INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The home user too often has the obligation of doing their own tech support, having to fiddle with the cables and drivers to keep their
computer or printer working, when it goes on the fritz
While this is annoying to be disrupted to many folks at home, in the enterprise setting, this downtime directly impacts the bottom line
After all, no company wants their office worker spending the day getting their desktop working, when they should be getting their actual
work done.Therefore, a mature organization will have a dedicated folks to fix, as well as maintain the equipment for the workers for the
Some groups choose to handle this in-house, via a dedicated IT Department
However, this can have its own pitfalls, and increasingly there is a larger variety of technology to support, from desktop computers, to
mobile platforms including smartphones, and not to mention the perennial printer jams
enterprise technology.Advantages of ITSMITSM goes beyond what a handful of IT workers can typically do at an organization
By outsourcing the tech support there are significant advantages, including:Efficiency - As ITSM does the support day in and out, they can
have a higher level of expertise in the frequently encountered issues of enterprise IT
Therefore, fixes are faster, downtime is minimized, and overall they are more efficient at it.Transparency - With ITSM able to provide clear
reports on their usage, and costs more regular and contained, it is simpler to be able to track and see the return on investment
(ROI).Improved insight - Service requests are better tracked through a central database via ITSM, rather than individual emails and phone
These can be more easily tracked, and aggregated to better understand the ongoing needs of the organization.Self-service options - With a
robust ITSM interface, options for self-service exist
These include directions on demand for common tasks such as replacing a printer cartridge specific to the model in use at the organization,
or integrated chatbots.Predictable costs - Rather than supporting an IT dept, with the cycle of hires and fires, with salaries and benefits,
this can be replaced with a far more predictable ITSM service contract, and more budget friendly regular costs.Disadvantages of ITSMOn the
downside, ITSM is not for every organization as there are some drawbacks
Before plunging full ahead, include these issues in the calculus:Loss of control - Rather than having full control of the IT department
within the organization, they are now outsourced.Institution specific - While an ITSM will come up with best practices, and apply them,
For example, the McLaren supercar needs a two decade old laptop, the Compaq 5280 LTE, in order to service the automobile, and nobody is
going to be able to support hardware than old.Data control - There are times when total control over the data and activities of the
employees will be critical, that it will be less preferable to outsource the IT, and keep it in-house.Hybrid approach to ITSMGiven the
pluses, and minuses of ITSM, some organizations adopt a hybrid approach, with some day to day activities given to ITSM, such as Windows
updates, while retaining more mission critical work by the in-house IT Department
to take on new projects, to be able to solve larger problems, rather than use more expensive, in-house expertise to deal with the mundane
The overall goal is to increase efficiency, and better deploying the resources.A closely allied, and integrated aspect of ITSM is the
Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL)
This gets published as a set of five core volumes, which are not specific to any individual industry, but rather have the goal of well done
ITIL details best practices and procedures, throughout the ITSM lifecycle stages which include:Service strategyService designService
transitionService operationContinual service improvementChoosing an ITSM vendorThere are plenty of options out there for an ITSM vendor, and
be sure to do your research, comparing options, costs, and the tiers of plans to find the best solution for your business
By way of example of an ITSM, we look at SysAid, that integrates all the essential tools into one product, including ITSM, Help Desk,
Service Desk, and IT Asset Management
They count as their customers such organizations that are household names such as Coca-Cola, Bacardi, Johns Hopkins University and Fuji
Xerox, so clearly they are doing something right.SysAid is an ITSM solution, that also claims to be ITIL aligned
The features are designed to streamline processes such as being able to log incidents, and track them through to resolution
There is also a self-service portal that allows end users to enter support requests, have access to chat, have access to knowledge articles
to resolve the incident on their own, and be able to track incidents directly for resolution
components, and their relationships between users and devices, and then be able to predict the impact of a change of a component, rather
than having a downtime disaster; the asset data does not even need to be manually entered, and can come via network discovery
software.SysAid can also assist with the more mundane, but quite common issue of a password reset for a lost password
In one analysis at a university, a simple password reset required Help Desk assistance 25% of the time, despite the ability of alternative
SysAid offers their Self-Service Password Reset (SSPR), which has the potential to reduce the calls to the help desk, while reducing
It also reinforces best practices in terms of password complexity and length, as well as maintaining security as temporary passwords can be
sent to a secondary email account, or via SMS.Be sure to check out our Best ITSM Tools of 2018 for some great choices for your
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