FITS

[Edu-IT]

Been having a discussion today about FITS and I think it's about time we looked at this in more detail for our school.

 

I'm just wondering, how many people here have successfully implemented FITS? How was it handled?

 

Been looking through documents on the Becta sites and their seems to be a lot of recording/reporting.

 

I'm trying to think about how best to tackle this. We already have a helpdesk in place but looking at the forms on the becta site, we're not recording the information we should be if we're going to be 'FITS compliant'.

 

Do you all use electronic systems or paper systems to manage this? Looking at our current Helpdesk system I'm not convinced it's going to be the easiest to work with for FITS.

[f21970]

I use Spiceworks and it pretty much ticks all the boxes for problem management and change management (amongst others). Best of all, it's free.

[Sylv3r]

I am in a similar position to you, I want to start looking more closely at the FITS solution but I am aware that they are having a rethink with the current version and will be looking to release an update - not sure when.

 

Does anybody have any idea?

[Edu-IT]

I use Spiceworks and it pretty much ticks all the boxes for problem management and change management (amongst others). Best of all, it's free.

I use this an I'm not convinced it does.

 

Just looking at the information BECTA want you to record for each problem.

 

How do you make it work for you? I'm keen to find out. We can discuss this in a PM if you prefer.

[russdev]

Not got time to reply in detail so if Tony beats to me it great if not then will reply tomorrow..

[GrumbleDook]

Ok ... short version

 

Task 1 - Single point of contact : keep a consistent approach to how staff log things and how things are communicated (it is 2-way remember!) This is usually helped via service desk software.

Task 2 - Allocate a person to look at incidents and correlate them to spot problems

Task 3 - Change control: make sure that there is a group that manages this, authorises changes and fits it into the school developments and plans. This is usually support by the Configuration Management Database (some service desk software can do this too)

Task 4 - Policies : Makes sure that you have policies and procedures in place to make sure things are consistent. These are built through consultation with a range of stakeholders (including students, teachers, office staff, governors and even parents) and need regular review ... see task 3.

 

There is a lot more to it but the FITS Practitioner course runs you through all of this and will be live around March / April. The pilot courses are running at the moment and I did mine last week with a few fellow members from Northants and Derbyshire.

 

SLT buy-in is key. They should be a key part in the group dealing with change control and without their backing then you are unlikely to get far. In a survey we were shown all the schools that had been pretty successful implementing FITS only did the whole lot due to SLT drive.

 

The Manager course includes more SLT / Business Manager / IT Manager orientated elements (Service Level Management, Finance Management, etc) and that will be coming soon too.

[GrumbleDook]

I use this an I'm not convinced it does.

 

Just looking at the information BECTA want you to record for each problem.

 

How do you make it work for you? I'm keen to find out. We can discuss this in a PM if you prefer.

 

It's not so much that Becta want you to record it but that they advise you record certain things as the more info you can get about an incident means the more likely you can spot problems. This is pretty much a standard procedure and has parallels in teaching, medicine, engineering, etc ...

 

Out of interest what would you think is worth recording? It might make for an interesting discussion ... people will have a lot of different views on that one I think.

[GrumbleDook]

I also have to say a big thanks to Steve and Trevor at The FITS Foundation and George from NEOS IT Training (and Lee from NEOS as well).

[Edu-IT]

It's not so much that Becta want you to record it but that they advise you record certain things as the more info you can get about an incident means the more likely you can spot problems. This is pretty much a standard procedure and has parallels in teaching, medicine, engineering, etc ...

 

Out of interest what would you think is worth recording? It might make for an interesting discussion ... people will have a lot of different views on that one I think.

The information on here is useful and I agree that it's what should be recorded. It's not excessive, just getting used to doing it and also working out how best to record it.

 

Becta Schools

[superfletch]

the FITS Practitioner course runs you through all of this and will be live around March / April. The pilot courses are running at the moment and I did mine last week with a few fellow members from Northants and Derbyshire.

 

Where can I find out more about the FITS courses?

 

I'd be keen to do one, but I'm out on a limb in little old Cornwall.

[Edu-IT]

RM do one.

 

Event Detail

[dalsoth]

The RM one took a while for me to get on to as they had to wait until there was enough people on the course. Turns out it was me and one other chap from a big school in London in the end Great for chatting to the trainer though about FITS from both of our own schools perspectives. Great trainer too, although i can't remember his name at the moment.

[GrumbleDook]

The information on here is useful and I agree that it's what should be recorded. It's not excessive, just getting used to doing it and also working out how best to record it.

 

Becta Schools

 

Yep ... I know where it is ... but I was trying to see if you thought it was right ... if anything would not be that important to you ... and what things do you think *aren't* there that you would like to be there.

[Edu-IT]

The information on here is useful and I agree that it's what should be recorded.

Sorry, I was just saying, the questions asked in the document on there are the sorts of things I would want to record. I didn't want to copy and paste everything from there so I linked straight to it. I suppose it's always something you review and 6 months down the line you might tweak what information you record if you find what works well/doesn't work well. I'm not sure if that would be good practice?

[GrumbleDook]

There are a number of training providers that are looking at covering most places (with some overlap) and a list of the planned courses are at Training : The Fits Foundation but it is still in pilot mode at the moment so not many courses running but more courses will come online next year.

 

Other trainers are also coming online at the moment so people like RM and XMA are not on that list yet.

 

If you have any questions about it feel free to using the 'contact us' option on the above website and someone will get back to you pretty quickly.

[GrumbleDook]

Sorry, I was just saying, the questions asked in the document on there are the sorts of things I would want to record. I didn't want to copy and paste everything from there so I linked straight to it. I suppose it's always something you review and 6 months down the line you might tweak what information you record if you find what works well/doesn't work well. I'm not sure if that would be good practice?

 

You wouldn't normally make that many changes to what you record as in taking things out ... but adding things in, then it does happen. Take one access database I have seen to record things ... it started off with just simple stuff.

Unique ID / Call reference

Date

Time

Reporter (the person making the support call)

Machine name

Location

Problem

Technician

Fix date

 

It was then spotted that the reporter was often not the person with the problem ... say a student was sent to get a technician as a teacher had a problem ... the call used to be logged before the techie left the office (partly so the boss knew what they were doing) and then they had to go and correct it ... so the changed Reporter to Originator and added a category 'reported by' as a drop down with 'student', 'email', 'telephone', 'note', 'office visit' ... and then expanded this list to include other things like 'request outside of office' to help show the number of times they were way-laid by people ... which helped them get SLT to agree to the policy of contact only by email, phone or office visit.

 

It was then expanded more and more to connect into another set of tables with the inventory in it ... and then tried to work it into configuration management by having each asset in the inventory fully detailed ...

 

These things will grow and some schools might not record some things because it doesn't fit with the way they work. A school with one person doing everything might not record who did the work to resolve an incident, but another in the same situation might because they log when they call in external support (helpful to measure service management).

 

So ... if you can think of any additions feel free to mention them.

[budgester]

I think the best way to get started with FITS is to use the

 

Becta Schools

 

Fill in the spreadsheet and that will give you a current baseline.

 

Then over time pick and choose which things you want to implement, this could be part of your development plan, update and check this assessment on a termly basis.

 

SLT should be able to incorporate this into the SIP etc.

[SpuffMonkey]

SLT buy-in is key. They should be a key part in the group dealing with change control and without their backing then you are unlikely to get far. In a survey we were shown all the schools that had been pretty successful implementing FITS only did the whole lot due to SLT drive.

 

Grrrr, grrrr and thrice grrrrr :mad:

[Mr.Ben]

I did the first day of the FITS (Practitioner) Training course last Friday. It's the Pilot and will lead to a level 4 award, which is nice, but more importantly it offers a qualifications that can be a standard within schools (It should be about 80 hours of work)

 

As for applying it into my school, most of it is already done - service desks are very important and the best first step. Now it's just about getting all of my changes recorded and getting staff to stop calling me on my radio (I might just lose it....)

[Edu-IT]

Has anyone got their "FITS process" written up that they would be willing to let me look at, particularly the SLA stuff.

[TechMonkey]

As for applying it into my school, most of it is already done

 

From what I hear this is the case for most schools to varying degrees, it just normally needs to be tightened up, written down & policies sorted. as ever though it is the time to work that out, check it and do the writing that is hard to come by

[GrumbleDook]

From what I hear this is the case for most schools to varying degrees, it just normally needs to be tightened up, written down & policies sorted. as ever though it is the time to work that out, check it and do the writing that is hard to come by

 

*You* may have decided what is best ... but has the School decided it? I say this a bit tongue in cheek but many practices within schools are done in silos ... and I am not just talking tech support here, so I would honestly recommend that you get your processes checked over to make sure you are taking *all* customers / clients / users into consideration and that it is all in a manner where you can be held accountable.

[TechMonkey]

Good point, as an example the school is having a new behaviour policy & procedure sorted & we are trying to get ourselves included instead of having our own. Also means less work & agro for us

[Snuffkins]

*You* may have decided what is best ... but has the School decided it? I say this a bit tongue in cheek but many practices within schools are done in silos ... and I am not just talking tech support here, so I would honestly recommend that you get your processes checked over to make sure you are taking *all* customers / clients / users into consideration and that it is all in a manner where you can be held accountable.

 

 

The first thing that we're doing is taking all ideas/thoughts etc to the SLT and having everything planned collectively from day one. In the past we probably have made decisions ourselves and tried to put certain things in place without proper planning and that's why it has always failed. As you say SLT buy-in is the key factor to actually being able to put any of the practices in place and make sure they are adhered to by all parties concerned. So it's key for us to give them the understanding of what is trying to be done and why and obviously getting their input and support right at the beginning.

 

We also want to advise that some if not all of the practices are put in place for other support services in the college. At the moment they are all a little bit ad-hoc and re-active and could really do with a framework like this to improve service, productivity, reporting, accountability etc. As an example of current practice facilities management here have problems reported with scraps of paper in an envelope in reception and not that many people know about it.

 

Getting back to the topic of FITS, as far as we're concerned our way forward is creating the committee we should have had long ago, finding out what our priorities are in terms of stages of implementation, documenting a timeline for implementation that is acceptable to all parties, making all parties aware of the changes and what that means to them in terms of procedures for making requests and the way those requests will be handled and far too much besides that to write down here. There are so many elements to FITS.

 

One of our biggest reasons for wanting to put the FITS framework practices in place is to address the culture shock that all parties would experience when our college becomes part of BSF and have to follow procedures put in place by the centrally managed service, whoever might be providing it. I don't know whether that's high on many people’s lists as a reason? We know that we can make it a gradual and easy change to new practices and hopefully make it that transition easy as well as it surely will be very different from provision at the moment?

 

The course while not technical in any way opens up a lot of debate as to the way things should/could work in every individual environment. It is incredibly useful in that sense as probably for the first time you can spend long periods voicing opinions with other likeminded individuals uninterrupted. I would definitely get on the course as soon as it becomes available. It has a very different impact than talking about it in a forum environment like this and will really help to pick out all the positive reasoning behind the implementation of parts and the entire framework in whatever way it would suit the environment that you find yourself a part of.