Project planning
Successfully implementing a new ITSM tool requires gathering input from multiple stakeholders including: current users, DoIT staff who play a role in service delivery who may or may not currently use the tool, DoIT managers and executive stakeholders, and campus stakeholders.
A portion of the stakeholder socialization–including initial feedback and needs gathering–was done through the IT Service Excellence Discovery Project, carried out in 2024. In the fall of 2024 DoIT leadership engaged in tool selection discovery and decided to move forward with the cloud instance of Ivanti’s ITSM product, Neurons. This is the same product used by the Universities of Wisconsin and UW-Milwaukee, and will be used by the new team supporting Workday (WEST). Throughout 2025 and 2026, a project team will implement Neurons and will continually engage stakeholders for the duration of the project.
Project goals
The main goal of the ITSM Tool Replacement Project is:
- To have a new ITSM tool and its associated processes and relevant documentation in place by July 2026 to allow DoIT Operational Framework practices to continue within DoIT and for groups currently using the tool.
The new ITSM tool will:
- Be highly operational at go-live
- Have migrated workflows actively in use
- Allow DoIT to meet audit and policy requirements
- Continue to offer self-service incident or service request capabilities
- Provide improvements on accessibility and meet cybersecurity standards
The processes, as well as the roles and responsibilities between process owners and the WiscIT team, will be documented and clear for all stakeholders.
Project approach
The project team will engage DoIT stakeholders by leveraging the DoIT Service Management Subteam meeting series, which currently meets twice a month. DoIT team members interested in actively participating in the project will be encouraged to sign up for these meetings. Additionally, we plan to reach out to DoIT groups and external stakeholders currently interacting with WiscIT throughout the duration of the project to gather needs, create user stories and solicit volunteers for user testing. Project updates will be shared primarily through the DoIT Service Management Subteam meeting series, via email and posted to this project webpage.
DoIT colleagues should reach out to project manager Jesse Henderson to be added–or to add DoIT colleagues–to this meeting series. Campus colleagues can also contact the project manager directly or use this form to share feedback or ask questions.
The project team will be divided into a Business Analysis and Requirements team and a Technical team, working in sprints driven by user stories to work through the implementation. Other supporting team members are assisting with procurement, communications, testing, feedback and stakeholder engagement throughout the project. The project team is listed below.
Project team
Executive sponsors
- Jamie Gutkowski, director of User Services (Patrick Johnson serving as interim)
- Tadd Smejkal, director of Systems Engineering & Operations
Project Leads
- Miguel Garcia-Gosalvez, associate director, IT Service Management
- Hannah Pringle, associate director, Help Desk
Project team members
Technical team
- Bernie Bernstein, ITSM technical integration lead
- Will Crickman, WiscIT product owner
- Brian Gratrix, WiscIT technical integration engineer
- Greg Thornburg, ITSM technical integration engineer
Business Analysis & Requirements team
- Will Crickman, WiscIT product owner
- Ramsay Bohm, incident, problem & change manager
- J.J. DuChateau, enterprise architect
- Jesse Henderson, project manager
- Robert Merrill, business analyst
Other project team members
- Whitney Jacobson, project communications co-lead
- Dawn Karls, product & vendor relations manager
- Brianna Kuhn, project communications co-lead
- Victor Ponelis, configuration manager
- Jennifer Sutherland, business continuity manager
Project updates
List of articles
ITSM Tool Replacement Project update
Catch up on progress as we prepare to transition from Cherwell to Ivanti’s Neurons cloud platform. At the next Service Management Subteam meeting, get project updates and a demo of service requests. Sep 10, 1pm via Teams.
September 3, 2025ITSM Tool Replacement Project progressing
WiscIT will reach end-of-life Dec 17, 2026—so we’re transitioning to Ivanti’s Neurons cloud platform. Catch up on progress and join the Service Management Subteam to engage with the project. Sep 10 via Teams. Topic: service request demo.
August 12, 2025ITSM Tool Replacement Project underway
Our IT service management (ITSM) tool, WiscIT, will reach end-of-life Dec 17, 2026. So we’re kicking off an exciting new project to move to Ivanti’s Neurons platform. Learn more about the project goals and timeline—and how you can participate.
April 2, 2025- More ITSM Tool Replacement Project posts
