We go through waves of “experts” telling us that the service desk is dead and organisations are moving on, or that BYOD is removing the need for the service desk. I will be putting forward a more pragmatic response to that, including (spoiler alert) some tips to make your service desk work better for your organisation.

1. JAMES GANDER
The Service Desk Is Dead – Again!

2. The Service Desk is dead – again!
Or why we need Service Desks
James Gander, ITSM Consultant
Gander Service Management Limited
M: 021 777 457
james@gander.co.nz
www.gander.co.nz

3. Are you sitting comfortably?
@gandersm

4. FUD
@gandersm

5. Danger
@gandersm

6. Stop
@gandersm

7. Who said I can’t use my tablet?
@gandersm

8. Governance of IT
@gandersm

9. Service Desk is key
• The Service Desk is key to:
– Delivery & Support of services
– Non-IT perception of the IT department
• Everyone in your / your customer’s
organisation will at some point interact with
the Service Desk
@gandersm

10. Service Desk is key
@gandersm
Numbers completely made up by Gander Service Management research team (me) to prove my
point.

11. BYOD
@gandersm

12. SD call rates are increasing
@gandersm

13. Personal contact
@gandersm

14. So is the Service Desk dead?
@gandersm

15. So is the Service Desk dead?
• Service Desks are an easy target
• Is it the Service Desk at fault?
• Is it the wider IT department?
• Is it higher?
@gandersm

16. Perception or Reality
@gandersm

17. What can we do?
Simple!
@gandersm

18. Beware
@gandersm

19. Understand
• Understand what you are supposed to be
doing
• Understand what you are actually doing
• Understand what you need to do
@gandersm

20. Non-Service Desk people only
• Go and spend time on the Service Desk
• Take calls
• Become scared
– by the amount of systems you need to know
about and understand
– by the amount of calls and type of callers
• Feedback
@gandersm

21. Understand- Survey
• Understand what your customers / users
expect from and think about you
• Make it short but meaningful
• Understand what your teams think
• Share the results
• Work through the key points
• Come up with a plan
• Share the plan
@gandersm

22. Prioritise
@gandersm

23. Improve
@gandersm

24. Improve
• Improve the way your customers / users
perceive the service desk
• Improve the way the team works
• Improve the way that the whole department
operates
@gandersm

25. Improve - Team work
• Lead
• Encourage
• Knowledge share
@gandersm

26. Improve - Department
• Often not the Service Desk that causes
perception
• Are all teams prioritising calls in their
workload?
• Are all teams working to the same goal?
• Knowledge
@gandersm

27. Check
@gandersm

28. Knowledge
• Service desks need:
– to receive Knowledge
– They need to be involved in projects
– They need more than a document (although that is a
start)
– They need to be aware of changes
– They need to have sign-off of projects and changes
– They need to be aware of issues
– Training BEFORE you release new services / hardware
/ software
@gandersm

29. Roles & Responsibilities
• Service Desk need to know:
– Which teams do what
– Who owns a service / system
– Who can approve requests
– What tools are available
– How users do their jobs
@gandersm

30. Communicate
• Listen to what people think
– Good and bad
– Share that feedback
• Tell users what you are doing
– Share the fact that you take 600 calls a week and
resolve 530.
@gandersm

31. What am I trying to say?
• Service Desks are the key to a good IT
department
• Service Desks are central to successful delivery
of new projects / services / changes
• Get a good Service Desk and the rest of IT
looks good.
@gandersm

32. Takeaways
@gandersm
Managers – spend time on the Service Desk
Review and refresh processes for handling calls and knowledge
Survey your users. Share the results with the wider business.
Produce an improvement plan with realistic deliverables and timeframes. Share the plan
Talk to your users
Ensure you have a list of services you provide (Service Catalogue)
Document / review roles & responsibilities
Talk to your staff! They often have some of the best ideas to improve things.
Schmooze P.A.s and Receptionists – trust me
Governance to review and agree list

33. The Service Desk is dead …
@gandersm