 aQuip International (Training and Consulting) Limited is dedicated to the support of organisations that are striving to improve their IT Services. Major improvements can be achieved by the application of ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) Service Management best practice. Produced by the UK's Office of Government Commerce (OGC), ITIL has now become the de facto standard for IT Service Management and quality processes worldwide.
About aQuip The Business Problem The EIM solution The Feedback About aQuipWhether you are running a Help Desk, negotiating Service Level Agreements, managing change or concerned about Disaster Recovery, ITIL's set of integrated processes is what you need.
aQuip International specialise in the delivery of high quality, cost effective IT Service Management training, providing the foundations to support an organisations move towards ITIL-compliant processes.
aQuip training programmes are accredited by the BCS/ISEB (British Computer Society / Information Systems Examination Board). Our courses enable individuals to gain the widely recognised ISEB Service Management certificates, and achieve excellent pass rates. Metrics are an important element of ITIL guidelines and among those to be measured are the efficiency and effectiveness of the individual ITIL processes within the organisation. From a measured baseline an improvement programme can be planned and its success monitored. The standard aQuip consultancy and assessment services, measures current performance against ITIL and also the new BS15000 standard, and makes recommendations for service improvement. The Business ProblemAs an independent Training and Consultancy company aQuip operates a workforce of field based consultants and trainers without incurring overheads associated with top heavy administration. This allows aQuip to be responsive, cost effective and competitive but does indeed raise a number of operational challenges: Co-ordination of calendar planning and resource availability was difficult with many people “in the field” delivering customer services every day. Distribution of courseware and course documentation had to be executed in advance of course delivery. Sometimes due to logistics this took place days or weeks in advance of the course. Up to the minute accuracy of information can be important – version control of documents could be challenging. Management Information was not always easy to share within the management team due to the various logistical challenges we face daily. We aim to practice what we preach and install best practice processes into our business operations.
The EIM solutionaQuip could not afford to install a large and complex solution which may have a negative impact on the business operations during roll-out. Easy Information Management from Excelpoint was chosen in part due to the ease with which installation and roll-out can be achieved, measured in hours instead of days. As EIM is web browser based and operates very effectively even across low-bandwidth connections aQuip can now share information across the consultants, irrespective of location – usually hotel lobby. Once the server was purchased and installed there were no technical skills required in order to design the required EIM solution templates. Managers are able to implement their own designs rapidly. Resource planning and course bookings are now handled by everyone real-time. This ensures that any particular course is not overbooked and no trainer is over-committed. All consultants delivering Reviews and Assessments, and all lecturers delivering training courses can gain access to current documentation quickly, easily and twenty-four hours a day. The aQuip Management Team have a confidential area where correspondence, contracts, management information and strategy papers are located. Staff Reviews are conducted, then stored and updated within EIM. Employees can read their own reviews and personnel information at any time whilst the management can publish policies and individual appraisals. aQuip are now reviewing their own procedures as part of a continuous improvement programme. Consulting and Assessing in accordance with ITIL best practice procedures means living up to expectations. EIM is proving to be an enabling technology.
The Feedback “I’m not technical and rarely get excited about software but, EIM offers so much immediate potential that the business impact is obvious from the outset. I am genuinely excited about the possibilities that this solution offers our business. We are now working with Excelpoint to assess the impact this solution may have on the whole ITIL marketplace. Initial signs are extremely positive. This solution offers many of the benefits normally associated with larger more established offerings with a much higher price tag.” Christine Dempsey,
Senior Consultant
aQuip International
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