This undergraduate dissertation points out the problem sectors helpdesk, hotline and central user administration in an industrial firm and describes possible ways for an integrated centralized management & support solutions.

The project itself is structured into three parts: basic data collection, conceptual components and decision process. During the basic research time, the survey of the current IT-infrastructure and main support processes took part, already existing processes were analysed and the the focal problem points located.

Based on perceptions made during the basic research work a request for proposal (RFP) was composed and sent to different potential software suppliers in the eastern part of Switzerland and nearby Germany. After some recalls twelve out of fourteen contacted firms responded immediately and sent their offers. The proposals were rated and reduced to four specific opportunities to match client expectations after a two-step selection process. The four solutions and the (in advance offered) reference proposal are explicitly described in the evaluation chapter and also compared among each other.

During the evaluation of an appropriate software solution for the helpdesk, directives were compiled that they and the software lead to a precise proposal to the client. The basic inputs were given by the well known international standards of ITIL.

To solve the most acute problems in central user administration we recommend to use ADSync, an integral part of Lotus Domino. It synchronises the two largest main directories Lotus Domino and ADS. This solution provides creation and administration of users.

The most appropriate bundles are Track-IT! (Intuit) and HelpLine (CLM). The determining factors to our proposal were the convincing price-performance ratio from Track-IT! and the fact, that HelpLine provides a direct integration into already existing software packages.