Modern Service Management Platform, TeamDynamix, Replaces Legacy Request Tracker

At UIC, TeamDynamix (TDX) powers the UIC Help Center – a modern, mobile-friendly service management tool that provides the community with a one-stop-shop to get support, request services, find answers and so much more! As units join the TeamDynamix platform, the services they offer will be listed in the UIC Help Center at help.uic.edu.

As units join the TeamDynamix platform, the services they offer will be listed in the UIC Help Center at help.uic.edu. In some cases, this will lead to new methods for requesting services or support.

Technology Solutions interviewed Anthony Marino – our Director of Client Experience, to learn more about the benefits of TDX, and what its implementation means for the university moving forward.

What are some of the most useful features of TDX, and what is their functionality?

TDX provides a single platform that supports the transfer of support tickets between various independent units – avoiding the frustration, for both the client and the service provider, of having to redirect clients to contact a different support provider (e.g. their local IT staff).

Another major feature is the UIC Help Center, which allows units that use the TDX system to list the services they provide to their clients, in a one-stop-shop portal. This will let clients view all of the university services available to them, instead of having to first figure out which campus unit provides the service. The Help Center also incorporates a Knowledge Base, which can provide help articles to clients for how to use services, how to fix common issues, and more.

What are some services TDX replaced, and how is TDX more advanced?

TDX is replacing the Request Tracker (RT) system, which is a ticketing system that has been leveraged by many university units since it launched in 2004. While the RT system has provided significant benefits over other alternatives for intaking support requests (such as Exchange Shared Mailboxes), its features etc are limited. Common complaints include difficulty in reporting on metrics and an inability to move tickets between the various units using RT.

TDX’s reporting capabilities are significantly more advanced, and there is also an active project to integrate TDX data with the university’s Tableau data visualization tool to further enhance these capabilities.RT also has a very limited client-facing interface, whereas TDX incorporates the Help Center and client-facing web forms to intake service and support requests (which then also enhances the reporting capabilities, as any fields added to web forms are then available for reporting as well).

Lastly, RT does not incorporate a Knowledge Base, the other key feature of the Help Center powered by TDX, described above.

Where does the adoption of TDX stand at UIC currently, and what are our expectations moving forward?

As of September 2022, Technology Solutions (UIC’s central IT unit), and the IT units of the School of Public Health and the College of Pharmacy, are operating on TDX.

Technology Solutions recently engaged TDX’s professional services to provide assistance with transitioning approximately 30 additional units that currently utilize the RT system, with a goal of completing those transitions before the end of Fiscal Year 2023 (June 2023).

Once those transitions are complete, we’ll be looking to continue expanding TDX to additional units that may be using different ticketing systems, or don’t yet have a ticketing solution, with the long-term goal of having any unit that provides a service being able to leverage TDX.

Who can make use of TDX at UIC, and what are some of the top benefits of using TDX features?

The University of Illinois System has a site-license for TeamDynamix, meaning any unit can join the platform. While our limited staff resources are currently focused on assisting current RT customers over to TDX, we are looking forward to next summer when we can start welcoming other units to join!

Many of the benefits of TDX have been covered above, but from a unit perspective, the primary benefits of TDX are:

• A way to log, track, and report on work being done and avoid client requests falling through the cracks.
• A built-in survey function supports automated satisfaction surveys being sent to customers after their support ticket has been closed.
• The ability to transfer tickets to other units using TDX, rather than having to redirect the client to a different contact point.

What would you say has been the greatest challenge in introducing TDX to UIC?

Transitioning to a ticketing system takes a significant amount of effort, particularly due to the significant increase in features and capabilities in the TDX platform compared with RT. And ideally, such a transition can be an opportunity to review current processes and improve them before they are moved into a new system, which again takes time.

The overall challenge has been limited staff resources within Technology Solutions to support the transitions. Now that we have engaged TDX Professional Services, we’re looking forward to gaining traction on the transition efforts.

Transitioning to TDX and eliminating RT supports the Operate with Excellence initiative to retire legacy services and build a service portfolio management process that engages stakeholders and ensures alignment of IT service provision with the business needs of the university.