University of Oxford selects HEAT Software service desk to 'evolve' IT

'With HEAT, straight away I could see that we were purchasing a very powerful and configurable tool,' said John Ireland, director of customer services at University of Oxford

The University of Oxford has deployed HEAT Software's single cloud-based service desk in a deal described as important in the evolution of the world-renowned academic institution's IT department.

The deployment aims to consolidate the service desk support for the university's 30,000 students and staff and solve the complex IT issues that come with multiple IT user identities.

Prior to the rollout of HEAT Software's service desk, the university's 350 IT staff were separated into three separate units covering business systems, shared services and managed desktop computing, each of which used its own service desk.

However, this approach made it difficult to provide IT-based services and metrics, so Oxford set out to consolidate its services.

An 11 month long procurement process saw the university select HEAT Software over other SaaS vendors. A key consideration was the importance of being able to access every single tool from a web browser, due to the variety of devices and applications used by students and staff both on and off campus.

"A student's digital experience is an increasingly important part of university life," said John Ireland, director of customer services at University of Oxford.

"IT has a huge impact on a student's ability to study and communicate with their peers and educators, so making sure they have the best digital experience possible is essential," he continued.

"With HEAT, straight away I could see that we were purchasing a very powerful and configurable tool, which would provide visibility across our entire IT support operations," said Ireland, adding that the "out of the box" processes available with HEAT were easily configured in order to suit his project goals.

"Our partnership with HEAT Software will play an important role in keeping thousands of IT users operational and our IT teams happy," he concluded.

Kevin J Smith, vice president and general manager of HEAT Software's service management services unit, welcomed the partnership with the University of Oxford.

"We're extremely proud of our HEAT solution and the University of Oxford project is a perfect testament to its capabilities. Indeed, we're helping Oxford meet some unique and complex challenges, while demonstrating IT service management best practice at all times," he said.