or 
Visitors Edition
Already a member? Sign In.
Need help? Our Trial Membership program will get you help on any IT project you're working on. You'll get access to our research, tools, advice and project help.
Membership Help?
Want to learn more about our membership options, pricing, or to get a product demo? Get in touch with one of our reps using an option below.
Develop an IT Service Desk Strategy
ITIL is not a strategy. You’ll have to develop your own.
Your Challenge
- For many organizations, the end-user community now includes a wide range of technology sophistication. Some users continue to depend on the IT Service Desk while others turn to web searches and coworkers before contacting IT. As a result, the Service Desk has new competitors for level 1 support but still receives complex and unsolved issues.
- IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) has become a global standard for Service Desk best practices, but this is not helping IT leaders to develop a viable Service Desk strategy.
Our Advice
Critical Insight- Service gaps have emerged as a subset of users attempting to self-solve. As a result, the Service Desk is not involved in the initial stages of some technical solutions, and the Service Desk statistics do not reflect the true cost and nature of support needs. The fact that users are helping each other often leads to sub-optimal and incorrect solutions.
- The focus for IT needs to shift from “How can we satisfy user support needs at the lowest cost to IT?” to “What is the most cost-effective way to solve the user’s technology problems and get them back to work?”
- Key pieces of the Service Desk technology capability are under-utilized. These include the Knowledge Base content, solution templates, and incident categorization.
- Understand the value of developing a Service Desk strategy that is aligned with corporate and IT strategy.
- Right-size your ITIL orientation.
- Implement the best mix of Service Desk channels for your organization.
Get to Action
-
Understand the shifting landscape of technology support
Develop a revised Service Desk strategy.
-
Keep an eye on current and future Service Desk needs
Identify and track gaps in Service Desk coverage.
-
Contrast the economics of competing Service Desk software solutions
Use Info-Tech’s Service Desk TCO Comparison.
-
Reach out to potential solution vendors
Develop a Service Desk RFP.
-
Introduce record keeping for the various vendor demonstrations
Use the Info-Tech RFP demo scoring tool.
-
Ensure consistency in the vendor demonstrations
Use the Info-Tech demo template.
Related Solution Sets
Ensure Service Delivery with Systems Management
Dump the bottom-up approach to systems management, and manage services for success.
Manage Software Assets Efficiently
If asset management was fun, everyone would be doing it. Just do it.
Develop a Comprehensive Hardware Asset Management Strategy
Implement HAM to improve on Green IT and SAM.
Related Content
Get the Complete Storyboard
See how all the steps you need to take come together, with tools and advice to help with each task on your list.
BONUS Get access to up to 5 additional free downloads
Download NowITIL is not a strategy. You’ll have to develop your own.
Solution Road Map
-
Develop an IT Service Desk StrategyITIL is not a strategy. You’ll have to develop your own.
-
Vendor Landscape: Mid-Market Service Desk SoftwareAll-in-one functionality can be great, but don’t overcomplicate just because you can.
-
Vendor Landscape: Enterprise Service Desk SoftwareA good tool starts with a strong process foundation: you need both.
-
Manage Help Desk StaffingIdentify and hire staff with a unique blend of customer service and tech skills necessary for a successful help desk.
-
Ensure Service Delivery with Systems ManagementDump the bottom-up approach to systems management, and manage services for success.