Utilizing TeamDynamix at Vanderbilt: A Guide for Departments

Purpose

Vanderbilt University Information Technology (VUIT) is opening TeamDynamix (TDX) for use by all Vanderbilt University departments to manage their own ticketing processes, providing a streamlined way to track and resolve service requests. This expansion allows departments to improve response times, enhance service transparency, and offer better support to faculty, staff, and students by customizing workflows to meet their unique needs. This document outlines the steps to get started, key limitations set by VUIT, and branding restrictions established by Vanderbilt University Marketing and Communications (VU Marketing and Communications).

Vanderbilt departments can leverage TeamDynamix, a cloud-based platform designed to manage services and assets. While commonly used for IT support, TeamDynamix is a versatile tool that can enhance service management and customer support across various departments.

Key Features

• Service Management – Open tickets, track work progress, and facilitate communication with technicians.
• Asset Management – Manage assets, configurations, and associated data.
• Knowledge Base – Provide self-service resources, share institutional knowledge, and offer solutions.
• Reporting – Generate dashboards and reports for data-driven decision-making.
• Workflow Automation – Configure automated processes and workflow routing to improve efficiency.

Benefits of TeamDynamix

• Centralized Service Access – A single platform for customers to locate services and submit requests.
• Enhanced Efficiency – Streamlined processes reduce response times and increase productivity.
• Improved Data Insights – Categorized ticketing enhances reporting and analytics.
• Single Sign-On (SSO) – Simplified access with Vanderbilt credentials.

   Use Cases

• IT Service Management (ITSM)
• Customer Support
• Facilities Management
• Human Resources Management

By adopting TeamDynamix, Vanderbilt departments can optimize their service delivery, improve operational efficiency, and enhance customer satisfaction.

General Guidelines

Getting Started with TeamDynamix

1. Getting Started with TeamDynamix

• Submit a Request to Join
  • Departments must formally request access through VUIT.
  • Requests should outline intended use, expected ticket volume, and administrative capacity.
  • Requests will be prioritized based on department size, complexity, and VUIT’s capacity to support onboarding.
  • Consultation will be scheduled to meet with the VUIT ITSM team to review goals, expectations, and create a plan for each area.

• Engage with TeamDynamix Professional Services:
  • Departments have the option to hire TeamDynamix for implementation and training services, as VUIT will not be directly involved in the setup and maintenance of departmental portals.  TeamDynamix offers in-house implementation teams that provide tailored configurations, knowledge transfer, and process consulting services.
• Understand the Implementation Plan: Familiarize yourself with the Agile project management methodology employed by TeamDynamix during implementation. This approach allows for flexibility and continuous improvement throughout the project lifecycle. 

2. Expectations from VUIT

• Autonomous Management: Departments are responsible for the complete setup, configuration, and ongoing maintenance of their TDX portals.
• Adherence to Policies: While operating independently, departments must comply with university-wide IT policies, data security standards, branding and governance frameworks to ensure consistency and security across the institution.
• Coordination for Shared Services: If a department's services intersect with broader university services, coordination with VUIT is expected to maintain service integrity and avoid duplication.

3. Administrative Roles and Permissions

• Application Administration: Assign specific individuals within the department as Application Administrators. These administrators will have the authority to configure and manage the department's TDX applications without affecting other areas of the system.
• Security Roles: Define security roles carefully to ensure users have appropriate access levels. This includes setting permissions for creating, editing, and viewing content within the portal.

Understanding Administration versus Security Roles for Applications

4.  Utilizing Templates for Consistency

• Service, Incident, and Knowledge Base Templates: Leverage TDX's feature to create templates for the Service Catalog and Knowledge Base articles. This ensures consistent formatting and layout across services and articles. Administrators can define these templates within the Client Portal, facilitating uniformity in content creation.
• Best Practice Templates: Utilize predefined templates for documenting best practices related to services or processes. These templates help in maintaining high-level information and defined rules to ensure consistent practices and compliance.
  • VUIT will provide a template for an incident and/or service request form, a knowledge base article, and a service or service offering. Conforming to the same standards for incident and service requests will ensure smooth ticket transfer between VUIT and your department’s TeamDynamix ticketing application for a seamless customer experience.

5. Training and Resources

• Access Training Materials: Departments should take advantage of available training resources to familiarize their teams with TDX functionalities. Training for TDX can be found at https://learn.teamdynamix.com.  
  • TeamDynamix Readiness Training: VUIT previously recorded training sessions.
  • TeamDynamix LMS Training: TeamDynamix has a program “Readiness On-Demand” for additional training opportunities.
  • TeamDynamix Live Training: TeamDynamix offers live training. To sign up for live training reach out to the customer success manager through VUIT.  There may be a cost associated with live training sessions.
• Join Community Forums: Engage with TDX user communities or forums to share experiences, challenges, and solutions with other institutions employing TDX in a decentralized manner.

6. Portal Structure and Design

• Client Portal Customization: Design the client portal to be intuitive and user-friendly. Incorporate a well-structured Service Catalog and Knowledge Base to facilitate easy navigation for end-users. Refer to existing portals, such as Vanderbilt University's TDX portal , for design inspiration.
• Consistent Branding: Ensure that the portal aligns with the university's branding guidelines to provide a cohesive user experience.
• Choose a Ticketing Model
  • Departments can opt for a standalone portal or a ticketing application with external website integration.
  • A standalone portal allows for a self-managed user interface and ticket tracking.
  • A ticketing application integrates into an existing website via direct links to TDX forms.

7. Ongoing Maintenance and Support

• Regular Updates: Keep the portal content up-to-date by regularly reviewing and updating services, knowledge articles, and templates.
• Feedback Mechanism: Implement a feedback system to gather user input for continuous improvement of the portal.
• Performance Monitoring: Utilize TDX's reporting and analytics tools to monitor portal performance and identify areas for enhancement. 
• Launch and Monitor Usage
  • Departments will test their ticketing system before full launch.
  • Departments will be responsible for their own ongoing support, including troubleshooting and enhancements, ensuring they have the flexibility to tailor their TeamDynamix portals to their evolving needs.
• Support
  • Departments will be working independently with TeamDynamix for ongoing support

Limitations and Constraints

1. Notification Templates
   • Notification templates are application-specific and cannot be customized for multiple departments within a single application.
   • Departments requiring unique branding in notifications must have separate ticketing applications.
2. Branding Restrictions (VU Marketing and Communications)
   • All portals must adhere to Vanderbilt’s official branding guidelines.
   • Custom graphics, fonts, and colors outside of approved university standards are not permitted.
   • Departments must work with VU Marketing and Communications to ensure branding compliance before launching their portal.
3. Ticket Transfer and Inter-Portal Communication
   • Tickets can be transferred between TeamDynamix ticketing applications using workflows and the ‘Move’ function.
   • Required fields must be completed upon ticket transfer to ensure consistency across applications.
   • Departments should establish clear workflows for handling cross-departmental tickets.
   • Refer to section 4. Utilizing Templates for Consistency for additional information
4. Project Management Functionality
   • The project management module will not be available at this time to non-VUIT departments.
   • Departments are advised to wait for upcoming updates that allow separate project management applications.
5. Support and Administration
   • Departments must manage their own portals.
   • TeamDynamix provides limited ongoing support, focusing primarily on platform stability, standard updates, and technical issue resolution. While TeamDynamix offers initial implementation guidance and training, ongoing customization, configuration changes, and advanced troubleshooting beyond standard functionality are the responsibility of each department. For additional assistance, departments may engage TeamDynamix professional services for specialized support and enhancements.
6. Global Records and Shared Settings
   • Certain records and configurations are standardized across all portals and applications to ensure consistency within the platform. Departments, groups, and locations are global records that cannot be individually managed or modified. Additionally, key ticket settings such as the priority matrix, sources, impact, and urgency are shared across all ticketing applications and must be used as configured. Departments will need to align with these established settings to maintain system-wide uniformity.

 

VUIT Consultation and Assistance

Consultation

1. Survey sent to inquiring area via iPaaS form
   1. What is your primary goal with implementing TeamDynamix?
   2. Have you identified your administrators and technical support personnel for TeamDynamix?
   3. Approximately how many tickets do you currently process monthly?
   4. Are you looking to implement a service portal or an email ticketing system?
      1. If you are interested in implementing a service portal, how many services are you considering?
   5. How many staff members will you have monitoring tickets?
   6. Do you plan to expand your TeamDynamix (ticketing) use in the future?
   7. What system, if any, do you use today to monitor customer requests, incidents, and inquiries?
   8. Do you have specific reporting requirements? If yes, please briefly describe.
   9. Will any of your tickets/comments include sensitive information? If yes, briefly describe.
   10. Would you like to include a link on both the VUIT portal and your TeamDynamix instance to make it easier for customers to connect with each team?
   11. What is your preferred implementation timeline and launch date?
2. The VUIT ITSM team will meet with the requesting area to review the survey, collect any additional information, make recommendations, and devise a plan to assist the area in starting their implementation.
   1. Includes sharing tips, lessons learned, and helpful recommendations based on request
   2. Provide templates for forms, emails, and portal, as appropriate