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Service Desk Management - Justification and role of the Service Desk

Very little justification is needed today for a Service Desk, as many organizations have become convinced that this is by far the best approach for dealing with firstline IT support issues. One only needs ask the question ‘What is the alternative?’ to make a compelling case for the Service Desk concept. Where further justification is needed, the following benefits should be considered:

  • Improved customer service, perception and satisfaction
  • Increased accessibility through a single point of contact, communication and information
  • Better-quality and faster turnaround of customer or user requests
  • Improved teamwork and communication
  • Enhanced focus and a proactive approach to service provision
  • A reduced negative business impact
  • Better-managed infrastructure and control
  • Improved usage of IT Support resources and increased productivity of business personnel
  • More meaningful management information for decision support
  • It is common practice that the Service Desk provides 'entry-level' positions for ITSM staff. Working on the Service Desk is an excellent 'grounding' for anyone who wishes to pursue a career in Service Management. However, this could also present challenges with people who do not understand the business or technology. Users calling the Service Desk should be able to speak to someone who is able to address their needs, and Service Desk Analysts should not be burned out in less than a year because of undue stress. Care should be taken to select appropriately skilled individuals with a good understanding of the business and to provide adequate training - thus preventing reduction in levels of support due to a lack of knowledge at the first line.

Other ITIL Processes

In order to have a good understanding of ITIL and the importance of configuration management, we first define what ITIL is: ITIL is literally a collection of documentation.

This documentation can help IT organizations implement the best practices. The documentation grows and grows as more successful techniques are documented and guidelines established for what can make others successful. The latest ITIL resources are published by the UK Office of Government Commerce (OGC).

Integrated service delivery refers to the need for Configuration Management, Change Management, Incident Management, Problem Management and Release Management processes that are linked together in a meaningful manner. For example, the process of releasing components to the live environment (the domain of Release Management) is also an issue for Configuration Management and Change Management whilst the Service Desk is primarily responsible for liaison between IT providers and the Users of services. This section highlights the links and the principal relationships between all the Service Management and other infrastructure management processes.

ITIL processes fall under Operational Layer or Tactical Layer, as follows:

Operational Layer: Configuration Management - Service Desk Management - Incident & Problem Management - Change Management - Release Management
Tactical Layer: Service Level Management - Availability Management - Capacity Management - Continuity Management - Financial Management