Practical IT Research that Drives Measurable Results Attack Help Desk Growth 1Info-Tech Research Group

2 To resuscitate or optimize? In a growing help desk, that is the real question. Help desk operations that are failing or straining to respond to the growth of the enterprise need resuscitation or optimization. Info-Tech has worked with clients dealing with extreme end user apathy and staff burnout that required a complete resuscitation of operations, as well as clients with inefficient processes and strained resources that needed optimization. This solution set will: Determine if your help desk needs resuscitation or optimization. Provide a clear resuscitation program. Outline best practices for optimization.

Benchmark your help desk maturity to determine if your help desk needs resuscitation or optimization. Info-Tech Research Group3 Maturity is an important indicator of your help desk’s capacity to deal with growth. Info-Tech’s help desk maturity model defines five categories of maturity: chaos, reactive, controlled, proactive, and optimized. Help desks in need of resuscitation often fall into the reactive category, while those in need of optimization fall into the controlled maturity category. Info-Tech’s “Help Desk Assessment Tool” identifies your current help desk maturity level, your optimal maturity level, and suggests improvements based upon peer benchmarking.Help Desk Assessment Tool Optimized Proactive Controlled Reactive Chaos More Research For more information on the help desk maturity model and case study examples of each maturity level, refer to the Appendices.

Info-Tech Research Group4 Extreme end user apathy and dissatisfaction are key indicators of the need for help desk resuscitation. -Resuscitation is warranted when the following symptoms are present: -Unfavorable management attention. -Extreme end user apathy and dissatisfaction. -Help desk staff burnout. -Formation of shadow IT groups. -Poor performance measures and performance metrics that no longer make sense. -Help desks in need of resuscitation will score anywhere between reactive and controlled in Info-Tech’s “Help Desk Assessment Tool.”Help Desk Assessment Tool -Reactive maturity alone does not indicate the need for resuscitation. Match help desk performance to growth needs by assessing end user satisfaction. For guidance on help desk resuscitation, review Info- Tech’s note, “How to Resuscitate a Failing Help Desk.”How to Resuscitate a Failing Help Desk Also review Info-Tech’s video casts: “Is Your Help Desk Drowning? Toss It a Life Ring,” and “Rescue Your Help Desk: Common Problems”Is Your Help Desk Drowning? Toss It a Life RingRescue Your Help Desk: Common Problems

Help desks in need of resuscitation suffer from a severe breakdown in process adherence rather than a lack of tools. Info-Tech Research Group5 SymptomUnderlying CauseCure Overtime is a regular occurrence Above average help desk staff turnover SLAs no longer honored Incidents no longer accurately tracked No proactive root cause analysis Understaffing Help desk staff burnout Identify staffing shortfalls and backfill Honor and reinforce SLAs Stop firefighting and enforce incident tracking Proactively seek out incident root causes Excessive or inappropriate escalations First call resolution rates less than 50% Lack of help desk staff training Train help desk staff to avoid unnecessary escalations Prioritize issues with the greatest number of escalations first Help desk performance metrics no longer make sense Mean time to resolution is climbing while the issue resolution rate falls Lack of management attention to incident tracking and reporting Assign a resource to monitor incident tracking on a daily basis Automatically produce weekly help desk reports IT project resources are compromised Shadow-IT groups have formed Inadequate resource utilization, help desk tiering, and incident prioritization Reorganize help desk staff into tiers Reestablish help desk incident prioritization Reestablishing incident tracking is the first step to resuscitating the help desk. Info-Tech Insight

How Info-Tech helped a mid-sized manufacturing company survive a near-death help desk experience. Info-Tech Research Group6 Problems Help desk had difficulty dealing with 30% growth per year IT deployed new business applications with little or no end user training End users were significantly dissatisfied with help desk response times and solution quality Some end users began collaborating to resolve their own issues IT project resources were compromised with help desk activities Management was vocally unhappy about IT’s help desk performance as it was impacting employee productivity and job satisfaction Fixes Re-established incident logging and prioritization processes Restructured help desk support into two tiers Hired additional help desk staff and outsourced some tasks to local vendors (i.e. new PC configuration) Designated one help desk staff member responsible for producing and monitoring help desk performance metrics on a daily and weekly basis Established a simple change and problem management process Worked with business stakeholders to establish ongoing end user application training Embraced end user collaboration through the formation of IT sponsored power user groups Results Management and end users are happy with improvements in help desk performance Help desk went from an unknown end user satisfaction score to 8 out of 10 IT project resources are no longer swamped with help desk requests IT staff are happy and able to focus on their areas of expertise and responsibility

Info-Tech Research Group7 Inefficient help desks that are failing to meet growth demands often struggle with workload levels and resource constraints. Help desks that have trouble meeting workload demands are not leveraging their staff, processes, and technologies as well as they could. Some may be dealing with staff freezes or staff cuts and need to learn how to make the most of their resources. Most need to restructure operations and implement tool upgrades to meet growth needs. In a typical scenario, help desks in need of optimization will score anywhere between controlled and proactive in Info-Tech’s “Help Desk Assessment Tool.”Help Desk Assessment Tool Optimize when there is a help desk workload issue aggravated by a shortage of resources, not a fundamental service failure. For an overview of best practices for help desk optimization, listen to Info- Tech’s podcast, “Want to Save Time and Money? Optimize your Help Desk.”Want to Save Time and Money? Optimize your Help Desk

Info-Tech Research Group8 Automation you previously couldn’t justify should be on your shopping list. As you grow, simpler tools are no longer adequate. Automation enables the help desk to handle more requests with less resources, leaving more time for advanced processes and projects. Info-Tech clients that implemented technologies like disk imaging, remote desktop assistant, and automated password reset achieved savings through reduced tickets and improved productivity. Clients that deployed self-help tools for end users like knowledge bases and FAQs significantly reduced the number of tier 1 requests. For more insight into the cost benefits of help desk automation, review the following Info-Tech resources: – Driving Down Tickets (Video) Driving Down Tickets –Disk Imaging Improves IT Efficiency (Video)Disk Imaging Improves IT Efficiency –Leverage Resources and Improve Service up to 30% with Remote Desktop ControlLeverage Resources and Improve Service up to 30% with Remote Desktop Control –Stop Struggling with Passwords: Automate to LiberateStop Struggling with Passwords: Automate to Liberate

Summary Resuscitating your help desk restores user and staff satisfaction: –Greater end user satisfaction is indicative of solid incident resolution. –Happier help desk and IT staff lessens the likelihood of staffing problems. –Better IT morale facilitates improved efficiency and productivity. Optimization results in a more responsive help desk: –Staff can be proactive and prevent issues before they arise. –Help desk structure has greater incident capacity. –IT can quickly eliminate incident root causes. Improvements to your help desk build a positive IT image: –Users and management will identify with the improvement. –IT staff will be more integrated and in communication with the business. 9Info-Tech Research Group

Appendix I: Additional Materials Materials on Help Desk Assessment: – Help Desk Assessment Tool Help Desk Assessment Tool Resources on Help Desk Resuscitation: – How to Resuscitate a Failing Help Desk How to Resuscitate a Failing Help Desk – “Is Your Help Desk Drowning?,” and “Rescue your Help Desk: Common Problems” (Videos)Is Your Help Desk DrowningRescue your Help Desk: Common Problems Materials on Help Desk Optimization: – Driving Down Tickets (Video cast) Driving Down Tickets – Want to Save Time and Money? Optimize your Help Desk (Podcast) Want to Save Time and Money? Optimize your Help Desk – Leverage Resources and Improve Service up to 30% with Remote Desktop Control Leverage Resources and Improve Service up to 30% with Remote Desktop Control – Stop Struggling with Passwords: Automate to Liberate Stop Struggling with Passwords: Automate to Liberate – Disk Imaging Improves IT Efficiency (Video) Disk Imaging Improves IT Efficiency – Problem Management Eases Help Desk Burdens Problem Management Eases Help Desk Burdens – Beyond Beginner Help Desk Metrics Beyond Beginner Help Desk Metrics – Improving IT Service Management Improving IT Service Management 10Info-Tech Research Group

Additional Tools and Insight Included in Complete Report Analysis of 11 common help desk problems and recommendations for solving them. Recommendations for rebuilding the help desk and ensuring that it is self-sustaining in the long term. Guidance on developing the 4 key disciplines that define the best help desks. Discussion and diagnosis of your help desk’s maturity and stability level, along with clear recommendations on moving up the maturity ladder. Case Studies of Help Desks at different points of maturity: Reactive, Controlled, Proactive, Optimized. Info-Tech Research Group11

Info-Tech Research Group12 Info-Tech Helps Professionals To: 1.Quickly get up to speed with new technologies 2.Make the right technology purchasing decision – fast 3.Deliver critical IT projects, on time and within budget 4.Manage business expectations 5.Justify IT spending and prove the value of IT 6.Train IT staff and effectively manage an IT department “Info-Tech helps me to be proactive instead of reactive – a cardinal rule in a stable and leading edge IT environment.” - ARCS Commercial Mortgage Co., LP “Info-Tech helps me to be proactive instead of reactive – a cardinal rule in a stable and leading edge IT environment.” - ARCS Commercial Mortgage Co., LP Sign up for a free trial to get practical solutions to your IT challenges. Sign up for a free trial