The IT Service Center at Casa Editorial el Tiempo uses Aranda Service Desk to provide a single point of contact for managing IT incidents and support requests
Casa Editorial el Tiempo is a Colombian media, content, and opinion company. It publishes several prestigious newspapers of national importance, such as *El Tiempo*, which covers topics of general interest, and the daily *Portafolio*, which focuses on economic and business issues; Additionally, it owns the City TV and EL TIEMPO Televisión channels, which provide local and national coverage, as well as Colombia’s most prestigious news websites, including ELTIEMPO.COM, CarroYa, Metrocuadrado.com, and Elempleo.com, among others.
“Our previous experience with Aranda Software gave us the confidence to implement new solutions; their products have met our expectations, and we have now been able to establish a single point of contact to manage all of our company’s needs.”
Hector Mauricio Angel Beltrán
Head of the IT Services and End-User Support Center.
There was a need to establish a single point of contact for first-level support for end users and, at the same time, set up a service desk aligned with ITIL best practices. The goal was to gain greater control over support cases, ensure proper follow-up, identify how many cases are being handled, understand what users are requesting, and determine which types of services are in highest demand. In addition to this, since support was previously handled by separate departments, it was vital to centralize everything into a single point of contact and generate reports that would help define strategies and objectives to pursue.
After benchmarking the various service desk tool options available on the market, we had the opportunity to see Aranda’s tool in action at some of its existing client sites, which allowed for a more in-depth analysis of the solution’s features. In addition, the company was already using an Aranda inventory management solution (Asset Management). Once this study was completed and a cost comparison was made, we were able to make a more informed decision that was better suited to the needs of Casa Editorial El Tiempo.
After defining the scope of the project by reviewing and documenting ETCE’s processes, Aranda Service Desk was implemented as the most suitable tool for the support process, due to its nine ITIL-certified processes (verified by PinkVerify in 2011), our prior experience with its Asset Management solution, and the ease of integrating the new service with a robust CMDB such as Aranda’s.
With Aranda Service Desk now in place, users at Casa Editorial El Tiempo have two channels for communicating with the support team (which operates as an IT service desk). They can contact the team either by phone or online, with all interactions supported by procedures for case logging, handling, escalation, and resolution within the first- and second-level support teams covering IT, infrastructure, telecommunications, and end-user services.
By leveraging the integrated functionality of Aranda’s tools, we were able to reduce support costs and response times for national and local offices in Bogotá, excluding the main offices. Support costs were reduced by 80%. Full standardization of support processes was achieved, along with improved service and responsiveness, which users now experience in their interactions with specialists.
The primary benefit identified was a single point of contact for managing incidents and technology support requests, as well as the centralized logging and management of support cases through a tool that offers various options for tracking, reporting, and analyzing information. A significant cultural shift was also achieved among end users regarding the process for reporting and resolving their support cases.
WithASDK, users now have full access to the tool’s information and features, including requests, incidents, issues, and changes; Aranda’s solutions have automated routine tasks and provided self-service access. By leveraging the service desk’s capabilities to streamline all processes, the tool has been customized to incorporate the necessary changes and successfully adapted to the business model.