Featured White Papers
The old 5×8 support model (five days a week, eight hours a day) simply doesn’t get the job done anymore, with companies and organizations branching out into separate locations and virtual offices, not to mention overseas. Meanwhile, staffs in many support...
read more
The old 5×8 support model (five days a week, eight hours a day) simply doesn’t get the job done anymore, with companies and organizations branching out into separate locations and virtual offices, not to mention overseas. Meanwhile, staffs in many support centers, depending on industry, are being thinned, or at least not growing. One of the solutions has been to move to multichannel support, placing less emphasis on the phone and email as the primary and secondary ways of communicating with customers. This white paper is intended to help support centers understand why and how they might move into a broader multichannel environment, and how they can be successful.
less
Author: The HDI Higher Education Forum
Oct 01, 2011
Higher education institutions are struggling to keep pace as their students, faculty, and business partners demand more diverse services, more creative uses of technology in the classroom, and more open support for the devices they are accustomed to using...
read more
Higher education institutions are struggling to keep pace as their students, faculty, and business partners demand more diverse services, more creative uses of technology in the classroom, and more open support for the devices they are accustomed to using in their personal lives. In a series of live and virtual meetings from February to July 2011, the HDI Higher Education Forum (HEF) defined five key trends, identified the challenges and impacts associated with these trends, outlined considerations for future success, and shared some practices that have already proven effective for a number of universities and colleges. This report shares these findings and ideas, which can be adapted across industries, and guides others on how to meet the future with confidence.
less
One of the most common questions I hear from IT support managers is “How many technicians should I have in desktop support?” In this white paper, I will present a rigorous methodology for determining the appropriate technician headcount for desktop support...
read more
One of the most common questions I hear from IT support managers is “How many technicians should I have in desktop support?” In this white paper, I will present a rigorous methodology for determining the appropriate technician headcount for desktop support. By following this approach, desktop support organizations can be assured that they will be staffed to meet the needs and expectations of their customers, while simultaneously delivering services in an efficient, fiscally responsible manner.
less
The number of people taking to social networks is staggering, impacting everything from news reporting to political campaigns to Tupperware parties. As usage explodes, the focus has rapidly shifted from adoption to the way businesses can leverage all the...
read more
The number of people taking to social networks is staggering, impacting everything from news reporting to political campaigns to Tupperware parties. As usage explodes, the focus has rapidly shifted from adoption to the way businesses can leverage all the activity to their benefit. They’re not only using it internally to become a part of the discussion with their own social outreach, but attempting to harness the information flowing from constituents to improve processes across departments. One functional area that’s been particularly impacted is customer service.
less
Recent White Papers
During the last decade, many Identity & Access Management (IAM) initiatives attempted to give the best technical answer to three top management’s concerns: Governance, Risk Management & Compliance (GRC). Even if this direction was the right one, today misunderstanding and frustration are too often still there.
As customer expectations for service management quality within organizations have risen, it has become necessary to reconsider the part desktop support plays in delivering services to IT clientele. To that end, in early 2011, several subcommittees of the HDI Desktop Support Advisory Board undertook projects to identify key factors required to maintain desktop support functions within an organization.
The Service Level Management Process represents the heart of any IT Service Management program, as it deals with managing customer expectations and defining – specifically – the level of service to be provided. In cloud based or multi sourced environments this is of particular importance, since accountability for the end to end service still remains with the IT organization even as control and responsibility for the component parts decreases. This paper discusses the challenge of meeting customer expectations and reducing waste while providing actionable techniques for successfully developing and managing effective Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
Based partially on data collected for the HDI Research Corner report "Supporting Mobile Devices," released in December 2010, and on other cited research, this white paper seeks to understand the shift to mobility and its consequences for the support center, as well as point out some best practices currently in use and some trends in the development of support mechanisms.
The IT job market is heating up and top talent is becoming scarce. Industry reports and professional polls like Computerworld’s annual employment survey forecast strong competition for information technology (IT) workers in 2011.
In this white paper, the different paths to ITIL expert are discussed, looking at both the Lifecycle and Capability paths, the target audience for each path, typical roles and responsibilities, and the reasons why you might want to choose the capability or lifecycle path. The benefits of the mix and match approach are also discussed.
While demand for specific positions does vary, the truth is that every IT worker plays a key role in supporting the long term plans of a business. And at a time when many owners are just as happy sustaining business growth as they are increasing it, holding on to this talent should be a top priority.
Whether you are buying for the first time or just replacing your current system, this whitepaper aims to provide concrete advice on buying and implementing a helpdesk system. Below we have condensed the information down and focused on what really matters, and equally important on what to avoid, so that you can confidently select and roll out a system that will meet your needs today, as well as offer you vital flexibility for tomorrow.