Exclusive Interview with Sarit Hershkovitz, Help Desk Manager, IT Division, CBC - Coca-Cola Israel

1. Exclusive Interview with Sarit Hershkovitz,
Help Desk Manager, IT Division, CBC - Coca-Cola Israel
http://www.sysaid.com SysAid Technologies Ltd. 1 Hayarden Street, P.O. Box 1142, Airport City 70100, Israel
Toll Free (U.S.): 800-686-7047 • Fax (U.S.): +1 (617) 507-2559
Tel. (Israel): +972 (3) 533-3675 • Fax (Israel): +972 (3) 761-7205

2. Around
Most of us probably do not associate the world's most popular soft
drink with IT - unless, of course, you're the type that enjoys a cold
Coke while resolving user issues. For Sarit Hershkovitz, Coca-Cola is
the Clock
more than a beverage; it's a job that requires a sophisticated team of
experts to provide non-stop technical support for all sectors of the
organization. As the head of the help desk team at Coca-Cola Israel's
Support
Central Bottling Company, Sarit must coordinate different IT centers
to serve the needs of thousands of users, 24 hours a day. How does
she do it? Pushing the definition of "hard work" to a new level, Sarit
has succeeded in promoting a powerful SysAid Internal Campaign
that has won the commitment of senior management and
administrators. Now that's refreshing!
Sarit Hershkovitz
Help Desk Manager, IT Division,
CBC - Coca-Cola Israel
Q. What is your IT background?
A. I've been in IT for more than ten years, and I've worked in call
center management for seven years.
Q. How long have you been using SysAid?
A. Since December 2008.
Q. What unique challenges does your IT department face?
A. Our IT department provides services to several companies
within the CBC group, and the work is tremendously
demanding. We have about 100 administrators in our support
team - 12 in the first level support team, and the rest spread
throughout different locations. We provide support for
thousands of people with a diverse range of needs and
technical experience. The job requires expertise in support,
infrastructure, and applications. Because our customers
represent such a heterogeneous mix of different needs and
technologies, the scope of our knowledgebase must be very
broad. Possessing expertise that covers the entire
Exclusive Interview with Sarit Hershkovitz, Help Desk Manager, IT Division, CBC - Coca-Cola Israel
http://www.sysaid.com page 1

3. technological spectrum requires a lot of experience and hard
work. We provide around the clock support almost 24/7
(excluding Saturdays) all year-round.
Q. Before SysAid, what helpdesk software did you use?
A. We used SAP-CRM Version 5.0 for our first level administrators.
We found it too cumbersome for our call center and its features
were not helpful or tailored to our needs. It quickly became
apparent that we desperately needed a new solution. We
considered many options including Microsoft, PeopleSoft,
Oracle, and others, but they did not meet our expectations and
needs. They were relatively expensive, required intensive
customization, and were simply beyond our budget-range.
One of our IT consultants then suggested that we try out
SysAid. It looked promising, so we decided to give it a try.
Within three months, we succeeded in implementing SysAid
throughout our IT division.
Q. What factors motivated you to switch to SysAid?
A. As a group that values service as a distinctive part of our
company's vision, Coca-Cola switched to SysAid with the
primary intention of improving service quality. Part of my job
includes evaluating the quality of the IT division's
service-orientation. I needed to report directly to senior
management about the level of service my team met, but I
lacked the proper measurement and tracking system. I knew
that without better helpdesk software, our support team
would not be able to provide reports that accurately reflect the
failures and successes of our system.
I was also able to demonstrate how cost-effective SysAid is.
SysAid itself is very affordable. It quantifies the service activities
of our helpdesk, so we can accurately evaluate how our
resources are being used and if we are truly maximizing
productivity. When I showed senior management how simple,
convenient, and intuitive SysAid is to work with, they became
very enthusiastic.
Exclusive Interview with Sarit Hershkovitz, Help Desk Manager, IT Division, CBC - Coca-Cola Israel
http://www.sysaid.com page 2

4. Q. Which tips can you give IT managers who want to implement
SysAid within their own organizations?
A. First of all, you should appeal to people on an intellectual level.
You need to initiate cross-departmental meetings and share
with different representatives the benefits of SysAid on an
organizational and personal level. People of course respond to
incentives, so it helps to organize festive, colorful, and fun
activities. Most importantly, you must get management's
support. It's impossible to effectively implement any new
software if you don't have that.
Q. Why did you to start the SysAid Internal Campaign in Coca-Cola?
A. Our support team really craved change. We had gone through
such a hard time with our previous system, and I saw how
SysAid could transform the day-to-day activities of our IT
department for the better. In particular, I wanted to get my
second level administrators on board. Prior to SysAid, they had
never used any kind of helpdesk software, but only
communicated via email. It was very important to persuade
them that SysAid would in fact benefit them.
Q. What steps have you taken in your SysAid Internal Campaign?
What are your strategies?
A. I decided to create a festive atmosphere that would engage
administrators and promote awareness. I decorated the
support center with the SysAid posters we received, and I
bought lollypops, balloons, and streamers.
If I could, I would do something much more grandiose,
company-wide. It would be great to have the resources to
educate all the departments about how SysAid can improve
the overall quality of service.
Q. How do you motivate your administrators to use SysAid?
A. Again, the biggest challenge was winning over my second level
administrators. With my management's support, I was able to
show them how easy SysAid is to use. With SAP-CRM, every
service request took at least 7 minutes to document and
process. With SysAid, it takes an average of one minute! Its
documentation is quite fast, and I quickly get all the
information I need for analysis. It's also very easy to customize,
which we find absolutely crucial.
Exclusive Interview with Sarit Hershkovitz, Help Desk Manager, IT Division, CBC - Coca-Cola Israel
http://www.sysaid.com page 3

5. Q. What feedback have you received from your levels 1, 2, and 3
administrators?
A. The feedback has been absolutely fantastic. They think it's an
amazing system. I have administrators who've worked with
many different helpdesk software products in various support
centers, and they just love SysAid. That's an enormous
compliment, because they have a lot of experience and hold
very high standards. In addition, the second level support's
managers are now able to more easily and efficiently follow
their team's services and activities.
Q. How has SysAid simplified your day-to-day tasks?
A. It's much easier to supervise the support center's activities.
Tracking service requests is so much simpler. Furthermore, our
customer base is always expanding, and we can now effectively
handle the growing demands with the same number of
administrators. SysAid helped meeting these new challenges.
Q. How would you describe your management style?
A. I am very collaborative. I share my visions with others, and want
everyone to be included in all new projects and developments.
I believe in the necessity of meeting with representatives from
every department. If management, consulting, HR, and other
departments are part of change processes, implementation
can go much more smoothly. The more people included, the
better - because in the end, they are the ambassadors of
change. Orchestrating that kind of collaboration and
cooperation can be challenging, but it's worth it. Furthermore,
I would characterize my style as supportive and
mission-oriented.
Q. On a more personal note, how would you describe yourself?
A. Actually, my management style and my personality are one
and the same!
Q. And how do you relax after a long day at work?
A. I don't! Well, I do enjoy a good book, and I take every
opportunity I can to rest. I really love sleeping.
SysAid Technologies Ltd. 1 Hayarden Street, P.O. Box 1142, Airport City 70100, Israel
Toll Free (U.S.): 800-686-7047 • Fax (U.S.): +1 (617) 507-2559
Tel. (Israel): +972 (3) 533-3675 • Fax (Israel): +972 (3) 761-7205
Exclusive Interview with Sarit Hershkovitz, Help Desk Manager, IT Division, CBC - Coca-Cola Israel
http://www.sysaid.com page 4