Following an assessment of its internal strengths and weaknesses, national law firm Shoosmiths decided it needed to improve the quality of service provided by its IT department by training up its staff to Information Technology Infrastructure Library (Itil) Foundation level.

Itil contains best practice guidance for IT service management. Training to foundation level involves coaching in a range of concepts, definitions and relationships within IT service management processes and functions.

“We put everyone through it. We wanted everyone to have the same mindset because they all have a part in dealing with customers,” said David Bason, Shoosmiths’ information services director.

The firm had been suffering because it lacked consistent processes to handle calls from users, Bason explained. “Although people worked hard, there was no structure,” he added.

Bason said he thoroughly investigated the benefits of Itil before training went ahead. “We wanted something that we could take off the shelf rather than something we had to design ourselves, but we also wanted something we could adapt to our needs,” he said.

following this assessment, Shoosmiths picked consultancy FGI to undertake the training, having been impressed by the firm’s flexible approach. “FGI knew what we wanted and was happy to adapt the course accordingly,” Bason said. “It gave us a pass guarantee so that we could all get through on the same fee.”

A pass guarantee means delegates who fail the course at their first attempt can re-take it without having to pay for further training. A so-called skills protection promise was also made by FGI that means that if an employee leaves Shoosmiths within 12 months of taking the course, their replacement can be retrained at a lower rate.

To further assess the suitability of the training, Bason sat the two-day Itil Version 2 Foundation course and exam before the rest of the team. Delegates were then given reading material on Itil processes before the training commenced on-site.
Shoosmiths achieved a pass rate of 98 per cent on the one-hour multiple-choice examination paper. “There was only one failure in a team of 50 because of the approach taken,” said Bason.

Bason said that some members of staff needed more encouragement than others to take the course. However, when the firm’s goal of providing consistently good customer service was explained to them, the staff showed no resentment and remained committed to the training, he added.

“Whereas a lot of organisations just put the service delivery desk and support desk staff through the course, Shoosmiths decided to train its development team and project managers as well,” Bason said.

The firm’s increased call resolution and marked improvement in its overall service level show the Itil training was worth the time. Whereas in March 2007, the firm had a 60 per cent first call resolution (FCR), and 80 per cent overall service level (OSL), by December that year the FCR was 76 per cent and the OSL was 88 per cent, Bason said.

The number of incidents the firm handles a month has also increased significantly. In March 2007, Shoosmiths logged 2,500 incidents and had 500 classed as un-resolved, while by December, the organisation was logging 4,000 incidents a month with only 130 still open.

Also as a result of Itil, the time it takes for a team to change a manual process has been reduced by two hours, and the firm has merged two helpdesks.

“We now have a common language to work with ­ common incident management and knowledge of how to manage a problem through to success,” Bason said.

Bason added that the course has already paid for itself. He also pointed to the longer term career benefits the course has given his staff. “Staff with Itil training are becoming increasingly attractive,” he said.

Shoosmiths and FGI are still working together on further training for new starters, said Bason. The law firm plans to continue developing its IT services staff, with the aim of achieving the ISO 2000 service management standard.