University IT rated best in world with new award

St Andrews is the first University in the world to be accredited with a 4-star Service Desk Certification by the sector’s professional body.

The award from the Service Desk Institute (SDI) will see the University to lead the way in setting ‘exceptionally high’ standards in IT for fellow universities across the world.

SDI is the leading professional body for the IT service and support industry. The four-star rating was awarded following a rigorous two-and-a-half year auditing programme. The period saw the University improve its audit score on all nine measured concepts, during each annual audit (December 2012, 2013 and 2014).
The IT Services department was rigorously assessed in the following areas: leadership, policy and strategy, people management, processes and procedures, partnerships and resources, customer satisfaction, people satisfaction, performance results and social responsibility.

Pauline Brown, the University’s IT Business Relationship Manager said, “We embarked on our journey with SDI in May 2012, with the aim of improving the service we provide to the University community as well as our internal operations. The changes and enhancements we’ve put in place have been considerable and we’re absolutely delighted to achieve 4 stars. We know it’s been worthwhile because the overall feedback we receive from staff and students who use our service is excellent.

“Our 4 star award means we are now classified as a business-led function, which is aligned with where we want to be strategically within the University. IT underpins all aspects of University life and we want to be an IT service that is proactive, forward-thinking, enables innovation and provides the very best customer service.

“Having the SDI evaluating our operations against an internationally accepted global standard for best practice and a benchmark for service improvement has been hugely beneficial.”

The award completes a successful period for the University’s IT Services Team, which won the ‘Best Small Service Desk’ award at last summer’s SDI annual conference and award ceremony.

SDI sets the internationally recognised best practice standards for service desks and service desk professionals around the world.

SDI’s Master Auditor, Howard Kendall, said, “It is brilliant to see St Andrews achieve the first ever 4-star university certification. This success is well-deserved and has been driven by the focused management and service desk teams and through an ongoing programme of service improvements.

“There is an excellent culture of collaboration amongst the IT teams as well as a high level of customer engagement, which has been achieved by working closely with the University community of staff and students alike. We look forward to seeing the improvements continue and for this desk to lead the way in setting an exceptionally high standard for universities across the world.”