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Chapter 7 ■ Service Operations
It is possible that the technical teams and suppliers are still localized. Yet, when they
have to reach out to the service desk, they need to call the centralized service desk. In
most organization setups, there are centralized technical teams that handle respective
technologies from a central location as well. These central teams, if they need to, reach
out to a centralized service desk.
A local presence may be installed if the organization sees the need to have hands-on
support. This is totally optional.
The advantages of a centralized service desk are:
• Since there is a single setup, the cost of operations will be
economical when compared to the local service desk setup
• Cost savings extend to optimizations made with the service desk
resources, infrastructure, administration, and other indirect
expenses
• Service desk can be operated with fewer resources
• Standardization can be achieved easily, as a single team following
the same set of protocols is easier to achieve than multiple teams
following a single set of processes, procedures, standards, and
scripts
• Management has a better overview on the performance and
effectiveness of a service desk in the centralized setup
The disadvantages of centralized service desk are:
• The local flavor, language and culture, will be lost on the users
• Some users may prefer proximity and personal touch for their
support needs, and a centralized service desk may not provide
this option for all the organizational locations
7.6.1.3.3 Virtual Service Desk
A centralized service desk is a good idea. But how easy or difficult is it to find the people,
a location, willingness to work through the night, friendly regulatory controls to support
24/7 operations, and other bells and whistles that make it a reality? Through technology,
we can achieve a centralized service desk without the co-location factor for service desk
employees. We could have a centralized service desk even when service desk agents sit in
different parts of the globe and operate as one unit. Let’s look at how this is achieved.
Figure 7-9 represents a virtual service desk, and it is almost similar to the centralized
service desk. It looks the same, as the underlying principle between the two setups is the
same. But in a virtual service desk, we achieve centralization through technology. And the
virtual service desk enforces usage of a common service knowledge management system
(SKMS) to ensure standardization and easy exchange of information.
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