Archer Daniels Midland
Corporate Background
Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM), formed in 1923, is a leading global agricultural company engaged in procuring, transporting, storing, processing and merchandising agricultural commodities and products.
Based in Illinois, USA, ADM employs more than 264,000 people across six continents. The company has 268,270 domestic and international processing plants and a worldwide transportation network.
ADM staff around the world report IT problems in the first instance to their local (national) service desk. These service desks refer some problems on to ADM’s US headquarters, but are otherwise self-reliant.
Business requirement
ADM had a requirement for an IT Service Management system that could be used company-wide across its substantial network of international plants and offices.
The company wanted a central repository of information (i.e. single database) for the purposes of reporting and knowledge sharing, that accommodated time and language differences and enabled regional service desks to have an uncluttered view of their own data.
ADM’s existing support system had been developed in-house, utilizing Microsoft Outlook. As well as operational problems such as job tickets becoming lost, the system was no longer compatible with the company’s preferred IT strategy. ADM also wanted a system that had the potential to be extended beyond its IT Service Desk use – in other words, that provided maximum flexibility into the future.
Business solution
ADM evaluated five enterprise-level service management systems, finally selecting EMC’s Ionix Service Manager a fully Web-based application from EMC. Rolling out a single system across such a large and dispersed number of locations was potentially a huge logistical, as well as very costly challenge.
For this reason, EMC’s Ionix Service Manager’s fully Web-based architecture was a key reason for its selection, as it enabled the system to be installed on a single database in ADM headquarters and run across the Internet to the company’s international locations.
Bill Weimer, Manager of EMC’s Ionix Service Manager for ADM, says the other major requirement met by the system was the ability to easily obtain a high level of visibility of the entire global service desk operations, through centralized reporting and other management features.
The ADM IT Department in Decatur has been using the EMC Ionix Service Manager system since the first phase of its rollout. Phase 2, included adding support officers in South America. This number will increase as, the system is progressively deployed with the third phase adding support officers in Europe.
A partitioned database accommodates regional differences
ADM has partitioned EMC’s Ionix Service Manager system to protect the integrity of each international work unit’s unique data set, including client and call history, while still providing access to common problem types and knowledge.
At corporate headquarters, Bill Weimer can view and run reports on all data within the system, while service desk operators within a particular region will see only their own local data.
“We initially tested the system with four partitions,” says Weimer. “One each for the US, South America, Europe and a group at corporate headquarters who wanted to evaluate the system for its suitability for non-IT Service Desk purposes. The feedback was that it met each group’s needs perfectly” says Weimer.
“We then went ahead and rolled out the live system in the US, then South America, with plans for a staged rolling out of the product to Europe. We allowed five days for the initial implementation, and got it done in two”. After using it for several months, we added partitions for South America and Europe.”
Implementation in Brazil
Bill Weimer travelled to Brazil to train the local service desk on EMC’s Ionix Service Manager system, and assist in the setup for their partition. That implementation has provided the template for its subsequent expansion to other countries.
ADM’s Brazilian operation consists of a number of locations, some remote, which access the EMC Ionix Service Manager system via the web via dial up modem – a capability that has surprised and delighted the local offices, according to Weimer.
Partitioning has enabled the Brazilian service desk to record regional incident and problem data in the Portuguese language. The html-based screens give them the ability to customize the screens to show all labelling in Portuguese.
In addition, the time-zoning in the system allows Brazil to view dates and times in local time, as well as giving realistic service level calculations.
Central control and reporting
“It is very important for us to maintain hands-on control of our systems” says Weimer. “That was one of the application’s selling points.” As the requirements on the system grow and change, ADM is able to independently create their own customizations, including custom reporting through Crystal Reports.
“We run a lot of reports out of the system, and I have come to love and depend on Crystal. The reports are mostly run end of month to see how many incidents and problems we have, what type they are, and how they are broken down by group and location. The reports have been essential in helping to identify areas where we need training, or need to update part of the network infrastructure.”
For a real-time view of current service desk activity, Weimer uses the EMC Ionix Service Manager Monitor, providing an instant graphical snapshot.
“We now have a history for every incident, and are better able to solve problems at the tier 1 level instead of escalating them to tier 2,” he says.
“The bottom line is that we have a quicker response time and quicker resolution. That is ultimately what has made our users happy. This has definitely helped in creating more satisfied customers.”
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