Ultimate Software

Ultimate Software

by | Aug 5, 2020

Background:

Ultimate Software is a Weston, FL based technology company which builds and provides Human Capital Management (HCM) software through its tool “UltiPro”. They have over 4,000 employees, thousands of customers with revenue of over $900M annually. They utilize multiple DevOps tools, including the Atlassian Tool Suite.  Fortune Magazine has ranked Ultimate Software the #7 Best Place to Work For as well as the #1 Best Workplace in Technology.

The Challenge:

Ascend Integrated, working directly with Ultimate Software was tasked to work with the Atlassian support and administration team, providing additional support and custom development services around the hosted Atlassian Tool Suite.

The Solution:

Ascend Integrated provided custom development and configuration services for Ultimate Software, working closely with their current administration team along with internal customers utilizing the tool suite.

Outcome:

Ascend Integrated continues to support Ultimate Software, providing continued Atlassian tool support and custom development services to the Ultimate Software team.

TD Ameritrade

TD Ameritrade

by | Aug 3, 2020

Background:

TD Ameritrade is a brokerage firm based in Omaha, NE. The company provides services for individuals and institutions that are investing online. The company offers an electronic trading platform for the purchase and sale of financial securities including common stocks, preferred stocks, futures contracts, exchange-traded funds, options, mutual funds, and fixed income investments. It also provides margin lending, and cash management services.

The Challenge:

As a growing organization, TD Ameritrade was utilizing a large single Jira Software, Service Desk, and Confluence instance for tracking, managing, and documenting project tasks, information, and documentation. TD Ameritrade was looking to further optimize and consolidate their Atlassian Tool Suite, improve overall performance, and scale the implementation for use across multiple departments and branches of TDA.

The Solution:

Ascend Integrated, working with cPrime a large Atlassian Solutions Partner, to analyze their current implementation for their Atlassian Tool Suite, including their governance processes and procedures, technical specifications and configurations, and specific configurations and app recommendations for their tools.

Outcome:

TDA continues to utilize the recommendations and configurations made by Ascend Integrated in their Atlassian Tool instance. TDA’s Atlassian Tool Suite performance has increased by over 30% and continues to grow in use across the organization, spanning multiple departments and branches of TDA.

Red Roof Inn

Red Roof Inn

by | Aug 2, 2020

Background:

Red Roof Inn is a large Hotel chain operating internationally and across the United States. As part of their expansion efforts, they are looking to leverage new Project Management tools and processes to help grow with their organization.

The Challenge:

Red Roof Inn has multiple systems/tools used for project management and multiple processes for managing teams. After reaching out to Ascend Integrated, Red Roof decided to move forward in implementing JIRA Software, JIRA Service Desk, and Confluence to be used across the organization.

The Solution:

Ascend Integrated began interviewing with teams to document AS-IS and TO-BE processes and system architectures. Using these processes and requirements, Ascend Integrated implemented these changes/updates into a JIRA Cloud/Confluence Cloud solution for Red Roof Inn. Agile processes, including Scrum and Kanban were implemented with the teams, along with integrations with multiple tools using add-ons/apps. Ascend Integrated also worked to set up a CMDB tool using a 3rd party application.

Outcome:

Processes are not a “one and done”, but a continued endeavor that evolves with the organization. The migration to the new tools, along with the processes was successful, and Red Roof now has visibility across Jira issues, help desk requests/issues, and documentation, directly improving performance and providing them the springboard to continue to grow as an organization. Ascend continues to support the Red Roof team following the implementation.

University of Iowa

University of Iowa

by | Jul 6, 2020

Background:

The University of Iowa (U of Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and the second largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 colleges offering more than 200 areas of study and seven professional degrees. Its current undergraduate enrollment spans to 23,349 and includes both on-campus and remote students.

The Challenge:

U of Iowa had successfully implemented a version of the Atlassian Cloud which included Jira Software, Service Desk, and Confluence. During the transition between systems, the University of Iowa released a RFP for help with developing and providing training and ongoing / continued support and maintenance of the Atlassian Tool Suite.

The Solution:

Ascend won with our proposal, and worked to provide custom training and support solutions to U of Iowa. Ascend developed a custom training curriculum to be taught, on-site for two days with the team including basic user capabilities and functionality, advanced training, and administration overviews. Ascend provided remote support following the two-day on-site training using remote desktop applications to share configurations on the fly.

Outcome:

Ascend continues to provide support to the University of Iowa for the Atlassian Cloud environment. The application continues to be successfully utilized by the team for collecting and managing tasks and help desk ticketing.

Tuscon Medical Center

Tuscon Medical Center

by | Jul 6, 2020

Background:

Tuscon Medical Center licensed at 641 beds,[1] is a locally governed nonprofit regional hospital in Tucson, Arizona. The medical center treats about 30,000 inpatients and 120,000 outpatients annually as well as around 6,000 births. TMC is the only hospital in Southern Arizona to be chosen for the Thomson Reuters list of the 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals in the US for 2011.

The Challenge:

TMC utilized ServiceNow for their ITSM and Project Management solution. While ServiceNow was able to provide and meet the needs of TMC’s ITSM and Project Management team, the license expenses associated with ServiceNow required TMC to migrate to a leaner, versatile, and more cost effective tool.

The Solution:

TMC chose the Atlassian Tool Suite, specifically Jira and Confluence to migrate to from the ServiceNow platform. TMC then contracted with Ascend to provide multiple trainings remotely for Jira Administration and advanced Service Desk build out and deployment. Following the training, Ascend met with TMC multiple times to provide support and assistance in building out and deploying Jira and Confluence in their environment.

Outcome:

Ascend successfully implemented Jira and Confluence within the TMC environment and continues to help provide configuration, development and training support to TMC.