United Biscuits renews investment in Sunrise Software

Sunrise Software has revealed a series of enhancements to the implementation of Sunrise IT Service Management (ITSM) at United Biscuits (UB). Since first deploying Sunrise ITSM and Self-Service technology 18 months ago, UB has created a highly flexible Service Desk to support the company’s fast-moving and rapidly expanding business environment. The recent go-live of the latest version of Sunrise ITSM with its exceptional HTML 5 interface and the introduction of a fully populated Configuration Management Database (CMDB) have further increased efficiencies and tangibly improved first-time fix rates for 4,000 users around the world. In addition, the new version has provided gamification elements to help with training and knowledge management.

Gary Devaney, IT Service Manager at United Biscuits commented, “From the very beginning, it was clear that Sunrise was streets ahead of the competition, offering simplicity and flexibility all within a cost-effective package – and we haven’t looked back since. Working with Sunrise has enabled us to create a dynamic Service Desk environment that delivers faster, more efficient IT services to help staff tackle the challenges of our expanding international business activities head on.”

Today, with the help of Sunrise ITSM, UB supports 4,000 users at 18 locations across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Asian Sub-Continent including UB’s latest ventures into Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and India.

Upgrading to the newest version of Sunrise ITSM with the latest HTML 5 interface has brought the biggest benefit to UB’s Service Desk. Firstly, the look and feel of the User Interface is more modern and supports a wide range of Internet browsers including Microsoft Explorer, Firefox and Google Chrome.

Secondly, analysts are now able to view and work on multiple incidents, problems and change records at the same time rather than open and close each individual record as was the case previously. This makes it easier to identify connections between new issues and commonly occurring problems. United Biscuits has significantly improved the company’s Change Management process.

Most recently, UB worked with Sunrise Software to develop an interface between Sunrise ITSM and UB’s Snow Inventory™ Asset Management tool. The integration between the two systems, and other auto-discovery tools, has enabled all IT-related data to be gathered, stored and then updated automatically in one place within a fully populated CMDB.

Both IT Service Desk Analysts and UB’s Asset Managers have access to the Sunrise ITSM system to obtain a clear, real-time status of all PCs and other assets that are deployed across the business. For example, when new software is installed, this is automatically updated within Sunrise ITSM, flagging up machines that need upgrades and helping the IT team to respond accurately to users requesting information about their IT devices.

Recent product innovations from Sunrise mean that analysts are able to support users at any time and from anywhere. They can quickly and easily receive updates and resolve incidents on the move using the latest iPhones and tablets.

Sunrise ITSM is also proving to be a valuable asset in terms of training and supporting the latest gamification techniques. For example, managers rely on the solution to demonstrate the importance of using the knowledgebase and the ability to exploit trend analysis data. They can track how many knowledge articles analysts are using and how effectively the team is linking incidents to known problems and so reward them accordingly.

Gary Devaney concluded, “The inbuilt intelligence of Sunrise ITSM brings valuable and pertinent information directly to the desktop, giving analysts the knowledge they need to solve issues in an instant. The powerful integration capabilities of the technology have totally transformed our overall approach to Change Management and realised our goals for introducing an effective CMDB. At a glance, we can manage our entire asset lifecycle from purchase, installation, maintenance and ultimate disposal in a proactive way. Sunrise gives us a robust framework to do more with less, continually innovate and successfully support our business going forward.”

With the focus on continual improvement, UB plans to take advantage of future developments within the Sunrise product portfolio. Next on the horizon is expanding the implementation to encompass HR and tightening up the organisation’s auditing processes to support Good Governance.