IT Help Desk Scope PDF

GOOD SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENT The services that a support group delivers and when and how they will be delivered, are one way to measure help desk performance. These agreements also explain the way that customers can escalate issues to managers if performance is not acceptable. To help meet customer...

GOOD SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENT The services that a support group delivers and when and how they will be delivered, are one way to measure help desk performance. These agreements also explain the way that customers can escalate issues to managers if performance is not acceptable. To help meet customer expectations, support groups attempt to prioritize incoming work into levels of service. Service Description: Clearly outline the services provided by the Help Desk, including support for hardware, software, network issues, and any other IT-related services. Scope of Services: Define what is included and excluded in the Help Desk services to avoid misunderstandings. Change Management: Describe the process for making changes to the SLA, including how changes will be communicated and agreed upon by both parties. Penalties and Remedies: Detail any penalties or remedies for failing to meet SLA commitments, such as service credits or other compensatory measures. DEFINE PROBLEM MANAGEMENT PROCESS Problem management is the process of tracking and resolving problems that are reported to a support group. Its primary goal is to minimize the impact of problems on the organization by preventing future incidents and improving the overall quality of IT services. The problem management process defines procedures to ensure that staff members collect problem details, work on outstanding problems regularly, as sign additional support staff when needed, and provide status updates to the customer. Minimize Impact: Reduce the adverse effects of problems on business operations and user experience. Root Cause Analysis: Determine the underlying causes of recurring incidents to address them effectively. Service Improvement: Enhance the quality and reliability of IT services through continuous analysis and resolution of problems. Incident Prevention: Implement measures to prevent future incidents related to identified problems. THE COMMON DATA SOURCES User feedback and Surveys Ticketing System Knowledge Base Collaborating Tools THE MOST COMMON EXTERNAL SUPPORT PROCESSES Customer management: Customer management is the process of collecting customer information and building a relationship between a company and its customers. External support staff collects customer information because companies want to know who owns their products, what options or pieces of the products they use, and the products that cause problems. This information may help companies sell more related products to their customers. Software change management: Software change management is the process computer software developers use to prioritize, manage, and control software changes, especially when many programmers are working on many computer programs. Support staff collects problem details during problem management. They turn this information into a software change request and forward it to a programming group. Unfortunately, software changes may take even longer to research and resolve than other technological problems. Increases the number of calls to the support group. Relationship management: Relationship management is the process of collecting and managing customer information to improve customer loyalty. Support groups frequently survey their customers, either randomly or regularly, to determine the customers’ level of satisfaction with support group services. Some surveys are also automatically scheduled for very severe types of problems. At other times, collecting formal feedback from all customers once or twice a year may help a company understand what services it should add. FEATURES OF CALLING LOGGING SOFTWARE Reference number: A unique code that identifies a specific record in a database, for each call logged. If a problem is resolved while the caller is still on the telephone, it is not necessary to know the call record’s reference number. However, problems that take days or weeks to resolve are assigned a unique reference number to ensure that the customer and support staff are discussing the same problem during each conversation. Be aware that support staff cannot rely upon callers to have their reference number available each time they call back about a problem. Caller Information: Caller information includes facts about the customer at the time a problem or question is reported. The types and amount of caller information a support group maintains within the support software depend upon the type of problem and whether the customer has a question, problem, or request. If the problem or question cannot be answered while the caller is on the telephone, the support staff must collect the caller’s name and telephone number so they can contact the caller if they need more information or when they have a solution. Resolution: A resolution field contains information on how a problem is solved or can be prevented. Support staff can use the resolution when responding to calls by other computer users with the same problem. Instead of explaining what was done to fix the problem, they enter “fixed” in the resolution field or leave it blank. This wastes time with future calls because support staff must solve the same problem every time it is reported. Documenting resolutions allows staff to share their experiences and skills. TYPES OF SUPPORT ENVIRONMENT The support environment is the collection of customers that support assistance, the tasks customers need or want to complete. Internal Support Group: A department within a company that responds to questions, problems, or requests from company employees. They are also called “help desks”. Internal support staff answers questions and solve problems about personal computers, printers, telephones, fax machines, and other office equipment. Troubleshoot software problems and identify hardware problems. Refer callers to other support centers. Distribute information to employees about system availability. External Support Group: An external support group addresses questions, problems, or requests from customers who buy their company’s products and services. They may be called “customer support”. Troubleshot computer hardware or software problems and problems with other electronic equipment. Decide when broken equipment needs to be returned for repair or replacement. Provide additional information about a product or service. THE COMMON SYSTEM COMPONENTS Systems management is the process of protecting the integrity of business applications, the company’s data, and the technology assets that connect those applications and data. A system can be one application on a single server or LAN that connects dozens of PCs for a workgroup, or it can include several applications on one or more computers that must work together. Network management Server management Security management Desktop management HELP DESK FOCUS AREAS Knowledge Management Training and Development Technical Expertise Change Management