Most IT professionals are familiar with the operational metrics of technical service and support: cost per ticket, first contact resolution rate, mean time to resolve—all are well understood and almost universally applied. Yet even support organizations that have mastered these metrics and...
Tag(s): business of support, ROI, return on investment - ROI
Date Published - Last Updated February 26, 2016
In the May/June issue of SupportWorld, I presented a variety of emerging technologies and identified several ways in which these technologies might change the nature of technical service and support in the useful future, or the next three to five years. In this article, we’re going to...
Tag(s): future of support
Date Published - Last Updated February 26, 2016
Implementing mobile customer service is like training for a marathon. You can’t expect to sprint to the finish without first laying a little groundwork. Just as a marathon training plan sets you up for success long after the race is over, a mobile strategy provides benefits that extend far...
Tag(s): customer service, future of support, mobile device support
Date Published - Last Updated February 25, 2016
Over the years, tools have changed, workflows have evolved, staffing levels have fluctuated, responsibilities have expanded, and roles have been redefined. The latest expression of this trend is the mobility revolution—not just the presence of mobile devices in the workplace, but also support...
Tag(s): mobility, future of support
Date Published - Last Updated February 25, 2016
Of all the technology trends facing IT service and support professionals, the two that cause the most heartburn are the incredible growth of mobile devices—tablets, smartphones, etc.—and our customers’ desire to use devices that are familiar to them. To accommodate this desire, many...
Tag(s): byod, training, mobility, future of support
Date Published - Last Updated February 25, 2016
I am the Cherwell service desk’s worst nightmare. There, I said it (and they’d tell you so, too). Why? Because I’m in love with technology, but I’m a minimalist. Laptops are too bulky; I want to be able to do everything I need to from my phone...or, better yet, from my watch. I’m constantly...
Tag(s): byod, future of support, mobile device support
Date Published - Last Updated February 25, 2016
In an article in the May/June issue of SupportWorld, Mike Hanson addressed the evolution of desktop support; in this article, we will discuss how desktop support roles are changing—particularly the names of each role.
Tag(s): desktop support, workforce enablement, professional development
Date Published - Last Updated February 26, 2016
As desktop support professionals, we need to market these skills, letting everyone know that the “desktop” in desktop support refers not to a physical device but to the place where work gets done. How the desktop is delivered to a screen is irrelevant to our ability to support technology in the...
Tag(s): desktop support
Date Published - Last Updated February 26, 2016
Corporations want to be quick to market and adaptable to constant change. They want to generate feedback, reduce support calls, and increase velocity. Unfortunately, this is often achieved at the expense of sound security.
Tag(s): security management, change management
Date Published - Last Updated February 26, 2016
There’s an information security maxim that states, “There’s no security without physical security.” Buildings and infrastructure (other than specifically IT infrastructure) are usually the domain of a department other than IT, but the technology used to monitor and secure facilities of all types...
Tag(s): support models, future of support, security management
Date Published - Last Updated February 26, 2016