What is an IT Service Desk?
The IT Service Desk Managed Services must be an essential point of engagement between users and an IT department. According to ITIL, the service center is the only point of contact (SPOC) between the service provider (IT) and the users for daily activities. A typical call center handles incidents (outages) and service requests (everyday service-related tasks) and manages the user’s communication for scheduled interruptions and service changes. A call center is usually large and designed to provide you with a unique location for all your computing needs. Thus, the service center plays a crucial role in facilitating the integration of business processes into the broader technology ecosystem and service management infrastructure.
- What is the Service Desk?
- Service Desk vs. Help Desk
- Benefits
- Best Practices
- Service Desk Software
Where did IT Service Desks Come From?
The IT helpdesk function was born in the late 1980s as a support capability to fix IT issues. It was a highly technical function focused on the technology rather than the end-users. Early IT helpdesks didn’t have the concept of SLAs or time-based targets for resolving issues. It wasn’t until ITIL came onto the scene in the 1990s, capturing IT Service Management best practices, that the concept of the user-centric IT service desk began to emerge. The service desk was seen as an essential part of “managing IT like a service.”
In the mid-1990s, research by Iain Middleton of Robert Gordon University found that value was derived not only from a reactive response to user issues but also from the help desk’s unique position of communicating daily with numerous customers or employees. Information gained about technical problems, user preferences, and what satisfies users can be valuable for the planning and development work of IT services.
With the publishing of ITIL v2 in 2001, the Service Desk function and its role in incident and request management became one of the core components of IT service operations in many organizations. As the decade continued, globalization, along with increasing pressures to reduce IT operational costs led many organizations to centralize IT Service Desk functions with many engaging 3rd party support partners to staff them. Outsourcing of IT service desk functions led to further standardization of processes and growth in the market for help desk ticketing software.
Modern technology trends including cloud-services, the widespread use of 3rd party components in the IT ecosystem and advancements in discovery and monitoring capabilities have led to the integration of stand-alone helpdesk ticketing systems into more comprehensive ITSM platforms that serve as the hub of operations not just for the IT service desk, but the entire IT function. As companies seek to modernize further and pursue Digital Transformation initiatives, the IT Service Desk is evolving again to become more business-centric, with greater awareness of business processes and data – in many cases becoming an integrated part of companies’ business operations.
What is the difference between an IT service center and a help desk or call center?
Companies often use the terms “call center,” “help desk” and “service center” interchangeably, which can confuse. ITIL refers to call centers and helplines, as well as other types of services. With ITIL having a focused perspective and focusing on IT, it makes sense. For many companies, the definition of ITIL is not aligned with business practices, which makes the distinction much more complicated. The following are technical support and call center resources to help create a contrast with an IT service center.
What does an IT service center do?
The primary function of an IT service center is to serve as the central point of contact for incident monitoring/control, responding to user requests/questions, and providing a channel of communication between other service management functions and the community. Services. Users In addition to these basic features, the service desk often plays an active role in capturing change requests, maintaining third-party support agreements, managing software licenses, and assisting with problem management.
In some organizations, the service desk is integrated with other business processes, such as:
Incorporation of employees
Acquisition integration
Management of data access
Boarding / Landing / Partner Provider
Management of reports and metrics.
Business continuity management
Infrastructure / Service Monitoring
