Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Information Systems in the Global Economy
Brewery Applies SDLC to Improve Help Desk Operations
Carlsberg Polska is the Polish subsidiary of Carlsberg Breweries, a Danish global brewery
that produces and sells dozens of beer brands around the world. Carlsberg Polska produces
and manages seven of those brands.
Looking to support its growth while maintaining high levels of service to its workforce,
Carlsberg Polska investigated how it could improve its information systems and systems
support processes. The company was using an internally developed system to report trou-
ble with technology and information systems. Recent increases in system demand were
beginning to cause problems both for information system staff and other employees. The
system was also outdated and lacked modern functionality. Carlsberg knew it was time to
launch a new systems improvement project and enter the first of the five stages of the
systems development life cycle (SDLC): investigation, analysis, design, implementation,
and maintenance/review.
IT Shared Services Center (SSC) manages Carlsberg Polska information system sup-
port. SSC provides support to Carlsberg Polska's 600 information system users at six
facilities in four countries and two time zones using four languages. After the initial in-
vestigation and analysis, Magdalena Cioch, the information systems director of customer
service, and her team had a good idea of what changes were needed and were ready to
begin designing the system.
They decided that the help desk and change management program should be merged
into one transparent system. The help desk would handle employee problems with infor-
mation system infrastructure: hardware, software, databases, and telecommunications.
Change management refers to processes for requesting, planning, and implementing
change in information systems. These two services are often provided independent of one
another. Typically, an IT group fields help desk requests that employees submit, and an
information systems group fields change requests—formal documents requesting a sys-
tems change. Magdalena Cioch thought that combining these activities into one system
would be useful for all involved. The company also wanted the new system to be transpar-
ent, allowing everyone to track service requests from initiation to completion.
Rather than reinventing the wheel, Cioch knew that IS vendors could provide the sys-
tems Carlsberg Polska needed. She distributed a request for proposal (RFP) document to
several IS companies, outlining the goals of the system. The company that provided the
best proposal was SAP, with a product called Solution Manager.
SAP systems analysts worked with systems analysts from Carlsberg Polska and SSC
to refine the specifications for the new system. The team decided to implement three sce-
narios in the new system: 1) improve help desk efficiency, 2) provide better control of
change management processes, and 3) allow information systems specialists to monitor
systems and solutions.
Before installing the new system, the team tested it in four countries to ensure that it
functioned correctly. After successful testing, the new system was gradually installed. The
team used a pilot start-up to safely and gradually introduce the system to the company.
First, they installed the solutions monitoring component in Poland. When that was deemed
a success, they installed the service desk and change management systems in Poland. As
problems materialized, SAP developers quickly addressed and resolved them. Next, they
installed all three systems in Carlsberg's facilities in the other three countries.
