ITIL: The Service Desk February 23, 2006
Having established a configuration management database, the next key tenet of ITIL is the Service Desk. The goal of which is to provide a single point of contact for customers and end-users, and an operational single point of contact for managing incidents to resolution.
Essential Activities of The Service Desk
- Improve service to, and on behalf of, the business
- Provide advice and guidance to customers
- Provide rapid restoration of normal service operations
- Meet expectations set out in the SLA
- Communicate and promote services
- Management information
A Service Desk provides the following benefits to an Organization:
- Improved customer service, perception and satisfaction
- Increased accessibility - SPOC
- Improved teamwork and communication
But you must be aware of the following (potential) challenges:
- Resistance to follow procedures
- Overload/burnout
- Organizational policy - no buy-in for SPOC
- Poor communication skills
Some possible Key Performance Indicators for measuring the Service Desk could be:
- Daily reviews of individual Incident and Problem status against service levels
- Weekly management reviews
- Monthly management reviews
- Proactive service reports
- Abandonment rate
- First contact resolution
(the above is part of an ongoing series of notes I’m making as I review the ITIL processes I currently work to in my “day job”. Other notes can be found by browsing the ITIL category here).