ITM301 CA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

ITM301 CA - Essay Example Following is the list and brief description of important strategies that a company should follow in order to ensure that its IT users get adequate technical support: 1. Consolidation of the help-function: It is a good strategy to keep your help-desk system consolidated in one geographical location in order to eliminate the misunderstandings over â€Å"who to call† and to decrease the requests of support staff from direct approaches. A consolidated help desk boosts improved communication between IT specialists that were previously working in distinct groups. It also helps in developing economies of scale in terms of equipment and data sharing. 2. Use of help-desk software or IT tools: There are a number of software packages (over 200 in the market) available that have customizable solutions for creating knowledge bases, expert systems, problem management and change management. Also, these IT tools are now supported with databases of problems already configured in the set-up CD- ROMs, which can be easily integrated into help-desk software. Examples of such help-desk software include LiveTime Support, WonderDesk SQL, Numara Footprints, IncidentMonitorâ„ ¢, Simple Help Desk etc. ... 3. Develop standard procedures for help-call cycle and communication: In order to have a good and competent technical support system, it is important that the organization defines standards both internally in terms of procedures and training of help desk staff via ISO 9000; and externally via the establishment of service-level agreements. 4. Performance Management: The performance of help-desk personnel should be measured and analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative data such as Call statistics (Call volume, call capture, call length, waiting times, resolution times, number of calls closed), Customer Feedback (by user surveys or random follow-up calls), Mystery caller (Tester questions posed anonymously and evaluated) and Benchmarking (by a consultancy company). 5. Encouraging Professionalism: To gauge and improve professionalism amongst the help-desk staff, it is important that they understand the need and value of their work. They should more than just â€Å"technical peop le† and be treated as any other employee of the company. Hence, the organization should invest in proper training, certification or national vocational qualification developed specifically for support staff. 6. Outsourcing: In cases of large multi-national corporations, it is often times cost-effective to outsource the help-desk division to another geography. The experience of some cases shows that, while there may be advantages to outsourcing, such a strategy must be used upon proper consideration and with care. Yes, the help desk or technical support personnel is a relevant case of socio-technical system where the usual scenario of work between the client (technology user), the help-desk personnel (IT user/problem solver) and