African Review - Marval software implemented by Morvest

AltX-listed and black empowered Morvest provides Professional Services and ICT and Outsourcing Solutions to a blue-chip customer base across the public and private sectors. The group partners with global leaders including Intergraph, Oracle, Microsoft, SAP and Acer. With a staff complement of over 1,000 and an international footprint, Morvest is well-positioned to service businesses across the range of scale and industry.

Complex decision

Until recently the Group has largely relied on a custom-developed solution to meet its service management requirements. The decision to make the move to a recognised service management software provider was complex.

Comments George Du Plessis, Morvest IT Manager: "Our prior dependence on a custom-developed solution made us reliant on specific developers, which was not only costly, but also very risky. Moving our service management requirements to a well-known service management software provider is cost-effective and eliminated previous risks. As a listed company, the ability to adequately address governance requirements was critical. Our decision to go with the Marval brand specifically was based on the fact that it is a best-of-breed solution; is headed by one of the co-authors of ITIL; and is the only ITSM software provider to be ISO/IEC 20000 accredited."

South Africa

Morvest has implemented the MSM Essential software package at its Sunninghill, Cape Town, Durban, PE and Centurion offices with a view to expanding implementation throughout the group in future. Currently about 300 users are on the system, with another 300 due to start using it shortly.

Says Du Plessis, "Before we implemented Marval we were 'fire fighting'- reacting to problems as they occurred. The benefits of the MSM Essential software implementation are already evident in that we -are immediately made aware of specific areas of concern where we need to increase our focus, as well as educated as to how we can better manage our resources in these areas." He cautions though that the Group is only in the early stages of getting proactive in responding to problem areas.

Phased approach necessary

"Ultimately we are looking forward to achieving alignment between business and IT and improving our ability to best service our clients - this is the real value that good service management provides. However, we understand that a phased approach is necessary, and we don't believe rushing the process will be beneficial."

"Another key reason we opted for the Marval brand is that it offers an organic platform that requires active management and can scale with the group as it grows."
Says Edward Carbutt, Executive Director of Marval SA: "We look forward to guiding Morvest on their journey to service management excellence, and seeing them benefit from the positive outcomes. Marval's software is designed to not only improve service quality, productivity, and customer experience, but also ensures that organisations comply with best practices and meet new IT governance requirements."