J O H N B O R W I C K , M A N A G E R A N D F O U N D E R
H I G H E R E D U C A T I O N I T M A N A G E M E N T , L L C
http://www.heitmanagement.com/strategic-service-desk
The Service Desk as a
Strategic Function

John Borwick, PMP®
 Wake Forest
University, 2003-2012
 Director of Service Mgt
 PMO Director
 Manager and Founder,
HEIT Management
Career goal: Make people’s
lives easier by improving
how higher education IT is
managed.
johnb@heitmgt.com

Higher Education IT Management, LLC
“Helping Higher Education IT effectively
deliver value to campus while minimizing
waste.”
 One-on-one coaching
 Custom engagements
 Blog
http://www.heitmanagement.com

Agenda
 Position of the Service Desk
 Process Triggers and Inputs
 Open-Ended Listening
 Representing IT
 What does the Service Desk look like, when it’s
perceived as a strategic function?
 Q&A

Position of the Service Desk

The Service Desk doesn’t know what it’s doing
(user perspective)
 “They wouldn’t do anything except reinstall my
machine.”
 “I told them this was for the President, but they still
haven’t gotten back with me.”

The Service Desk doesn’t know what it’s doing
(IT perspective)
 “The Service Desk manager called me again about
that ticket. Like I’m going to do anything about it!”
 “The ticket says it’s broken but I can get into it.”

…well, try working at the Service Desk.
 “Go to the gemba [real place]”: observe
 ITIL simulations

The Service Desk’s in the middle
Service
Desk
Users IT

Service Desks face systemic challenges.
 It costs money to do more than reinstall machines.
 There may not be a mechanism for the Service Desk
to escalate requests—or people may not pay
attention.
 What direction has IT staff been given about new
work vs. existing work?

The Continuum of Usefulness
 Unnecessary evil
 Necessary evil (cost center)
 Worth spending time on (there is an ROI)
 Strategic

Strategic means…
 A key component in moving to a future state
Strategy
Current
State
Future
State

Process Triggers and Inputs

Components of a Process
Process
Inputs Outputs
Triggers

Example Triggers
 I’m hungry.
 Time for the presentation to start!
 We should buy a house.

Processes commonly triggered by
the Service Desk
 Incident management
 Service request management
 Access management
 Problem management

Bad incident description Good incident description
User cannot login. Since no later than Aug 7
user has not been able to
log in to their Windows
machine or Exchange.
Can log in to timecard
system.
User states they changed
their password Aug 5.
Incident management

The High Cost of Callbacks
User calls the Service Desk
IT calls the user back
User calls IT back

So why are there poor process triggers and
inputs?
 Tickets opened by the least experienced staff
 Key metric: number of incidents per hour
 Service Desk used as a “pass-through” for IT teams

Impact of poor process triggers and inputs
 Escalation when unnecessary
 Second-level support callbacks
 Frustration with the Service Desk

How could better process triggers and inputs be
strategic?
 Free up second-level staff
 Improved quality of service for users
 Overall operational costs reduced

Open-Ended Listening

Users vs. Customers
 Users: Anyone entitled to use an IT service
 Customers: People with budgetary authority

Who’s doing open-ended listening?
 Service Desk
 Business Relationship Management

Talking with users, generally
IT knows the possibilities; users know the value to
them
e.g. listserv digests.

Personal relationships
“Remember that a person's name is, to that person, the
sweetest and most important sound in any language.”
—Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence
People

So why don’t we listen?
 Key metric: number of incidents per hour
 IT not listening to the Service Desk
 Psychological demands on Service Desk staff

Impacts of not listening
 Users feel no connection to IT
 Users rely on escalation
 Missed opportunities for value delivery

How could listening be strategic?
 Create allies and build trust
 Service Desk help IT understand what users value
 Identify opportunities for process improvement

Representing IT

How do people understand what IT’s doing?
 Quantitative (metrics)
 Qualitative (stories)

IT governance vs. the gemba
 IT leaders focus on IT governance groups
 Strong preference for metrics
 IT governance tools can be disconnected from
service delivery
Gemba: “The real place [where activity is occurring]”

The Service Desk is the face of IT for users
Service
Desk
Users IT

Why might the Service Desk poorly represent IT?
 Not enough staff
 Queues
 Callbacks
 Processes not designed for people
 Unreasonable assumptions
 Wasteful process steps
 No ability to be flexible
 Sorry—I’ll have to call you Monday.
 Sorry—we’d have to charge you $100.

Impacts of poorly representing IT
 Stories spread like a plague
 Lack of respect for IT
 IT not trusted to deliver service

How could representing IT be strategic?
 IT seen as a partner
 Good stories bring resources
 The impact of a well-placed good story is virtually
unimaginable

A D D R E S S I N G S Y S T E M I C I S S U E S A L O N G W I T H
T H E S E R V I C E D E S K I T S E L F .
What does the Service Desk look
like, when it’s perceived as a
strategic function?

Time, space, and structure for improvement
 Focus on improvement rather than blame
 Service Desk manager has few operational duties
 Time for staff training
 Consulted or responsible for key supporting
processes e.g. knowledge management

Trust and a level of discretion
 Ability to escalate
 Give options for providing good service
 e.g. Call centers can give staff discretion over returns (e.g.
<$250 OK to approve)

Identify service quality decisions that can be
made by IT governance
 “Desk-side support” service can budget for
troubleshooting time, not just reinstalling

Reposition the Service Desk within IT
 Service Desk manager’s rank respected
 Service Desk canvassed for ideas
 Service Desk provide feedback to other teams
 Operational work prioritized

Quick Review
 Position of the Service Desk
 Process Triggers and Inputs
 Open-Ended Listening
 Representing IT
 What does the Service Desk look like, when it’s
perceived as a strategic function?
 Q&A

http://www.heitmanagement.com/strategic-service-desk