As consumers we expect a high quality of service and are used to seeing innovation in this area, both in the high street and online. For example just look at Pret a Manger, Richer Sounds, Marks & Spencer, Lands End and Amazon. But when in the workplace, and faced with a malfunctioning workstation or critical application that requires IT support, our expectations of service delivery drops dramatically. Why is this?
Maybe it's historical. Remember the days when the geeks in IT gave you what they thought you should have, just because they'd spent hours playing with it? When 'fit for purpose' was a distant fantasy? And we got piles of printout from clumsy applications that often failed?
Those days are well and truly over. Our latest research shows that a resounding 76 per cent of service desk managers across a broad range of market sectors are adhering to IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) best practice standards, compared to just 50 per cent four years ago*.
Welcome to the new world of IT support. A world where teams are now inspired to get closer to the business, and actually understand it. A world where IT teams have the tools and expertise to develop valid, user-friendly applications that perform reliably. A world where they can consistently improve the performance of IT so it doesn't fall over and screw up your day.
The rise and rise of Service Management ethos and disciplines has had a two-fold effect. Not only are IT service desks fixing problems more quickly and efficiently, but they are also treating the workforce like a real 'customer' worthy of quality of service.
Research for the SDI 2007 Service Desk Benchmarking Report showed that the average first level resolution rate moved from 21 per cent in 2001 to 60 per cent in 2007. It is clearly evident that the IT customer experience has become an important KPI for the IT support industry.
It is not just the IT support industry that is changing; the way businesses approach their workforce is also evolving. Enabling flexi-working and a mobile workforce is steadily becoming an essential part of staying agile and responsive in a competitive business environment. Businesses, undoubtedly, have to adapt to the changing needs of staff and customers if they are going to succeed. Offering home working and mobility to employees will help businesses recruit and retain the best quality staff, improve productivity and asset rationalisation, and cut costs by reducing travel expenses and office overheads.
However, this business model must be underpinned by a robust IT infrastructure and a responsive IT support team. Businesses are fully aware just how mission critical their IT infrastructure is, and many are now taking legitimate steps to ensure that their IT strategy is fully aligned to the overall objectives of the business. IT service desks across Europe are continuing to invest in new processes and customer service training in order to achieve a service-oriented delivery that provides a customer experience equal to - or better than - the high street or online.
Those that don't invest now do so at their peril!
*UK 2008 Service Desk Software Vendors Report - Understanding the Customer Experience of the ITSM market?
Howard Kendall is the founding director of the Service Desk Institute (SDI).
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9 Paths to Higher Performance 10 December, 2007 14:09:23
When an organization brings together talented people in a creative, collaborative environment it fosters a culture of high performance, which in turn leads to superior business resultsLike high-achieving individuals, some organizations seem to have the Midas touch. Virtually every initiative they touch earns them gold and even those that fail never seem to cost them much of anything at all - +
Strategies for Dealing With IT Complexity 24 December, 2007 10:30:47
Every innovation, every business process improvement, comes with an IT complexity tax that must be paid by CIOs in time, money and sweat. Here are strategies to mitigate the increasing complexity of IT as it enables new business.Every innovation, every business process improvement, comes with an IT complexity tax that must be paid by CIOs in time, money and sweat. Here are strategies to mitigate the increasing complexity of IT as it enables new business.
Read up on the latest ideas and technologies from companies that sell hardware, software and services. - White PaperYour organisation may well have devised and implemented an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) some time ago in order to guard against the risks of inappropriate use of computer systems by your workers, but are you confident that your AUP remains 'fit for purpose'? Read on to discover how you can enhance the effectiveness of your AUP.
- White PaperView this webcast and discover the drivers for changing network design practices, why many organisations are changing their approach to network architecture and how enterprises should be moving forward with open architecture multi-vendor network solutions. Register now and learn how your business can maximize the business value of the enterprise network.
- White PaperJoin industry expert Bob Spurzem and Chuck Arconi of Fox Hollow to discover how to reduce Exchange total storage and keep it at a manageable level. Learn how Exchange storage growth can be contained without sacrificing security and accessibility.
Discover how SOA can create smarter outcomes for your business.
Attend and learn:
- How SOA is helping leading companies to become more agile
- Where you should be applying SOA processes in your company
- The top SOA implementation mistakes to avoid
Click here for more information.
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CIO Live Podcast #79: Brent D Taylor, author of The Outsider's Edge: The Making of Self-Made Billionaires Part II 05 October, 2007 06:00:00
For his new book, The Outsider's Edge: The Making of Self-Made Billionaires, social researcher Brent D Taylor spent four years of intensive research investigating the psychological make-up and backgrounds of some of the world's richest men and women, including IT luminaries Bill Gates, Larry Ellison and Steve Jobs. Taylor discovered that, despite working in different industries and coming from different upbringings, they all have one thing in common -- they are all outsiders. - +
CIO Live Podcast #78: Brent D Taylor, author of The Outsider's Edge: The Making of Self-Made Billionaires 28 September, 2007 17:34:25
For his new book, The Outsider's Edge: The Making of Self-Made Billionaires, social researcher Brent D Taylor spent four years of intensive research investigating the psychological make-up and backgrounds of some of the world's richest men and women, including IT luminaries Bill Gates, Larry Ellison and Steve Jobs. Taylor discovered that, despite working in different industries and coming from different upbringings, they all have one thing in common -- they are all outsiders. - +
CIO Live Podcast #77: Panasonic Speeds Up Trans-Pacific File Transfers, Part III 21 September, 2007 07:00:00
Part three in our three-part special report from CIO's sister publication Network World in the US, as Paul Desmond reports from the Network World IT Roadmap Conference in Santa Clara, California. With development teams in the US and Japan, Panasonic needed a more efficient way to move very large files between the two locations. Iben Rodriguez, IT consultant for Panasonic Research and Development, explains how a storage-area network and virtual server technology helped speed up WAN performance. - +
CIO Live Podcast #76: Panasonic Speeds Up Trans-Pacific File Transfers, Part II 14 September, 2007 07:00:00
Part two in our three-part special report from CIO's sister publication Network World in the US, as Paul Desmond reports from the Network World IT Roadmap Conference in Santa Clara, California. With development teams in the US and Japan, Panasonic needed a more efficient way to move very large files between the two locations. Iben Rodriguez, IT consultant for Panasonic Research and Development, explains how a storage-area network and virtual server technology helped speed up WAN performance. - +
CIO Live Podcast #75: Panasonic Speeds Up Trans-Pacific File Transfers, Part I 07 September, 2007 07:00:05
Part one in our three-part special report from CIO's sister publication Network World in the US, as Paul Desmond reports from the Network World IT Roadmap Conference in Santa Clara, California. With development teams in the US and Japan, Panasonic needed a more efficient way to move very large files between the two locations. Iben Rodriguez, IT consultant for Panasonic Research and Development, explains how a storage-area network and virtual server technology helped speed up WAN performance.
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Cybersecurity is focus of new start-up incubator 20 November, 2008 07:19:00
Texas uni announces the Institute for Cyber Security.The University of Texas at San Antonio Tuesday announced a technology incubator aimed at fostering IT security-based start-ups within the state. - +
Dilip Sarangan on Physical Security M&A 20 November, 2008 11:18:00
Dilip Sarangan tracks physical security companies for Frost & Sullivan. He expects the industry's "need to have" products to weather the economic storm well, with the big players (now including IBM and Cisco) looking for value-priced acquisitions. - +
International Challenges in PCI Security 20 November, 2008 09:15:00
In a country that's seen many regulatory compliance challenges this decade, the headaches of PCI security tend to be analyzed from a largely American perspective. - +
PCI council sharpens oversight of security auditors 19 November, 2008 10:53:00
Quality assurance plan targets security assessors and scanning vendorsThe PCI Security Standards Council Monday unveiled a plan to sharpen oversight of the hundreds of security-service providers now authorized to evaluate merchant networks under the organization's Payment Card Industry data standards.
Vignette Announces 2008 Excellence Awards 21 November, 2008 10:50:00
PGP and Ponemon Institute Unveil Inaugural Australian Data Breach Study 2008 20 November, 2008 17:34:00
Symantec Cloud Services Transform Data Centre Operations Through Proactive Management 20 November, 2008 12:06:00
Verizon Business Offers Tips to Building a Successful Unified Communications and Collaboration Plan 20 November, 2008 12:04:00
AARNet Brings 4K Digital Cinema to Australia: First 4K HD Video Signal delivered into Australia by AARNet 20 November, 2008 12:02:00
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Email Archiving 101—Customer Case Study
Join Lee Benjamin, a Microsoft Exchange MVP and Ryan Shipkowski, network administrator for Matthews, to discuss the process and ROI of implementing an email archiving solution, with emphasis on a case study from Matthews International.
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