Software for running helpdesks is becoming more
accessible by any type of user and can be installed on laptops and
mobile devices to help remote workers
It used to be called the helpdesk; now it is IT service
management, or ITSM. Well, refuse collectors used to be called
binmen, but the lorry and the uniform still look pretty similar.
And so it is with ITSM. Or it has been.
In what was an area of networking software largely stuck in the
mainframe era, hints of a change first appeared last year, with two
traditional UK software houses - Richmond Systems and Sunrise -
introducing ITSM products with at least a hint of internet
awareness about them and an admission that not every helpdesk staff
member is a computer guru.
Richmond Systems' Supportdesk offers a choice between a
Windows-based or browser interface. In either format, it is a
comprehensive helpdesk product that gets out of techie mode and
into something meaningful for any level of user.
You can create any number of users with different levels of
capability, using its "skills matrix". After that, calls are colour
coded (green and red) against the user to show whether or not they
are qualified to take a particular call. E-mails and SMS messages
can be used to notify a fault. Problem resolution can also be set
against a service level agreement target.
With these features, you can define precisely how a problem is
escalated. On opening requests - creating a "trouble ticket" - to
resolve a problem, a number of other variable parameters can be
set, such as category, status and priority, as well as who logged
the call, so everything is traceable - vital for problem
resolution.
Supportdesk integrates with other Richmond products, notably the
Deltalert change management module, with which it has a direct
link, so you can see at any point whether or not a network device
in the Supportdesk database is alive, courtesy of a colour-coded
status alert. Switching to Deltalert can then provide you with more
details about the problem.
A step in the right direction, then. But it was Sunrise's
Sostenuto ITSM that really announced the arrival of a new breed of
helpdesk product: a pure, browser-based application. Revised in
v2.0, Sunrise has made the product web services-based, so elements
such as integrated e-mail have now fully embraced the internet.
This, in turn, creates a far more flexible range of deployment
options, as well as a single interface for all users and no
overhead on the users' PCs.
Until now, helpdesk systems tended to be rigid in format, so the
business had to apply itself to the software rather than the other
way round. With Sostenuto, companies can configure the software to
fit their business, such as controlling screen navigation via the
workflows within the company, creating rules that react to real
events and programmed schedules and lifecycles that model the
services within an organisation.
An integrated business rules engine enables Sostenuto to react
to events and programme schedules so field updates, operations and
notifications can be performed automatically.
This flexibility means users can go beyond traditional helpdesk
routines and integrate their ITSM firmly within their
businesses.
One Sostenuto user, Aftab Hussain of the Schools ICT Unit (Sict)
for Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council, which supplies IT support
to all 130 local schools, highlighted how the product goes beyond
the standard remit of helpdesk systems. Sict has been able to
create modules that manage non-ITSM functions including contracts,
quotations, ordering and purchasing.
"We want to make it easy for the schools, the local education
authority or our own support staff to get their hands on the right
information quickly and in any location," he says.
Using its Chameleon interface, Sostenuto is PDA/Pocket
PC-friendly, so Sict now has mobile support staff logging on and
updating incidents while on the move or from home.
The centralised, multi-function approach to IT services
pioneered by Sict has already caught the eye of others. The
technical teams based at each school are looking closely at
Sostenuto's impact, as are Rochdale and Lancashire education
authorities, keen to replicate the cost savings and efficiency
improvements already realised in Bolton.
This revolution in helpdesk technology can perform as an
enabler, allowing users to work from home and call on support as if
they were in the office. Better still, some self-help is available
as a first line of support.
Noel Bruton is an independent consultant who advises companies
about improving their helpdesk and IT user support services. He
says the time taken to resolve a call is from about four minutes
for 60% of all incoming requests for help, but can increase to an
average of 37 minutes of actual effort if there is no immediate
resolution.
That time may be spread across days of an open helpdesk call, so
a single call could cost a company £20. Multiply that by several
thousand users and the costs look alarming.
With this in mind, UK start-up NewNetTechnology.co.uk has
introduced Remote Angel, an automated helpdesk assistant aimed at
eliminating many of those calls and their costs.
Remote Angel checks the PC's configuration and monitors any
changes that might affect the system performance. This extends to
networked peripherals such as an ADSL router, so if a user
experiences problems establishing or maintaining contact with the
internet, Remote Angel can identify the problem and inform them in
plain English, via a pop-up window bearing simple, non-technical
advice. Beneath the surface, detailed management information is
being collected in case the helpdesk has to get involved, but this
would be a last resort.
Phil Snell, chief technical officer of NewNetTechnology.co.uk,
says: "The problem to date has been too many phone calls from home
workers into the helpdesk whenever the slightest problem arises. So
we have designed Remote Angel to provide on-site, first-level
support, in a fully automated form, on the user's PC or
laptop."
Any tools that realistically enable homeworking will be hailed
as good news by people seeking to improve their work-life balance,
and employers that take a responsible attitude to managing their
remote workers' IT. Putting ITSM onto a mobile platform means the
traditional fixed helpdesk may become a thing of the past, along
with the fixed costs attached to running it. The technology is now
in place. It just requires a leap of faith by the user community,
which could be the hard part.
Broadband-Testing Labs
Steve Broadhead runs Broadband-Testing Labs, a spin-off from
independent test organisation the NSS Group.
Author of DSL and Metro Ethernet reports, Broadhead is now
involved in several projects in the broadband, mobile, network
management and wireless Lan areas, from product testing to service
design and implementation.
www.broadband-testing.co.uk