From Basic Ticketing to a Modern IT Experience

The Information Behind Major Property and Infrastructure Projects

Plowman Craven is a leading UK surveying and consultancy firm that helps developers, engineers and architects understand buildings and land more precisely. Using scanning technology, drones and 3D modelling, they capture the spatial data that major property and infrastructure projects depend on — from new buildings to railway infrastructure.

Headquartered in Harpenden with over 200 people, Plowman Craven supports some of the country's most significant construction and engineering programmes. As the business has grown, so too has the complexity of its internal IT requirements.

An Open-Source Platform That Couldn't Keep Pace

Before the Halo ITSM implementation, Plowman Craven's IT team was running on GLPI — an open-source IT management tool. While it provided a foundation for basic ticketing and asset tracking, GLPI lacked the flexibility, user experience and scalability that a growing organisation with evolving IT needs required.

The business had reached a point where relying on an unsupported open-source platform to manage IT incidents no longer made sense. It was time to move to something purpose-built, modern and capable of growing with them.

A Platform That Couldn't Scale

The trigger was clear: Plowman Craven's growth wasn't well aligned to continuing with an open-source, unsupported platform. The specific pain points that shaped the brief for a new solution:

• Limited flexibility in GLPI — difficult to adapt processes as the organisation grew and needs evolved
• No structured workflows — requests and approvals handled informally without consistent process or automation
• Limited team visibility — no clear view of performance or workloads across the IT function
• High administrative overhead — significant manual effort needed to update and maintain processes
• Outdated user experience — an interface that didn't meet the expectations of a modern IT service function

Simple, Structured and Fast to Deliver

The project was introduced through Halo, with Allied ESM selected to deliver the implementation. Plowman Craven needed a platform that was easy to use and manage — reducing reliance on technical teams for everyday tasks — while offering enough flexibility to scale alongside the organisation. Halo ITSM's out-of-the-box capability, combined with Allied ESM's focused implementation approach, made it the right fit.

A Modern, Structured ITSM Platform Built to Last

Allied ESM delivered Halo ITSM through a collaborative approach with the IT team at Plowman Craven, keeping alignment close throughout the project. The implementation was cloud-based, phased, and deliberately lean — making use of Halo's out-of-the-box functionality to keep the solution simple, maintainable and capable of supporting future growth from day one.

The core delivery covered Incident Management, Service Request Management and a Self-Service Portal, along with Microsoft Entra ID integration. Key elements:

• Intuitive Self-Service Portal — giving end users a modern, simple way to raise and track requests without relying on the IT team directly
• Structured Incident and Request Management — bringing consistency and reducing manual effort across the IT function
• Clear visibility and permissions — the IT team managing their own queues securely with appropriate access controls in place
• Microsoft Entra ID integration — enabling automated user management from existing directory infrastructure
• Clean, maintainable platform setup — straightforward to manage and ready to support future growth

Eight Weeks, Phased and Collaborative

The implementation ran from February to April 2026, completing in approximately eight weeks. A single Allied ESM consultant led delivery, working alongside Plowman Craven's IT team who engaged at key checkpoints to review progress, provide feedback and steer decisions. The approach balanced efficient delivery with enough flexibility to adapt as priorities were refined.

The phased delivery plan:

• Weeks 1–2: Requirements review based on agreed scope — Incident Management and core setup
• Weeks 3–5: Configuration of Incident, Service Requests and Self-Service Portal
• Weeks 6–7: Validation and adjustments based on client feedback
• Week 8: Go-live and initial support

A Clearer, Simpler IT Experience — Day One

The improvement for end users was immediate. Where before they were navigating an outdated, opaque system, they now have a modern, intuitive portal — a single, obvious place to go for IT support. Requests are easier to submit and track, confusion is reduced and satisfaction with IT support has improved.

• Modern self-service experience — end users have a clear, intuitive point of entry for all IT support requests
• Structured, consistent incident handling — replacing informal, manual processes with defined workflows
• Greater visibility across the IT team — management now has a clear view of workloads, status and performance
• Reduced administrative effort — automated user management through Entra ID reducing manual overhead
• A platform built for growth — Halo ITSM in place and ready to support continued expansion and future capability