Checkpoint has a decentralized IT organization with regional responsibilities. The ERP solutions used globally come from SAP, and the data centers are located in the USA and Germany. SAP support is handled via the German site in collaboration with external service providers.
Within this distributed and heterogeneous IT landscape, the support processes were to be optimized, for example through automated service processes, centrally controlled vacation replacements and a uniform authorization concept in change management. In addition, a software-based solution was to be found for proving SOX audits (Sarbanes-Oxley Act), which would automatically document all processes and replace the time-consuming and manpower-intensive archiving of e-mails and paper documents.
To make support processes more efficient and transparent, Checkpoint planned to introduce a global helpdesk system when the project started in 2006. Among other things, this solution was to provide functions for decentralized ticket processing and enable monitoring of business-critical applications and the WAN infrastructure. Other goals included the implementation of global 24×7 support, software-supported documentation of all IT activities in a single point of truth, and improved reporting for management.
REALTECH’s theGuard! was already convincing at that time due to its range of functions, low complexity, and very good price-performance ratio.
By implementing the REALTECH solution, Checkpoint was able to organize all incidents worldwide via a central ticket system and assign them to the right experts. During the course of the project, the central service processes were fully automated. As a result, IT operations staff now work much more efficiently. International partners are now also seamlessly integrated into the various service processes. Defined workflows for standard processes also make daily work easier.
Users can directly track the processing progress of their helpdesk requests. Transparency in ticket processing has increased significantly within the IT department. Users from 44 locations in 23 countries are now connected to the helpdesk. Around 130 support employees process more than 32,000 calls a year using the REALTECH solution.
The clearly recognizable operational benefits ultimately led Checkpoint to decide to further expand its IT Service Management together with REALTECH. This was followed by the implementation of further components of the service management solution, such as the REALTECH CMDB and REALTECH Business Service Manager. These enable the perfect mapping of all sub-disciplines of IT service management – from network to application management.
Checkpoint is now able to identify system faults more quickly thanks to a clear representation of all IT components and services. The software creates documentation for audits at the push of a button, so that even SOX auditors are impressed by the comprehensive and centralized documentation.
With theGuard! Service Management Center from REALTECH, we were able to automate our global it service and support processes within a very short time. The implementation time of the solution was pleasantly short. The administrative effort around IT operations was reduced considerably, so that we achieved significant savings in the area of IT operations.
Stefan Keissner, Senior IT Operations Manager Europe, Checkpoint Systems
