Info-Tech Research Group Unveils New Blueprint to Help Service Desks Overcome Obstacles and Boost End-User Satisfaction

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May 04, 2023, 17:25 ET

The IT research and advisory firm's new resource suggests prioritizing visibility and a dedicated focus on service recovery to improve end users' satisfaction with the service desk.

TORONTO, May 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - With customer expectations continuing to shift, service desks are under pressure to adapt and meet the increasing demands of their organizations. As a result, service desks are increasingly receiving tickets from end users reporting issues with new applications. The service desk faces several challenges in effectively resolving these issues, however, including a lack of strategy and planning for transitioning support processes to the service desk. To help service desks improve processes, Info-Tech Research Group has published a new research-backed blueprint, Transition Projects Over to the Service Desk.

Info-Tech Research Group’s "Transition Projects Over to the Service Desk" blueprint offers a structured approach for organizations to improve service levels and streamline project lifecycles. (CNW Group/Info-Tech Research Group)

The new industry blueprint was designed to provide service desk teams with the insights to effectively prioritize and categorize new services for improved service levels and end-user satisfaction. This resource is particularly timely as the current communication between project delivery teams and service desks is often ineffective, resulting in an inefficient knowledge transfer to the service desk.

"Without a project transitioning plan, product support will be very ad hoc," says Mahmoud Ramin, senior research analyst at Info-Tech Research Group. "A service desk is not trained to support the recently released product, and developers are busy with other projects. Therefore, it is essential to prioritize the design of a transition plan to streamline service support and avoid any potential issues."

Info-Tech's research shows that while effective knowledge transfer to the service desk is essential for ensuring successful project delivery, there are several obstacles that can hinder this process. These obstacles include challenges in building the right relationship between the service desk and project teams, leading to a tedious support transition, and siloed service desks with loosely defined tasks and activities that result in inconsistent service delivery, negatively impacting customer satisfaction. Another obstacle is the lack of training on new services, leading to unnecessary ticket escalations and delayed service delivery.

The firm's blueprint recommends creating touchpoints between the service desk and the project delivery team to improve service delivery at strategic points in the project lifecycle. Developing a checklist of action items and including a training plan for service desk agents are also critical components of the strategy and can help ensure efficient and effective service support is delivered following the product launch, enhancing the overall service delivery experience.

"Newly developed or improved services should be transitioned appropriately to the support team," explains Ramin. "Service transitioning should include planning, coordination, and communication. This helps project leaders and support teams ensure that affected end users receive timely and efficient customer support upon a service failure."

Info-Tech advises that organizations involve their service desk teams in project lifecycles to optimize service-level improvement. To facilitate this, the firm has also released a new framework that can help organizations streamline project lifecycles and achieve success in improving service levels:

Requirements Gathering Activity: Understand the necessary resources and their requirements.
Design Activity: Empower the resource skills and capabilities to enhance service support.
Development Activity: Build a collaboration opportunity between the service desk and the project team to provide the service desk with a project description and to update the configuration management database (CMDB) and service catalog accordingly.
Testing Activity: Develop proper documentation and training, including knowledgebase articles, known errors, and workarounds.
Deployment & Maintenance/Change Activity: Assist the project team with identifying change requirements and maintenance schedules to streamline service support following the product release.

The new resource highlights that a lack of formal transition processes following project delivery can negatively impact customer satisfaction and project success. There is also emphasis on the importance of visibility and commitment to service recovery in improving end-user satisfaction with the service desk.

For a comprehensive view of the insights and practical guidance from the firm on how to effectively transfer knowledge to the service desk, download the complete Transition Projects Over to the Service Desk blueprint.

For more information about Info-Tech Research Group or to access the latest research, visit infotech.com and connect via LinkedIn and Twitter.

About Info-Tech Research Group

Info-Tech Research Group is one of the world's leading information technology research and advisory firms, proudly serving over 30,000 IT professionals. The company produces unbiased and highly relevant research to help CIOs and IT leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. For 25 years, Info-Tech has partnered closely with IT teams to provide them with everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.

Media professionals can register for unrestricted access to research across IT, HR, and software and over 200 industry analysts through the firm's Media Insiders program. To gain access, contact [email protected].

SOURCE Info-Tech Research Group