In the present global economic slowdown every internal entity within an organization has to operate with tight budgets and need to understand the financial constraints that they are operating under. The internal Helpdesk entity must think of itself as a business unit. How do you make the Helpdesk unit within an organization cost-effective? One of the most effective strategies is to embark on a proactive problem resolution exercise. For instance, all data related to past incidents and their fixes can be analyzed to identify the most common root causes and eliminate incidents before they actually happen and disrupt business activities.
The following points help service managers take the Helpdesk activity to the next level:
- Manage the Helpdesk entity as a business unit
- Align the Helpdesk objectives with the business goals
- Inform the teams what the organization expects from them
- Make sure that all deliverables are met
- Produce clear, concise and coherent reports which relate to the business function
- Adhere to agreed service levels
- Perform regular audit and compliance activities needed to meet business or regulatory requirements
- Provide training to all staff and document all activities and processes performed within the Helpdesk entity
Remember, that gone are the days when a service manager used to state that an internal Helpdesk function is an added value to the organization without attesting its ROI. Although, Helpdesk has plenty of intangible elements it can still has a valid business case and convince senior management that it is a necessary business function.