With the implementation of a companywide cloud-based IT Service Management (ITSM) platform, Arriva, a transport operator removed numerous systems from across the operation. The system from Cherwell Software also facilitates the company to build tools to help it become GDPR compliant.
The director of IT services at Arriva, Alan Sherwen, said that over the years, Arriva has made acquisitions of companies, which has added new IT departments and systems to the Arriva groups’ operation. Alan runs a department that supports the UK and Europe for certain software.
He added, “In 2016, we had a very small Arriva group IT department with lots of little IT departments all over the UK. All these had separate tools, heads of IT, etc.” That year, the company ran a project to bring all IT under one roof in Arriva Group, but IT was still fragmented in reality.
Currently, Arriva has about 230 dedicated IT staff, most of which are now based centrally in Sunderland, with some teams in the field. Sherwen said, “The centralization of IT worked but was only part of the solution, and we really needed a new ITSM tool.”
According to the research done by Value Market Research on the Global Cloud-Based ITSM, the advent of advanced technologies such as big data and IoT is accelerating market growth. Whereas, the increasing adoption rate of cloud-based technologies coupled with the increasing demand for cloud-based ITSM solutions among the SMES is anticipated to augment demand over the forecast period.
Further, Alan said, “We wanted to be a major win for a smaller supplier to make sure we got their focus.” The implementation of the software started in September and went live in November, and initially, the success of the ITSM portal was key, said Sherwen.
A few months ago the company launched version two of its ITSM portal. Sherwen said the company has added the process for people joining the company to the portal with a fully automated process. He further said that staff now use the portal to order new IT equipment themselves.
Naira Shekhawat has been into Content Writing just after completing her Graduation in English Literature. Her love for words has won her many accolades in her respective jobs ever since. Naira covers business sections for VMR News. She is a traveller by heart and loves writing on food blogs as a freelancer.