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Chapter 7 ■ Service Operations
Not only for end users, a service desk can also be scoped to be the first point of
contact for suppliers, other process managers such as service-level management, and
availability and capacity management. In short, a service desk is capable of carrying out a
number of activities.
7.6.1.1 Benefits of a Service Desk
There was a time when a service desk did not exist in service management organizations.
They didn’t see the need for one at the time. Whenever users had to report incidents,
they knew the technical people, and they would contact them directly. During those days
(before the dawn of the information age), the numbers of IT end users were manageable.
The direct rapport with technical teams helped them get the job done.
Today, there are thousands of IT end users working around the clock, in multiple
locations, and using various IT devices to carry out their work. If the times when no
service desk was available were to be imagined, think of all the calls that technical team
would start to receive. How would the technical team ensure that the load was spread
across the team? How would the technical team know whether the user was calling the
right technician? How would they decide on the priority, which issues to work first and
which ones to pick up later in the day or week? The answer is that it is impossible to think
of IT service management functioning without a service desk. They channel triggers and
route them to the right groups of people. They prioritize incidents and service requests to
aid technical teams in acting on higher priorities first.
There was a time when IT service providers were required to provide a business case
for installing service desks. Not anymore!
Here are the other benefits of having a service desk:
• Improves accessibility to IT staff for IT end users, customers, and
suppliers
• Optimizes usage of IT resources
• Improves customer service and customer excitement
• Provides faster turnaround on service requests
• Optimizes the cost of providing IT support
Let me explain the last item here. The people who work at the service desk are not
required to possess much experience, nor are they expected to be technically sound.
It is a position that opens its doors for fresh college grads and those who wish to start
their careers in IT. One of the main requirements for working at a service desk is good
communication skills—telephonic and writing.
I mentioned that the cost of providing IT services is optimized. The service desk hires
entry-level job seekers who are paid less than an experienced technical professional.
So by hiring less-skilled resources, the operational costs are reduce, and this provides a
win-win situation for the fresh graduates, IT service providers, and the customers (as the
benefit of cost reduction is passed on to the customer).
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