From Help Desk to Enterprise ITSM: A Utility Transformation Story

How a Cherwell (Ivanti) Rollout at Tacoma Public Utilities Turned Skeptics into Advocates Across 100+ Users

SUMMARY

Tacoma Public Utilities (TPU) needed an IT service management (ITSM) system that could keep pace with the reality of running three essential services—power, water, and rail—on shared technology. Tamazari led a phased rollout of Cherwell ITSM (Ivanti) for 100+ users, establishing practical Change, Asset, and Problem Management in addition to connecting SolarWinds monitoring. The result was clearer coordination, fewer surprises, and a stronger operational foundation for the public services the Tacoma community depends on every day.

BACKGROUND

TPU is a municipal utility organization serving the Tacoma, Washington region through three distinct—but tightly interconnected—operations: electric power, water, and rail freight. They share core IT and telecom infrastructure, which means a change made for one utility can unintentionally impact the other two. In environments like this, “IT service management” isn’t an internal nice-to-have—it’s part of the backbone that keeps essential services available and safe.

CHALLENGE

TPU was relying on a free help desk system that didn’t match the complexity of running three utilities under one enterprise. The impact showed up in familiar but costly ways: teams discovered outages only when they tried to log in, downstream systems (including HRIS/SAP) created surprise ripple effects, and every department had its own approach to resolving issues. At the same time, capital project spending needed stronger tracking and auditability.

SUCCESS CRITERIA

• Replace the legacy help desk tool with an enterprise ITSM platform that could support 100+ users across Power, Water, and Rail.

• Establish ITIL-aligned processes for Change, Asset, and Problem Management—usable in day-to-day operations.

• Create proactive visibility into planned changes so service impacts are communicated and coordinated before disruptions occur.

• Improve asset and capital project tracking to strengthen audit trails and financial transparency.

• Integrate SolarWinds to automate alert-driven ticket creation and improve end-to-end operational visibility.

• Reduce siloed work by enabling shared workflows and common language across the three utilities.

SOLUTION

Tamazari provided program leadership and governance—chairing the steering committee and guiding TPU through platform configuration, process design, and adoption. Cherwell was selected as a cost-effective alternative to ServiceNow while still supporting ITIL best practices. Rather than a “big bang” go-live, the team used a phased rollout that introduced one capability at a time. This enabled TPU to stabilize processes, build confidence, and learn what worked before expanding scope.

To push the organization from reactive to proactive, we also integrated SolarWinds monitoring so alerts could automatically trigger the right workflows and ownership. The end result was a shared operational language across Power, Water, and Rail—clearer accountability, better coordination, and an IT service foundation designed to scale with TPU’s modernization roadmap.

IMPLEMENTATION

Tamazari ran the rollout as a practical, phased program from 2016-2018 with roughly one year focused on core implementation. We established and chaired a cross-utility steering committee to keep priorities aligned, then configured Cherwell around the ITSM workflows that match TPU’s operational reality. As adoption grew, we integrated SolarWinds (and related network/telco operations systems) so monitoring alerts could translate into accountable work. Lastly, training and enablement were built into every phase for 100+ users, turning the system into something teams owned—not something they were forced to use.

RESULTS

TPU shifted from reactive to proactive operational coordination. Planned changes became visible and discussable across the enterprise—so teams were less likely to be blindsided by maintenance windows or cascading impacts from system updates. Standardized workflows replaced inconsistent departmental practices, making it easier to prioritize work, learn from recurring issues, and refine the way services are delivered. Asset and capital project tracking improved significantly, strengthening auditability and financial visibility. Perhaps most importantly, early skeptics became advocates once they saw that standardization didn’t remove control—it created a stable baseline that TPU could improve over time.

LONG-TERM VALUE

This implementation gave TPU more than a new tool—it created an operating foundation for resilient municipal services. Reliable change governance reduces service disruptions that can affect everything from internal field operations to customer-facing systems. Better asset intelligence supports smarter lifecycle planning and reduces risk in both IT and operational technology environments. And improved capital project traceability supports the stewardship expected of public institutions. With Change, Asset, and Problem Management in place, TPU is positioned to expand into additional ITSM maturity areas (like Incident Management, Service Catalog, and Configuration Management) without starting over.

KEY LEARNINGS

• Phase it to win it: Rolling out one module at a time builds adoption, contains risk, and creates momentum.

• Governance is the real platform: A cross-utility steering committee with authority is what turns “three organizations” into one enterprise.

• Integration amplifies impact: Monitoring tools become far more valuable when alerts reliably create tickets and drive consistent resolution workflows.

• Standardization enables improvement: Once work is consistent, it’s measurable—and once it’s measurable, it’s improvable.

• Adoption follows agency: Skeptics convert when they see the system can evolve with them, not get imposed on them.

• Silos don’t break overnight: ITSM creates the shared process and data foundation; cultural and organizational change follows with sustained effort.

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