The ITSMguy is back from a little break and a trip to the UK to attend the recent Service Desk institute 11 show where the hot topic was service request management.  As more and more companies are looking at upgrading their current service desk software, one of the first areas of focus is how can I serve my customers better, deflect some of the calls and emails we get and start the move towards offering services vs. reacting to fires.

So the easiest way is to put a service request portal in place that provides end users with a nice, quick and easy way to first search for information to potentially self solve the problem (like how to add toner to the printer or better yet, where the toner is stored… happened just yesterday), handle high volume items such as password resets and if then necessary submit a request.  are you being served.jpg

And one of the great things about having a request portal in place is that you can then expand it to include other service offerings from other groups other than IT. So in addition to submitting a ticket for an IT related request the end user can request information from HR, from facilities, even from marketing.  All requests now will have an automated workflow for acceptance, approvals, assignment, tracking, feedback and ultimately a survey to measure client satisfaction.  For this is the true measure of success beyond the standard metrics of time to restore. 

As you get a handle on the basic offerings, in parallel you can be developing a higher level service strategy and embark on building out a true service catalog where you establish SLAs and costs to your services. 

The first step is easy and having a vision of the end result will allow you to move quickly while also continue to evolve and optimize your current service desk solution

By: ITSM Guy