With Zammad, the State of Salzburg successfully centralized its school IT

The Digital Challenge in School Administration

Over three years ago, the State of Salzburg decided to centralize school IT. This task was entrusted to the capable hands of the Salzburg State Informatics. However, this change raised a new question: How can technical support for 16 schools be efficiently organized in the future?

The first year was really challenging," recalls Michael. "We received inquiries through every possible channel – various messaging services, email, phone – without a central point of contact. It was difficult to keep track and ensure that no request was overlooked.

Solution: Standardized Ticketing System

While some schools were still handling requests through Excel sheets or emails before being taken over by the Department of Informatics, pioneering schools were already successfully using the Zammad ticketing system. This positive experience laid the foundation for a statewide solution.

"When we saw how well Zammad had proven itself at these schools, it was clear: we wanted to test Zammad as a standardized ticketing system for all schools in the state of Salzburg."

The Start with Zammad

Setting up Zammad for school IT in Salzburg was straightforward. The process began with a focused implementation workshop conducted by Zammad Consulting, which prepared the IT team in state informatics for the upcoming rollout.

One key advantage of Zammad was its intuitive user interface. "The training of agents, meaning the teachers responsible at each school, went quite smoothly," Michael reports.

“When a school is transitioned to our IT system, 10 minutes is usually enough to explain everything important to the agents - from creating tickets to using our clearly structured groups.”

New Support Structure Improves Efficiency

From malfunctioning screens to access issues and even water damage—both teachers and students use Zammad as a comprehensive IT helpdesk and efficient task management system.

The support structure is cleverly organized: First-level support is handled by so-called custodians—dedicated teachers who are given two to three hours per week for this role. Depending on the size of the school, one to five custodians manage the incoming tickets. If they cannot resolve an issue, they assign it to the appropriate group in the second-level support team of Salzburg State Informatics.

To make the process as user-friendly as possible for everyone involved, the IT team of the Department of Informatics created a custom web form and integrated it directly into the schools' intranet using the simple Zammad API. This allows a total of 10,000 students and 556 teachers to easily submit their requests, which are automatically turned into tickets and appear in the correct group within Zammad.

Noticeable Benefits in Daily Use

The advantages are significant. "It has completely transformed our workday," Michael reports. "Zammad saves us a lot of time." The mobile application is particularly appreciated: issues can be assessed and discussed on-site, and immediately recorded as tickets—complete with photos and notes. This greatly simplifies documentation and speeds up problem resolution.

For the agents at the schools, Zammad is a tremendous relief. Issues are no longer reported in passing but are submitted exclusively through Zammad, ensuring a structured workflow. This prevents any requests from being overlooked and provides assurance that they will be handled promptly.

If additional information is needed from first-level support to resolve a ticket, there's no need to send the ticket back to the first-level support team in Zammad. A simple mention notifies the relevant agent, allowing them to add the required information directly into the ticket—"without the need for tickets to be shuffled back and forth."

Exploring More of Zammad Features

Michael is not only impressed by the improved efficiency but also by his personal experience with the Zammad team: "I was pleasantly surprised by how proactive the Zammad team was in engaging with us as customers, helping us unlock the full potential of the system. A recent meeting with Markus Kopp really inspired and motivated me to get even more out of Zammad. I was particularly impressed by the possibilities with triggers and core workflows."

"I hadn't realized how versatile Zammad is and how little we’ve utilized it so far."

Future Perspectives: Statewide Application of Zammad

The successful implementation of Zammad in Salzburg's school IT system has opened the door to future possibilities. A key goal is the full integration of Zammad into all areas of school administration. "We are aiming for a comprehensive solution where Zammad is not only used for IT issues or orders," Michael explains. "But also to have tickets created for everything, even for something as simple as a broken light bulb, and automatically forwarded to the responsible custodian."

The positive impact of Zammad could extend beyond the school sector. The State of Salzburg is currently exploring the use of Zammad as an IT service desk for the entire administration, which could replace the previously self-developed system.

Zammad has proven to be not only a powerful technical solution but also a catalyst for organizational improvements and cross-departmental collaboration.