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The Perfect Storm - Learning The Hard Way How To Be A Quality Service Provider

Presenters:
        Dr. John Wasileski, The University of Memphis
        Ann Harbor, The University of Memphis

In early September of 2003, the University of Memphis was informed that it had been awarded a bid to host software and provide Help Desk service for an external client (the Tennessee Board of Regents' Online Degree Program). That was the "good news". The "bad news" was that the system had to be live by January of 2004 and the Information Technology Division (ITD) already had an abundance of projects on its slate.

This presentation will relate the successful completion of this project and the subsequent difficulties encountered by ITD -- a lack of sufficient resources to support the system long term; lack of sufficient HR time devoted to maintaining a production environment; and, especially, the lack of a "service provider mindset" on the part of the ITD staff. The implications of all these factors coming together while supporting a demanding client and a rapidly growing program created, for us, "The Perfect Storm".

We encourage open discussion of our experience and will provide the audience with opportunities to share other experiences and learn from our mistakes.

Presentation (ppt)