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5 thoughts on the IT Service Desk that need re-thinking
Posted in on 10 March 2010 by
Slowly recovering from the crisis and with a more careful eye to the unsteadiness of the market, many organisations across all sectors are considering ways to make their IT Service Desk more cost-efficient, but some ideas decision-makers might have could be partially or totally wrong.
So if you are thinking any of the following, you might want to think again:
"Our Service Desk is costing us too much. Outsourcing it to [insert favourite low-cost country abroad] can solve the problem."
Although outsourcing has it advantages, doing it off-shore is a huge investment and has a lot of hidden costs, including losses due to inefficiencies and disruptions during the transition or caused by bad performance - bad service can damage the business. Moreover, reversing the move can be a costly, lengthy and treacherous procedure. Before they consider drastic moves, organisations should try to identify the reasons their IT expenditure is so high. Likely causes could be inefficient management, poor skills or obsolete tools and processes. Best practice implementation, using automated ITIL-compliant software and updating IT skills are a first step towards efficiency; however, a more cost-effective outsourcing solution could be handing management of the Service Desk to a service provider that can take care of service improvement on site.
"If leading companies around the world are off-shoring, it must be convenient."
Only Global organisations seem to gain great benefits from off-shoring their IT department, often being the sole solution to reduce their otherwise enormous spending. Just because many important organisations are doing it, it doesn't mean it is suitable for all. For example, there are important cultural differences which may not be an issue for those organisations with offices and clients spread worldwide that are already dealing with a mixture of cultures, but can definitely cause problems for a relatively European company with a certain type of business mind. Another issue is costs: many organisations find that after the conspicuous initial investment, cost saving might not exceed 10% and what is more, the new facility sometimes creates extra costs that were unforeseen, actually increasing expenditure.
"Our system has always worked; I don't see why we should change it."
Technology is changing regardless of one's eagerness, and it is important to keep up with the changing demands of the market in order to remain competitive. A certain system might have worked five years ago, but new technologies and procedures can make older ones obsolete and comparatively inefficient. Take server virtualisation for example: business continuity can reach astonishing levels thanks to live migration, guaranteeing a better service with the extra benefit of energy saving through consolidation. Adoption of ITIL Best Practice processes also helps increase efficiency not only in the Service Desk, but in the business as a whole. Thanks to its implementation, organisations can save time and money and enhance the smoothness and quality of all IT-reliant operations, which helps the entire business.
"We need more 2nd and 3rd line engineers."
When problems need more second and third-line resolution, it probably means first line is not efficient enough. Thanks to specific automated software to help with simple incidents and to the adoption of software as a service managed by an external provider, the simplest and most complex issues are being taken care of, meaning some of the work of a first-line engineer and the whole work of third-line engineers are no longer an issue for the organisation's IT staff. However, the remaining incidents still need a more efficient resolution at first-line level: the more incidents are resolved here, the less need there is to increase the number of more expensive second-line staff. To improve first-line fix, engineers need to be trained to follow Best Practice processes that can make incident resolution fast and effective, as well as help the organisation deal with change and prevent risks connected to data security.
"I'd rather we managed our IT ourselves - control is key."
An organisation might be proficient in its field, but may find it difficult to manage its IT Service Desk as effectively. When cost-efficiency is important, it is best to leave one's ego at the door and have experts do the job. The IT arena is constantly changing and continuous training and updating is necessary in order to keep up with the market standards, and an organisation often cannot afford to invest in constant innovation of their IT. If outsourcing, on and off-shore, gives organisations the impression of losing control, then managed services is a better solution: the existing team and tools, or new and improved ones, can be managed by a service provider directly on the office premises, if needed. Thanks to this, organisations can focus on the more important parts of their business, leaving IT to the techies while still keeping an eye on it.
Adrian Polley, CEO
Find this article online at Fresh Business Thinking: http://www.freshbusinessthinking.com/business_advice.php?CID=&AID=5004&Title=5+Thoughts+On+The+IT+Service+Desk+That+Need+Re-Thinking
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