White Papers

Papers with this icon are available to non-members. All other white papers are accessible only to HDI Members.

Featured White Paper of the Month

The Art of Benchmarking

130 KB - 9/15/2008
Jo Trizila, Alsbridge
The Art of Benchmarking discusses the basics of cost and price benchmarking, why “lowest quartile” clauses undermine the structure of outsourcing agreements, and how to optimize negotiations with outsourcing service providers. If you have entered an outsourcing agreement with a benchmarking clause, or if you’re planning to negotiate a new sourcing agreement, this brief paper will help you understand the unique challenges of the benchmarking process.

Implementation Guidance Regarding ITIL® Version 3.0

295 KB - 5/30/2007
HDI SAB Task Force, HDI
A number of organizations have begun IT process improvement projects using the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL®) framework. A taskforce of the HDI® Strategic Advisory Board was created and has researched the implications of changes under development. This paper is intended to provide guidance to HDI members who are in the midst of, or are considering, IT process improvement project implementations based upon ITIL, and are asking questions about what these changes mean, and specifically how it impacts their current and future implementation plans.

Most Recent White Papers

Business Intelligence: How to build Successful BI Strategy

938 KB - 1/10/2009
Prashant Pant, Prashant Pant
This paper focuses on building a BI strategy that aligns with the enterprise goals, improves knowledge management, advances business by making the best use of information, enables BI penetration into the business processes and helps enterprise with strategic, tactical and operational decision making. It discusses the essential components of BI strategy to enable the vision of driving better business performance by empowering all in the enterprise to be able to do their job effectively as a natural part of their daily work. It explains the steps to build the BI strategy that brings together the forces that drive business operations i.e. people, processes and technology in a collaborative environment and highlights the approach to enable successful adoption of BI to deliver true business value. BI is a very broad topic of study, however if you would like your business to succeed, it is extremely important to understand the factors that influence BI and learn how to design an effective BI strategy. This paper takes into account the fact that too often what’s missing from BI is transformation of insight into action and thus failure to exploit the full potential of BI. It explains that building an effective BI strategy requires a conscious approach, a blending of enterprise resources to deliver a predictable, complete, consistent, reliable, and timely source of information to deliver on the promise of BI.

Benefits of Business Process Management (BPM) for insurance companies

87 KB - 1/8/2009
dinesh gupta, Adeptia Inc
Insurance companies continue to face intense pressure to improve performance, increase profitability, deliver superior customer service, and increase shareholder returns. In recent years, Business Process Management (BPM) has emerged as a proven technology that helps insurers meet these business objectives and gain competitive advantage. Following are some of the key advantages delivered by BPM for insurance companies

Web Form and E-mail Tracking and Management

24 KB - 11/17/2008
Mike Kaplan, Kaplan Communications
This paper describes how GreyStone Power's Customer Service Department uses Topaz Form Tracking.

How Technology Is a Key Differentiater When It Comes to a Call Center's Productivity

998 KB - 11/4/2008
Ankur Sharma, Drishti-Soft Solutions
The white paper explains how technology can become a key differentiator when it comes to a call center's productivity and extract an impressive ROI; and how the right technology can address its key concerns.

Getting Troubled Projects Back on Track

635 KB - 10/23/2008
Jeff Rupp, Ajilon Consulting
Keeping IT projects on track can be a challenge for even the most experienced project managers. Many obstacles will inevitably arise throughout each project – some you can control and some you cannot. But, when things do go wrong, there are some clear steps you can take to overcome the challenges. In this white paper you will find out the following: • How to spot a troubled project? • What tactics you need to get your project back on track? • What skills outside of your technical expertise do you need?

Most Popular White Papers

Mapping IT Service and Support - Learn: Govern: Improve

408 KB - 5/9/2006
Brian Johnson, Sandra Simpson, Ken Wendle, HDI Strategic Advisory Board
This white paper introduces a map that leads you through the metrics and processes employed in service and support and explains their relationship to one another. Using the map you can find out how to benchmark and improve upon key processes through the use of metrics, frameworks, education, and knowledge management.

7 Habits of Highly Effective Contact Centers and Help Desks

148 KB - 11/1/2005
eGain Communications, eGain Communications
More than a decade ago, Stephen Covey wrote about seven key habits that can help people elevate their personal and professional effectiveness in a groundbreaking book. These habits are equally relevant to contact centers and help desks, and can assist in dramatically boosting their effectiveness and efficiencies, while enhancing customer relationships and business growth. This white paper explains how the seven habits apply to contact centers and help desks, and provides thought leadership, best practices distilled from decades of experience, and new ideas to take your contact center and help desk performance to the next level. Learn and use these powerful secrets to get ahead of the competition!

51 Ways to Reduce Contact Center Costs

285 KB - 12/31/2002
Fred Shadding, SITEL
This document provides insightful strategies for contact center managers to leverage in their ongoing efforts to reduce costs while also enhancing the effectiveness and quality of support within their operations.

Adapting Best Practices for IT Service Management

319 KB - 12/18/2003
Remedy ,
To better align business requirements with IT capabilities and deliver those capabilities at an appropriate cost, IT leaders are shifting from an IT technology focus to an IT service model approach. In this white paper, experts from Remedy, a BMC Software company, explore how leveraging best practices, such as the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL), can help you quickly and efficiently implement the IT processes that support this service model, and how adapting those best practices to unique requirements can help extend your competitive advantage.

Benchmarking and Monitoring Performance of Inbound Support Centers

89 KB - 12/31/2002
Bill Sheehan, Renaissance Partners
Advanced technology is increasingly finding its way into the hands of all levels of corporate employees. Growth in computing power and software availability has allowed corporations to gain competitive advantage by implementing functions that were previously never possible.

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Mapping IT Service and Support - Learn: Govern: Improve

Legato Support Services Knowledge-Centered Support at Work

62 KB - 2/5/2005
Consortium for Service Innovation ,
Legato is a leading provider of information management software. Standing behind its information access, information availability, and information protection solutions for complex and heterogeneous storage environments, Legato is held in a special position of trust by its customers, who are, in effect, buying peace of mind. Technical complexity combined with this enterprise-critical aspect of Legato’s products puts a tremendous burden on the support organization.

Knowledge-Centered Support Operational Model

960 KB - 2/5/2005
Consortium for Service Innovation ,
Whether you support products for a corporate help desk, a product manufacturer, a channel or a third party provider, chances are you’re under the gun to better manage your resources and improve your service levels. Knowledge-Centered Support (KCS) is a business methodology that was developed and put to the test by members of the Consortium for Service Innovation. The goal of KCS is to solve a problem once . . .and use the solution often! Adoption of KCS has improved operational efficiency, employee moral and customer satisfaction. This brief examines the need for a knowledge-centered strategy as well as the organizing principles of KCS and its benefits.

HP NonStop Customer Support Knowledge-Centered Supportsm (KCS) at Work

903 KB - 2/5/2005
Consortium of Service Innovation ,
The HP NonStop Customer Support organization is an essential part of the brand promise: they keep their customers’ missioncritical hardware and software systems running, nonstop, all around the world.

GETTING STARTED WITH KNOWLEDGE-CENTERED SUPPORT

2354 KB - 2/7/2005
Service Innovation ,
Adopting KCS represents a transition from a call-centric approach to a knowledge-centric approach for customer service organizations. Both the nature of this transition and the benefits realized are profound. Service organizations that have embraced the idea of an integrated approach across the five practices have demonstrated significant improvements in customer satisfaction, employee morale and operational efficiency.

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