Xentrall Shared Services
Xentrall is a groundbreaking public sector partnership between Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council and Darlington Borough Council. It was set up to deliver key back office transactional services. Stockton and Darlington Councils are neighbouring unitary authorities which have a culture of innovation and service improvement. Xentrall works jointly with both Councils supporting them in the delivery of their services. The services currently being delivered by the partnership are ICT, Design and Print, Transactional HR, and Transactional Finance. The partnership was set up to deliver savings but there has also been investment in the partnership providing additional capacity to support each Council in the transformation of their services.
Challenges
Darlington and Stockton Borough Councils set up Xentrall Shared Services to deliver key back office transactional services and cost savings. Xentrall’s proactive approach quickly identifi ed that it needed a consolidated asset management system to provide accurate information about its entire IT network. Working with two incumbent IT Asset Management solutions provided significant challenges, especially with regards to integrating with a single ITSM solution (Axios Assyst), and meeting the complex technical demands of managing assets across two Councils without the aid of common processes.
The Solution
Xentrall Shared Services needed to provide a consolidated IT Asset Management solution meeting today’s complex challenges. This was done by replacing Numara Track-IT® and a cut down version of LANDesk® used by Darlington and Stockton Borough Councils with AssetStudioTM and Software Metering for DecisionMakersTM Certero AssetStudio™ and Software Metering for Decision Makers™ provided Xentrall Shared Services with:
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A single comprehensive IT Asset Management solution enabling the retirement of the incumbent products
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A full hardware and software inventory of their client computers
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The ability to capture client computer switch port history
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The ability to identify the switch port location of any computer
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The ability to identify free switch ports
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The ability to know what software was and was NOT being used
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A comprehensive but simple import of software licenses to establish an Effective License Position (ELP)
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An integrated “real-time” view of software licenses and compliance
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Ability for integration into the Axios Assyst service management tool CMDB
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A web based asset management solution that could be used by everyone in IT
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Enabling implementation of common processes
What Xentrall Shared Services Said:
Kelvin McIvor, Business Analyst at Xentrall Shared Services, explains, “When the partnership was formed, we realised that we needed one system, rather than the two that were already in place. The network discovery, inventory, configuration and licence management features of AssetStudio™ will give us full visibility of our IT estate, and with complete awareness of our assets we can take control of our network, particularly as we look to transform the partnership’s services and improve sustainability.
If you would like more information about AssetStudio™ then please contact us using the details at the top of this page or fill in our Online Enquiry Form.