Stadtwerke Bietigheim-Bissingen (SWBB)

The Initial Situation

Stadtwerke Bietigheim-Bissingen (SWBB) is a municipal utility with a broad portfolio of services. For an infrastructure company of this kind, stable, transparent, and auditable IT operations are essential.

Before the introduction of EcholoN, IT services were largely unstructured and organized on an ad hoc basis using Outlook, email, and siloed solutions. There was no centralized overview of responsibilities and processing statuses. Tasks were lost, processed twice, or left unaddressed. Contract and licensing issues were also handled decentralized via email without any reliable documentation.

IT therefore urgently needed a system that centralizes requests, structures processes, and creates transparency —as an operational prerequisite for remaining functional in the long term.

Conclusion:

Stadtwerke Bietigheim-Bissingen has been using EcholoN in production since 2014. After just six weeks, the system went live as a help desk with a clear go-live, and was subsequently expanded and optimized step by step over the years.

Today, EcholoN forms the organizational backbone of IT—from incident and request management to CMDB, contract and license management, and process automation with the Data Workflow System (DWS). Approximately 3,000 to 4,000 cases are processed annually. Compared to the previous workflow, a 90–95% increase in efficiency has been achieved, particularly through centralization, automation, and consistent asset management.

About Stadtwerke Bietigheim-Bissingen (SWBB)

SWBB is a customer-focused municipal energy and infrastructure service provider. Its portfolio includes the supply of electricity, gas, water, and district heating, as well as the operation of public facilities. SWBB invests in renewable energy, promotes electric mobility, and is committed to providing personalized customer service in the region.

“EcholoN is an extremely important tool for our IT support team—one we can no longer do without. It is highly versatile and incredibly expandable. The workflow module, in particular, offers great potential for automation. Shortly after its implementation in 2014, we used Selfhelp to automate onboarding and offboarding processes, thereby achieving significant time savings and greater transparency.”

Goals and Challenges

Centralization of all service requests and IT tasks

Transparency and traceability regarding processes, responsibilities, and processing statuses

Reduction of manual effort through structured processes and automation

Establishment of a stable, manageable help desk as the foundation for orderly IT operations

Auditability and robust documentation (enhanced starting in 2017)

Centralized management of contracts, licenses, assets, and technical dependencies

Solution Approach with EcholoN

EcholoN was introduced in 2014. After six weeks, a clear go-live took place—deliberately as a “pure help desk” with customized basic processes, since the IT department urgently needed this structure to remain operational. The go-live was therefore not a theoretical milestone, but an operational necessity.

Over the following years, EcholoN was gradually expanded and continuously optimized—always in line with actual requirements:

Expansion of CMDB and configuration management
Implementation of contract and license management
Introduction of asset and maintenance processes
Expansion of employee processes (hiring, transfers, terminations)
Automation via the Data Workflow System (DWS)

The decision to use EcholoN was a deliberate one: IT management was already familiar with EcholoN from a previous employer and was convinced of the product’s merits. Open-source solutions were expressly ruled out. The stakeholders were thus “their own reference.”

Technically, EcholoN is integrated into the system landscape, specifically:

Active Directory
Baramundi Management Suite (inventory management)
Docusnap (IT infrastructure documentation/analysis)

The Data Workflow System serves as the central process and control layer: It aggregates data, triggers workflows, and automates notifications and process communication.

Key Measures

Implementation of EcholoN as Helpdesk with Basic Processes (2014)

Productive Go-Live within six weeks

Establishment of a Centralized Incident and Service Request Process

Introduction of a lean, pragmatic change process

Implementation and expansion of the CMDB as a foundation for transparency and organization

Full implementation of Contract and License Management in EcholoN

Integration of Active Directory, Baramundi, and Docusnap

Automation with the EcholoN Data Workflow System: Inventory management, employee processes, self-service triggers with guided data entry and event-driven status updates

Set up reporting analyses (tickets by department and category)

Continuous expansion and optimization based on real-world requirements

Results and Added Value

A fundamental turning point in IT services. What was once ad hoc, reactive, and difficult to manage became predictable, traceable, and controlled.
Efficiency gains of approximately 90–95%. Achieved primarily through centralization, automation via DWS, and consistently maintained asset and configuration management.
Transparency and traceability. Responsibilities, processing statuses, and tasks are visible to all parties involved, making handoffs and coordination significantly easier.
Auditability and robust documentation. Starting in 2017, auditability gained in importance. EcholoN supports clean master data maintenance and complete traceability.
Centralized contract and license management. Hardware and software contracts, terms, responsibilities, and supporting documentation are centrally structured, traceable, and verifiable.
Automated HR processes. Onboarding and offboarding processes were automated early on, resulting in significant time savings and increased transparency.
Better decision-making through reporting. Reports on ticket counts by department and category are used regularly to identify key areas and anomalies.
Long-term stability and availability. EcholoN has been in continuous productive use since 2014 and is described as a stable core platform for IT.

Key Metrics and Scope of Use

Implementation: 2014
Production go-live: after 6 weeks
Duration in production use: approximately 12 years
IT users: 14 IT administrators (EcholoN Clients)
End users: 300 licenses for employees with PC workstations (Self-Help / Requestor Client)
Ticket volume: approx. 3,000–4,000 cases per year

Implementation and Support

The biggest challenge in the first few weeks was organizational: There was a lot of pressure and a heavy workload, and it was necessary to establish effective structures very quickly. The key to success was a deliberately pragmatic approach: start small, become operational quickly, and then expand step by step.

The implementation was closely supported by mITsolutions—methodically, technically, and with a practical focus. From SWBB’s perspective, the ongoing support has proven to be reliable and appropriate. EcholoN has been continuously refined and expanded to meet requirements.

About EcholoN

EcholoN is mITsolutions' modular Enterprise Service Management Platform. With ITIL-based processes, workflow automation, a service portal, reporting functions, a knowledge base, a CMDB, and the powerful Data Workflow System (DWS), EcholoN helps organizations manage service processes centrally, transparently, and scalably—from the help desk all the way to contract, asset, and license management.

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Porträt eines Mitarbeiters von mIT solutions im EcholoN Shirt mit verschränkten Armen, der freundlich und souverän in die Kamera blickt

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