, employees can focus on their core responsibilities rather than worrying about IT.”
The Slovenian Ministry of Public Administration sees more savings and optimizations on the horizon, made possible by a combination of new processes and IBM Control Desk..
Albert Črnologar concludes: “We are only at the beginning of our journey with IBM Control Desk, and we are excited to watch new benefits emerge. By giving us greater control over our new private cloud infrastructure, IBM Control Desk is helping us to fulfill our central mission: serving the citizens of Slovenia to the best of our ability.”
Slovenian Ministry of Public Administration
The Ministry of Public Administration for the Republic of Slovenia is responsible for ensuring that other ministries and organizations within the public sector have the IT resources that they need, so that they can provide efficient and high-quality public services to citizens.
Solution components
- Control Desk
- Govt: Government, Central/Federal Transformation
- Govt: Shared Services
- IBM SmartCloud Control Desk
Take the next step
To learn more about IBM Control Desk software and other IBM Cloud solutions, please contact your IBM representative or IBM Business Partner, or visit the following websites:
TROIA, informacijske storitve, d. o. o. is an IBM Gold Business Partner that develops and implements complex information and communications solutions. It offers expertise in a range of areas, including asset management, IT service management, and performance monitoring and capacity management. To learn more, visit: www.troia.si