Some large corporations are returning to a traditional on-site service desk. They believe that this will help their employees better and increase their productivity. The bottom line is that this also reduces costs.
Technical trends such as bring your own device (ByoD), cloud services and remote infrastructures are changing the way employees interact with companies or organizations – and vice versa. That is why such disruptive trends also bring new challenges for IT departments: quickly provide apps for various departments and requirements, provide support for mobile devices, ensure that company data is always securely stored and available, etc.
Today, CIOs are supposed to guarantee optimal end-user support to increase the efficiency of the employees, but at the same time keep the time for solving IT problems as short as possible. The employees’ expectations of IT support have never been higher than they are today: it should offer fast, punctual, relevant, and convenient solutions. But that only works with suitable structures and functions.
The Right Choice At First Glance
External providers of end-user support solutions, as hired by many companies today, often work with a “tick-box” approach. They offer a standard service to fulfill their service contracts. Most of the time, they focus on metrics such as resolving issues on the first call or the length of interaction between end users and support staff. What this approach does not consider are those IT-related downtime of employees.
If CIOs If you must achieve “more with less”, this traditional, cost-effective support model appears at first glance to be the right choice. But the question remains: Are employees being supported with the right tools at the right time so that they can work as effectively as possible, i.e. actually achieve more with the available tools?
This question often must be answered with no. Therefore, a new – or old – approach in end-user support is (again) on the advance. Large companies are rushing ahead here because they have recognized that it can be worthwhile to invest more instead of less in the service desk. This is particularly true at locations with many employees or at those where many employees who travel repeatedly arrive.
Benefits of on-site support
On-site service, as it was quite common before the massive wave of service desk outsourcing, ensures that support staff are available exactly when they are needed. This reduces downtime, increases productivity, and also enables users to be coached. In addition, this model aims at more flexibility for the employees; for example, the functionality of their then restore when the employee does not need to access it because he is attending a meeting.
Helping People Help Themselves
In addition to troubleshooting, the on-site service desk employees are also responsible for preventive measures. Well-trained staff can give valuable recommendations on how to use devices, applications, and software. In some cases, this coaching even enables users to solve standard problems themselves.
On-site support points – or “concierge services” – can also save money. One example of this is the service desk that Unisys operates on site at a large software company. 80 percent of their-Fixed problems in less than three hours; previously the time required for this averaged eight hours. The lower response time (“Time-to-Respond” or TTR) means that employees gain around five hours per request. Every year almost 5000 inquiries are made at one location of the customer alone. With the help of the concierge service, about 25,000 productive hours can be recovered, which represents the equivalent of six million dollars.
Figures like these show that savings are often made at the wrong end. Alleged savings are creating inefficiencies that are reflected elsewhere. Concierge services make the workforce more productive and create higher returns in the medium to long term.
It is About More Than Just Devices
In addition to traditional end-user support models, the shift-left approach is also popular in many organizations. Here the employees are equipped with tools to help themselves. However, many of them quickly reach their limits because they simply do not have the necessary technical skills. Therefore, it makes sense to analyze user groups and divide them into groups with logical similarities or similar user profiles. Only then can an optimal mix of applications, services, company data and hardware be identified and made available to each group.
When a concierge model is introduced, experience has shown that there are initially many inquiries from employees. Because many problems have been postponed for a long time or there has not yet been a solution. This also shows that the employees apparently their- Prefer on-site support – and thus the problems can be resolved more quickly.
Some companies have recognized this. Instead of short-term savings, they are again focusing on long-term planning. This shifts the focus to investing in efficiency and growth; in the longer term, the financial benefits of concierge services can run into the millions.
Finally, user support is about more than just providing adequate support for the end devices. The users should be able to be as creative, flexible, and efficient as possible. It pays to be innovative here – according to the motto: Shift left, but doitright. (qua)
