1. STRATEGY
FOR THE SERVICE DESK,
PERCEPTION IS REALITY
By Tony Streeter
SupportWorld | © 2015 UBM LLC. All rights reserved.

2. STRATEGY
D
o people in your company complain
about the IT department? It’s not un-
common, but there is a silver lining:
Those comments may be misdirected.
I recently spoke with someone who told me her IT
department was “the worst.” That’s a pretty strong
statement, so I asked her to tell me more. What
made her IT department so bad? Her answer con-
sisted of their relative unresponsiveness to issues
she and her people had with their computers, how
poorly software upgrades were handled, printing
problems, and a slew of other “issues” that, when
looked at collectively, fell into the service desk
realm.
Her issues—and many employees’ internal issues,
more generally—aren’t with the IT department per
se, but rather with the quality of assistance provid-
ed by their service desk. Unfortunately, an overall
opinion of the service desk translates into an opin-
ion of the entire IT department. So, fair or unfair,
perception of one becomes the reality of the other.
No matter how great the IT department is doing
behind the scenes, it’s the frontline service desk
that everyone sees. So, when level 1 and 2 service
desk tickets start backing up, people get angry and
frustrated. Smart CIOs know that keeping inter-
nal customers happy is priority one, and even the
biggest back-office IT success can pale against the
complaints of a couple of frustrated VPs who can’t
email or print.
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NO MATTER HOW GREAT THE
IT DEPARTMENT IS DOING
BEHIND THE SCENES, IT’S THE
FRONTLINE SERVICE DESK THAT
EVERYONE SEES.

3. Service Desk Success
The first step to service desk success is in identify-
ing a manager who not only has experience leading
an IT service desk but who can also take on related
responsibilities. Depending on the size of your or-
ganization, the service desk manager can do more
than simply oversee level 1 employee efforts, man-
age the service desk software, and meet monthly
metrics. In some organizations, the service desk
manager is also responsible for server stability man-
agement, phone and email network management,
IT asset management, and IT vendor negotiations.
In addition, many bring with them knowledge and
experience with ITIL processes and frameworks,
including incident management, knowledge man-
agement, and other related service desk processes.
In addition, the service desk manager needs to be a
part of the IT leadership group and made aware of
all upcoming changes that will impact employees.
Advance notice is necessary so the manager can up-
date and provide training to their level 1 employ-
ees who will be providing phone/desktop support,
troubleshooting employee issues, and discussing
level 2 issues with IT. Think of it this way: If a room
full of generals creates a strategy, starts rolling the
tanks out, but forgets to tell the infantry, the situa-
tion would be disastrous. The same holds true here.
Internal or External
The service desk manager and service desk staff
don’t necessarily need to be internal employees.
However, I would caution against sending your
service desk activities offshore. An offshore or even
offsite third-party service desk won’t know your
people, processes, culture, or products, and quite
honestly, they aren’t paid to care. They simply have
space in their service desk or call center to answer
and log your employee’s calls, attempt simple fixes
(such as password resets), and escalate other issues
STRATEGY
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4. to level 2 (which means they end up back at your
internal IT department). Although offshoring may
provide lower level 1 costs, shifting tickets back to
higher, more-expensive levels of support quickly
consumes any savings.
If you don’t believe managing and addressing ser-
vice desk issues should be a core competency of
your IT team, and yet you know of the employee
dissatisfaction issues around outsourcing it, there’s
a third option. Some IT service companies offer the
ability to create a boutique service desk solution
which will place a manager and service desk per-
sonnel inside your organization. This allows you to
set service desk metrics and oversee the operation
STRATEGY
Traditional Service Desk Activities by Level
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5. of the team without having to manage it on a daily
basis. The IT service company takes over the issues
of staffing, recruiting, training, acculturating, and,
if necessary, terminating employees. These individ-
uals don’t show up in your company headcount,
they don’t receive benefits from your company, and
you don’t need an act of Congress (or HR) to re-
move them.
If you do this, it’s important that these individu-
als understand the culture of your company and
are held to the same standards and guiding prin-
ciples as any full-time employee. They shouldn’t
wear company shirts from their IT service company
but, if possible, wear your company’s logoed shirts.
These individuals should blend into your company,
not be apart from it. In cases where this has been
successful, I’ve seen external individuals receive in-
ternal company awards and individual recognition
from senior management and their peers, many of
whom didn’t know the external staff were from an-
other company (“I always thought he was one of
us”).
Challenge Their Creativity
After a few months of successful metrics and posi-
tive comments, challenge the service desk team to
come up with ways of being more proactive with-
in the company. You’ll be surprised by what they
come up with. When people feel valued and recog-
STRATEGY
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WHEN PEOPLE FEEL VALUED
AND RECOGNIZED FOR THEIR
CONTRIBUTIONS, REGARDLESS
OF WHETHER THEY’RE INTERNAL
OR EXTERNAL EMPLOYEES,
THEY’LL WANT TO DO MORE.

6. nized for their contributions, regardless of wheth-
er they’re internal or external employees, they’ll
want to do more. In one case, a service desk team
implemented “Tuesdays on the Floor,” where they
would have someone from the service desk walk
each floor, stopping by cubicles and offices asking
about any current issues. In another case, a service
desk held a once-a-month “Apps and Appetites”
pizza lunch where they would go through features
or enhancements to standard software, present new
applications, etc.
The service desk is the face of the IT department to
the company. That face should have a smile on it,
be familiar and helpful, address issues quickly, and
keep everyone productive.
•••••
About the Author
Tony Streeter is the chief market
ing officer and SVP at Y&L Consult-
ing, Inc., in San Antonio. Over the
past twenty years, Tony has led
product marketing, new product
development, e-commerce marketing, and in-
tegrated platform marketing initiatives for ma-
jor companies such as Harland Clarke, Deluxe,
and RR Donnelley. Currently, he directs mar-
keting and branding initiatives for Y&L Consult-
ing, a comprehensive IT services and solutions
company specializing in internal help desk ser-
vices, BI services, IT consulting and develop-
ment, and social strategy.
STRATEGY
SupportWorld | © 2015 UBM LLC. All rights reserved.