![]() The next step was to instigate an educational programme from CIO level down. Then we used some bottom-up marketing tactics with internal social networking tools such as “BackLot”, which is a bit like our own MySpace, where we share documents and discussions.’ This entailed marketing ITIL from the executive level down, and leveraging existing forums, including our “Lunch ‘n’ Learn” sessions and manager meetings, to raise awareness of both the issues we faced and how ITIL could help us address them more effectively. The first step is to make them aware of our interest. They are unaware of both ITIL and our interest in it. ‘Where I talk about best practice and ITIL integration, at the start of the process, the staff only know how we do business. ![]() ‘With over 700 domestic IT cast, we simply can’t adopt large-scale change overnight,’ he explains. Getting widespread adoption of a new method or way of working in such a large organization is no mean feat. ITIL best practice provides these assurances,’ Glen says. We also need to ensure we manage our outsourcing contracts with the utmost professionalism. ‘It means we have to ensure that widespread change does not result in incidents that we are sure-footed and confident with our release management and new capabilities. The ultimate objective of TP&R is to provide guests with ‘the perfect experience.’ For IT, this means 100% availability, reliability and maintainability. ITIL helped provide the tools and metrics to define the value of IT services.’ We were looking for an improved level of service. ![]() ‘ITIL aligns IT with the business and our goal was to grow into a more proactive IT organization. Already an experienced ITIL adopter, he was keen to move towards an integrated service management approach, backed up by ITIL best practice. Hired by the former Chief Information Officer (CIO) to kick-start TP&R’s ITIL initiative, Glen has championed the adoption of ITIL since his appointment in 2008. It provides a cohesive set of best practice, drawn from the public and private sectors internationally. ITIL was developed by the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) in the UK and is the most widely accepted approach to IT service management in the world. Behind the scenes we are looking for increased efficiencies and cost reductions while all the time improving creatively and technically.’ĭisney began adopting ITIL best practice in the mid-2000s. ![]() Technology is used to advance that story. We are focused on telling the story through immersive experiences and in-the-moment interactions between guests and cast members. ‘Guests have high expectations of what a Disney Parks experience should be and we are a guest-centric business. The pressure on reliability and availability is enormous.’Ĭlearly, excellence in service management is critical for the organization. We have over 800 applications and 1,800 servers. ‘Nearly 45% of the entire company’s applications are dedicated to TP&R. ‘Each park is like a city in itself,’ Glen says. The IT department employs nearly 1,000 people globally, manages contractors and consultants and works closely with TWDC’s Enterprise IT team on outsourced services, such as data centre management (IBM) and service desk operations (ACS). Walt Disney World alone employs more than 100,000 people and runs the third-largest bus fleet in Florida.ĭemand on systems and on ‘cast members’ (as all employees are called) is significant. Cosmic Ray’s restaurant at Magic Kingdom in Orlando is the busiest quick-service restaurant in the world. The 42 resorts have over 36,000 rooms worldwide. During peak times some parks are open and full of guests for 18 hours a day. Theme Parks & Resorts is the only segment of TWDC that interacts face-to-face with its customers every day, 365 days a year. In comparison, the 2010 World Cup brought around 350,000 visitors to South Africa. Over 118 million people visit the parks every year. The scale of the organization is extraordinary. The division currently manages 11 parks, two water parks, 42 resorts and two cruise ships. It is the largest division in the organization and in 2009 generated $10.7 billion – approximately 30% of TWDC’s revenue. Glen Taylor is VP of Technology for Theme Parks & Resorts (TP&R). The Walt Disney Company (TWDC) has five major segments: Studios, Consumer Products, Media Networks, Interactive Media and Theme Parks & Resorts.
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