Collaborate effectively with open source in a crisis

Corona makes it abundantly clear: scaling established processes and organizational structures and shifting to multi-site collaboration pose significant challenges for players in a wide range of industries. Government agencies and enterprises alike must find ways for their teams to efficiently access information, communicate with each other, and collaborate on tasks beyond the office. Their IT departments are having to cope with a surge in devices to manage and recorded security incidents as a result of the move to the home office.

A striking example of the difficulties that can arise when processes are scaled and transferred to distributed environments: the summer test debacle at borders and airports. Makeshift test stations were rushed out of the ground. But the knitted-together combination of analog and digital processes proved prone to error. Important test results were communicated too late, not correctly or not at all to those affected.

With an open-source ticketing system like Otobo, these problems could have been avoided. The web-based system is quickly implemented: It is installed only once at a central location. Then all participants simply access it via browser. Because all information is transmitted in encrypted form and stored only on the central server, even private devices can be used for this purpose.

The benefits are evident wherever different people process incidents and inquiries together. When field and office staff work together, when IT support looks after employees in their home offices, when information is exchanged between hospitals or doctors and laboratories, and so on.

The central process management ensures that each request is processed only once and that all parties involved are always up to date. Text modules, templates and automated processes save time. Notifications and escalations prevent cases from being overlooked. The central knowledgebase serves as a knowledge repository internally and provides direct answers to common questions externally in the FAQs.

Data can be exchanged - also automatically - with other systems via interfaces. With test laboratories, for example, or the Robert Koch Institute. Reports and overviews provide an overview of the team's workload and make it possible to intervene quickly and take countermeasures if bottlenecks occur.

For IT departments in particular, ITSM-enabled systems offer another advantage: All devices to be managed can be recorded in a central database (configuration management database, CMDB). This provides an overview of all assets, their status, dependencies and affiliations.

At Otobo, it is closely interwoven with the service desk functions so that the information is directly available for processing support requests. OS ticket systems are therefore all-purpose weapons that are underestimated in many places and whose benefits extend far beyond the classic application scenarios in IT support. This becomes particularly clear in the current situation.

For a long time, companies shied away from using OS systems on a larger scale. They were perceived as a hobbyist and niche solution whose operation could only be managed with considerable manpower. But there is another way: with an OS ticket system whose manufacturer offers business services for the solution.

With a partner who takes care of setup, customization, support and even operations, organizations can be sure to reap all the benefits while remaining flexible. There are differences, not least in the understanding of what constitutes open source software. That's why it's worth taking a closer look at business models and pricing structures.