Service Assurance

Contact Information:
Frans Hoffman
extension 8797
fhoffman@stmarys-ca.edu

ITIL Training

IT Services provides a free online ITIL training for its employees. The
training will take about
20 hours and prepares
you to take the ITIL
Foundations exam.

More information can be obtained by contacting
Kim Sullivan,
extension 4640,
kas7@stmarys-ca.edu

An excellent distance
learning ITIL training is provided by
Charles Sturt University
(Australia)

The primary task of Service Assurance is to assure that the business services provided by IT Services are aligned with the business needs of the business clients of the college. Communication is the key to realizing that objective.

On the one hand, it means that business clients must be able to find the services that are available to them and know how to access them, who is responsible for providing them and what they can expect from the service.

On the other hand it means that the College's Information Technology department (IT) must provide reliable and up-to-date information on the performance of these services  and respond swiftly and effectively to any threat to or interruption of IT services (contact the IT Service Desk for information or to report problems).

Service Assurance achieves this task partly by promoting Information Technology Infrastructure Library and Information Technology Service Management best practices within the Information Technology department at Saint Mary's College of California.

This is what the ITIL model looks like:

ITIL Model

Working closely with the managers of the relevant IT groups, internal processes will be reviewed. The director of each IT group will - in collaboration with Service Assurance - develop and implement department plans of action to better align internal processes with business objectives.

Feedback received from customers (see our Client Satisfaction Metrics) is collected by the Continual Service Improvement group (CSI - visit our Continual Service Improvement page for more information) in IT and will be used to suggest improvements in the production and delivery of IT business services and to measure the success of the ITSM implementation. Each group in IT will receive guidance from Service Assurance in developing service level agreements and entries for the business service catalog, after which Continual Service Improvement will take the role of monitoring progress and reporting on performance.

Working closely with the department's management, Service Assurance will define and the IT group will implement and maintain metrics to measure service levels. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) will be implemented and published by Continual Service Improvement to assist the departmental management in measuring progress towards implementation of agreed upon plans. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and additional information from the ITIL compliant ticketing system will be used to create a balanced scorecard. The Continual Service Improvement group will maintain these metrics and SLAs.

Externally, Service Assurance will work with customers to review the Service Catalog and evaluate the Service Level Agreements (SLAs) to determine whether they are in alignment with the business clients' needs and expectations. The Service Assurance department will work with client departments to periodically review ITS performance as measured in Key Performance Indicators and compared to Service Level Objectives defined in the various Service Level Agreements.

When new business services are requested and approved the Service Assurance department will work with IT groups to develop the new business service, document it, test it, develop KPIs and SLAs, and put it into operation.

Mountain Lion Upgrade

Apple has released their next major version of Mac OS X, "Mountain Lion" on July 25th, 2012. If you are thinking about upgrading to Mountain Lion or requesting a new computer with Mountain Lion, please read the following message. More information is available on Apple's website at: http://www.apple.com/macosx/

Please review these issues and consult with IT Services support staff before upgrading existing Macs to Mountain Lion or purchasing new Macs which may require Mountain Lion.

- Once updated, there is no easy rollback method. You will have to request a reimaging of your Mac to an earlier OS version. Please make sure your software is compatible before you update!

- Versions of FileMaker Pro before version 8.5 will not run on Mountain Lion. If you need to access FileMaker databases using FileMaker version 5.5 through version 8.0, you should not upgrade to Mountain Lion and should not purchase a new Mac which requires Mountain Lion. Also, if you see an error when installing versions 11 or 12, FileMaker has a workaround listed here. Contact your Divisional Liaison or Local IT specialist if you need more information about FileMaker versions you use.

- Because older versions of software may not run properly on Mountain Lion, upgrading to Mountain Lion may also require the purchase of newer software versions such as Microsoft Office and Adobe applications.  Please check the Standard Supported Software for updates. If your software is not listed there, you should check with the vendor for Mountain Lion compatibility.

New feature: iCloud. This feature allows users to save their documents to Apple’s web storage called iCloud. Since SMC does not have an agreement with Apple for the protection of data stored in their cloud, do not use iCloud for sensitive SMC files or data.

Laptop Lending - Students

Information for students who wish to borrow laptops from the Service Desk.

The service manager for laptop lending is Annalisa Diaz. Please contact the Service Desk at extension 4266 or email her with any questions, comments etc.

Students may borrow a laptop for academic purposes from the Service Desk for a limited loan period (24 hours). To request a laptop, students must fill out the online request form via SMCnet > CaTS > Forms.

SMC ID, drivers licence or other state ID may be required.

Reservations are granted on a first come first served basis.

To request this service: Please fill out the online form

Cost: Free. Late fees, if applicable.

Laptop Lending - Faculty and Staff

Information for Faculty and Staff who would like to borrow a laptop from the Service Desk. The Service Desk Customer Support Manager Annalisa Diaz.
Please contact Service Desk at extension 4266 or email helpdesk@stmarys-ca.edu with any questions, comments etc.

Faculty and staff who do not have their own SMC provided laptop computer may borrow a laptop from the Service Desk. Priority of laptop loans goes to Faculty who need the laptop for Academic purposes. The number of laptops is limited and they are in constant circulation. Please request your laptop as early as possible!

Faculty may NOT request a laptop for student usage. A separate student pool for laptop loans has been set aside for students.

E-mail cats@stmarys-ca.edu to request a laptop.

To request this service: Send an e-mail to cats@stmarys-ca.edu to request a laptop.

Cost: Free

Maps & Directories

Mailing Address

Saint Mary's College of California
1928 Saint Mary's Road
Moraga, CA 94556
(925) 631-4000
Google Map | Campus Map | PO Boxes