Problem Statement

♦ The existing tools were not connected and all the users were not using the same tool, and this was creating information silos.

♦ The existing tool was cumbersome and only supported waterfall methodology, resulting in lower productivity, rigid processes, and delayed output extensive training was needed to manage workflows.

♦ There were several small Jira implementations throughout the university that needed to be consolidated as it was leading to limited organizational visibility and information silos across teams.

♦ Licenses of the existing tool were set to expire and would not be renewed and the licenses for the new tool were awfully expensive.

Solution Delivered by EMPYRA

¤ Migration to Atlassian Products i.e., Jira Software and Jira Service Management

¤ Data Migration to Atlassian Tools

¤ Configuration and setup of JSW and JSM projects per specifications

¤ Provided Training for Jira Admin on access management and designing workflows

¤ Trained University employees for Agile ITSM fast-paced and complex IT environments

The Challenges

Tufts University is a 170-year-old American University with more than 6600+ employees and offers over 90 undergraduate and 160 graduate programs, as well recognized among a group of 64 leading research universities in North America

Unhappy with its previous system for several reasons, Tufts University selected Empyra to provide better control to manage workflows and replace the overpriced legacy tool that work on waterfall methodology, which was killing productivity and resulting in huge amount of operational cost.

Tufts University knew modern tools like JSM and JSW had the potential to deliver much more. This prompted the University to look for a strategic delivery partner that could provide Support, Training, and Consultancy expertise across the complete Atlassian suite of products.

DELIVERING THE SOLUTION

THE INITIAL PROJECT

Transformation happens when progressive and futuristic leadership joins the organization that’s and what happened with Tufts University when Empyra reached out to the University IT Operation supervision team. We found the existing setup was not only awfully expensive, but also cumbersome to use. The absence of transparency in their system affected coordination and project schedule resulting in delayed output.

Requirements gathering

Empyra head started by engaging in more than half a dozen workshops with different sets of stakeholders from multiple development departments for distinctive OnDemand accounts. The workshops pinned down Tufts University’s initial requirements and then examined the more complex elements, including the need to consolidate the approach. Empyra’s research was exhaustive to pin down what was needed. The process was conducted in a transparent and collaborative way with regular status update for Tufts University stakeholders, which ensured stakeholders always understood what decisions were being made and why.

Implementing the solution

Implementation is a crucial part of the new tool adoption journey where the employees face difficulty to use a brand-new user interface. We divided implementation into three stages to deploy the JSM and JSW for a hassle-free experience for employees with a very short learning curve for better adaptability of the Atlassian Products.

Stage 1

• Migrated to Atlassian Products i.e., Jira Software and Jira Service Management following standardized processes.
• Migrated all the existing data to Atlassian JSM & JSW from their legacy tool.

Stage 2

• Configured and Set up JSW and JSM projects per specification.
• Created User accounts, helped Tufts University to design their workflows as per requirement, and developed project boards

Stage 3

Hands-on training for university employees on Agile ITSM, access management and creating workflows.

Benefits Delivered

Empyra helped The Tufts University enable seamless collaboration between employees with zero redundancy & silos in the organization, and all employees are now active JIRA Service Desk users. Through rapid collaborative delivery, Empyra provided the best experience of adopting flexible and reliable Atlassian Products – Jira Service Management & Jira Software.

Extensive training and support helped the University adopt the Jira Service Management faster and improve efficiency and productivity.