Customer success story: Dim
Dim chooses the PS'Soft SaaS solution for simplified IT service management
The well-known underwear and hosiery brand Dim has chosen PS'Soft to develop an IT asset and service management offering as "Software as a Service". It is a deployment method that has freed Dim from the many constraints associated with its systems, its geographically scattered facilities and highly mobile teams.
Dim's IT Department is responsible for managing IT assets and services for Dim, Playtex and Chantal Thomas. These units are spread over six sites in France, Switzerland and Belgium and are backed by a 200-strong sales force. Between them, the three brands have an IT asset base composed of over 6,000 disparate devices: desktop and laptop computers, printers, copiers, network devices, physical and virtual servers and mobile handsets.
Since the 2000s, Dim's IT Department has used the PS'Soft solution to manage its assets, the Service Desk, repair and change requests, and leasing contracts.
To improve the way its asset base is managed and provide a more effective response to staff support requests at any time of the day or night, the IT Department was looking for a fully-online Service Desk solution that was accessible anywhere, anytime.
The solution chosen had to be accessible whatever the system and it had to be multilingual to allow for the project's possible extension to other subsidiaries of the DBApparel Group to which Dim belongs (in the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Russia, etc.). "We always look for solutions that can be transposed to other group entities so that we can standardise our processes," says Bertrand de Morel, IT Director at Dim. "We choose SaaS solutions wherever possible, because they free us from the geographical, technical and administrative constraints."
With this in mind, Dim told PS'Soft in 2008 that it was interested in switching to a SaaS solution and began looking at a number of commercially available solutions. PS'Soft was finally chosen in mid-2009 to install the solution. "PS'Soft proposed to develop a SaaS offer with us. We were already very happy with their solution, but we also chose them for their new user-friendly web interface and their ability to address our specific needs. It was a fruitful collaboration and PS'Soft was always open to our suggestions," added Bertrand de Morel.
Because the platform is fully online, Dim did not have to install anything to deploy the solution. The only thing the IT Department did was set up a network connection with PS'Soft's chosen hoster so that it could monitor traffic. The solution was then deployed, one component at a time, beginning with the IT inventory at Dim's request. Thanks to the recent integration of BDNA agentless technology in the PS'Soft solution, it can supply very rich, full data far more quickly than traditional solutions.
It was decided not to use log information from the previous solution, to ensure that only active items are inventoried.
"With a hotline productivity rate of 94% and a second-call rate of only 0.5%, the priorities for improving support are not quantitative but qualitative. In other words, has the incident been resolved? Did we find out whether it was occurring on other workstations? Was the incident escalated when necessary and in the allotted time frame?" asks Bertrand de Morel. "The reporting feature in the PS'Soft IT Service Management solution lets us access this data online at any time, so we can take steps to improve it if necessary."
"For practically the same outlay and no installation, we've gained increased visibility into our IT assets and better monitoring of the quality of IT support. In time, this solution will help us become known among users as a fully-fledged service provider," concluded Bertrand de Morel.
Today, Dim is continuing to roll out the solution, which will enable it to improve the way it manages and allocates its IT assets, incorporate cost justification by type of service, and offer its users a catalogue of services. The IT department is also planning to launch versions of the solution in English, German and Dutch.
The issues
Dim's IT Department is responsible for managing IT assets and services for Dim, Playtex and Chantal Thomas. These units are spread over six sites in France, Switzerland and Belgium and are backed by a 200-strong sales force. Between them, the three brands have an IT asset base composed of over 6,000 disparate devices: desktop and laptop computers, printers, copiers, network devices, physical and virtual servers and mobile handsets.
Since the 2000s, Dim's IT Department has used the PS'Soft solution to manage its assets, the Service Desk, repair and change requests, and leasing contracts.
To improve the way its asset base is managed and provide a more effective response to staff support requests at any time of the day or night, the IT Department was looking for a fully-online Service Desk solution that was accessible anywhere, anytime.
The solution chosen had to be accessible whatever the system and it had to be multilingual to allow for the project's possible extension to other subsidiaries of the DBApparel Group to which Dim belongs (in the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Russia, etc.). "We always look for solutions that can be transposed to other group entities so that we can standardise our processes," says Bertrand de Morel, IT Director at Dim. "We choose SaaS solutions wherever possible, because they free us from the geographical, technical and administrative constraints."
The solutions
With this in mind, Dim told PS'Soft in 2008 that it was interested in switching to a SaaS solution and began looking at a number of commercially available solutions. PS'Soft was finally chosen in mid-2009 to install the solution. "PS'Soft proposed to develop a SaaS offer with us. We were already very happy with their solution, but we also chose them for their new user-friendly web interface and their ability to address our specific needs. It was a fruitful collaboration and PS'Soft was always open to our suggestions," added Bertrand de Morel.
Because the platform is fully online, Dim did not have to install anything to deploy the solution. The only thing the IT Department did was set up a network connection with PS'Soft's chosen hoster so that it could monitor traffic. The solution was then deployed, one component at a time, beginning with the IT inventory at Dim's request. Thanks to the recent integration of BDNA agentless technology in the PS'Soft solution, it can supply very rich, full data far more quickly than traditional solutions.
It was decided not to use log information from the previous solution, to ensure that only active items are inventoried.
The results
"With a hotline productivity rate of 94% and a second-call rate of only 0.5%, the priorities for improving support are not quantitative but qualitative. In other words, has the incident been resolved? Did we find out whether it was occurring on other workstations? Was the incident escalated when necessary and in the allotted time frame?" asks Bertrand de Morel. "The reporting feature in the PS'Soft IT Service Management solution lets us access this data online at any time, so we can take steps to improve it if necessary."
"For practically the same outlay and no installation, we've gained increased visibility into our IT assets and better monitoring of the quality of IT support. In time, this solution will help us become known among users as a fully-fledged service provider," concluded Bertrand de Morel.
Today, Dim is continuing to roll out the solution, which will enable it to improve the way it manages and allocates its IT assets, incorporate cost justification by type of service, and offer its users a catalogue of services. The IT department is also planning to launch versions of the solution in English, German and Dutch.
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