Jobs at risk, but positive signs are there.
The majority of IT service management employees are still holding their nerves in light of the worsening economic gloom, with 62 per cent claiming they will not have to shed staff. Those who do lose their jobs during the melee will however have a tough time finding new roles, with 64 per cent of budget holders planning to slash recruitment costs to help weather the storm.
Overall, the research by the Service Desk Institute (SDI) shows that of the 200 plus IT service management professionals interviewed, 45 per cent expect a slow down in investment.
The news here is not the numbers themselves - most people would expect to see turmoil mixed in with some optimism - but that a survey at this time is likely to change every day that it was conducted, with the negatives growing on each consecutive date.
No one knows how bad the situation will get, but we must all ensure we don’t allow ourselves to be consumed by fear. Business will continue through this period, and while many of us may be experiencing quiet times, this presents the perfect opportunity to take stock of our working methods and see where improvements can be made.
To see how Richmond SupportDesk can help with proven IT Service Management software solutions visit www.richmondsupportdesk.com.
Tuesday, 11 November 2008
IT takes centre stage with Barack
Technology set for boost from new US president
The importance of modernising IT in the United States has already manifested itself as positive action as Barack Obama prepares to become the 44th US president.
Obama has drafted in Google executive Sonal Shah and Julius Genchowski, former InterActiveCorp executive to help safeguard his planned change programme which places greater emphasis on technological innovation.
Part of the plan is to introduce a Google search engine for searching public documents and to pull government and technology into the 21st century. Other plans include making broadband accessible for all US communities and protecting the openness of the internet while safeguarding children and ensuring a competitive landscape for content providers.
For more information on Obama’s vision for the future of IT in the US, more information can be found here, including a blueprint for change which is available for download. www.barackobama.com/issues/technology
The importance of modernising IT in the United States has already manifested itself as positive action as Barack Obama prepares to become the 44th US president.
Obama has drafted in Google executive Sonal Shah and Julius Genchowski, former InterActiveCorp executive to help safeguard his planned change programme which places greater emphasis on technological innovation.
Part of the plan is to introduce a Google search engine for searching public documents and to pull government and technology into the 21st century. Other plans include making broadband accessible for all US communities and protecting the openness of the internet while safeguarding children and ensuring a competitive landscape for content providers.
For more information on Obama’s vision for the future of IT in the US, more information can be found here, including a blueprint for change which is available for download. www.barackobama.com/issues/technology
Monday, 27 October 2008
Free White Paper- 10 Essential Steps for Service Desk Efficiency
According to research group Forrester, over 40% of large businesses have cut their IT budgets in 2008.
With new IT projects being frozen as funds are diverted to offset falling revenues, IT service desk managers need to adopt new strategies to increase efficiency and effectiveness of existing systems and processes.
Richmond Systems have released a free White Paper entitled- 10 Essential Steps to achieve Service Desk Efficiency.
The paper covers some of the key topics to consider including coping with and reducing support incident volume, automation- is it effective, reporting, ITIL best practices, the importance of people and what efficiency gains do service desk systems offer.
To download a free copy of the White Paper please visit: http://www.richmondsupportdesk.com/html/form.asp.
Alternatively to discuss how service desk software can play a vital role in increasing the efficiency of your IT support, call Richmond Systems on
Tel: +44 (0)1428 641616 or visit www.richmondsupportdesk.com.
With new IT projects being frozen as funds are diverted to offset falling revenues, IT service desk managers need to adopt new strategies to increase efficiency and effectiveness of existing systems and processes.
Richmond Systems have released a free White Paper entitled- 10 Essential Steps to achieve Service Desk Efficiency.
The paper covers some of the key topics to consider including coping with and reducing support incident volume, automation- is it effective, reporting, ITIL best practices, the importance of people and what efficiency gains do service desk systems offer.
To download a free copy of the White Paper please visit: http://www.richmondsupportdesk.com/html/form.asp.
Alternatively to discuss how service desk software can play a vital role in increasing the efficiency of your IT support, call Richmond Systems on
Tel: +44 (0)1428 641616 or visit www.richmondsupportdesk.com.
Wednesday, 22 October 2008
Richmond SupportDesk all new Web Based Reporting
Richmond Systems today launched a brand new version of the service desk software Richmond SupportDesk, for enterprise IT support based on ITIL® best practices.
One of the many highlights for this release is web based reporting for powerful, dynamic and actionable reports all accessible via a web browser.
This empowers business users and support technicians alike with access to over 100 interactive statistical template reports on the support operation.
Report templates can be customised for each customer’s exact requirements and scheduled for automatic distribution via e-mail, printing, publishing to a web server or saving to a file. This ensures up to the minute statistics are available for key personnel and decision makers, whilst minimising any administration required for report distribution.
Reports include trend analysis to visualise key statistics for example, open or resolved support incidents on a daily/monthly basis, incident volume by group, priority and status. Enhanced Service Level Agreement (SLA) reporting includes average response resolutions, failed SLAs by support technician or category and exception reports.
Ideally suited to Managed Service Provider (MSP) environments and service desks that support multiple customer’s, reports can be setup and customised to each clients specific requirements, or for internal support where departmental analysis is required.
Next Steps
To find out more about the latest release of Richmond SupportDesk please visit www.richmondsupportdesk.com for a free trial version of the software or call
+44 (0)1428 641616 to discuss your service desk needs.
One of the many highlights for this release is web based reporting for powerful, dynamic and actionable reports all accessible via a web browser.
This empowers business users and support technicians alike with access to over 100 interactive statistical template reports on the support operation.
Report templates can be customised for each customer’s exact requirements and scheduled for automatic distribution via e-mail, printing, publishing to a web server or saving to a file. This ensures up to the minute statistics are available for key personnel and decision makers, whilst minimising any administration required for report distribution.
Reports include trend analysis to visualise key statistics for example, open or resolved support incidents on a daily/monthly basis, incident volume by group, priority and status. Enhanced Service Level Agreement (SLA) reporting includes average response resolutions, failed SLAs by support technician or category and exception reports.
Ideally suited to Managed Service Provider (MSP) environments and service desks that support multiple customer’s, reports can be setup and customised to each clients specific requirements, or for internal support where departmental analysis is required.
Next Steps
To find out more about the latest release of Richmond SupportDesk please visit www.richmondsupportdesk.com for a free trial version of the software or call
+44 (0)1428 641616 to discuss your service desk needs.
The Future of Service Management
One of the problems faced by service provision industries, such as IT support, is that measurement of success is difficult because there are so many intangibles involved. That considered, with great interest I read a report called The Future of Service Management put together by a group of consultants (Downton, Taurel, Noventum) which claims to have discovered the types of organisation that can virtually guarantee sustained revenue growth, and those who are destined to fall further into the pit of cost cutting and tumbling margins.
The report identifies two types of service organisation, and the shared traits which help them to become profitable. Rather than use the report's overtly complex terms, it is easier to describe the two favourable business methodologies as 'large corporate service leaders' and 'smaller, niche providers providing premium service’.
The report argues that smaller businesses which put emphasis on service excellence can succeed by putting faith in staff to facilitate top-notch support and develop relationships with customers. The service in this example is so good that customers will pay a premium for goods and services to ensure support levels are maintained and are likely to buy more products from people they trust, all which lead to ever burgeoning profits for the business.
The problem for businesses in this segment is, as they grow, it is difficult to maintain the one-to-one intimacy that smaller businesses can offer. The solution for organisations in this position, according to the research, is to redevelop the business to move to the next category. The key for larger businesses is to develop a brand, embed service focus throughout the organisation and create processes which facilitate quality service for customers. Such a brand – the example given was John Lewis – doesn't have to rely on a specific individual to maintain a long-term rapport with the customer. Instead the business performs in such a way that the customer knows that whoever they deal with, they will be offered consistent service.
The report carries on by listing various other segments that businesses can fall within the category of negative service, falling profit margins.
I won't detail each of the business types here, but they generally try to compete on price and, as profits fall, have less to spend on the actual service delivery. As service levels fall, further price cuts are the only way to appease customers and the negative cycle continues.
There is much that the IT services market can learn from this way of thinking. IT services do have a direct impact on the profitability of service, and therefore investment to follow one of the models as set out in this report can ultimately impact the bottom line.
A detailed summary of the report can be found at www.thefutureofservice.com
The report identifies two types of service organisation, and the shared traits which help them to become profitable. Rather than use the report's overtly complex terms, it is easier to describe the two favourable business methodologies as 'large corporate service leaders' and 'smaller, niche providers providing premium service’.
The report argues that smaller businesses which put emphasis on service excellence can succeed by putting faith in staff to facilitate top-notch support and develop relationships with customers. The service in this example is so good that customers will pay a premium for goods and services to ensure support levels are maintained and are likely to buy more products from people they trust, all which lead to ever burgeoning profits for the business.
The problem for businesses in this segment is, as they grow, it is difficult to maintain the one-to-one intimacy that smaller businesses can offer. The solution for organisations in this position, according to the research, is to redevelop the business to move to the next category. The key for larger businesses is to develop a brand, embed service focus throughout the organisation and create processes which facilitate quality service for customers. Such a brand – the example given was John Lewis – doesn't have to rely on a specific individual to maintain a long-term rapport with the customer. Instead the business performs in such a way that the customer knows that whoever they deal with, they will be offered consistent service.
The report carries on by listing various other segments that businesses can fall within the category of negative service, falling profit margins.
I won't detail each of the business types here, but they generally try to compete on price and, as profits fall, have less to spend on the actual service delivery. As service levels fall, further price cuts are the only way to appease customers and the negative cycle continues.
There is much that the IT services market can learn from this way of thinking. IT services do have a direct impact on the profitability of service, and therefore investment to follow one of the models as set out in this report can ultimately impact the bottom line.
A detailed summary of the report can be found at www.thefutureofservice.com
Monday, 15 September 2008
Security secures more funding
Could other IT services become as important in the boardroom?
Security now accounts for 10 per cent of spending on IT, with further investment expected in the sector. A survey of 1200 enterprises by Forrester Research says that despite the economic downturn, 21 per cent will increase spend on security, with all but six per cent of the remaining organisations keeping budgets constant.
Security has also succeeded in transcending IT to become a boardroom level issue, with almost 50 per cent of respondents reporting directly to the board. Whether or not this exposure will help highlight other IT issues is as yet unclear, but perhaps there are lessons to learn about how security has been promoted as a business rather than technical issue that could be applied to other IT services.
Security now accounts for 10 per cent of spending on IT, with further investment expected in the sector. A survey of 1200 enterprises by Forrester Research says that despite the economic downturn, 21 per cent will increase spend on security, with all but six per cent of the remaining organisations keeping budgets constant.
Security has also succeeded in transcending IT to become a boardroom level issue, with almost 50 per cent of respondents reporting directly to the board. Whether or not this exposure will help highlight other IT issues is as yet unclear, but perhaps there are lessons to learn about how security has been promoted as a business rather than technical issue that could be applied to other IT services.
A bad day out the office for Canadian support technician
“I’m holding you hostage until you fix my PC”
IT support staff are used to dealing with unreasonable and sometimes abusive customers, but a Canadian woman has taken the concept of awkward customer to a new level by holding a technician hostage until a connection problem was fixed.
Canadian actress Carol Sinclair said that she had been on the phone to her ISP over 20 times with no conclusion until finally an onsite repair visit was arranged. Sinclair claims that when the engineer couldn’t fix the problem she asked for him to stay until the second technician arrived.
However, local police said that in reality she told the man he couldn’t leave until her issue was resolved, implying she had a gun to keep him hostage. Sinclair was charged and banned from speaking to Aliant employees.
To read the full article:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2008/09/02/technician-hostage.html
IT support staff are used to dealing with unreasonable and sometimes abusive customers, but a Canadian woman has taken the concept of awkward customer to a new level by holding a technician hostage until a connection problem was fixed.
Canadian actress Carol Sinclair said that she had been on the phone to her ISP over 20 times with no conclusion until finally an onsite repair visit was arranged. Sinclair claims that when the engineer couldn’t fix the problem she asked for him to stay until the second technician arrived.
However, local police said that in reality she told the man he couldn’t leave until her issue was resolved, implying she had a gun to keep him hostage. Sinclair was charged and banned from speaking to Aliant employees.
To read the full article:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2008/09/02/technician-hostage.html
Wednesday, 27 August 2008
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