At some point or another, we’ve all fantasized about starting a business and, of course, being a great success. Is managing a service desk really all that different? I’m always telling my students and clients that they need to run support as a business within the business. This is one of the...
Tag(s): business of support, process, service strategy
Date Published - Last Updated February 25, 2016
Everyone, from executives to frontline employees, tells me the same thing: When people report on issues or projects, they usually provide way, way too much information—the dreaded TMI. So how do we solve the problem? By using my Inquire to Influence™ strategies, you’ll be able to connect and...
Tag(s): communications skills, business value
Date Published - Last Updated February 25, 2016
Service desks come in all shapes and sizes, depending on the needs of those they serve. Service offerings, KPIs, and service level targets will vary, and some will meet those needs better than others, providing not just business value but a partnership based on common goals. However, what holds...
Tag(s): service desk, support industry, supportworld
Date Published - Last Updated February 26, 2016
For this issue, HDI invited influential members from across all segments of our community to provide a snapshot of key imperatives that will guide 2013 initiatives. This unique collection of essays offers a rare glimpse inside technical service and support organizations, spanning healthcare,...
Tag(s): business of support, desktop support, customer service, practices and processes, service management, trends, IT service management, outsourcing, byod
Date Published - Last Updated February 25, 2016
It’s no secret that customers really want just two things from their interactions with the service desk: speed and accuracy. They want someone to answer the phone quickly, someone who can help them with their problems, and someone who can provide solutions that are correct and helpful. So, if...
Tag(s): customer experience, service desk, staffing
Date Published - Last Updated February 25, 2016
While the total number of incidents/service requests, the potential impact of restricted access, and ease of automation will all vary by service, type of support, company, industry, etc., automation is subject to the greatest variability. Executing on a vision is certainly easier said than done,...
Tag(s): automation, self-service, service desk, outsourcing
Date Published - Last Updated February 25, 2016
For more than twenty years, the technical service and support industry has been trying to arrive at a common understanding of IT/business alignment. But why is this subject so important? Well, IT/business alignment has long been seen as one of the keys to synching IT’s goals with the business’s...
Tag(s): business alignment, incident management, ITIL, service desk, service level management
Date Published - Last Updated February 25, 2016
While BYOD and broader consumerization trends may be turning the corporate IT world upside down, such factors have long been a reality in the campus IT environment. But that doesn’t mean that university IT departments are immune to the changing expectations of today’s empowered device owners.
Tag(s): case study, byod, desktop support, service desk, security management
Date Published - Last Updated February 25, 2016
For UBM Tech, HDI’s parent company and a global live media and B2B communications, marketing services, and data provider, innovation is one of the four underlying corporate values leading the company down the path to be the best—and biggest—event business in the world. UBM Tech’s David Michael...
Tag(s): business value, leadership, support center
Date Published - Last Updated February 25, 2016
L.L.Bean, a leading clothing and outdoor recreation equipment retailer, was built on a legacy of high-quality products and impeccable customer service. Founded in 1912, today the company generates about $1.5 billion in sales worldwide, thanks to the efforts of 5,000 year-round employees. After...
Tag(s): business of support, infrastructure change management, IT-business alignment, support operations, case study
Date Published - Last Updated February 25, 2016