Drive Technology Adoption

The project is over. The new technology is implemented. Now how do we make sure it's used?

Executive Summary

Your Challenge

Technology endlessly changes and evolves. Similarly, business directions and requirements change, and these changes need to be supported by technology. Improved functionality and evolvement of systems, along with systems becoming redundant or unsupported, means that maintaining a static environment is virtually impossible.

Enormous amounts of IT budget are allocated to these changes each year. But once the project is over, how do you manage that change and ensure the systems are being used? Planning your technology adoption is vital.

Common Obstacles

The obstacles to technology adoption can be many and various, covering a broad spectrum of areas including:

• Reluctance of staff to let go of familiar processes and procedures.
• Perception that any change will add complications but not add value, thereby hampering enthusiasm to adopt.
• Lack of awareness of the change.
• General fear of change.
• Lack of personal confidence.

Info-Tech’s Approach

Start by identifying, understanding, categorizing, and defining barriers and put in place a system to:

• Gain an early understanding of the different types of users and their attitudes to technology and change.
• Review different adoption techniques and analyze which are most appropriate for your user types.
• Use a “Follow the Leader” approach, by having technical enthusiasts and champions to show the way.
• Prevent access to old systems and methods.

Info-Tech Insight

For every IT initiative that will be directly used by users, consider the question, “Will the final product be readily accepted by those who are going to use it?” There is no point in implementing a product that no one is prepared to use. Gaining user acceptance is much more than just ticking a box in a project plan once UAT is complete.

The way change should happen is clear

Prosci specializes in change. Its ADKAR model outlines what’s required to bring individuals along on the change journey.

AWARENESS

• Awareness means more than just knowing there’s a change occurring,
• it means understanding the need for change.

DESIRE

• To achieve desire, there needs to be motivation, whether it be from an
• organizational perspective or personal.

KNOWLEDGE

• Both knowledge on how to train during the transition and knowledge
• on being effective after the change are required. This can only be done
• once awareness and desire are achieved.

ABILITY

• Ability is not knowledge. Knowing how to do something doesn’t necessarily translate to having the skills to do it.

REINFORCEMENT

• Without reinforcement there can be a tendency to revert.

When things go wrong

New technology is not being used

The project is seen as complete. Significant investments have been made, but the technology either isn’t being used or is only partially in use.

Duplicate systems are now in place

Even worse. The failure to adopt the new technology by some means that the older systems are still being used. There are now two systems that fail to interact; business processes are being affected and there is widespread confusion.

Benefits not being realized

Benefits promised to the business are not being realized. Projected revenue increases, savings, or efficiencies that were forecast are now starting to be seen as under threat.

There is project blowout

The project should be over, but the fact that the technology is not being used has created a perception that the implementation is not complete and the project needs to continue.

Info-Tech Insight

People are far more complicated than any technology being implemented.

Consider carefully your approach.

Why does it happen?

POOR COMMUNICATION

There isn’t always adequate communications about what’s changing in the workplace.

FEAR

Fear of change is natural and often not rational. Whether the fear is about job loss or not being able to adapt to change; it needs to be managed.

TRAINING

Training can be insufficient or ineffective and when this happens people are left feeling like they don’t have the skills to make the change.

LACK OF EXECUTIVE SUPPORT

A lack of executive support for change means the change is seen as less important.

CONFLICTING VIEWS OF CHANGE

The excitement the project team and business feels about the change is not necessarily shared throughout the business. Some may just see the change as more work, changing something that already works, or a reason to reduce staff levels.

LACK OF CONFIDENCE

Whether it’s a lack of confidence generally with technology or concern about a new or changing tool, a lack of confidence is a huge barrier.

BUDGETARY CONSTRAINTS

There is a cost with managing people during a change, and budget must be allocated to allow for it.

Communications

Info-Tech Insight

Since Sigmund Freud there has been endless work to understand people’s minds.
Don’t underestimate the effect that people’s reactions to change can have on your project.

Communication plans are designed to properly manage change. Managing change can be easier when we have the right tools and information to adapt to new circumstances. The Kubler-Ross change curve illustrates the expected steps on the path to acceptance of change. With the proper communications strategy, each can be managed appropriately

Analyst perspective

Paul Binns – Principal Research Advisor, Info-Tech

The rapidly changing technology landscape in our world has always meant that an enthusiasm or willingness to embrace change has been advantageous. Many of us have seen how the older generation has struggled with that change and been left behind.

In the work environment, the events of the past two years have increased pressure on those slow to adopt as in many cases they couldn't perform their tasks without new tools. Previously, for example, those who may have been reluctant to use digital tools and would instead opt for face-to-face meetings, suddenly found themselves without an option as physical meetings were no longer possible. Similarly, digital collaboration tools that had been present in the market for some time were suddenly more heavily used so everyone could continue to work together in the “online world.”

At this stage no one is sure what the "new normal" will be in the post-pandemic world, but what has been clearly revealed is that people are prepared to change given the right motivation.

“Technology adoption is about the psychology of change.”
Bryan Tutor – Executive Counsellor, Info-Tech

The Fix

• Categorize Users
  • Gain a clear understanding of your user types.
• Identify Adoption Techniques
  • Understand the range of different tools and techniques available.
• Match Techniques To Categories
  • Determine the most appropriate techniques for your user base.
• Follow-the-Leader
  • Be aware of the different skills in your environment and use them to your advantage.
• Refresh, Retrain, Restrain
  • Prevent reversion to old methods or systems.

Categories

Client-Driven Insight

Consider your staff and industry when looking at the Everett Rogers curve. A technology organization may have less laggards than a traditional manufacturing one.

In Everett Rogers’ book Diffusion of Innovations 5th Edition (Free Press, 2005), Rogers places adopters of innovations into five different categories.

Category 1: The Innovator – 2.5%

Innovators are technology enthusiasts. Technology is a central interest of theirs, either at work, at home, or both. They tend to aggressively pursue new products and technologies and are likely to want to be involved in any new technology being implemented as soon as possible, even before the product is ready to be released.

For people like this the completeness of the new technology or the performance can often be secondary because of their drive to get new technology as soon as possible. They are trailblazers and are not only happy to step out of their comfort zone but also actively seek to do so.

Although they only make up about 2.5% of the total, their enthusiasm, and hopefully endorsement of new technology, offers reassurance to others.

Info-Tech Insight

Innovators can be very useful for testing before implementation but are generally more interested in the technology itself rather than the value the technology will add to the business.

Category 2: The Early Adopter – 13.5%

Whereas Innovators tend to be technologists, Early Adopters are visionaries that like to be on board with new technologies very early in the lifecycle. Because they are visionaries, they tend to be looking for more than just improvement – a revolutionary breakthrough. They are prepared to take high risks to try something new and although they are very demanding as far as product features and performance are concerned, they are less price-sensitive than other groups.

Early Adopters are often motivated by personal success. They are willing to serve as references to other adopter groups. They are influential, seen as trendsetters, and are of utmost importance to win over.

Info-Tech Insight

Early adopters are key. Their enthusiasm for technology, personal drive, and influence make them a powerful tool in driving adoption.

Category 3: The Early Majority – 34%

This group is comprised of pragmatists. The first two adopter groups belong to early adoption, but for a product to be fully adopted the mainstream needs to be won over, starting with the Early Majority.

The Early Majority share some of the Early Adopters’ ability to relate to technology. However, they are driven by a strong sense of practicality. They know that new products aren’t always successful. Consequently, they are content to wait and see how others fare with the technology before investing in it themselves. They want to see well-established references before adopting the technology and to be shown there is no risk.

Because there are so many people in this segment (roughly 34%), winning these people over is essential for the technology to be adopted.

Category 4: The Late Majority – 34%

The Late Majority are the conservatives. This group is generally about the same size as the Early Majority. They share all the concerns of the Early Majority; however, they are more resistant to change and are more content with the status quo than eager to progress to new technology. People in the Early Majority group are comfortable with their ability to handle new technology. People in the Late Majority are not.

As a result, these conservatives prefer to wait until something has become an established standard and take part only at the end of the adoption period. Even then, they want to see lots of support and ensure that there is proof there is no risk in them adopting it.

Category 5: The Laggard – 16%

This group is made up of the skeptics and constitutes 16% of the total. These people want nothing to do with new technology and are generally only content with technological change when it is invisible to them. These skeptics have a strong belief that disruptive new technologies rarely deliver the value promised and are almost always worried about unintended consequences.

Laggards need to be dealt with carefully as their criticism can be damaging and without them it is difficult for a product to become fully adopted. Unfortunately, the effort required for this to happen is often disproportional to the size of the group.

Info-Tech Insight

People aren’t born laggards. Technology projects that have failed in the past can alter people’s attitudes, especially if there was a negative impact on their working lives. Use empathy when dealing with people and respect their hesitancy.

Adoption Techniques

Different strokes for different folks

Technology adoption is all about people; and therefore, the techniques required to drive that adoption need to be people oriented.

The following techniques are carefully selected with the intention of being impactful on all the different categories described previously.

There are multitudes of different methods to get people to adopt new technology, but which is the most appropriate for your situation? Generally, it’s a combination.

Train the Trainer

Use your staff to get your message across.

Abstract

This technique involves training key members of staff so they can train others. It is important that those selected are strong communicators, are well respected by others, and have some expertise in technology.

Advantages

• Cost effective
• Efficient dissemination of information
• Trusted internal staff

Disadvantages

• Chance of inconsistent delivery
• May feel threatened by co-worker

Best to worst candidates

• Early Adopter: Influential trendsetters. Others receptive of their lead.
• Innovator: Comfortable and enthusiastic about new technology, but not necessarily a trainer.
• Early Majority: Tendency to take others’ lead.
• Late Majority: Risk averse and tend to follow others, only after success is proven.
• Laggard: Last to adopt usually. Unsuitable as Trainer.

Marketing

Marketing should be continuous throughout the change to encourage familiarity.

Abstract

Communication is key as people are comfortable with what is familiar to them. Marketing is an important tool for convincing adopters that the new product is mainstream, widely adopted and successful.

Advantages

• Wide communication
• Makes technology appear commonplace
• Promotes effectiveness of new technology

Disadvantages

• Reliant on staff interest
• Can be expensive

Best to worst candidates

• Early Majority: Pragmatic about change. Marketing is effective encouragement.
• Early Adopter: Receptive and interested in change. Marketing is supplemental.
• Innovator: Actively seeks new technology. Does not need extensive encouragement.
• Late Majority: Requires more personal approach.
• Laggard: Resistant to most enticements.

One-on-One

Tailored for individuals.

Abstract

One-on-one training sometimes is the only way to train if you have staff with special needs or who are performing unique tasks.
It is generally highly effective but inefficient as it only addresses individuals.

Advantages

• Tailored to specific need(s)
• Only relevant information addressed
• Low stress environment

Disadvantages

• Expensive
• Possibility of inconsistent delivery
• Personal conflict may render it ineffective

Best to worst candidates

• Laggard: Encouragement and cajoling can be used during training.
• Late Majority: Proof can be given of effectiveness of new product.
• Early Majority: Effective, but not cost efficient.
• Early Adopter: Effective, but not cost-efficient.
• Innovator: Effective, but not cost-efficient.

Group Training

Similar roles, attitudes, and abilities.

Abstract

Group training is one of the most common methods to start people on their journey toward new technology. Its effectiveness with the two largest groups, Early Majority and Late Majority, make it a primary tool in technology adoption.

Advantages

• Cost effective
• Time effective
• Good for team building

Disadvantages

• Single method may not work for all
• Difficult to create single learning pace for all

Best to worst candidates

• Early Majority: Receptive. The formality of group training will give confidence.
• Late Majority: Conservative attitude will be receptive to traditional training.
• Early Adopter: Receptive and attentive. Excited about the change.
• Innovator: Will tend to want to be ahead or want to move ahead of group.
• Laggard: Laggards in group training may have a negative impact.

Force

The last resort.

Abstract

The transition can’t go on forever.

At some point the new technology needs to be fully adopted and if necessary, force may have to be used.

Advantages

• Immediate full transition
• Fixed delivery timeline

Disadvantages

• Alienation of some staff
• Loss of faith in product if there are issues

Best to worst candidates

• Laggard: No choice but to adopt. Forces the issue.
• Late Majority: Removes issue of reluctance to change.
• Early Majority: Content, but worried about possible problems.
• Early Adopter: Feel less personal involvement in change process.
• Innovator: Feel less personal involvement in change process.

Contests

Abstract

Contests can generate excitement and create an explorative approach to new technology. People should not feel pressured. It should be enjoyable and not compulsory.

Advantages

• Rapid improvement of skills
• Bring excitement to the new technology
• Good for team building

Disadvantages

• Those less competitive or with lower skills may feel alienated
• May discourage collaboration

Best to worst candidates

• Early Adopter: Seeks personal success. Risk taker. Effective.
• Innovator: Enthusiastic to explore limits of technology.
• Early Majority: Less enthusiastic. Pragmatic. Less competitive.
• Late Majority: Conservative. Not enthusiastic about new technology.
• Laggard: Reluctant to get involved.

Incentives

Incentives don’t have to be large.

Abstract

For some staff, merely taking management’s lead is not enough. Using “Nudge” techniques to give that extra incentive is quite effective. Incentivizing staff either financially or through rewards, recognition, or promotion is a successful adoption technique for some.

Advantages

Encouragement to adopt from receiving tangible benefit

Draws more attention to the new technology

Disadvantages

Additional expense to business or project

Possible poor precedent for subsequent changes

Best to worst candidates

Early Adopter: Desire for personal success makes incentives enticing.

Early Majority: Prepared to change, but extra incentive will assist.

Late Majority: Conservative attitude means incentive may need to be larger.

Innovator: Enthusiasm for new technology means incentive not necessary.

Laggard: Sceptical about change. Only a large incentive likely to make a difference.

Champions

Strong internal advocates for your new technology are very powerful.

Abstract

Champions take on new technology and then use their influence to promote it in the organization. Using managers as champions to actively and vigorously promote the change is particularly effective.

Advantages

• Infectious enthusiasm encourages those who tend to be reluctant
• Use of trusted internal staff

Disadvantages

• Removes internal staff from regular duties
• Ineffective if champion not respected

Best to worst candidates

• Early Majority: Champions as references of success provide encouragement.
• Late Majority: Management champions in particular are effective.
• Laggard: Close contact with champions may be effective.
• Early Adopter: Receptive of technology, less effective.
• Innovator: No encouragement or promotion required.

Herd Mentality

Follow the crowd.

Abstract

Herd behavior is when people discount their own information and follow others. Ideally all adopters would understand the reason and advantages in adopting new technology, but practically, the result is most important.

Advantages

• New technology is adopted without question
• Increase in velocity of adoption

Disadvantages

• Staff may not have clear understanding of the reason for change and resent it later
• Some may adopt the change before they are ready to do so

Best to worst candidates

• Early Majority: Follow others’ success.
• Late Majority: Likely follow an established proven standard.
• Early Adopter: Less effective as they prefer to set trends rather than follow.
• Innovator: Seeks new technology rather than following others.
• Laggard: Suspicious and reluctant to change.

Proof of Concepts

Gain early input and encourage buy-in.

Abstract

Proof of concept projects give early indications of the viability of a new initiative. Involving the end users in these projects can be beneficial in gaining their support

Advantages

Involve adopters early on

Valuable feedback and indications of future issues

Disadvantages

If POC isn’t fully successful, it may leave lingering negativity

Usually, involvement from small selection of staff

Best to worst candidates

• Innovator: Strong interest in getting involved in new products.
• Early Adopter: Comfortable with new technology and are influencers.
• Early Majority: Less interest. Prefer others to try first.
• Late Majority: Conservative attitude makes this an unlikely option.
• Laggard: Highly unlikely to get involved.

Match techniques to categories

What works for who?

Follow the leader

Engage your technology enthusiasts early to help refine your product, train other staff, and act as champions. A combination of marketing and group training will develop a herd mentality. Finally, don’t neglect the laggards as they can prevent project completion.

Info-Tech Insight

Although there are different size categories, none can be ignored. Consider your budget when dealing with smaller groups, but also consider their impact.

Refresh, retrain, restrain

We don’t want people to revert.

Don’t assume that because your staff have been trained and have access to the new technology that they will keep using it in the way they were trained. Or that they won’t revert back to their old methods or system.

Put in place methods to remove completely or remove access to old systems. Schedule refresh training or skill enhancement sessions and stay vigilant.

Research Authors

Paul Binns

Principal Research Advisor, Info-Tech Research Group

With over 30 years in the IT industry, Paul brings to his work his experience as a Strategic Planner, Consultant, Enterprise Architect, IT Business Owner, Technologist, and Manager. Paul has worked with both small and large companies, local and international, and has had senior roles in government and the finance industry.

Scott Young

Principal Research Advisor, Info-Tech Research Group

Scott Young is a Director of Infrastructure Research at Info-Tech Research Group. Scott has worked in the technology field for over 17 years, with a strong focus on telecommunications and enterprise infrastructure architecture. He brings extensive practical experience in these areas of specialization, including IP networks, server hardware and OS, storage, and virtualization.

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Bibliography

Beylis, Guillermo. “COVID-19 accelerates technology adoption and deepens inequality among workers in Latin America and the Caribbean.” World Bank Blogs, 4 March 2021. Web.

Cleland, Kelley. “Successful User Adoption Strategies.” Insight Voices, 25 Apr. 2017. Web.

Hiatt, Jeff. “The Prosci ADKAR ® Model.” PROSCI, 1994. Web.

Malik, Priyanka. “The Kübler Ross Change Curve in the Workplace.” whatfix, 24 Feb. 2022. Web.

Medhaugir, Tore. “6 Ways to Encourage Software Adoption.” XAIT, 9 March 2021. Web.

Narayanan, Vishy. “What PwC Australia learned about fast tracking tech adoption during COVID-19” PWC, 13 Oct. 2020. Web.

Sridharan, Mithun. “Crossing the Chasm: Technology Adoption Lifecycle.” Think Insights, 28 Jun 2022. Web.

Build Your Data Practice and Platform

Construct a scalable data foundation

Analyst Perspective

Build a data practice and platform that delivers value to your organization.

The build or optimization of your data practice and data platform must be predicated on a thorough understanding of the organization’s goals, objectives, and priorities and the business capabilities and process they are meant to support and enable.

Formalizing your practice or constructing your platform just for the sake of doing so often results in an initiative that is lengthy, costly, fizzles out, does not deliver business value, and ends up being considered a failure.

Leverage Info-Tech’s approach and incorporate our pre-built models and patterns to effectively navigate that crucial and often difficult phase upfront of comprehensively defining business data needs so you can ultimately realize faster time-to-delivery of your overall data practice and platform.

	Rajesh Parab Director, Research & Advisory, Data & Analytics Practice Info-Tech Research Group
	Crystal Singh Director, Research & Advisory, Data & Analytics Practice Info-Tech Research Group

Attempting to Solve Data Problems?

Info-Tech Insight

The true value of data comes from defining intentional relationships between the business and the data through a well thought out data platform and practice.

Situation – Perpetual Data Problem

I can’t access the data. I don’t trust the data in the report. It takes too long to get to the data for decision making

Lack of data-centric leadership results in downstream issues: integration, quality, accessibility The organization’s data is too complex to manage without a cohesive plan. The complex nature of the data and a lack of understanding leads to de-scoping delivery of data services that does not meet business needs or add value. Poorly designed practice and siloed platforms result in an initiative that is lengthy, costly, fizzles out, does not deliver business value, and ends up being considered a failure.

Complication – Data Initiative Fizzles Out

Data problem: When the data problem is diagnosed the organization adopts a tactical approach. Confirmation bias: Subject matter experts (SME) are hired to resolve the poorly defined problem, but the success of the SME is impacted by lack of architecture, technology, and organizational alignment. Still no value: the selected tactical approach does not provide a solid foundation or solve your data problem. Strategy for sake of strategy: Implementing a strategic approach for sake of being strategic but this becomes overwhelming. Fall back to tactical and operational: The data services are now potentially exposed and vulnerable, which strains business continuity and increases data debt. Increased complexity and risk: Data silos, poor understanding, and high complexity result in an unmanageable data environment.

Use the road-tested patterns and frameworks in our blueprint to break the perpetual data solution cycle. Focus on the value that a data and analytics platform will bring rather than focusing on the data problems alone.

Phase-by-Phase Approach to Build Your Data Practice and Platform

Phase-by-Phase Approach Phase 1: Step 1 – Define Your Data Requirement Phase 1: Step 2 – Conduct Your Data Discovery Phase 2 – Design Your Data Practice Phase 3 – Architect Your Data Platform

Measure value when building your data practice and platform

Sample Data Management Metrics

• Refine the metrics for the overall Data Management practice and every initiative therein.
• Refine the metrics at each platform and practice component to show business value against implementation effort.

Understand and Build Data Culture

See your Info-Tech Account Representative for more details on our Data Culture Diagnostic

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	Ask the Right Questions Use our low-effort surveys to get the data you need from stakeholders across the organization.	Use Our Diagnostic Engine Our diagnostic engine does all the heavy lifting and analysis, turning your data into usable information.	Communicate & Take Action Wow your executives with the incredible insights you've uncovered. Then, get to action: make IT better.
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Use Our Predefined Data and Analytics Patterns to Build Your DnA Landscape

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Insights

The true value of data comes from defining intentional relationships between the business and the data through a well-thought-out data platform and practice.

• Phase 1
  • Some organizations are low maturity so using the traditional Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) would not make sense. A great alternative is to leverage existing models and methodologies to get going off the bat.
  • The Data Strategy is an input into the platform and practice. This is considered the Why; Data Practice and Platform is the How.
• Phase 2
  • Info-Tech’s approach is business-goal driven and it leverages patterns, which enable the implementation of critical and foundational components and subsequently facilitates the evolution and development of the practice over time.
  • Systems should not be designed in isolation. Cross-functional collaboration throughout the design is critical to ensure all types of issues are revealed early. Otherwise, crucial tests are omitted, deployments fail, and end-users are dissatisfied.
• Phase 3
  • Build your conceptual data architecture based on well-thought-out formulated patterns that align with your organization’s needs and environment.
  • Functional needs often take precedence over quality architecture. Quality must be baked into design, execution, and decision-making practices to ensure the right trade-offs are made.

Info-Tech offers various levels of support to best suit your needs

Info-Tech’s Methodology for Building Your Data Practice and Platform

Data Platform and Practice Implementation Plan

Build Your Data Practice and Platform

Phase 1

Phase 1: Step 1 – Define Your Data Requirements
Phase 1: Step 2 – Conduct Your Data Discovery

Phase 1: Step 1 – Define Your Data Requirements will walk you through the following activities:

• Confirm the organizational strategic goals, business drivers, business capabilities, and processes driving the Data Practice and Platform effort.
• Identify the data related outcomes, goals, and ideal environment needed to fulfill the business goals.

This phase involves the following participants:

A blend of business leaders and business SMEs together with the Data Strategy team.

Phase 1: Step 2 – Conduct Your Data Discovery will walk you through the following activities:

• Identify and highlight the data challenges faced in achieving the desired outcome.
• Map the data challenges to the data capabilities required to realize the desired data outcome.

This phase involves the following participants:

Key personnel from IT/Data team: (Data Architect, Data Engineers, Head of Head of Reporting and Analytics)

Enterprise Network Design Considerations

It is not just about connectivity.

Executive Summary

Info-Tech Insight

Connectivity and security are tightly coupled

Security, risk, and trust models play into how networks are designed and deployed. If these models are not considered during network design, band-aids and workarounds will be deployed to achieve the needed goals, potentially bypassing network controls.

Many services are no longer within the network

The cloud “gold rush” has made it attractive for many enterprises to migrate services off the traditional network and into the cloud. These services are now outside of the traditional network and associated controls. This shifts the split of east-west vs. north-south traffic patterns, as well as extending the network to encompass services outside of enterprise IT’s locus of control.

Users are demanding an anywhere, any device access model

Where users access enterprise data or services and from which devices dictate the connectivity needed. With the increasing shift of work that the business is completing remotely, not all devices and data paths will be under the control of IT. This shift does not allow IT to abdicate from the responsibility to provide a secure network.

Enterprise networks are changing

The new network reality

The enterprise network of 2020 and beyond is changing:

• Services are becoming more distributed.
• The number of services provided “off network” is growing.
• Users are more often remote.
• Security threats are rapidly escalating.

The above statements are all accurate for enterprise networks, though each potentially to differing levels depending on the business being supported by the network. Depending on how affected the network in question currently is and will be in the near future, there are different common network archetypes that are best able to address these concerns while delivering business value at an appropriate price point.

High-Level Design Considerations

1. Understand Business Needs

Understand what the business needs are and where users and resources are located.

2. Define Your Trust Model

Trust is a spectrum and tied tightly to security.

3. Align With an Archetype

How will the network be deployed?

4. Understand Available Tooling

What tools are in the market to help achieve design principles?

Understand business needs

Mission

Never ignore the basics. Start with revisiting the mission and vision of the business to address relevant needs.

Users

Identify where users will be accessing services from. Remote vs. “on net” is a design consideration now more than ever.

Resources

Identify required resources and their locations, on net vs. cloud.

Controls

Identify required controls in order to define control points and solutions.

Define a trust model

Trust is a spectrum

• There is a spectrum of trust, from fully trusted to not trusted at all. Each organization must decide for their network (or each area thereof) the appropriate level of trust to assign.
• The ease of network design and deployment is directly proportional to the trust spectrum.
• When resources and users are outside of direct IT control, the level of appropriate trust should be examined closely.

Implicit

Trust everything within the network. Security is perimeter based and designed to stop external actors from entering the large trusted zone.

Controlled

Multiple zones of trust within the network. Segmentation is a standard practice to separate areas of higher and lower trust.

Zero

Verify trust. The network is set up to recognize and support the principle of least privilege where only required access is supported.

Align with an archetype

Archetypes are a good guide

• Using a defined archetype as a guiding principle in network design can help clarify appropriate tools or network structures.
• Different aspects of a network can have different archetypes where appropriate (e.g. IT vs. OT [operational technology] networks).

Traditional

Services are provided from within the traditional network boundaries and security is provided at the network edge.

Hybrid

Services are provided both externally and from within the traditional network boundaries, and security is primarily at the network edge.

Inverted

Services are provided primarily externally, and security is cloud centric.

Traditional networks

Resources within network boundaries

Moat and castle security perimeter

Abstract

A traditional network is one in which there are clear boundaries defined by a security perimeter. Trust can be applied within the network boundaries as appropriate, and traffic is generally routed through internally deployed control points that may be centralized. Traditional networks commonly include large firewalls and other “big iron” security and control devices.

Network Design Tenets

• The full network path from resource to user is designed, deployed, and controlled by IT.
• Users external to the network must first connect to the network to gain access to resources.
• Security, risk, and trust controls will be implemented by internal enterprise hardware/software devices.

Control

In the traditional network, it is assumed that all required control points can be adequately deployed across hardware/software that is “on prem” and under the control of central IT.

Info-Tech Insight

With increased cloud services provided to end users, this network is now more commonly used in data centers or OT networks.

Traditional networks

Defining Characteristics

• Traffic flows in a defined path under the control of IT to and from central IT resources.
• Due to visibility into, and the control of, the traffic between the end user and resources, IT can relatively simply implement the required security controls on owned hardware.

Common Components

• Traditional offices
• Remote users/road warriors
• Private data center/colocation space

Hybrid networks

Resources internal and external to network

Network security perimeter combined with cloud protection

Abstract

A hybrid network is one that combines elements of a traditional network with cloud resources. As some of these resources are not fully under the control of IT and may be completely “offnet” or loosely coupled to the on-premises network, the security boundaries and control points are less likely to be centralized. Hybrid networks allow the flexibility and speed of cloud deployment without leaving behind traditional network constructs. This generally makes them expensive to secure and maintain.

Network Design Tenets

• The network path from resource to user may not be in IT’s locus of control.
• Users external to the network must first connect to the network to gain access to internal resources but may directly access publicly hosted ones.
• Security, risk, and trust controls may potentially be implemented by a mixture of internal enterprise hardware/software devices and external control points.

Control

The hallmark of a hybrid network is the blending of public and private resources. This blending tends to necessitate both public and private points of control that may not be homogenous.

Info-Tech Insight

With multiple control points to address, take care in simplifying designs while addressing all concerns to ease operational load.

Hybrid networks

Defining Characteristics

• Traffic flows to central resources across a defined path under the control of IT.
• Traffic to cloud assets may be partially under the control of IT.
• For central resources, the traffic to and from the end user can have the required security controls relatively simply implemented on owned hardware.
• For public cloud assets, IT may or may not have some control over part of the path.

Common Components

• Traditional offices
• Remote users/road warriors
• Private data center/colocation space
• Public cloud assets (IaaS/PaaS/SaaS)

Inverted perimeter

Resources primarily external to the network

Security control points are cloud centric

Abstract

An inverted perimeter network is one in which security and control points cover the entire workflow, on or off net, from the consumer of services through to the services themselves with zero trust. Since the control plane is designed to encompass the workflow in a secure manner, much of the underlying connectivity can be abstracted. In an extreme version of this deployment, IT would abstract end-user access, and any cloud-based or on-premises resources would be securely published through the control plane with context-aware precision access.

Network Design Tenets

• The network path from resource to user is abstracted and controlled by IT through services like secure access service edge (SASE).
• Users only need internet access and appropriate credentials to gain access to resources.
• Security, risk, and trust controls will be implemented through external cloud based services.

Control

An inverted network abstracts the lower-layer connectivity away and focuses on implementing a cloud-based zero trust control plane.

Info-Tech Insight

This model is extremely attractive for organizations that consume primarily cloud services and have a large remote work force.

Inverted networks

Defining Characteristics

• The end user does not have to be in a defined location.
• All central resources that are to be accessed are hosted on cloud resources.
• IT has little to no control of the path between the end user and central resources.

Common Components

• Traditional offices
• Regent offices/shared workspaces
• Remote users/road warriors
• Public cloud assets (IaaS/PaaS/SaaS)

Understand available tooling

Don’t buy a hammer and go looking for nails

• A network archetype must be defined in order to understand what tools (hardware or software) are appropriate for consideration in a network build or refresh.
• Tools are purpose built and generally designed to solve specific problems if implemented and operated correctly. Choose the tools to align with the challenges that you are solving as opposed to choosing tools and then trying to use those purchases to overcome challenges.
• The purchase of a tool does not allow for abdication of proper design. Tools must be chosen appropriately and integrated properly to orchestrate the best solutions. Purchasing a tool and expecting the tool to solve all your issues rarely succeeds.

“It is essential to have good tools, but it is also essential that the tools should be used in the right way.” — Wallace D. Wattles

Software-defined WAN (SD-WAN)

Simplified branch office connectivity

Archetype Value: Traditional Networks

What It Is Not

SD-WAN is generally not a way to slash spending by lowering WAN circuit costs. Though it is traditionally deployed across lower cost access, to minimize risk and realize the most benefits from the platform many organizations install multiple circuits with greater bandwidths at each endpoint when replacing the more costly traditional circuits. Though this maximizes the value of the technology investment, it will result in the end cost being similar to the traditional cost plus or minus a small percentage.

What It Is

SD-WAN is a subset of software-defined networking (SDN) designed specifically to deploy a secure, centrally managed, connectivity agnostic, overlay network connecting multiple office locations. This technology can be used to replace, work in concert with, or augment more traditional costly connectivity such as MPLS or private point to point (PtP) circuits. In addition to the secure overlay, SD-WAN usually also enables policy-based, intelligent controls, based on traffic and circuit intelligence.

Why Use It

You have multiple endpoint locations connected by expensive lower bandwidth traditional circuits. Your target is to increase visibility and control while controlling costs if and where possible. Ease of centralized management and the ability to more rapidly turn up new locations are attractive.

Cloud access security broker (CASB)

Inline policy enforcement placed between users and cloud services

Archetype Value: Hybrid Networks

What It Is Not

CASBs do not provide network protection; they are designed to provide compliance and enforcement of rules. Though CASBs are designed to give visibility and control into cloud traffic, they have limits to the data that they generally ingest and utilize. A CASB does not gather or report on cloud usage details, licencing information, financial costing, or whether the cloud resource usage is aligned with the deployment purpose.

What It Is

A CASB is designed to establish security controls beyond a company’s environment. It is commonly deployed to augment traditional solutions to extend visibility and control into the cloud. To protect assets in the cloud, CASBs are designed to provide central policy control and apply services primarily in the areas of visibility, data security, threat protection, and compliance.

Why Use It

You a mixture of on-premises and cloud assets. In moving assets out to the cloud, you have lost the traditional controls that were implemented in the data center. You now need to have visibility and apply controls to the usage of these cloud assets.

Secure access service edge (SASE)

Convergence of security and service access in the cloud

Archetype Value: Inverted Networks

What It Is Not

Though the service will consist of many service offerings, SASE is not multiple services strung together. To present the value proposed by this platform, all functionality proposed must be provided by a single platform under a “single pane of glass.” SASE is not a mature and well-established service. The market is still solidifying, and the full-service definition remains somewhat fluid.

What It Is

SASE exists at the intersection of network-as-a-service and network-security-as-a-service. It is a superset of many network and security cloud offerings such as CASB, secure web gateway, SD-WAN, and WAN optimization. Any services offered by a SASE provider will be cloud hosted, presented in a single stack, and controlled through a single pane of glass.

Why Use It

Your network is inverting, and services are provided primarily as cloud assets. In a full realization of this deployment’s value, you would abstract how and where users gain initial network access yet remain in control of the communications and data flow.

Activity

Understand your enterprise network options

Activity: Network assessment in an hour

• Learn about the Enterprise Network Roadmap Technology Assessment Tool
• Complete the Enterprise Network Roadmap Technology Assessment Tool

This activity involves the following participants:

• IT strategic direction decision makers.
• IT managers responsible for network.
• Organizations evaluating platforms for mission critical applications.

Outcomes of this step:

• Completed Enterprise Network Roadmap Technology Assessment Tool

Info-Tech Insight

Review your design options with security and compliance in mind. Infrastructure is no longer a standalone entity and now tightly integrates with software-defined networks and security solutions.

Build an assessment in an hour

Learn about the Enterprise Network Roadmap Technology Assessment Tool.

This workbook provides a high-level analysis of a technology’s readiness for adoption based on your organization’s needs.

• The workbook then places the technology on a graph that measures both the readiness and fit for your organization. In addition, it provides warnings for specific issues and lets you know if you have considerable uncertainty in your answers.
• At a glance you can now communicate what you are doing to help the company:
  • Grow
  • Save money
  • Reduce risk
• Regardless of your specific audience, these are important stories to be able to tell.

Build an assessment in an hour

Complete the Enterprise Network Roadmap Technology Assessment Tool.

Dispense with detailed analysis and customizations to present a quick snapshot of the road ahead.

1. Weightings: Adjust the Weighting tab to meet organizational needs. The provided weightings for the overall solution areas are based on a generic firm; individual firms will have different needs.
2. Data Entry: For each category, answer the questions for the technology you are considering. When you have completed the questionnaire, go to the next tab for the results.
3. Results: The Enterprise Network Roadmap Technology Assessment Tool provides a value versus readiness assessment of your chosen technology customized to your organization.

Related Info-Tech Research

Effectively Acquire Infrastructure Services

Acquiring a service is like buying an experience. Don’t confuse the simplicity of buying hardware with buying an experience.

Outsource IT Infrastructure to Improve System Availability, Reliability, and Recovery

There are very few IT infrastructure components you should be housing internally – outsource everything else.

Build Your Infrastructure Roadmap

Move beyond alignment: Put yourself in the driver’s seat for true business value.

Drive Successful Sourcing Outcomes With a Robust RFP Process

Leverage your vendor sourcing process to get better results.

Research Authors

Scott Young, Principal Research Advisor, Info-Tech Research Group

Scott Young is a Director of Infrastructure Research at Info-Tech Research Group. Scott has worked in the technology field for over 17 years, with a strong focus on telecommunications and enterprise infrastructure architecture. He brings extensive practical experience in these areas of specialization, including IP networks, server hardware and OS, storage, and virtualization.

Troy Cheeseman, Practice Lead, Info-Tech Research Group

Troy has over 24 years of experience and has championed large enterprise-wide technology transformation programs, remote/home office collaboration and remote work strategies, BCP, IT DRP, IT operations and expense management programs, international right placement initiatives, and large technology transformation initiatives (M&A). Additionally, he has deep experience working with IT solution providers and technology (cloud) startups.

Bibliography

Ahlgren, Bengt. “Design considerations for a network of information.” ACM Digital Library, 21 Dec. 2008.

Cox Business. “Digital transformation is here. Is your business ready to upgrade your mobile work equation?” BizJournals, 1 April 2022. Accessed April 2022.

Elmore, Ed. “Benefits of integrating security and networking with SASE.” Tech Radar, 1 April 2022. Web.

Greenfield, Dave. “From SD-WAN to SASE: How the WAN Evolution is Progressing.” Cato Networks, 19 May 2020. Web

Korolov, Maria. “What is SASE? A cloud service that marries SD-WAN with security.” Network World, 7 Sept. 2020. Web.

Korzeniowski, Paul, “CASB tools evolve to meet broader set of cloud security needs.” TechTarget, 26 July 2019. Accessed March 2022.

Build a Continual Improvement Program

Don’t stop with process standardization; plan to continually improve and help those improvements stick.

Analyst Perspective

Go beyond standardizing basics

IT managers often learn how to standardize IT services. Where they usually fail is in keeping these improvements sustainable. It’s one thing to build a quality process, but it’s another challenge entirely to keep momentum and know what to do next.

To fill the gap, build a continual improvement plan to continuously increase value for stakeholders. This plan will help connect services, products, and practices with changing business needs.

Without a continual improvement plan, managers may find themselves lost and wonder what’s next. This will lead to misalignment between ongoing and increasingly high stakeholder expectations and your ability to fulfill these requirements.

Build a continual improvement program to engage executives, leaders, and subject matter experts (SMEs) to go beyond break fixes, enable proactive enhancements, and sustain process changes.

Mahmoud Ramin, Ph.D. Senior Research Analyst Infrastructure and Operations Info-Tech Research Group

Executive Summary

Info-Tech Insight

Without continual improvement, any process maturity achieved around service quality will not be sustained. Organizations need to put in place an ongoing program to maintain their current maturity and continue to grow and improve by identifying new services and enhancing existing processes.

Benefits of embedding a cross-organizational continual improvement approach

Encourage end users to provide feedback on service quality.

Provide an opportunity to stakeholders to define requirements and raise their concerns.

Embed continual improvement in all service delivery procedures.

Turn failures into improvement opportunities rather than contributing to a blame culture.

Improve practice effectiveness that enhances IT efficiency.

Improve end-user satisfaction that positively impacts brand reputation.

Improve operational costs while maintaining a high level of satisfaction.

Help the business become more proactive by identifying and improving services.

Info-Tech Insight

It’s the responsibility of the organization’s leaders to develop and promote a continual improvement culture. Work with the business unit leads and communicate the benefits of continual improvement to get their buy-in for the practice and achieve the long-term impact.

Build a feedback program to get input into where improvement initiatives are needed

A well-maintained continual improvement process creates a proper feedback mechanism for the following stakeholder groups: Users Suppliers Service delivery team members Service owners Sponsors

An efficient feedback mechanism should be constructed around the following initiatives:

Stakeholders who participate in feedback activities should feel comfortable providing suggestions for improvement. Work closely with the service desk team to build communication channels to conduct surveys. Avoid formal bureaucratic communications and enforce openness in communicating the value of feedback the stakeholders can provide.

Info-Tech Insight

When conducting feedback activities with users, keep surveys anonymous and ensure users’ information is kept confidential. Make sure everyone else is comfortable providing feedback in a constructive way so that you can seek clarification and create a feedback loop.

Implement an iterative continual improvement model and ensure that your services align with your organizational vision

Build a six-step process for your continual improvement plan. Make it a loop, in which each step becomes an input for the next step.

1. Determine your goals

A vision statement communicates your desired future state of the IT organization.

Understand the high-level business objectives to set the vision for continual improvement in a way that will align IT strategies with business strategies. Obtaining a clear picture of your organization’s goals and overall corporate strategy is one of the crucial first steps to continual improvement and will set the stage for the metrics you select. Document your continual improvement program goals and objectives. Knowing what your business is doing and understanding the impact of IT on the business will help you ensure that any metrics you collect will be business focused. Understanding the long-term vision of the business and its appetite for commitment and sponsorship will also inform your IT strategy and continual improvement goals.

Assess the future state

At this stage, you need to visualize improvement, considering your critical success factors.

Critical success factors (CSFs) are higher-level goals or requirements for success, such as improving end-user satisfaction. They’re factors that must be met in order to reach your IT and business strategic vision.

Select key performance indicators (KPIs) that will identify useful information for the initiative: Define KPIs for each CSF. These will usually involve a trend, as an increase or decrease in something. If KPIs already exist for your IT processes, re-evaluate them to assess their relevance to current strategy and redefine if necessary. Selected KPIs should provide a full picture of the health of targeted practice.

KPIs should cover these four vectors of practice performance:

Quantity How many continual improvement initiatives are in progress Quality How well you implemented improvements Timeliness How long it took to get continual improvement initiatives done Compliance How well processes and controls are being executed, such as system availability

Examples of key CSFs and KPIs for continual improvement

Prepare a vision statement to communicate the improvement strategy

IT implications are derived from the business context and inform goals by aligning the IT goals with the business context. Business context encompasses an understanding of the factors impacting the business from various perspectives, how the business makes decisions, and what it is trying to achieve. IT goals are high-level, specific objectives that the IT organization needs to achieve to reach the target state. IT goals begin a process of framing what IT as an organization needs to be able to do in the target state. IT goals will help identify the target state, IT capabilities, and the initiatives that will need to be implemented to enable those capabilities. The vision statement is expressed in the present tense. It seeks to articulate the desired role of IT and how IT will be perceived.

Strong IT vision statements have the following characteristics: Describe a desired future Focus on ends, not means Communicate promise Work as an elevator pitch: Concise; no unnecessary words Compelling Achievable Inspirational Memorable

2. Define the process team

The structure of each continual improvement team depends on resource availability and competency levels.

Enable the continual improvement program by clarifying responsibilities

Determine roles and responsibilities to ensure accountability

The continual improvement activities will only be successful if specific roles and responsibilities are clearly identified.

3. Determine improvement initiatives

Businesses usually make the mistake of focusing too much on making existing processes better while missing gaps in their practices.

Gather stakeholder feedback to help you evaluate the maturity levels of IT practices You need to understand the current state of service operations to understand how you can provide value through continual improvement. Give everyone an opportunity to provide feedback on IT services. Use Info-Tech’s End User Satisfaction Survey to define the state of your core IT services. Info-Tech Insight Become proactive to improve satisfaction. Continual improvement is not only about identifying pain points and improving them. It enables you to proactively identify initiatives for further service improvement using both practice functionality and technology enablement.

Understand the current state of your IT practices Determine the maturity level of your IT areas to help you understand which processes need improvement. Involve the practice team in maturity assessment activities to get ideas and input from them. This will also help you get their buy-in and engagement for improvement. Leverage performance metrics to analyze performance level. Metrics play a key role in understanding what needs improvement. After you implement metrics, have an impact report regularly generated to monitor them. Use problem management to identify root causes for the identified gaps. Potential sources of problems can be: Recurring issues that may be an indicator of an underlying problem. Business processes or service issues that are not IT related, such as inefficient business process or service design issues.

Establish an improvement roadmap and execute initiatives

Activity: Use the Continual Improvement Register template to brainstorm responsibilities, generate improvement initiatives, and action plan

Download the Continual Improvement Register template

Activity: Use the Continual Improvement Register template to brainstorm responsibilities, generate improvement initiatives, and action plan

Identify “quick wins” that can provide immediate improvement

Prioritize these quick wins to immediately demonstrate the success of the continual service improvement effort to the business.

Activity: Prioritize improvement initiatives

2-3 hours

Input: List of initiatives for continual improvement

Output: Prioritized list of initiatives

Materials: Continual improvement register, Whiteboard/flip charts, Markers, Laptops

Participants: CIO, IT managers, Project managers, Continual improvement manager

1. In the CI Register tab of the Continual Improvement Register template, define the status, priority, effort/cost, and timeline according to the definition of each in the data entry tab.
2. Review improvement initiatives from the previous activity.
3. Record the CI coordinator, business owner, and IT owner for each initiative.
4. Fill out submission date to track when the initiative was added to the register.
5. According to the updated items, you will get a dashboard of items based on their categories, effort, priority, status, and timeline. You will also get a visibility into the total number of improvement initiatives.
6. Focus on the short-term initiatives that are higher priority and require less effort.
7. Refer to the Continual Improvement Workflow template and update the steps.

Download the Continual Improvement Register template

Download the Continual Improvement Workflow template

5. Execute improvement

Develop a plan for improvement

Make a business case for your action plan	Determine budget for implementing the improvement and move to execution.	Find out how long it takes to build the improvement in the practice.	Confirm the resources and skill sets you require for the improvement.	Communicate the improvement plan across the business for better visibility and for seamless organizational change management, if needed.	Lean into incremental improvements to ensure practice quality is sustained, not temporary.	Put in place an ongoing process to audit, enhance, and sustain the performance of the target practice.

Create a specific action plan to guide your improvement activities

As part of the continual improvement plan, identify specific actions to be completed, along with ownership for each action.

Info-Tech Insight

Every organization is unique in terms of its services, processes, strengths, weaknesses, and needs, as well as the expectations of its end users. There is no single action plan that will work for everyone. The improvement plan will vary from organization to organization, but the key elements of the plan (i.e. specific priorities, timelines, targets, and responsibilities) should always be in place.

Build a communication plan to ensure the implementation of continual improvement stakeholder buy-in

1. Throughout the improvement process, share information about both the status of the project and the impact of the improvement initiatives. Encourage a collaborative environment across all members of the practice team. Motivate every individual to continue moving upward and taking ownership over their roles. Communication among team members ensures that everyone is on the same page working together toward a common goal. The most important thing is to get the support of your team. Unless you have their support, you won’t be able to deliver any of the solutions you draw up.

2. The end users should be kept in the loop so they can feel that their contribution is valued. When improvements happen and only a small group of people are involved in the results and action plan, misconceptions will arise. If communication is lacking, end users will provide less feedback on the practice improvements. For end users to feel their concerns are being considered, you must communicate the findings in a way that conveys the impact of their contribution. Info-Tech Insight To be effective, continual improvement requires open and honest feedback from IT staff. Debriefings work well for capturing information about lessons learned. Break down the debriefings into smaller, individual activities completed within each phase of the project to better capture the large amount of data and lessons learned within that phase.

Measure the success of your improvement program

Continual improvement is everybody’s job within the organization.

How did we make improvements with our partners and suppliers? –› Look into your contracts and measure the SLAs and commitments. How could improvement initiatives impact the organization? –› Involve everybody to provide feedback. Rerun the end-user satisfaction survey and compare with the baseline that you obtained before improvement implementation. How does the improvement team feel about the whole process? –› What were the lessons learned, and can the team apply the lessons in the next improvement initiatives? How did the leaders manage and lead improvements? –› Were they able to provide proper vision to guide the improvement team through the process?

Measure changes in selected metrics to evaluate success

Measuring and reporting are key components in the improvement process.

Adjust improvement priority based on updated objectives. Justify the reason. Refer to your CIR to document it.

6. Establish a learning culture and apply it to other practices

Reflect on lessons learned to drive change forward

What did you learn? Ultimately, continual improvement is an ongoing educational program. By teaching your team how to learn better and identify sources of new knowledge that can be applied going forward, you maximize the efficacy of your team and improvement plan effort.

What obstacles prevented you from reaching your target condition? If you did not reach your target goals, reflect as a team on what obstacles prevented you from reaching that target. Focus on the obstacles that are preventing your team from reaching the target state. As obstacles are removed, new ones will appear, and old ones will disappear.

Compare expectations versus reality

Compare the EC (expected change) to the AC (actual change) Evaluate the differences: how large is the difference from what you expected? Things are on track and the issue could have simply been an issue with timing of the improvement. More reflection is needed. Perhaps it is a gap in understanding the goal or a poor execution of the action plan.

Info-Tech Insight Regardless of the cause, large differences between the EC and the AC provide great learning opportunities about how to approach change in the future.

Related Info-Tech Research

	Build a Business-Aligned IT Strategy Success depends on IT initiatives clearly aligned to business goals, IT excellence, and driving technology innovation.
	Develop Meaningful Service Metrics Reinforce service orientation in your IT organization by ensuring your IT metrics generate value-driven resource behavior.
	Improve Incident and Problem Management Rise above firefighter mode with structured incident management to enable effective problem management.

Works Cited

“Continual Improvement ITIL4 Practice Guide.” AXELOS, 2020. Accessed August 2022.

“5 Tips for Adopting ITIL 4’s Continual Improvement Management Practice.” SysAid, 2021. Accessed August 2022.

Jacob Gillingham. “ITIL Continual Service Improvement And 7-Step Improvement Process” Invensis Global Learning Services, 2022. Accessed August 2022.

State of Hybrid Work in IT: A Trend Report

When tech giants can’t agree and best practices change by the minute, forge your own path to your next normal.

Hybrid is here. Now how do we do this?

The pandemic has catapulted hybrid work to the forefront of strategic decisions an organization needs to make. According to our State of Hybrid Work in IT survey conducted in July of 2022, nearly all organizations across all industries are continuing some form of hybrid or remote work long-term (n=518). Flexible work location options are the single greatest concern for employees seeking a new job. IT departments are tasked with not only solving hybrid work questions for their own personnel but also supporting a hybrid-first organization, which means significant changes to technology and operations.

Faced with decisions that alter the very foundation of how an organization functions, IT leaders are looking for best practices and coming up empty. The world of work has changed quickly and unexpectedly. If you feel you are “winging it” in the new normal, you are not alone.

95% of organizations are continuing some form of hybrid or remote work.

n=518

47% of respondents look at hybrid work options when evaluating a new employer, vs. 46% who look at salary.

n=518

Hybrid work model decision tree

Your organization, your employees, your goals – your hybrid work

The days of a “typical” workplace have passed. When it comes to the new world of hybrid work, there is no best-of-breed example to follow.

Among the flood of contradictory decisions made by industry leaders, your IT organization must forge its own path, informed by the needs of your employees and your organizational goals.

All IT work models can support the broader organization. However, IT is more effective in a hybrid work mode.

Stay informed on where your industry is headed, but learn from, rather than follow, industry leaders.

All industries reported primarily using partial, balanced & full hybrid work models.

All industries reported some fully remote work, ranging from 2-10% of organizations surveyed.

Construction and healthcare & life sciences did not require any fully in-office work. Other industries, between 1-12% required fully in-office work.

Move beyond following tech giants

The uncomfortable truth about hybrid work is that there are many viable models, and the “best of breed” depends on who you ask. In the post-pandemic workspace, for every work location model there is an industry leader that has made it functional. And yet this doesn’t mean that every model will be viable for your organization.

In the absence of a single best practice, rely on an individualized cost-benefit assessment rooted in objective feasibility criteria. Every work model – whether it continues your status quo or overhauls the working environment – introduces risk. Only in the context of your particular organization does that risk become quantifiable.

Don’t make the mistake of emulating the tech giants, unless they are your direct competition. Instead, look to organizations that have walked your path in terms of scope, organizational goals, industry, and organizational structure.

Comparative

Your competitors

Info-Tech Insight

Remember, your competitors are not just those who compete for the same customers but also those who compete for your employees.

IT must balance commitments to both the organization and its employees

IT has two roles: to effectively support the broader organization and to function effectively within the department. It therefore has two main stakeholder relationships: the organization it supports and the employees it houses. Hybrid work impacts both. Don't make the mistake of overweighting one relationship at the expense of the other. IT will only function effectively when it addresses both.

Track your progress with the right metrics

This report contains:

1. IT and the Organization
   1. IT Effectiveness
      in a Hybrid World
   2. The Impact of Hybrid on Infrastructure & Operations
2. IT and Its Employees
   1. What Hybrid Means for the IT Workforce
   2. Leadership for Hybrid IT Teams

This report is based on organizations like yours

This report is based on organizations like yours

This report is based on organizations like yours

This report is based on organizations like yours

At a high level, hybrid work in IT is everywhere

INDUSTRY

ORGANIZATIONAL SIZE

POSITION LEVEL

• Executive
• Director
• Supervisor/Manager
• Student/Contractor/Team Member

100% of industries, organizational sizes, and position levels reported some form of hybrid or remote work.

Work model breakdown at the respondent level

n=516

Industry lens: Work location model

Percentage of IT roles currently in a hybrid or remote work arrangement

Work location model by organization size

Hybrid work options

Expense reimbursement

NOTES

n=518

Home office setup: One-time lump-sum payment

Home utilities: Gas, electricity, lights, etc.

Other: Office supplies, portion of home rent/mortgage payments, etc.

01 TECHNOLOGY

IT and the Organization

Section 1

The promise of hybrid work for IT department effectiveness and the costs of making it happen

In this section:

1. IT Effectiveness in a Hybrid World
2. The Impact of Hybrid on Infrastructure & Operations

Hybrid work models in IT bolster effectiveness

IT’s effectiveness, meaning its ability to enable organizational goal attainment, is its ultimate success metric. In the post-pandemic world, this indicator is intimately tied to IT’s work location model, as well as IT’s ability to support the work location model used by the broader organization.

In 2022, 90% of organizations have embraced some form of hybrid work (n=516). And only a small contingent of IT departments have more than 90% of roles still working completely in office, with no remote work offered (n=515).

This outcome was not unexpected, given the unprecedented success of remote work during the pandemic. However, the implications of this work model were far less certain. Would productivity remain once the threat of layoffs had passed? Would hybrid work be viable in the long term, once the novelty wore off? Would teams be able to function collaboratively without meeting face to face? Would hybrid allow a great culture
to continue?

All signs point to yes. For most IT departments, the benefits of hybrid work outweigh its costs. IT is significantly more effective when some degree of remote or hybrid work is present.

n=518

Remote Work Effectiveness Paradox

When IT itself works fully onsite, lower effectiveness is reported (6.2). When IT is tasked with supporting fully, 100% remote organizations (as opposed to being fully remote only within IT), lower effectiveness is reported then as well (5.9). A fully remote organization means 100% virtual communication, so the expectations placed on IT increase, as do the stakes of any errors. Of note, hybrid work models yield consistent effectiveness scores when implemented at both the IT and organizational levels.

IT has risen to the challenge of hybrid

Despite the challenges initially posed by hybrid and remote organizations, IT has thrived through the pandemic and into this newly common workplace.

Most organizations have experienced an unchanged or increased level of service requests and incidents. However, for the majority of organizations, service desk support has maintained (58%) or improved (35%). Only 7% of IT organizations report decreased service desk support.

Is your service desk able to offer the same level of support compared to the pre-pandemic/pre-hybrid work model?

How has the volume of your service requests/incidents changed?

Has hybrid work impacted your customer satisfaction scores?

Industry lens: Volume of service requests

It is interesting to note that service request volumes have evolved similarly across industries, mirroring the remarkable consistency with which hybrid work has been adopted across disparate fields, from construction to government.

Of note are two industries where the volume of service requests mostly increased: government and media, information, telecom & technology.

With the global expansion of digital products and services through the pandemic, it’s no surprise to see volumes increase for media, information, telecom & technology. With government, the shift from on premises to rapid and large-scale hybrid or remote work for administrative and knowledge worker roles likely meant additional support from IT to equip employees and end users with the necessary tools to carry out work offsite.

How has the volume of your service requests/incidents changed?

The transition to hybrid was worth the effort

Hybrid and remote work have been associated with greater productivity and organizational benefits since before the pandemic. During emergency remote work, doubts arose about whether productivity would be maintained under such extreme circumstances and were quickly dispelled. The promise of remote productivity held up.

Now, cautiously entering a “new normal,” the question has emerged again. Will long-term hybrid work bring the same benefits?

The expectations have held up, with hybrid work benefits ranging from reduced facilities costs to greater employee performance.

Organizational hybrid work may place additional strain on IT,
but it is clear IT can handle the challenge. And when it does,
the organizational benefits are tremendous.

88% of respondents reported increased or consistent Infrastructure & Operations customer satisfaction scores.

What benefits has the organization achieved as a result of moving to a hybrid work model?

n=487

Hybrid has sped up modernization of IT processes and infrastructure

Of the organizations surveyed, the vast majority reported significant changes to both the process and the technology side of IT operations. Four key processes affected by the move to hybrid were:

• Incident management
• Service request support
• Asset management
• Change management

Within Infrastructure & Operations, the area with the greatest degree
of change was network architecture (reported by 44% of respondents), followed closely by service desk (41%) and recovery workspaces and mitigations (40%).

63% of respondents reported changes to conference room technology to support hybrid meetings.

n=496

IT Infrastructure & Operations changes, upgrades, and modernization

What process(es) had the highest degree of change in response to supporting hybrid work?

Hybrid has permanently changed deployment strategy

Forty-five percent of respondents reported significant changes to deployment as a result of hybrid work, with an additional 42% reporting minor changes. Only 13% of respondents stated that their deployment processes remained unchanged following the shift to hybrid work.

With the ever-increasing globalization of business, deployment modernization practices such as the shift to zero touch are no longer optional or a bonus. They are a critical part of business operation that bring efficiency benefits beyond just supporting hybrid work.

The deployment changes brought on by hybrid span across industries. Even in manufacturing, with the greatest proportion of respondents reporting “no change” to deployment practices (33%), most organizations experienced some degree of change.

Has a hybrid work model led you to make any changes to your deployment, such as zero touch, to get equipment to end users?

Industry lens: Deployment changes

Has a hybrid work model led you to make any changes to your deployment, such as zero touch, to get equipment to end users?

Hybrid work has accelerated organizational digitization

Over half of respondents reported significantly decreased reliance on printed copies as a result of hybrid. While these changes were on the horizon for many organizations even before the pandemic, the necessity of keeping business operations running during lockdowns meant that critical resources could be invested in these processes. As a result, digitization has leapt forward.

This represents an opportunity for businesses to re-evaluate their relationships with printing vendors. Resources spent on printing can be reduced or reallocated, representing additional savings as a result of moving to hybrid. Additionally, many respondents report a willingness – and ability – from vendors to partner with organizations in driving innovation and enabling digitization.

With respect to changes pertaining to hard copies/printers as a result of your hybrid work model:

Hybrid work necessitates network and communications modernization

The majority (63%) of respondents reported making significant changes to conference room technology as a result of hybrid work. A significant proportion (30%) report that such changes were not needed, but this includes organizations who had already set up remote communication.

An important group is the remaining 8% of respondents, who cite budgetary restrictions as a key barrier in making the necessary technology upgrades. Ensure the business case for communication technology appropriately reflects the impact of these upgrades, and reduce the impact of legacy technology where possible:

• Recognize not just meeting efficiency but also the impact on culture, engagement, morale, and external and internal clients.
• Connect conference room tech modernization to the overall business goals and work it into the IT strategy.
• Leverage the scheduling flexibility available in hybrid work arrangements to reduce reliance on inadequate conference technology by scheduling in-person meetings where possible and necessary.

Have you made changes/upgrades
to the conference room technology to support hybrid meetings?
(E.g. Some participants joining remotely, some participants present in a conference room)

How we can help

For a comprehensive list of resources, visit
Info-Tech’s Hybrid Workplace Research Center

02 PEOPLE

IT and Its Employees

Section 2

Cultivate the dream team in a newly hybrid world

In this section:

1. What Hybrid Means for the IT Workforce
2. Leadership for IT Hybrid Teams

Hybrid means permanent change to how IT hires

Since before the pandemic, the intangibles of having a job that works with your lifestyle have been steadily growing in importance. Considerations like flexible work options, work-life balance, and culture are more important to employees now than they were two years ago, and employers must adapt.

Salary alone is no longer enough to recruit the best talent, nor is it the key to keeping employees engaged and productive. Hybrid work options are the single biggest concern for IT professionals seeking new employment, just edging out salary. This means employers must not offer just some work flexibility but truly embrace a hybrid environment.

What are you considering when looking at a potential employer?

A recession may not significantly impact hybrid work decisions overall

Declining economic conditions suggest that a talent market shift may be imminent. Moving toward a recession may mean less competition for top talent, but this doesn't mean hybrid will be left behind as a recruitment tactic.

Just over half of IT organizations surveyed are considering expanding hybrid work or moving to fully remote work even in a recession. Hybrid work is a critical enabler of organizational success when resources are scarce, due to the productivity benefits and cost savings it has demonstrated. Organizations that recognize this and adequately invest in hybrid tools now will have equipped themselves with an invaluable tool for weathering a recession storm, should one come.

What impact could a potential recession in the coming year have on your decisions around your work location?

Hybrid work may help small organizations in a declining economy

The potential for a recession has a greater impact on the workforce decisions of small organizations. They likely face greater financial pressures than medium and large-sized organizations, pressures that could necessitate halting recruitment efforts or holding firm on current salaries and health benefits.

A reliance on intangible benefits, like the continuation of hybrid work, may help offset some of negative effects of such freezes, including the risk of lower employee engagement and productivity. Survey respondents indicated that hybrid work options (47%) were slightly more important to them than salary/compensation (46%) and significantly more important than benefits (29%), which could work in favor of small organizations in keeping the critical employees needed to survive an economic downturn.

Currently considering some form of hiring/salary freeze or cutbacks, if a recession occurs

NOTES

n=520

Small: <101 employees

Medium: 101-5000 employees

Large: >5,000 employees

Hybrid mitigates the main challenge of remote work

One advantage of hybrid over remote work is the ability to maintain an in-office presence, which provides a failsafe should technology or other barriers stand in the way of effective distance communication. To take full advantage of this, teams should coordinate tasks with location, so that employees get the most out of the unique benefits of working in office and remotely.

Activities to prioritize for in-office work:

• Collaboration and brainstorming
• Team-building activities
• Introductions and onboarding

Activities to prioritize for remote work:

• Individual focus time

As a leader, what are your greatest concerns with hybrid work?

Hybrid necessitates additional effort by managers

When it comes to leading a hybrid team, there is no ignoring the impact of distance on communication and team cohesion. Among leaders’ top concerns are employee wellbeing and the ability to pick up on signs of demotivation among team members.

The top two tactics used by managers to mitigate these concerns center on increasing communication:

• Staying available through instant messaging.
• Increasing team meetings.

Tactics most used by highly effective IT departments

Team success is linked to the number of tools at the manager’s disposal

The most effective hybrid team management tools focus on overcoming the greatest obstacle introduced by remote work: barriers to communication and connection.

The most effective IT organizations use a variety of tactics. For managers looking to improve hybrid team effectiveness, the critical factor is less the tactic used and more the ability to adapt their approach to their team’s needs and incorporate team feedback. As such, IT effectiveness is linked to the total number of tactics used by managers.

IT department effectiveness

Autonomy is key to hybrid team success

Not all hybrid work models are created equal. IT leaders working with hybrid teams have many decisions to make, from how many days will be spent in and out of office to how much control employees get over which days they work remotely.

Employee and manager preferences are largely aligned regarding the number of days spent working remotely or onsite: Two to three days in office is the most selected option for both groups, although overall manager preferences lean slightly toward more time spent in office.

Comparison of leader and employee preference for days in-office

Do employees have a choice in the days they work in office/offsite?

For most organizations, employees get a choice of which days they spend working remotely. This autonomy can range from complete freedom to a choice between several pre-approved days depending on team scheduling needs.

Work is still needed to increase autonomy in hybrid teams

Organizations’ success in establishing hybrid team autonomy varies greatly post pandemic. Responses are roughly equally split between staff feeling more, less, or the same level of autonomy as before the pandemic. Evaluated in the context of most organizations continuing a hybrid approach, this leads to the conclusion that not all hybrid implementations are being conducted equally effectively when it comes to employee empowerment.

As an employee, how much control do you have over the decisions related to where, when, and how you work currently?

Connectedness in hybrid teams lags behind

A strong case can be made for fostering autonomy and empowerment on hybrid teams. Employees who report lower levels of control than before the pandemic also report lower engagement indicators, such as trust in senior leadership, motivation, and intention to stay with the organization. On the other hand, employees experiencing increased levels of control report gains in these areas.

The only exception to these gains is the sense of team connectedness, which employees experiencing more control report as lower than before the pandemic. A greater sense of connectedness among employees reporting decreased control may be related to more mandatory in-office time or a sense of connection over shared team-level disengagement.

These findings reinforce the need for hybrid teams to invest in team building and communication practices and confirm that significant benefits are to be had when a sense of autonomy can be successfully instilled.

Employees who experience less control than before the pandemic report lowered engagement indicators ... except sense of connectedness

Employees who experience more control than before the pandemic report increased engagement indicators ... except sense of connectedness

Case study: Hybrid work at Microsoft Canada

How we can help

For a comprehensive list of resources, visit
Info-Tech’s Hybrid Workplace Research Center

Recommendations

The last two years have been a great experiment, but it’s not over.

Info-Tech Insight

Hybrid and remote teams require more attention, connection, and leadership from managers. The shift from doing the day-to-day to effectively leading is critical for the success of nontraditional work models. As hybrid and remote work become engrained in society, organizations must ensure that the concept of the “working manager” is as obsolete as the rotary telephone.

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Analyst Perspective

"Customer service issues are rarely based on personality but are almost always a symptom of poor and inconsistent process. When service desk managers are looking to hire to resolve customer service issues and executives are pushing back, it’s time to look at improving process and the support strategy to make the best use of technicians’ time, tools, and knowledge sharing. Once improvements have been made, it’s easier to make the case to add people or introduce automation.

Replacing service desk solutions will also highlight issues around poor process. Without fixing the baseline services, the new solution will simply wrap your issues in a prettier package.

Ultimately, the service desk needs to be the entry point for users to get help and the rest of IT needs to provide the appropriate support to ensure the first line of interaction has the knowledge and tools they need to resolve quickly and preferably on first contact. If your plans include optimization to self-serve or automation, you’ll have a hard time getting there without standardizing first."

Sandi Conrad

Principal Research Director, Infrastructure & Operations Practice

Info-Tech Research Group

A method for getting your service desk out of firefighter mode

This Research Is Designed For:

• The CIO and senior IT management who need to increase service desk effectiveness and timeliness and improve end-user satisfaction.
• The service desk manager who wants to lead the team from firefighting mode to providing consistent and proactive support.

This Research Will Also Assist:

• Service desk teams who want to increase their own effectiveness and move from a help desk to a service desk.
• Infrastructure and applications managers who want to decrease reactive support activities and increase strategic project productivity by shifting repetitive and low-value work left.

This Research Will Help You:

• Create a consistent customer service experience for service desk patrons.
• Increase efficiency, first-call resolution, and end-user satisfaction with the Service Desk.
• Decrease time and cost to resolve service desk tickets.
• Understand and address reporting needs to address root causes and measure success.
• Build a solid foundation for future IT service improvements.

Executive Summary

Situation

• The CIO and senior IT management who need to increase service desk effectiveness and timeliness and improve end-user satisfaction.
• If only the phone could stop ringing, the Service Desk could become proactive, address service levels, and improve end-user IT satisfaction.

Complication

• Not everyone embraces their role in service support. Specialists would rather work on projects than provide service support.
• The Service Desk lacks processes and workflows to provide consistent service. Service desk managers struggle to set and meet service-level expectations, which further compromises end-user satisfaction.

Resolution

• Go beyond the blind adoption of best-practice frameworks. No simple formula exists for improving service desk maturity. Use diagnostic tools to assess the current state of the Service Desk. Identify service support challenges and draw on best-practice frameworks intelligently to build a structured response to those challenges.
• An effective service desk must be built on the right foundations. Understand how:
  • Service desk structure affects cost and ticket volume capacity.
  • Incident management workflows can improve ticket handling, prioritization, and escalation.
  • Request fulfillment processes create opportunities for streamlining and automating services.
  • Knowledge sharing supports the processes and workflows essential to effective service support.

Info-Tech Insight

Service desk improvement is an exercise in organizational change. Engage specialists across the IT organization in building the solution. Establish a single service-support team across the IT group and enforce it with a cooperative, customer-focused culture. Don’t be fooled by a tool that’s new. A new service desk tool alone won’t solve the problem. Service desk maturity improvements depend on putting in place the right people and processes to support the technology

Directors and executives understand the importance of the service desk and believe IT can do better

Source: Info-Tech, 2019 Responses (N=189 organizations)

Service Desk Importance Scores

No Importance: 1.0-6.9

Limited Importance: 7.0-7.9

Significant Importance: 8.0-8.9

Critical Importance: 9.0-10.0

Service Desk Effectiveness Scores

Not in Place: N/A

Not Effective: 0.0-4.9

Somewhat Ineffective: 5.0-5.9

Somewhat Effective: 6.0-6.9

Very Effective: 7.0-10.0

Info-Tech Research Group’s IT Management and Governance Diagnostic (MGD) program assesses the importance and effectiveness of core IT processes. Since its inception, the MGD has consistently identified the service desk as an area to leverage.

Having an effective and timely service desk correlates with higher end-user satisfaction with all other IT services

On average, organizations that were satisfied with service desk effectiveness rated all other IT processes 46% higher than dissatisfied end users.

Organizations that were satisfied with service desk timeliness rated all other IT processes 37% higher than dissatisfied end users.

“Satisfied” organizations had average scores =8.“Dissatisfied" organizations had average scores “Dissatisfied" organizations had average scores =6. Source: Info-Tech Research Group, 2019 (N=18,500+ respondents from 75 organizations)

Standardize the service desk the Info-Tech way to get measurable results

More than one hundred organizations engaged with Info-Tech, through advisory calls and workshops, for their service desk projects in 2016. Their goal was either to improve an existing service desk or build one from scratch.

Organizations that estimate the business impact of each project phase help us shed light on the average measured value of the engagements.

"The analysts are an amazing resource for this project. Their approach is very methodical, and they have the ability to fill in the big picture with detailed, actionable steps. There is a real opportunity for us to get off the treadmill and make real IT service management improvements"

- Rod Gula, IT Director

American Realty Advisors

Info-Tech’s approach to service desk standardization focuses on building service management essentials

Info-Tech draws on the COBIT framework, which focuses on consistent delivery of IT services across the organization

The service desk is the foundation of all other service management processes.

Standardize the Service Desk – project overview

Info-Tech delivers: Use our tools and templates to accelerate your project to completion

Project Summary

Service Desk Standard Operating Procedures

Service Desk Maturity Assessment Tool

Service Desk Implementation Roadmap

Incident, knowledge, and request management workflows

Workshop Overview

Contact your account representative or email Workshops@InfoTech.com for more information.

Phase 1

Step 1.1:Assess current state

Standardizing the service desk benefits the whole business

Embrace standardization

• Standardization prevents wasted energy on reinventing solutions to recurring issues.
• Standardized processes are scalable so that process maturity increases with the size of your organization.

Increase business satisfaction

• Improve confidence that the service desk can meet service levels.
• Create a single point of contact for incidents and requests and escalate quickly.
• Analyze trends to forecast and meet shifting business requirements.

Reduce recurring issues

• Create tickets for every task and categorize them accurately.
• Generate reliable data to support root-cause analysis.

Increase efficiency and lower operating costs

• Empower end users and technicians with a targeted knowledgebase (KB).
• Cross-train to improve service consistency.

Assess current service desk maturity to establish a baseline and create a plan for service desk improvement

A current-state assessment will help you build a foundation for process improvements. Current-state assessments follow a basic formula:

1. Determine the current state of the service desk.
2. Determine the desired state of the service desk.
3. Build a practical path from current to desired state.

Ideally, the current-state assessment should align the delivery of IT services with organizational needs. The assessment should achieve the following goals:

1. Identify service desk pain points.
2. Map each pain point to business services.
3. Assign a broad business value to the resolution of each pain point.
4. Map each pain point to a process.

Expert Insight

“How do you know if you aren’t mature enough? Nothing – or everything – is recorded and tracked, customer satisfaction is low, frustration is high, and there are multiple requests and incidents that nobody ever bothers to address.”

Rob England

IT Consultant & Commentator

Owner Two Hills

Also known as The IT Skeptic

Assess the process maturity of the service desk to determine which project phase and steps will bring the most value

1.1.2 Measure which activity will have the greatest impact

The Service Desk Maturity Assessmenttool helps organizations assess their service desk process maturity and focus the project on the activities that matter most.

The tool will help guide improvement efforts and measure your progress.

• The second tab of the tool walks through a qualitative assessment of your service desk practices. Questions will prompt you to evaluate how you are executing key activities. Select the answer in the drop-down menus that most closely aligns with your current state.
• The third tab displays your rate of process completeness and maturity. You will receive a score for each phase, an overall score, and advice based on your performance.
• Document the results of the efficiency assessment in the Service Desk Project Summary.

The tool is intended for periodic use. Review your answers each year and devise initiatives to improve the process performance where you need it most.

Where do I find the data?

Consult:

• Service Manager
• Service Desk Tools

Step 1.2:Review service support best practices

This step will walk you through the following activities:

1. 1.2.1 Identify roles and responsibilities in your organization
2. 1.2.2 Map out the current and target structure of the service desk

This step involves the following participants:

• Project Sponsor
• IT Director, CIO
• IT Managers and Service Desk Manager(s)
• Representation from tier 2 and tier 3 specialists

Outcomes

Identifying who is accountable for different support practices in the service desk will allow workload to be distributed effectively between functional teams and individuals. Closing the gaps in responsibilities will enable the execution of a shift-left strategy.

Deliverables

• Roles & responsibilities guide
• Service desk structure

A RACI chart outlines which positions are Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed

Build a single point of contact for the service desk

Regardless of the service desk structure chosen to meet your service support requirements, end users should be in no doubt about how to access the service.

Provide end users with:

• A single phone number.
• A single email address.
• A single web portal for all incidents and requests.

A single point of contact will ensure:

• An agent is available to field incidents and requests.
• Incidents and requests are prioritized according to impact and urgency.
• Work is tracked to completion.

This prevents ad hoc ticket channels such as shoulder grabs or direct emails, chats, or calls to a technician from interrupting work.

A single point of contact does not mean the service desk is only accessible through one intake channel, but rather all tickets are directed to the service desk (i.e. tier 1) to be resolved or redirected appropriately.

Directors and executives understand the importance of the service desk and believe IT can do better

Source: Info-Tech, 2019 Responses (N=189 organizations)

Service Desk Importance Scores

No Importance: 1.0-6.9

Limited Importance: 7.0-7.9

Significant Importance: 8.0-8.9

Critical Importance: 9.0-10.0

Service Desk Effectiveness Scores

Not in Place: N/A

Not Effective: 0.0-4.9

Somewhat Ineffective: 5.0-5.9

Somewhat Effective: 6.0-6.9

Very Effective: 7.0-10.0

Info-Tech Research Group’s IT Management and Governance Diagnostic (MGD) program assesses the importance and effectiveness of core IT processes. Since its inception, the MGD has consistently identified the service desk as an area to leverage.

Business stakeholders consistently rank the service desk as one of the top five most important services that IT provides

Since 2013, Info-Tech has surveyed over 40,000 business stakeholders as part of our CIO Business Vision program.

Business stakeholders ranked the following 12 core IT services in terms of importance:

*Note: IT Security was added to CIO Business Vision 2.0 in 2019

Top IT Services for Business Stakeholders

1. Network Infrastructure
2. IT Security*
3. Data Quality
4. Service Desk
5. Business Applications
6. Devices
7. Client-Facing Technology
8. Analytical Capability
9. IT Innovation Leadership
10. Projects
11. Work Orders
12. IT Policies
13. Requirements Gathering

Source: Info-Tech Research Group, 2019 (N=224 organizations)

Having an effective and timely service desk correlates with higher end-user satisfaction with all other IT services

On average, organizations that were satisfied with service desk effectiveness rated all other IT processes 46% higher than dissatisfied end users.

“Satisfied” organizations had average scores =8.“Dissatisfied" organizations had average scores “Dissatisfied" organizations had average scores =6. Source: Info-Tech Research Group, 2019 (N=18,500+ respondents from 75 organizations)

Standardize the service desk the Info-Tech way to get measurable results

More than one hundred organizations engaged with Info-Tech, through advisory calls and workshops, for their service desk projects in 2016. Their goal was either to improve an existing service desk or build one from scratch.

Organizations that estimate the business impact of each project phase help us shed light on the average measured value of the engagements.

"The analysts are an amazing resource for this project. Their approach is very methodical, and they have the ability to fill in the big picture with detailed, actionable steps. There is a real opportunity for us to get off the treadmill and make real IT service management improvements"

- Rod Gula, IT Director

American Realty Advisors

Info-Tech’s approach to service desk standardization focuses on building service management essentials

Info-Tech draws on the COBIT framework, which focuses on consistent delivery of IT services across the organization

The service desk is the foundation of all other service management processes.

Info-Tech offers various levels of support to best suit your needs

DIY Toolkit

“Our team has already made this critical project a priority, and we have the time and capability, but some guidance along the way would be helpful.”

Guided Implementation

“Our team knows that we need to fix a process, but we need assistance to determine where to focus. Some check-ins along the way would help keep us on track.”

Workshop

“We need to hit the ground running and get this project kicked off immediately. Our team has the ability to take this over once we get a framework and strategy in place.”

Consulting

“Our team does not have the time or the knowledge to take this project on. We need assistance through the entirety of this project.”

Diagnostics and consistent frameworks used throughout all four options

Standardize the Service Desk – project overview

Info-Tech delivers: Use our tools and templates to accelerate your project to completion

Project Summary

Service Desk Standard Operating Procedures

Service Desk Maturity Assessment Tool

Service Desk Implementation Roadmap

Incident, knowledge, and request management workflows

The project’s key deliverable is a service desk standard operating procedure

Benefits of documented SOPs:

Improved training and knowledge transfer: Routine tasks can be delegated to junior staff (freeing senior staff to work on higher priority tasks).

IT automation, process optimization, and consistent operations: Defining, documenting, and then optimizing processes enables IT automation to be built on sound processes, so consistent positive results can be achieved.

Compliance: Compliance audits are more manageable because the documentation is already in place.

Transparency: Visually documented processes answer the common business question of “why does that take so long?”

Cost savings: Work solved at first contact or with a minimal number of escalations will result in greater efficiency and more cost-effective support. This will also lead to better customer service.

Impact of undocumented/undefined SOPs:

Tasks will be difficult to delegate, key staff become a bottleneck, knowledge transfer is inconsistent, and there is a longer onboarding process for new staff

IT automation built on poorly defined, unoptimized processes leads to inconsistent results.

Documenting SOPs to prepare for an audit becomes a major time-intensive project.

Other areas of the organization may not understand how IT operates, which can lead to confusion and unrealistic expectations.

Support costs are highest through inefficient processes, and proactive work becomes more difficult to schedule, making the organization vulnerable to costly disruptions.

Workshop Overview

Contact your account representative or email Workshops@InfoTech.com for more information.

Phase 1

Lay Service Desk Foundations

Step 1.1:Assess current state

This step will walk you through the following activities:

• 1.1.1 Outline service desk challenges
• 1.1.2 Assess the service desk maturity

This step involves the following participants:

• Project Sponsor
• IT Director, CIO
• IT Managers and Service Desk Manager(s)
• Representation from tier 2 and tier 3 specialists

Outcomes

Alignment on the challenges that the service desk faces, an assessment of the current state of service desk processes and technologies, and baseline metrics against which to measure improvements.

Deliverables

• Service Desk Maturity Assessment

Standardizing the service desk benefits the whole business

Embrace standardization

• Standardization prevents wasted energy on reinventing solutions to recurring issues.
• Standardized processes are scalable so that process maturity increases with the size of your organization.

Increase business satisfaction

• Improve confidence that the service desk can meet service levels.
• Create a single point of contact for incidents and requests and escalate quickly.
• Analyze trends to forecast and meet shifting business requirements.

Reduce recurring issues

• Create tickets for every task and categorize them accurately.
• Generate reliable data to support root-cause analysis.

Increase efficiency and lower operating costs

• Empower end users and technicians with a targeted knowledgebase (KB).
• Cross-train to improve service consistency.

Case Study: The CIO of Westminster College took stock of existing processes before moving to empower the “helpless desk”

Scott Lowe helped a small staff of eight IT professionals formalize service desk processes and increase the amount of time available for projects.

When he joined Westminster College as CIO in 2006, the department faced several infrastructure challenges, including:

• An unreliable network
• Aging server replacements and no replacement plan
• IT was the “department of no”
• A help desk known as the “helpless desk”
• A lack of wireless connectivity
• Internet connection speed that was much too slow

As the CIO investigated how to address the infrastructure challenges, he realized people cared deeply about how IT spent its time.

The project load of IT staff increased, with new projects coming in every day.

With a long project list, it became increasingly important to improve the transparency of project request and prioritization.

Some weeks, staff spent 80% of their time working on projects. Other weeks, support requirements might leave only 10% for project work.

He addressed the infrastructure challenges in part by analyzing IT’s routine processes.

Internally, IT had inefficient support processes that reduced the amount of time they could spend on projects.

They undertook an internal process analysis effort to identify processes that would have a return on investment if they were improved. The goal was to reduce operational support time so that project time could be increased.

Five years later, they had a better understanding of the organization's operational support time needs and were able to shift workloads to accommodate projects without compromising support.

Common challenges experienced by service desk teams

Unresolved issues

• Tickets are not created for all incidents.
• Tickets are lost or escalated to the wrong technicians.
• Poor data impedes root-cause analysis of incidents.

Lost resources/accountability

• Lack of cross-training and knowledge sharing.
• Lack of skills coverage for critical applications and services.
• Time is wasted troubleshooting recurring issues.
• Reports unavailable due to lack of data and poor categorization.

High cost to resolve

• Tier 2/3 resolve issues that should be resolved at tier 1.
• Tier 2/3 often interrupt projects to focus on service support.

Poor planning

• Lack of data for effective trend analysis leads to poor demand planning.
• Lack of data leads to lost opportunities for templating and automation.

Low business satisfaction

• Users are unable to get assistance with IT services quickly.
• Users go to their favorite technician instead of using the service desk.

Outline the organization’s service desk challenges

1.1.1 Brainstorm service desk challenges

Estimated Time: 45 minutes

A. As a group, outline the areas where you think the service desk is experiencing challenges or weaknesses. Use sticky notes or a whiteboard to separate the challenges into People, Process, and Technology so you have a wholistic view of the constraints across the department.

B. Think about the following:

• What have you heard from users? (e.g. slow response time)
• What have you heard from executives? (e.g. poor communication)
• What should you start doing? (e.g. documenting processes)
• What should you stop doing? (e.g. work that is not being entered as tickets)

C. Document challenges in the Service Desk Project Summary.

Participants:

• CIO
• IT Managers
• Service Desk Manager
• Service Desk Agents

Assess current service desk maturity to establish a baseline and create a plan for service desk improvement

A current-state assessment will help you build a foundation for process improvements. Current-state assessments follow a basic formula:

1. Determine the current state of the service desk.
2. Determine the desired state of the service desk.
3. Build a practical path from current to desired state.

Ideally, the current-state assessment should align the delivery of IT services with organizational needs. The assessment should achieve the following goals:

1. Identify service desk pain points.
2. Map each pain point to business services.
3. Assign a broad business value to the resolution of each pain point.
4. Map each pain point to a process.

Expert Insight

“How do you know if you aren’t mature enough? Nothing – or everything – is recorded and tracked, customer satisfaction is low, frustration is high, and there are multiple requests and incidents that nobody ever bothers to address.”

Rob England

IT Consultant & Commentator

Owner Two Hills

Also known as The IT Skeptic

Assess the process maturity of the service desk to determine which project phase and steps will bring the most value

1.1.2 Measure which activity will have the greatest impact

The Service Desk Maturity Assessmenttool helps organizations assess their service desk process maturity and focus the project on the activities that matter most.

The tool will help guide improvement efforts and measure your progress.

• The second tab of the tool walks through a qualitative assessment of your service desk practices. Questions will prompt you to evaluate how you are executing key activities. Select the answer in the drop-down menus that most closely aligns with your current state.
• The third tab displays your rate of process completeness and maturity. You will receive a score for each phase, an overall score, and advice based on your performance.
• Document the results of the efficiency assessment in the Service Desk Project Summary.

The tool is intended for periodic use. Review your answers each year and devise initiatives to improve the process performance where you need it most.

Consult:

• Service Manager
• Service Desk Tools

Step 1.2:Review service support best practices

This step will walk you through the following activities:

1. 1.2.1 Identify roles and responsibilities in your organization
2. 1.2.2 Map out the current and target structure of the service desk

This step involves the following participants:

• Project Sponsor
• IT Director, CIO
• IT Managers and Service Desk Manager(s)
• Representation from tier 2 and tier 3 specialists

Outcomes

Identifying who is accountable for different support practices in the service desk will allow workload to be distributed effectively between functional teams and individuals. Closing the gaps in responsibilities will enable the execution of a shift-left strategy.

Deliverables

• Roles & responsibilities guide
• Service desk structure

Everyone in IT contributes to the success of service support

Regardless of the service desk structure chosen to meet an organization’s service support requirements, IT staff should not doubt the role they play in service support.

If you try to standardize service desk processes without engaging specialists in other parts of the IT organization, you will fail. Everyone in IT has a role to play in providing service support and meeting service-level agreements.

Service Support Engagement Plan

• Identify who is accountable for different service support processes.
• Outline the different responsibilities of service desk agents at tier 1, tier 2, and tier 3 in meeting service-level agreements for service support.
• Draft operational-level agreements between specialty groups and the service desk to improve accountability.
• Configure the service desk tool to ensure ticket visibility and ownership across queues.
• Engage tier 2 and tier 3 resources in building workflows for incident management, request fulfilment, and writing knowledgebase articles.
• Emphasize the benefits of cooperation across IT silos:
  • Better customer service and end-user satisfaction.
  • Shorter time to resolve incidents and implement requests.
  • A higher tier 1 resolution rate, more efficient escalations, and fewer interruptions from project work.

Info-Tech Insight

Specialists tend to distance themselves from service support as they progress through their career to focus on projects.

However, their cooperation is critical to the success of the new service desk. Not only do they contribute to the knowledgebase, but they also handle escalations from tiers 1 and 2.

Clear project complications by leveraging roles and responsibilities

R

Responsible: This person is the staff member who completes the work. Assign at least one Responsible for each task, but this could be more than one.

A

Accountable: This team member delegates a task and is the last person to review deliverables and/or task. Sometimes Responsible and Accountable can be the same staff. Make sure that you always assign only one Accountable for each task and not more.

C

Consulted: People who do not carry out the task but need to be consulted. Typically, these people are subject matter experts or stakeholders.

I

Informed: People who receive information about process execution and quality and need to stay informed regarding the task.

A RACI analysis is helpful with the following:

• Workload Balancing: Allowing responsibilities to be distributed effectively between functional teams and individuals.
• Change Management: Ensuring key functions and processes are not overlooked during organizational changes.
• Onboarding: New employees can identify their own roles and responsibilities.

A RACI chart outlines which positions are Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed

Create a list of roles and responsibilities in your organization

1.2.1 Create RACI matrix to define responsibilities

1. Use the Service Desk Roles and Responsibilities Guidefor a better understanding of the roles and responsibilities of different service desk tiers.
2. In the RACI chart, replace the top row with specific roles in your organization.
3. Modify or expand the process tasks, as needed, in the left column.
4. For each role, identify the responsibility values that the person brings to the service desk. Fill out each column.
5. Document in the Service Desk SOP. Schedule a time to share the results with organization leads.
6. Distribute the chart between all teams in your organization.

Notes:

• Assign one Accountable for each task.
• Have at least one Responsible for each task.
• Avoid generic responsibilities, such as “team meetings.”
• Keep your RACI definitions in your documents, as they are sometimes tough to remember.

Participants

• CIO
• IT Managers
• Service Desk Manager
• Service Desk Agents

What You'll Need

• Service Desk SOP
• Roles and Responsibilities Guide
• Flip Chart
• Whiteboard

Build a tiered generalist service desk to optimize costs

A tiered generalist service desk with a first-tier resolution rate greater than 60% has the best operating cost and customer satisfaction of all competing service desk structural models.

The success of a tiered generalist model depends on standardized, defined processes

Define the structure of the service desk

1.2.2 Map out the current and target structure of the service desk

Estimated Time: 45 minutes

Instructions:

1. Using the model from the previous slides as a guide, discuss how closely it matches the current service desk structure.
2. Map out a similar diagram of your existing service desk structure, intake channels, and escalation paths.
3. Review the structure and discuss any changes that could be made to improve efficiency. Revise as needed.
4. Document the outcome in the Service Desk Project Summary.

Participants

• CIO
• IT Managers
• Service Desk Manager
• Service Desk Agents

Use a shift-left strategy to lower service support costs, reduce time to resolve, and improve end-user satisfaction

Shift-left strategy:

• Shift service support tasks from specialists to generalists.
• Implement self-service.
• Automate incident resolution.

Work through the implications of adopting a shift-left strategy

Overview:

Identify process gaps that you need to fill to support the shift-left strategy and discuss how you could adopt or improve the shift-left strategy, using the discussion questions below as a guide.

Which process gaps do you need to fill to identify ticket trends?

• What are your most common incidents and service requests?
• Which tickets could be resolved at tier 1?
• Which tickets could be resolved as self-service tickets?
• Which tickets could be automated?

Which processes do you most need to improve to support a shift-left strategy?

• Which incident and request processes are well documented?
• Do you have recurring tickets that could be automated?
• What is the state of your knowledgebase maintenance process?
• Which articles do you most need to support tier 1 resolution?
• What is the state of your web portal? How could it be improved to support self-service?

Document in the Project Summary

Step 1.3: Identify service desk metrics and reports

This step will walk you through the following activities:

• 1.3 Create a list of required reports to identify relevant metrics

This step involves the following participants:

• Project Sponsor
• IT Managers and Service Desk Manager(s)
• Representation from tier 2 and tier 3 specialists

Outcomes

Managers and analysts will have service desk metrics and reports that help set expectations and communicate service desk performance.

Deliverables

• A list of service desk performance metrics and reports

Engage business unit leaders with data to appreciate needs

Service desk reports are an opportunity to communicate the story of IT and collect stakeholder feedback. Interview business unit leaders and look for opportunities to improve IT services.

Start with the following questions:

• What are you hearing from your team about working with IT?
• What are the issues that are contributing to productivity losses?
• What are the workarounds your team does because something isn’t working?
• Are you able to access the information you need?

Work with business unit leaders to develop an action plan.

Remember to communicate what you do to address stakeholder grievances.

The service recovery paradox is a situation in which end users think more highly of IT after the organization has corrected a problem with their service compared to how they would regard the company if the service had not been faulty in the first place.

The point is that addressing issues (and being seen to address issues) will significantly improve end-user satisfaction. Communicate that you’re listening and acting, and you should see satisfaction improve.

Info-Tech Insight

Presentation is everything:

If you are presenting outside of IT, or using operational metrics to create strategic information, be prepared to:

• Discuss trends.
• Identify organizational and departmental impacts.
• Assess IT costs and productivity.

For example, “Number of incidents with ERP system has decreased by 5% after our last patch release. We are working on the next set of changes and expect the issues to continue to decrease.”

Engage technicians to ensure they input quality data in the service desk tool

You need better data to address problems. Communicate to the technical team what you need from them and how their efforts contribute to the usefulness of reports.

Tickets MUST:

• Be created for all incidents and service requests.
• Be categorized correctly, and categories updated when the ticket is resolved.
• Be closed after the incidents and service requests are resolved or implemented.

Emphasize that reports are analyzed regularly and used to manage costs, improve services, and request more resources.

Info-Tech Insight

Service Desk Manager: Technical staff can help themselves analyze the backlog and improve service metrics if they’re looking at the right information. Ensure their service desk dashboards are helping them identify high-priority and quick-win tickets and anticipate potential SLA breaches.

Produce service desk reports targeted to improve IT services

Use metrics and reports to tell the story of IT.

Metrics should be tied to business requirements and show how well IT is meeting those requirements and where obstacles exist.

Tailor metrics and reports to specific stakeholders.

Technicians require mostly real-time information in the form of a dashboard, providing visibility into a prioritized list of tickets for which they are responsible.

Supervisors need tactical information to manage the team and set client expectations as well as track and meet strategic goals.

Managers and executives need summary information that supports strategic goals. Start by looking at executive goals for the support team and then working through some of the more tactical data that will help support those goals.

One metric doesn’t give you the whole picture

• Don’t put too much emphasis on a single metric. At best, it will give you a distorted picture of your service desk performance. At worst, it will distort the behavior of your agents as they may adopt poor practices to meet the metric.
• The solution is to use tension metrics: metrics that work together to give you a better sense of the state of operations.
• Tension metrics ensure a balanced focus toward shared goals.

Example:

First-call resolution (FCR), end-user satisfaction, and number of tickets reopened all work together to give you a complete picture. As FCR goes up, so should end-user satisfaction, as number of tickets re-opened stays steady or declines. If the three metrics are heading in different directions, then you know you have a problem.

Rely on internal metrics to measure and improve performance

External metrics provide useful context, but they represent broad generalizations across different industries and organizations of different sizes. Internal metrics measured annually are more reliable.

Internal metrics provide you with information about your actual performance. With the right continual improvement process, you can improve those metrics year over year, which is a better measure of the performance of your service desk.

Whether a given metric is the right one for your service desk will depend on several different factors, not the least of which include:

• The maturity of your service desk processes.
• Your ticket volume.
• The complexity of your tickets.
• The degree to which your end users are comfortable with self-service.

Info-Tech Insight

Take external metrics with a grain of salt. Most benchmarks represent what service desks do across different industries, not what they should do. There also might be significant differences between different industries in terms of the kinds of tickets they deal with, differences which the overall average obscures.

Use key service desk metrics to build a business case for service support improvements

The right metrics can tell the business how hard IT works and how many resources it needs to perform:

1. End-User Satisfactions:
   • The most important metric for measuring the perceived value of the service desk. Determine this based on a robust annual satisfaction survey of end users and transactional satisfaction surveys sent with a percentage of tickets.
2. Ticket Volume and Cost per Ticket:
   • A key indicator of service desk efficiency, computed as the monthly operating expense divided by the average ticket volume per month.
3. First-Contact Resolution Rate:
   • The biggest driver of end-user satisfaction. Depending on the kind of tickets you deal with, you can measure first-contact, first-tier, or first-day resolution.
4. Average Time to Resolve (Incident) or Fulfill (Service Requests):
   • An assessment of the service desk's ability to resolve tickets effectively, measuring the time elapsed between the moment the ticket status is set to “open” and the moment it is set to “resolved.”

Info-Tech Insight

Metrics should be tied to business requirements. They tell the story of how well IT is meeting those requirements and help identify when obstacles get in the way. The latter can be done by pointing to discrepancies between the internal metrics you expected to reach but didn’t and external metrics you trust.

Use service desk metrics to track progress toward strategic, operational, and tactical goals

Cost per ticket and customer satisfaction are the foundation metrics of service support

Ultimately, everything boils down to cost containment (measured by cost per ticket) and quality of service (measured by customer satisfaction).

Cost per ticket is a measure of the efficiency of service support:

• A higher than average cost per ticket is not necessarily a bad thing, particularly if accompanied by higher-than-average quality levels.
• Conversely, a low cost per ticket is not necessarily good, particularly if the low cost is achieved by sacrificing quality of service.

Cost per ticket is the total monthly operating expense of the service desk divided by the monthly ticket volume. Operating expense includes the following components:

• Salaries and benefits for desktop support technicians
• Salaries and benefits for indirect personnel (team leads, supervisors, workforce schedulers, dispatchers, QA/QC personnel, trainers, and managers)
• Technology expense (e.g. computers, software licensing fees)
• Telecommunications expenses
• Facilities expenses (e.g. office space, utilities, insurance)
• Travel, training, and office supplies

Create a list of required reports to identify metrics to track

1.3.1 Start by identifying the reports you need, then identify the metrics that produce them

1. Answer the following questions to determine the data your reports require:
   • What strategic initiatives do you need to track?
     • Example: reducing mean time to resolve, meeting SLAs
   • What operational areas need attention?
     • Example: recurring issues that need a permanent resolution
   • What kind of issues do you want to solve?
     • Example: automate tasks such as password reset or software distribution
   • What decisions or processes are held up due to lack of information?
     • Example: need to build a business case to justify infrastructure upgrades
   • How can the data be used to improve services to the business?
     • Example: recurring issues by department
2. Document report and metrics requirements in Service Desk SOP.
3. Provide the list to your tool administrator to create reports with auto-distribution.

Participants

• CIO
• IT Managers
• Service Desk Manager
• Service Desk Agents

What You'll Need

• Service Desk SOP
• Flip Chart
• Whiteboard

Step 1.4: Review ticket handling procedures

This step will walk you through the following activities:

• 1.4.1 Review ticket handling practices
• 1.4.2 Identify opportunities to automate ticket creation and reduce recurring tickets

This step involves the following participants:

• Project Sponsor
• IT Managers and Service Desk Manager(s)
• Representation from tier 2 and tier 3 specialists

Outcomes

Managers and analysts will have best practices for ticket handling and troubleshooting to support ITSM data quality and improve first-tier resolution.

DELIVERABLES

• List of ticket templates and recurring tickets
• Ticket and Call QA Template and ticket handling best practices

Start by reviewing the incident intake process to find opportunities for improvement

If end users are avoiding your service desk, you may have an intake problem. Create alternative ways for users to seek help to manage the volume; keep in mind not every request is an emergency.

Identify opportunities for improvement in your ticket channels

The two most efficient intake channels should be encouraged for the majority of tickets.

• Build a self-service portal.
  • Do users know where to find the portal?
  • How many tickets are created through the portal?
  • Is the interface easy to use?
• Deal efficiently with email.
  • How quickly are messages picked up?
  • Are they manually transferred to a ticket or does the service desk tool automatically create a ticket?

The two most traditional and fastest methods to get help must deal with emergencies and escalation effectively.

• Phone should be the fastest way to get help for emergencies.
  • Are enough agents answering calls?
  • Are voicemails picked up on time?
  • Are the automated call routing prompts clear and concise?
• Are walk-ins permitted and formalized?
  • Do you always have someone at the desk?
  • Is your equipment secure?
  • Are walk-ins common because no one picks up the phone or is the traffic as you’d expect?

Ensure technicians create tickets for all incidents and requests

Why Collect Ticket Data?

If many tickets are missing, help service support staff understand the need to collect the data. Reports will be inaccurate and meaningless if quality data isn’t entered into the ticketing system.

Set ticket handling expectations to drive a consistent process

Set expectations:

• Create and update tickets, but not at the expense of good customer service. Agents can start the ticket but shouldn’t spend five minutes creating the ticket when they should be troubleshooting the problem.
• Update the ticket when the issue is resolved or needs to be escalated. If agents are escalating, they should make sure all relevant information is passed along to the next technician.
• Update user of ETA if issue cannot be resolved quickly.
• Ticket templates for common incidents can lead to fast creation, data input, and categorizations. Templates can reduce the time it takes to create tickets from two minutes to 30 seconds.
• Update categories to reflect the actual issue and resolution.
• Reference or link to the knowledgebase article as the documented steps taken to resolve the incident.
• Validate incident is resolved with client; automate this process with ticket closure after a certain time.
• Close or resolve the ticket on time.

Use the Ticket and Call Quality Assessment Tool to improve the quality of service desk data

Build a process to check-in on ticket and call quality monthly

Better data leads to better decisions. Use the Ticket and Call Quality Assessment Toolto check-in on the ticket and call quality monthly for each technician and improve service desk data quality.

1. Fill tab 1 with technician’s name.
2. Use either tab 2 (auto-scoring) or tab 3 (manual scoring) to score the agent. The assessment includes ticket evaluation, call evaluation, and overall metric.
3. Record the results of each review in the score summary of tab 1.

Use ticket templates to make ticket creation, updating, and resolution more efficient

Implement measures to improve ticket handling and identify ticket template candidates

1.4.1 Identify opportunities to automate ticket creation

1. Poll the team and discuss.
   • How many members of the team are not creating tickets? Why?
   • How can we address those barriers?
   • What are the expectations of management?
2. Brainstorm five to ten good candidates for ticket templates.
   • What data can auto-fill?
   • What will help process the ticket faster?
   • What automations can we build to ensure a fast, consistent service?
   • Note:
     • Ticket template name
     • Information that will auto-fill from AD and other applications
     • Categories and resolution codes
     • Automated routing and email responses
3. Document ticket template candidates in the Service Desk Roadmap to capture the actions.

Participants

• Service Desk Manager
• Service Desk Agents

What You'll Needs

• Flip Chart
• Whiteboard

Phase 2

Design Incident Management Processes

Step 2.1: Build incident management workflows

This step will walk you through the following activities:

• 2.1.1 Review incident management challenges
• 2.1.2 Define the incident management workflow
• 2.1.3 Define the critical incident management workflow
• 2.1.4 Design critical incident communication plan

This step involves the following participants:

• IT Managers
• Service Desk Manager(s)
• Representation from tier 2 and tier 3 specialists

Outcomes

Workflows for incident management and critical incident management will improve the consistency and quality of service delivery and prepare the service desk to negotiate reliable service levels with the organization.

DELIVERABLES

• Incident management workflows
• Critical incident management workflows
• Critical incident communication plan

Communicate the great incident resolution work that you do to improve end-user satisfaction

End users think more highly of IT after the organization has corrected a problem with their service than they would have had the service not been faulty in the first place.

Info-Tech Insight

Use the service recovery paradox to your advantage. Address service desk challenges explicitly, develop incident management processes that get services back online quickly, and communicate the changes.

If you show that the service desk recovered well from the challenges end users raised, you will get greater loyalty from them.

Assign incident roles and responsibilities to promote accountability

The role of an incident coordinator or manager can be assigned to anyone inside the service desk that has a strong knowledge of incident resolution, attention to detail, and knows how to herd cats.

In organizations with high ticket volumes, a separate role may be necessary.

Everyone must recognize that incident management is a cross-IT organization process and it does not have to be a unique service desk process.

An incident coordinator is responsible for:

• Improving incident management processes.
• Tracking metrics and producing reports.
• Developing and maintaining the incident management system.
• Developing and maintaining critical incident processes.
• Ensuring the service support team follows the incident management process.
• Gathering post-mortem information from the various technical resources on root cause for critical or severity 1 incidents.

The Director of IT Services invested in incident management to improve responsiveness and set end-user expectations

Practitioner Insight

Ben Rodrigues developed a progressive plan to create a responsive, service-oriented culture for the service support organization.

"When I joined the organization, there wasn’t a service desk. People just phoned, emailed, maybe left [sticky] notes for who they thought in IT would resolve it. There wasn’t a lot of investment in developing clear processes. It was ‘Let’s call somebody in IT.’

I set up the service desk to clarify what we would do for end users and to establish some SLAs.

I didn’t commit to service levels right away. I needed to see how many resources and what skill sets I would need. I started by drafting some SLA targets and plugging them into our tracking application. I then monitored how we did on certain things and established if we needed other skill sets. Then I communicated those SOPs to the business, so that ‘if you have an issue, this is where you go, and this is how you do it,’ and then shared those KPIs with them.

I had monthly meetings with different function heads to say, ‘this is what I see your guys calling me about,’ and we worked on something together to make some of the pain disappear."

-Ben Rodrigues

Director, IT Services

Gamma Dynacare

Sketch out incident management challenges to focus improvements

Common Incident Management Challenges

End Users

• No faith in the service desk beyond speaking with their favorite technician.
• No expectations for response or resolution time.
• Non-IT staff are disrupted as people ask their colleagues for IT advice.

Technicians

• No one manages and escalates incidents.
• Incidents are unnecessarily urgent and more likely to have a greater impact.
• Agents are flooded with requests to do routine tasks during desk visits.
• Specialist support staff are subject to constant interruptions.
• Tickets are lost, incomplete, or escalated incorrectly.
• Incidents are resolved from scratch rather than referring to existing solutions.

Managers

• Tickets are incomplete or lack historical information to address complaints.
• Tickets in system don’t match the perceived workload.
• Unable to gather data for budgeting or business analysis.

Info-Tech Insight

Consistent incident management processes will improve end-user satisfaction with all other IT services.

However, be prepared to overcome these common obstacles as you put the process in place, including:

• Absence of management or staff commitment.
• Lack of clarity on organizational needs.
• Outdated work practices.
• Poorly defined service desk goals and responsibilities.
• Lack of a reliable knowledgebase.
• Inadequate training.
• Resistance to change.

Prepare to implement or improve incident management

2.1.1 Review incident management challenges and metrics

1. Review your incident management challenges and the benefits of addressing them.
2. Review the level of service you are providing with the current resources. Define clear goals and deliverables for the improvement initiative.
3. Decide how the incident management process will interface with the service desk. Who will take on the responsibility for resolving incidents? Specifically, who will:
   • Log incidents.
   • Perform initial incident troubleshooting.
   • Own and monitor tickets.
   • Communicate with end users.
   • Update records with the resolution.
   • Close incidents.
   • Implement next steps (e.g. initiate problem management).
4. Document recommendations and the incident management process requirements in the Service Desk SOP.

Participants

• Service Desk Manager
• Service Desk Agents

What You’ll Need

• Service Desk SOP
• Flip Chart
• Whiteboard

Distinguish between different kinds of tickets for better SLAs

Different ticket types are associated with radically different prioritization, routing, and service levels. For instance, most incidents are resolved within a business day, but requests take longer to implement.

If you fail to distinguish between ticket types, your metrics will obscure service desk performance.

Common Service Desk Tickets

• Incidents
  • An unanticipated interruption of a service.
    • The goal of incident management is to restore the service as soon as possible, even if the resolution involves a workaround.
• Problems
  • The root cause of several incidents.
    • The goal of problem management is to detect the root cause and provide long-term resolution and prevention.
• Requests
  • A generic description for small changes or service access
    • Requests are small, frequent, and low risk. They are best handled by a process distinct from incident, change, and project management.
• Changes
  • Modification or removal of anything that could influence IT services.
    • The scope includes significant changes to architectures, processes, tools, metrics, and documentation.

Info-Tech Insight

Organizations sometimes mistakenly classify small projects as service requests, which can compromise your data, resulting in a negative impact to the perceived value of the service desk.

Separate incidents and service requests for increased customer service and better-defined SLAs

Defining the differences between service requests and incidents is not just for reporting purposes. It also has a major impact on how service is delivered.

Incidents are unexpected disruptions to normal business processes and require attempts to restore services as soon as possible (e.g. the printer is not working).

Service requests are tasks that don’t involve something that is broken or has an immediate impact on services. They do not require immediate resolution and can typically be scheduled (e.g. new software).

Focus on the big picture first to capture and streamline how your organization resolves incidents

Document your incident management workflow to identify opportunities for improvement

Workflow should include:

• Ticket creation and closure
• Triage
• Troubleshooting
• Escalations
• Communications
• Change management
• Documentation
• Vendor escalations

Notes:

• Notification and alerts should be used to set or reset expectations on delivery or resolution
• Identify all the steps where a customer is informed and ensure we are not over or under communicating

Collaborate to define each step of the incident management workflow

2.1.2 Define the incident management workflow

Estimated Time: 60 minutes

Option 1: Whiteboard

1. Discuss the workflow and draw it on the whiteboard.
2. Assess whether you are using the best workflow. Modify it if necessary.
3. Engage the team in refining the process workflow.
4. Transfer data to Visio and add to the SOP.

Option 2: Tabletop Exercise

1. Distribute index cards to each member of the team.
2. Have each person write a single task they perform on the index card. Be granular. Include the title or the name of the person responsible.
3. Mark cards that are decision points. Use a card of a different color or use a marker to make a colored dot.
4. Arrange the index cards in order, removing duplicates.
5. Assess whether you are using the best workflow. Engage the team to refine it if necessary.
6. Transfer data to Visio and add to the Service Desk SOP.

Participants

• Service Manager
• Service Desk Support
• Applications or Infrastructure Support

What You’ll Need

• Flip Chart Paper
• Sticky Notes
• Pens
• Service Desk SOP
• Project Summary

Formalize the process for critical incident management to reduce organizational impact

Discuss these elements to see how the organization will handle them.

• Communication plan:
  • Who communicates with end users?
  • Who communicates with the executive team?
It’s important to separate the role of the technician trying to solve a problem with the need to communicate progress.
• Change management:
Define a separate process for regular and emergency change management to ensure changes are timely and appropriate.
• Business continuity plan:
Identify criteria to decide when a business continuity plan (BCP) must be implemented during a critical incident to minimize the business impact of the incident.
• Post-mortems:
Formalize the process of discussing and documenting lessons learned, understanding outstanding issues, and addressing the root cause of incidents.
• Source of incident notification:
Does the process change if users notify the service desk of an issue or if the systems management tools alert technicians?

Critical incidents are high-impact, high-urgency events that put the effectiveness and timeliness of the service desk center stage.

Build a workflow that focuses on quickly bringing together the right people to resolve the incident and reduces the chances of recurrence.

Document your critical incident management workflow to identify opportunities for improvement

Workflow should include:

• Ticket creation and closure
• Triage
• Troubleshooting
• Escalations
• Communications plan
• Change management
• Disaster recovery or business continuity plan
• Documentation
• Vendor escalations
• Post-mortem

Collaborate to define each step of the critical incident management workflow

2.1.3 Define the critical incident management workflow

Estimated Time: 60 minutes

Option 1: Whiteboard

1. Discuss the workflow and draw it on the whiteboard.
2. Assess whether you are using the best workflow. Modify it if necessary.
3. Engage the team in refining the process workflow.
4. Transfer data to Visio and add to the SOP.

Option 2: Tabletop Exercise

1. Distribute index cards to each member of the team.
2. Have each person write a single task they perform on the index card. Be granular. Include the title or the name of the person responsible.
3. Mark cards that are decision points. Use a card of a different color or use a marker to make a colored dot.
4. Arrange the index cards in order, removing duplicates.
5. Assess whether you are using the best workflow. Engage the team to refine it if necessary.
6. Transfer data to Visio and add to the Service Desk SOP.

Participants

• Service Manager
• Service Desk Support
• Applications or Infrastructure Support

What You’ll Need

• Flip Chart Paper
• Sticky Notes
• Pens
• Service Desk SOP

Establish a critical incident management communication plan

When it comes to communicating during major incidents, it’s important to get the information just right. Users don’t want too little, they don’t want too much, they just want what’s relevant to them, and they want that information at the right time.

As an IT professional, you may not have a background in communications, but it becomes an important part of your job. Broad guidelines for good communication during a critical incident are:

1. Communicate as broadly as the impact of your incident requires.
2. Communicate as much detail as a specific audience requires, but no more than necessary.
3. Communicate as far ahead of impact as possible.

Why does communication matter?

Sending the wrong message, at the wrong time, to the wrong stakeholders, can result in:

• Drop in customer satisfaction.
• Wasted time and resources from multiple customers contacting you with the same issue.
• Dissatisfied executives kept in the dark.
• Increased resolution time if the relevant providers and IT staff are not informed soon enough to help.

Info-Tech Insight

End users understand that sometimes things break. What’s important to them is that (1) you don’t repeatedly have the same problem, (2) you keep them informed, and (3) you give them enough notice when their systems will be impacted and when service will be returned.

Automate communication to save time and deliver consistent messaging to the right stakeholders

In the middle of resolving a critical incident, the last thing you have time for is worrying about crafting a good message. Create a series of templates to save time by providing automated, tailored messages for each stage of the process that can be quickly altered and sent out to the right stakeholders.

Once templates are in place, when the incident occurs, it’s simply a matter of:

1. Choosing the relevant template.
2. Updating recipients and messaging if necessary.
3. Adding specific, relevant data and fields.
4. Sending the message.

When to communicate?

Tell users the information they need to know when they need to know it. If a user is directly impacted, tell them that. If the incident does not directly affect the user, the communication may lead to decreased customer satisfaction or failure to pay attention to future relevant messaging.

What to say?

• Keep messaging short and to the point.
• Only say what you know for sure.
• Provide only the details the audience needs to know to take any necessary action or steps on their side and no more. There’s no need to provide details on the reason for the failure before it’s resolved, though this can be done after resolution and restoration of service.

You’ll need distinct messages for distinct audiences. For example:

• To incident resolvers: “Servers X through Y in ABC Location are failing intermittently. Please test the servers and all the connections to determine the exact cause so we can take corrective action ASAP.”
• To the IT department head: “Servers X through Y in ABC Location are failing intermittently. We are beginning tests. We will let you know when we have determined the exact cause and can give you an estimated completion time.”
• To executives: “We’re having an issue with some servers at ABC Location. We are testing to determine the cause and will let you know the estimated completion time as soon as possible.”
• To end users: “We are experience some service issues. We are working on a resolution diligently and will restore service as soon as possible.”

Map out who will need to be contacted in the event of a critical incident

2.1.4 Design the critical incident communication plan

• Identify critical incidents that require communication.
• Identify stakeholders who will need to be informed about each incident.
• For each audience, determine:
  1. Frequency of communication
  2. Content of communication

Some questions to assist you:

• Whose work will be interrupted, either by their services going down or by their workers having to drop everything to solve the incident?
• What would happen if we didn’t notify this person?
• What level of detail do they need?
• How often would they want to be updated?

Measure and improve customer satisfaction with the use of relationship and transactional surveys

Customer experience programs with a combination of relationship and transactional surveys tend to be more effective. Merging the two will give a wholistic picture of the customer experience.

Relationship Surveys

Relationship surveys focus on obtaining feedback on the overall customer experience.

• Inform how well you are doing or where you need improvement in the broad services provided.
• Provide a high-level perspective on the relationship between the business and IT.
• Help with strategic improvement decisions.
• Should be sent over a duration of time and to the entire customer base after they’ve had time to experience all the services provided by the service desk. This can be done as frequently as per quarter or on a yearly basis.
• E.g. An annual satisfaction survey such as Info-Tech’s End User Satisfaction Diagnostic.

Transactional Surveys

Transactional surveys are tied to a specific interaction or transaction your end users have with a specific product or service.

• Help with tactical improvement decisions.
• Questions should point to a specific interaction.
• Usually only a few questions that are quick and easy to complete following the transaction.
• Since transactional surveys allow you to improve individual relationships, they should be sent shortly after the interaction with the service desk has occurred.
• E.g. How satisfied are you with the way your ticket was resolved?

Add transactional end-user surveys at ticket close to escalate unsatisfactory results

A simple quantitative survey at the closing of a ticket can inform the service desk manager of any issues that were not resolved to the end user’s satisfaction. Take advantage of workflows to escalate poor results immediately for quick follow-up.

If a more complex survey is required, you may wish to include some of these questions:

Please rate your overall satisfaction with the way your issue was handled (1=unsatisfactory, 5=fantastic)

• The professionalism of the analyst.
• The technical skills or knowledge of the analyst.
• The timeliness of the service provided.
• The overall service experience.

Add an open-ended, qualitative question to put the number in context, and solicit critical feedback:

What could the service desk have done to improve your experience?

Define a process to respond to both negative and positive feedback

Successful customer satisfaction programs respond effectively to both positive and negative outcomes. Late or lack of responses to negative comments may increase customer frustration, while not responding at all to the positive comments may give the perception of indifference. If customers are taking the time to fill out the survey, good or bad, they should be followed up with

Take these steps to handle survey feedback:

1. Assign resources to receive, read, and track responses. The entire team doesn’t need to receive every response, while a single resource may not have capacity to respond in a timely manner. Decide what makes the most sense in your environment.
2. Respond to negative feedback: It may not be possible to respond to every customer that fills out a survey. Set guidelines for responding to negative surveys with no details on the issue; don’t spend time guessing why they were upset, simply ask the user why they were unsatisfied. The critical piece of taking advantage of the service recovery paradox is in the follow-up to the customer.
3. Investigate and improve: Make sure you investigate the issue to ensure that it is a justified complaint or whether the issue is a symptom of another issue’s root cause. Identify remediation steps to ensure the issue does not repeat itself, and then communicate to the customer the action you have taken to improve.
4. Act on positive feedback as well: If it’s easy for customers to provide feedback, then make room in your process for handling the positive results. Appreciate the time and effort your customers take to give kudos and use it as a tool to build a long-term relationship with that user. Saying thank you goes a long way and when customers know their time matters, they will be encouraged to fill out those surveys. This is also a good way to show what a great job the service desk team did with the interaction.

Analyze survey feedback month over month to complement and justify metric results already in place

When you combine the tracking and analysis of relationship and transactional survey data you will be able to dive into specific issues, identify trends and patterns, assess impact to users, and build a plan to make improvements.

Once the survey data is centralized, categorized, and available you can start to focus on metrics. At a minimum, for transactional surveys, consider tracking:

• Breakdown of satisfaction scores with trends over time
• Unsatisfactory surveys that are related to incidents and service requests
• Total surveys that have been actioned vs pending

For relationship surveys, consider tracking:

• Satisfaction scores by department and seniority level
• Satisfaction with IT services, applications, and communication
• Satisfaction with IT’s business enablement

Image Source: Info-Tech End User Satisfaction Report

Prioritize company-wide improvement initiatives by those that have the biggest impact to the entire customer base first and then communicate the plan to the organization using a variety of communication channels that will draw your customers in, e.g. dashboards, newsletters, email alerts.

Info-Tech Insight

Consider automating or using your ITSM notification system as a direct communication method to inform the service desk manager of negative survey results.

Step 2.2: Design ticket categorization

This step will walk you through the following activities:

• 2.2.1 Assess ticket categorization
• 2.2.2 Enhance ticket categories with resolution and status codes

This step involves the following participants:

• IT Managers
• Service Desk Manager(s)
• Representation from tier 2 and tier 3 specialists

Outcomes

The reviewed ticket categorization scheme will be easier to use and deploy more consistently, which will improve the categorization of data and the reliability of reports.

DELIVERABLES

• Optimized ticket categorization

Design a ticket classification scheme to produce useful reports

Reliable reports depend on an effective categorization scheme.

Too many options cause confusion; too few options provide little value. As you build the classification scheme over the next few slides, let call routing and reporting requirements be your guide.

Effective classification schemes are concise, easy to use correctly, and easy to maintain.

Keep these guidelines in mind:

• A good categorization scheme is exhaustive and mutually exclusive: there’s a place for every ticket and every ticket fits in only one place.
• As you build your classification scheme, ensure the categories describe the actual asset or service involved based on final resolution, not how it was reported initially.
• Pre-populate ticket templates with relevant categories to dramatically improve reporting and routing accuracy.
• Use a tiered system to make the categories easier to navigate. Three tiers with 6-8 categories per tier provides up to 512 sub-categories, which should be enough for the most ambitious team.
• Track only what you will use for reporting purposes. If you don’t need a report on individual kinds of laptops, don’t create a category beyond “laptops.”
• Avoid “miscellaneous” categories. A large portion of your tickets will eventually end up there.

Info-Tech Insight

Don’t do it alone! Collaborate with managers in the specialized IT groups responsible for root-cause analysis to develop a categorization scheme that makes sense for them.

The first approach to categorization breaks down the IT portfolio into asset types

WHY SHOULD I START WITH ASSETS?

Start with asset types if asset management and configuration management processes figure prominently in your practice or on your service management implementation roadmap.

Building the Categories

Ask these questions:

• Type: What kind of asset am I working on?
• Category: What general asset group am I working on?
• Subcategory: What particular asset am I working on?

Need to make quick progress? Use Info-Tech Research Group’s Service Desk Ticket Categorization Schemes template.

Info-Tech Insight

Think about how you will use the data to determine which components need to be included in reports. If components won’t be used for reporting, routing, or warranty, reporting down to the component level adds little value.

The second approach to categorization breaks down the IT portfolio into types of services

WHY SHOULD I START WITH SERVICES?

Start with asset services if service management generally figures prominently in your practice, especially service catalog management.

Building the Categories

Ask these questions:

• Type: What kind of service am I working on?
• Category: What general service group am I working on?
• Subcategory: What particular service am I working on?

Need to make quick progress? Use Info-Tech Research Group’s Service Desk Ticket Categorization Schemes template.

Info-Tech Insight

Remember, ticket categories are not your only source of reports. Enhance the classification scheme with resolution and status codes for more granular reporting.

Improve the categorization scheme to enhance routing and reporting

2.2.1 Assess whether the service desk can improve its ticket categorization

1. As a group, review existing categories, looking for duplicates and designations that won’t affect ticket routing. Reconcile duplicates and remove non-essential categories.
2. As a group, re-do the categories, ensuring that the new categorization scheme will meet the reporting requirements outlined earlier.
   • Are categories exhaustive and mutually exclusive?
   • Is the tier simple and easy to use (i.e. 3 tiers x 8 categories)?
3. Test against recent tickets to ensure you have the right categories.
4. Record the ticket categorization scheme in the Service Desk Ticket Categorization Schemes template.

Participants

• Service Desk Manager
• Service Desk Agents

What You’ll Need

• Flip Chart
• Whiteboard
• Service Desk Ticket Categorization Scheme

Enhance the classification scheme with resolution and status codes for more granular reporting

Resolution codes differ from detailed resolution notes.

• A resolution code is a field within the ticketing system that should be updated at ticket close to categorize the primary way the ticket was resolved.
• This is important for reporting purposes as it adds another level to the categorization scheme and can help you identify knowledgebase article candidates, training needs, or problems.

Ticket statuses are a helpful field for both IT and end users to identify the current status of the ticket and to initiate workflows.

• The most common statuses are open, pending/in progress, resolved, and closed (note the difference between resolved and closed).
• Waiting on user or waiting on vendor are also helpful statuses to stop the clock when awaiting further information or input.

Common Examples:

Resolution Codes

• How to/training
• Configuration change
• Upgrade
• Installation
• Data import/export/change
• Information/research
• Reboot

Status Fields

• Declined
• Open
• Closed
• Waiting on user
• Waiting on vendor
• Reopened by user

Identify and document resolution and status codes

2.2.2 Enhance ticket categories with resolution codes

Discuss:

• How can we use resolution information to enhance reporting?
• Are current status fields telling the right story?
• Are there other requirements like project linking?

Draft:

1. Write out proposed resolution codes and status fields and critically assess their value.
2. Resolutions can be further broken down by incident and service request if desired.
3. Test resolution codes against a few recent tickets.
4. Record the ticket categorization scheme in the Service Desk SOP.

Participants

• CIO
• Service Desk Manager
• Service Desk Technician(s)

What You’ll Need

• Whiteboard or Flip Chart
• Markers

Step 2.3: Design incident escalation and prioritization

This step will walk you through the following activities:

• 2.3.1 Build a small number of rules to facilitate prioritization
• 2.3.2 Define escalation rules
• 2.3.3 Define automated escalations
• 2.3.4 Provide guidance to each tier around escalation steps and times

This step involves the following participants:

• IT Managers
• Service Desk Manager(s)
• Representation from tier 2 and tier 3 specialists

Outcomes

The reviewed ticket escalation and prioritization will streamline queue management, improve the quality of escalations, and ensure agents work on the right tickets at the right time.

DELIVERABLES

• Optimized ticket prioritization scheme
• Guidelines for ticket escalations
• List of automatic escalations

Build a ticket prioritization matrix to make escalation assessment less subjective

Most IT leaders agree that prioritization is one of the most difficult aspects of IT in general. Set priorities based on business needs first.

Mission-critical systems or problems that affect many people should always come first (i.e. Severity Level 1).

The bulk of reported problems, however, are often individual problems with desktop PCs (i.e. Severity Level 3 or 4).

Some questions to consider when deciding on problem severity include:

• How is productivity affected?
• How many users are affected?
• How many systems are affected?
• How critical are the affected systems to the organization?

Decide how many severity levels the organization needs the service desk to have. Four levels of severity are ideal for most organizations.

Collect the ticket prioritization scheme in one diagram to ensure service support aligns to business requirements

Prioritize incidents based on severity and urgency to foreground critical issues

2.3.1 Build a clearly defined priority scheme

Estimated Time: 60 minutes

1. Decide how many levels of severity are appropriate for your organization.
2. Build a prioritization matrix, breaking down priority levels by impact and urgency.
3. Build out the definitions of impact and urgency to complete the prioritization matrix.
4. Run through examples of each priority level to make sure everyone is on the same page.

Document in the SOP

Participants

• Service Managers
• Service Desk Support
• Applications or Infrastructure Support

What You'll Need

• Flip Chart Paper
• Sticky Notes
• Pens
• Service Desk SOP

Define response and resolution targets for each priority level to establish service-level objectives for service support

Build clear rules to help agents determine when to escalate

2.3.2 Assign response, resolution, and escalation times to each priority level

Estimated Time: 60 minutes

Instructions:

For each incident priority level, define the associated:

1. Response time – time from when incident record is created to the time the service desk acknowledges to the customer that their ticket has been received and assigned.
2. Resolution time – time from when the incident record is created to the time that the customer has been advised that their problem has been resolved.
3. Escalation time – maximum amount of time that a ticket should be worked on without progress before being escalated to someone else.

Participants

• Service Managers
• Service Desk Support
• Applications or Infrastructure Support

What You'll Need

• Flip Chart Paper
• Sticky Notes
• Pens

Use the table on the previous slide as a guide.

Discuss the possible root causes for escalation issues

WHY IS ESCALATION IMPORTANT?

Escalation is not about admitting defeat, but about using your resources properly.

Defining procedures for escalation reduces the amount of time the service desk spends troubleshooting before allocating the incident to a higher service tier. This reduces the mean time to resolve and increases end-user satisfaction.

You can correlate escalation paths to ticket categories devised in step 2.2.

Build decision rights to help agents determine when to escalate

2.3.3 Provide guidance to each tier around escalation steps and times

Estimated Time: 60 minutes

Instructions

1. For each support tier, define escalation rules for troubleshooting (steps that each tier should take before escalation).
2. For each support tier, define maximum escalation times (maximum amount of time to work on a ticket without progress before escalating).

Create a list of application specialists to get the escalation right the first time

2.3.4 Define automated escalations

Estimated Time: 60 minutes

1. Identify applications that will require specialists for troubleshooting or access rights.
2. Identify primary and secondary specialists for each application.
3. Identify vendors that will receive escalations either immediately or after troubleshooting.
4. Set up application groups in the service desk tool.
5. Set up workflows in the service desk tool where appropriate.
6. Document the automated escalations in the categorization scheme developed in step 2.2 and in the Service Desk Roles and Responsibilities Guide.

Participants

• Service Managers
• Service Desk Support
• Applications or Infrastructure Support

What You'll Need

• Flip Chart Paper
• Sticky Notes
• Pens

Phase 3

Design Request Fulfilment Processes

Step 3.1: Build request workflows

This step will walk you through the following activities:

• 3.1.1 Distinguish between requests and small projects
• 3.1.2 Define service requests with SLAs
• 3.1.3 Build and critique request workflows

This step involves the following participants:

• IT Managers
• Service Desk Manager(s)
• Representation from tier 2 and tier 3 specialists

Outcomes

Workflows for service requests will improve the consistency and quality of service delivery and prepare the service desk to negotiate reliable service levels with the organization.

DELIVERABLES

• Workflows for the most common service requests
• An estimated service level for each service request
• Request vs. project criteria

Standardize service requests for more efficient delivery

Definitions:

• An incident is an unexpected disruption to normal business processes and requires attempts to restore service as soon as possible (e.g. printer not working).
• A service request is a request where nothing is broken or impacting a service and typically can be scheduled rather than requiring immediate resolution (e.g. new software application).

• Service requests are repeatable, predictable, and easier to commit to SLAs.
• By committing to SLAs, expectations can be set for users and business units for service fulfillment.
• Workflows for service requests should be documented and reviewed to ensure consistency of fulfillment.
• Documentation should be created for service request procedures that are complex.
• Efficiencies can be created through automation such as with software deployment.
• All service requests can be communicated through a self-service portal or service catalog.

PREPARE A FUTURE SERVICE CATALOG

Standardize requests to develop a consistent offering and prepare for a future service catalog.

Document service requests to identify time to fulfill and approvals.

Identify which service requests can be auto-approved and which will require a workflow to gain approval.

Document workflows and analyze them to identify ways to improve SLAs. If any approvals are interrupting technical processes, rearrange them so that approvals happen before the technical team is involved.

Determine support levels for each service offering and ensure your team can sustain them.

Where it makes sense, automate delivery of services such as software deployment.

Distinguish between service requests and small projects to ensure agents and end users follow the right process

The distinction between service requests and small projects has two use cases, which are two sides of the same resourcing issue.

• Service desk managers need to understand the difference to ensure the right approval process is followed. Typically, projects have more stringent intake requirements than requests do.
• PMOs need to understand the difference to ensure the right people are doing the work and that small, frequent changes are standardized, automated, and taken out of the project list.

What’s the difference between a service request and a small project?

• The key differences involve resource scope, frequency, and risk.
• Requests are likely to require fewer resources than projects, be fulfilled more often, and involve less risk.
• Requests are typically done by tier 1 and 2 employees throughout the IT organization.
• A request can turn into a small project if the scope of the request grows beyond the bounds of a normal request.

Example: A mid-sized organization goes on a hiring blitz and needs to onboard 150 new employees in one quarter. Submitting and scheduling 150 requests for onboarding new employees would require much more time and resources.

Projects are different from service requests and have different criteria

A project, by terminology, is a temporary endeavor planned around producing a specific organizational or business outcome.

Common Characteristics of Projects:

• Time sensitive, temporary, one-off.
• Uncertainty around how to create the unique thing, product, or service that is the project’s goal.
• Non-repetitive work and sizeable enough to introduce heightened risk and complexity.
• Strategic focus, business case-informed capital funding, and execution activities driven by a charter.
• Introduces change to the organization.
• Multiple stakeholders involved and cross-functional resourcing.

Info-Tech Insight

Projects require greater risk, effort, and resources than a service request and should be redirected to the PMO.

Standard service requests vs. non-standard service requests: criteria to make them distinct

• If there is no differentiation between standard and non-standard requests, those tickets can easily move into the backlog, growing it very quickly.
• Create a process to easily identify non-standard requests when they enter the ticket queue to ensure customers are made aware of any delay of service, especially if it is a product or service currently not offered. This will give time for any approvals or technical solutioning that may need to occur.
• Take recurring non-standard requests and make them standard. This is a good way to determine if there are any gaps in services offered and another vehicle to understand what your customers want.

Standard Requests

• Very common requests, delivered on an on-going basis
• Defined process
• Measured in hours or days
• Uses service catalog, if it exists
• Formalized and should already be documented
• The time to deal with the request is defined

Non-Standard Requests

• Higher level complexity than standard requests
• Cannot be fulfilled via service catalog
• No defined process
• Not supplied by questions that Service Request Definition (SRD) offers
• Product or service is not currently offered, and it may need time for technical review, additional approvals, and procurement processes

The right questions can help you distinguish between standard requests, non-standard requests, and projects

Where do we draw the line between a standard and non-standard request and a project?

The service desk can’t and shouldn’t distinguish between requests and projects on its own. Instead, engage stakeholders to determine where to draw the line.

Whatever criteria you choose, define them carefully.

Be pragmatic: there is no single best set of criteria and no single best definition for each criterion. The best criteria and definitions will be the ones that work in your organizational context.

Common distinguishing factors and thresholds:

Distinguish between standard and non-standard service requests and projects

3.1.1 Distinguish between service requests and projects

1. Divide the group into two small teams.
2. Each team will brainstorm examples of service requests and small projects.
3. Identify factors and thresholds that distinguish between the two groups of items.
4. Bring the two groups together and discuss the two sets of criteria.
5. Consolidate one set of criteria that will help make the distinction between projects and service requests.
6. Capture the table in the Service Desk SOP.

Participants

• Service Desk Manager
• Service Desk Agents

What You'll Need

• Service Desk SOP
• Flip Chart
• Whiteboard

Distinguishing factors and thresholds

Don’t standardize request fulfilment processes alone

Everyone in IT contributes to the fulfilment of requests, but do they know it?

New service desk managers sometimes try to standardize request fulfilment processes on their own only to encounter either apathy or significant resistance to change.

Moving to a tiered generalist service desk with a service-oriented culture, a high first-tier generalist resolution rate, and collaborative T2 and T3 specialists can be a big change. It is critical to get the request workflows right.

Don’t go it alone. Engage a core team of process champions from all service support. With executive support, the right process building exercises can help you overcome resistance to change.

Consider running the process building activities in this project phase in a working session or a workshop setting.

Info-Tech Insight

If they build it, they will come. Service desk improvement is an exercise in organizational change that crosses IT disciplines. Organizations that fail to engage IT specialists from other silos often encounter resistance to change that jeopardizes the process improvements they are trying to make. Overcome resistance by highlighting how process changes will benefit different groups in IT and solicit the feedback of specialists who can affect or be affected by the changes.

Define standard service requests with SLAs and workflows

WHY DO I NEED WORKFLOWS?

Move approvals out of technical IT processes to make them more efficient. Evaluate all service requests to see where auto-approvals make sense. Where approvals are required, use tools and workflows to manage the process.

Example:

Approvals can be the main roadblock to fulfilling service requests

Review the general standard service request and inquiry fulfillment processes

As standard service requests should follow standard, repeatable, and predictable steps to fulfill, they can be documented with workflows.

Review the general standard service request and inquiry fulfillment processes

Ensure there is a standard and predictable methodology for assessing non-standard requests; inevitably those requests may still cause delay in fulfillment.

Create a process to ensure reasonable expectations of delivery can be set with the end user and then identify what technology requests should become part of the existing standard offerings.

Document service requests to ensure consistent delivery and communicate requirements to users

3.1.2 Define service requests with SLAs

1. On a flip chart, list standard service requests.
2. Identify time required to fulfill, including time to schedule resources.
3. Identify approvals required; determine if approvals can be automated through defining roles.
4. Discuss opportunities to reduce SLAs or automate, but recognize that this may not happen right away.
5. Discuss plans to communicate SLAs to the business units, recognizing that some users may take a bit of time to adapt to the new SLAs.
6. Work toward improving SLAs as new opportunities for process change occur.
7. Document SLAs in the Service Desk SOP and update as SLAs change.
8. Build templates in the service desk tool that encapsulate workflows and routing, SLAs, categorization, and resolution.

Participants

• Service Desk Managers
• Service Desk Agents

What You'll Need

• Service Desk SOP
• Flip Chart
• Whiteboard

Info-Tech Insight

These should all be scheduled services. Anything that is requested as a rush needs to be marked as a higher urgency or priority to track end users who need training on the process.

Analyze service request workflows to improve service delivery

3.1.3 Build and critique request workflows

1. Divide the group into small teams.
2. Each team will choose one service request from the list created in the previous module and then draw the workflow. Include decision points and approvals.
3. Discuss availability and technical support:
   • Can the service be fulfilled during regular business hours or 24x7?
   • Is technical support and application access available during regular business hours or 24x7?
4. Reconvene and present workflows to the group.
5. Document workflows in Visio and add to the Service Desk SOP. Where appropriate, enter workflows in the service desk tool.

Critique workflows for efficiencies and effectiveness:

• Do the workflows support the SLAs identified in the previous exercise?
• Are the workflows efficient?
• Is the IT staff consistently following the same workflow?
• Are approvals appropriate? Is there too much bureaucracy or can some approvals be removed? Can they be preapproved?
• Are approvals interrupting technical processes? If so, can they be moved?

Participants

• Service Desk Managers
• Service Desk Agents

What You'll Need

• Service Desk SOP
• Project Summary
• Flip Chart
• Whiteboard

Step 3.2: Build a targeted knowledgebase

This step will walk you through the following activities:

• 3.2.1 Design knowledge management processes
• 3.2.2 Create actionable knowledgebase articles

This step involves the following participants:

• IT Managers
• Service Desk Manager(s)
• Representation from tier 2 and tier 3 specialists

Outcomes

The section will introduce service catalogs and get the organization to envision what self-service tools it might include.

DELIVERABLES

• Knowledgebase policy and process

A knowledgebase is an essential tool in the service management toolbox

Knowledge Management

Gathering, analyzing, storing & sharing knowledge to reduce the need to rediscover known solutions.

Knowledgebase

Organized repository of IT best practices and knowledge gained from practical experiences.

• End-User KB

Give end users a chance to resolve simple issues themselves without submitting a ticket.

• Internal KB

Shared resource for service desk staff and managers to share and use knowledge.

Use the knowledgebase to document:

• Steps for pre-escalation troubleshooting.
• Known errors.
• Workarounds or solutions to recurring issues.
• Solutions that require research or complex troubleshooting.
• Incidents that have many root causes. Start with the most frequent solution and work toward less likely issues.

Draw on organizational goals to define the knowledge transfer target state

*Source: McLean & Company, 2013; N=120

It’s better to start small than to have nothing at all

Service desk teams are often overwhelmed by the idea of building and maintaining a comprehensive integrated knowledgebase that covers an extensive amount of information.

Don’t let this idea stop you from building a knowledgebase! It takes time to build a comprehensive knowledgebase and you must start somewhere.

Start with existing documentation or knowledge that depends on the expertise of only a few people and is easy to document and you will already see the benefits.

Then continue to build and improve from there. Eventually, knowledge management will be a part of the culture.

Engage the team to build a knowledgebase targeted on your most important incidents and requests

WHERE DO I START?

Inventory and consolidate existing documentation, then evaluate it for audience relevancy, accuracy, and usability. Use the exercise and the next slides to develop a knowledgebase template.

Produce a plan to improve the knowledgebase.

• Identify the current top five or ten incidents from the service desk reports and create related knowledgebase articles.
• Evaluate for end-user self-service or technician resolution.
• Note any resolutions that require access rights to servers.
• Assign documentation creation tasks for the knowledgebase to individual team members each week.
• Apply only one incident per article.
• Set goals for each technician to submit one or two meaningful articles per month.
• Assign a knowledge manager to monitor creation and edit and maintain the database.
• Set policy to drive currency of the knowledgebase. See the Service Desk SOP for an example of a workable knowledge policy.

Use a phased approach to build a knowledgebase

Use a quarterly, phased approach to continue to build and maintain your knowledgebase

Continual Knowledgebase Maintenance:

• Once a knowledgebase is in place, future articles should be written using established templates.
• Articles should be regularly reviewed and monitored for usage. Outdated information will be retired and archived.
• Ticket trend analysis should be done on an ongoing basis to identify new articles.
• A proactive approach will anticipate upcoming issues based on planned upgrades and maintenance or other changes, and document resolution steps in knowledgebase articles ahead of time.

Every Quarter:

1. Conduct a ticket trend analysis. Identify the most important and common tickets.
2. Review the knowledgebase to identify relevant articles that need to be revised or written.
3. Use data from knowledge management tool to track expiring content and lesser used articles.
4. Assign the task of writing articles to all IT staff members.
5. Build and revise ticket templates for incident and service requests.

Assign a knowledge manager role to ensure accountability for knowledgebase maintenance

Assign a knowledge manager to monitor creation and edit and maintain database.

Knowledge Manager/Owner Role:

• Has overall responsibility for the knowledgebase.
• Ensures content is consistent and maintains standards.
• Regularly monitors and updates the list of issues that should be added to the knowledgebase.
• Regularly reviews existing knowledgebase articles to ensure KB is up to date and flags content to retire or review.
• Assigns content creation tasks.
• Optimizes knowledgebase structure and organization.
• See Info-Tech’s knowledge manager role description if you need a hand defining this position.

The knowledge manager role will likely be a role assigned to an existing resource rather than a dedicated position.

Develop a template to ensure knowledgebase articles are easy to read and write

QUICK TIPS

• Use non-technical language whenever possible to help less-technical readers.
• Identify error messages and use screenshots where it makes sense.
• Take advantage of social features like voting buttons to increase use.
• Use Info-Tech’s Knowledge Base Article Template to get you started.

Analyze the necessary features for your knowledgebase and compare them against existing tools

Service desk knowledgebases range in complexity from simple FAQs to fully integrated software suites.

Options include:

• Article search with negative and positive filters.
• Tagging, with the option to have keywords generate top matches.
• Role-based permissions (to prevent unauthorized deletions).
• Ability to turn a ticket resolution into a knowledgebase article (typically only available if knowledgebase tool is part of the service desk tool).
• Natural language search.
• Partitioning so relevant articles only appear for specific audiences.
• Editorial workflow management.
• Ability to set alerts for scheduled article review.
• Article reporting (most viewed, was it useful?).
• Rich text fields for attaching screenshots.

Determine which features your organization needs and check to see if your tools have them.

For more information on knowledgebase improvement, refer to Info-Tech’s Optimize the Service Desk With a Shift-Left Strategy.

Document your knowledge management maintenance workflow to identify opportunities for improvement

Workflow should include:

• How you will identify top articles that need to be written
• How you will ensure articles remain relevant
• How you will assign new articles to be written, inclusive of peer review

Design knowledgebase management processes

3.2.1 Design knowledgebase management processes

1. Assign a knowledge manager to monitor creation and edit and maintain the database. See Info-Tech’s knowledge manager role description if you need a hand defining this position.
2. Discuss how you can use the service desk tool to integrate the knowledgebase with incident management, request fulfilment, and self-service processes.
3. Discuss the suitability of a quarterly process to build and edit articles for a target knowledgebase that covers your most important incidents and requests.
4. Set knowledgebase creation targets for tier 1, 2, and 3 analysts.
5. Identify relevant performance metrics.
6. Brainstorm elements that might be used as an incentive program to encourage the creation of knowledgebase articles and knowledge sharing more generally.
7. Set policy to drive currency of knowledgebase. See the Service Desk SOP for an example of a workable knowledge policy.

Participants

• Service Desk Manager
• Service Desk Agents

What You’ll Need

• Service Desk SOP
• Flip Chart
• Whiteboard

Create actionable knowledgebase articles

3.2.2 Run a knowledgebase working group

Write and critique knowledgebase articles.

1. On a whiteboard, build a list of potential knowledgebase articles divided by audience: Technician or End User.
2. Each team member chooses one topic and spends 20 minutes writing.
3. Each team member either reads the article and has the team critique or passes to the technician to the right for peer review. If there are many participants, break into smaller groups.
4. Set a goal with the team for how, when, and how often knowledgebase articles will be created.
5. Capture knowledgebase processes in the Service Desk SOP.

Audience: Technician

• Password update
• VPN printing
• Active directory – policy, procedures, naming conventions
• Cell phones
• VPN client and creation set-up

Audience: End users

• Set up email account
• Password creation policy
• Voicemail – access, change greeting, activities
• Best practices for virus, malware, phishing attempts
• Windows 10 tips and tricks

Participants

• Service Desk Manager
• Service Desk Agents

What You’ll Need

• Service Desk SOP
• Flip Chart
• Whiteboard

Step 3.3: Prepare for a self-service portal project

This step will walk you through the following activities:

• 3.3.1 Develop self-service tools for the end user
• 3.3.2 Make a plan for creating or improving the self-service portal

This step involves the following participants:

• IT Managers
• Service Desk Manager(s)
• Representation from tier 2 and tier 3 specialists

Outcomes

The section prepares you to tackle a self-service portal project once the service desk standardization is complete.

DELIVERABLES

• High-level activities to create a self-service portal

Design the self-service portal with the users’ computer skills in mind

A study by the OECD offers a useful reminder of one of usability’s most hard-earned lessons: you are not the user.

• There is an important difference between IT professionals and the average user that’s even more damaging to your ability to predict what will be a good self-service tool: skills in using computers, the internet, and technology in general.
• An international research study explored the computer skills of 215,942 people aged 16-65 in 33 countries.
• The results show that across 33 rich countries, only 5% of the population has strong computer-related abilities and only 33% of people can complete medium-complexity computer tasks.
• End users are skilled, they just don’t have the same level of comfort with computers as the average IT professional. Design your self-service tools with that fact in mind.

Take an incremental and iterative approach to developing your self-service portal

Use a web portal to offer self-serve functionality or provide FAQ information to your customers to start.

• Don’t build from scratch. Ideally, use the functionality included with your ITSM tool.
• If your ITSM tool doesn’t have an adequate self-service portal functionality, then harness other tools that IT already uses. Common examples include Microsoft SharePoint and Google Forms.
• Make it as easy as possible to access the portal:
  • Deploy an app to managed devices or put the app in your app store.
  • Create a shortcut on people’s start menus or home screens.
  • Print the URL on swag such as mousepads.
• Follow Info-Tech’s approach to developing your user facing service catalog.

Some companies use vending machines as a form of self serve. Users can enter their purchase code and “buy” a thin client, mouse, keyboard, software, USB keys, tablet, headphones, or loaners.

Info-Tech Insight

Building the basics first will provide your users with immediate value. Incrementally add new features to your portal.

Optimize the portal: self-service should be faster and more convenient than the alternative

Design the portal by demand, not supply

Don’t build a portal framed around current offerings and capabilities just for the sake of it. Build the portal based on what your users want and need if you want them to use it.

Make user experience a top priority

The portal should be designed for users to self-serve, and thus self-service must be seamless, clear, and attractive to users.

Speak your users’ language

Keep in mind that users may not have high technical literacy or be familiar with terminology that you find commonplace. Use terms that are easy to understand.

Appeal to both clickers and searchers

Ensure that users can find what they’re looking for both by browsing the site and by using search functionality.

Use one central portal for all departments

If multiple departments (i.e. HR, Finance) use or will use a portal, set up a shared portal so that users won’t have to guess where to go to ask for help.

You won’t know unless you test

You will know how to navigate the portal better than anyone, but that doesn’t mean it’s intuitive for a new user. Test the portal with users to collect and incorporate feedback.

Self-service portal examples (1/2)

Image source: Cherwell Service Management

Self-service examples (2/2)

Image source: Team Dynamix

Keep the end-user facing knowledgebase relevant with workflows, multi-device access, and social features

Workflows:

• Easily manage peer reviews and editorial and relevance review.
• Enable links and importing between tickets and knowledgebase articles.
• Enable articles to appear based on ticket content.

Multi-device access:

• Encourage users to access self-service.
• Enable technicians to solve problems from anywhere.

Social features:

• Display most popular articles first to solve trending issues.
• Enable voting to improve usability of articles.
• Allow collaboration on self-service.

For more information on building self-service portal, refer to Info-Tech’s Optimize the Service Desk with a Shift-Left Strategy

Draft a high-level project plan for a self-service portal project

3.3.1 Draft a high-level project plan for a self-service portal project

1. Identify stakeholders who can contribute to the project.
   • Who will help with FAQ creation?
   • Who can design the self-service portal?
   • Who needs to sign off on the project?
2. Identify the high-level tasks that need to be done.
   • How many FAQs need to be created?
   • How will we design the service catalog’s web portal?
   • What might a phased approach look like?
   • How can we break down the project into design, build, and implementation tasks?
   • What is the rough timeline for these tasks?
3. Capture the high-level activities in the Service Desk Roadmap.

Participants

• Service Desk Manager
• Service Desk Agents

What You’ll Need

• Flip Chart
• Whiteboard
• Implementation Roadmap

Once you have a service portal, you can review the business requirements for a service catalog

A service catalog is a communications device that lists the IT services offered by an organization. The service catalog is designed to enable the creation of a self-service portal for the end user. The portal augments the service desk so analysts can spend time managing incidents and providing technical support.

The big value comes from workflows:

• Improved economics and a means to measure the costs to serve over time.
• Incentive for adoption because things work better.
• Abstracts delivery from offer to serve so you can outsource, insource, crowdsource, slow, speed, reassign, and cover absences without involving the end user.

There are three types of catalogs:

• Static:Informational only, so can be a basic website.
• Routing and workflow: Attached to service desk tool.
• Workflow and e-commerce: Integrated with service desk tool and ERP system.

Image courtesy of University of Victoria

Understand the time and effort involved in building a service catalog

A service catalog will streamline IT service delivery, but putting one together requires a significant investment. Service desk standardization comes first.

• Workflows and back-end services must be in place before setting up a service catalog.
Think of the catalog as just the delivery mechanism for service you currently provide. If they aren’t running well and delivery is not consistent, you don’t want to advertise SLAs and options.
• Service catalogs require maintenance.
It’s not a one-time investment – service catalogs must be kept up to date to be useful.
• Service catalog building requires input from VIPs.
Architects and wordsmiths are not the only ones that spend effort on the service catalog. Leadership from IT and the business also provide input on policy and content.

Sample Service Catalog Efforts

• A college with 17 IT staff spent one week on a simple service catalog.
• A law firm with 110 IT staff spent two months on a service catalog project.
• A municipal government with 300 IT people spent over seven months and has yet to complete the project.
• A financial organization with 2,000 IT people has spent seven months on service catalog automation alone! The whole project has taken multiple years.

“I would say a client with 2,000 users and an IT department with a couple of hundred, then you're looking at six months before you have the catalog there.”

– Service Catalog Implementation Specialist,

Health Services

Draft a high-level project plan for a self-service portal project

3.2.2 Make a plan for creating or improving the self-service portal

Identify stakeholders who can contribute to the project.

• Who will help with FAQs creation?
• Who can design the self-service portal?
• Who needs to sign off on the project?

Evaluate tool options.

• Will you stick with your existing tool or invest in a new tool?

Identify the high-level tasks that need to be done.

• How will we design the web portal?
• What might a phased approach look like?
• What is the rough timeline for these tasks?
• How many FAQs need to be created?
• Will we have a service catalog, and what type?

Document the plan and tasks in the Service Desk Roadmap.

Examples of publicly posted service catalogs:

University of Victoria is an example of a catalog that started simple and now includes multiple divisions, notifications, systems status, communications, e-commerce, incident registration, and more.

Indiana University is a student, faculty, and staff service catalog and self-service portal that goes beyond IT services.

If you are ready to start building a service catalog, use Info-Tech’s Design and Build a User-Facing Service Catalog blueprint to get started.

Phase 4

Plan the Implementation of the Service Desk

Step 4.1: Build communication plan

This step will walk you through the following activities:

• 4.1.1 Create the communication plan

This step involves the following participants:

• CIO
• IT Director
• IT Managers
• Service Desk Manager(s)
• Representation from tier 2 and tier 3 specialists

Outcomes

The communication plan and project summary will help project managers outline recommendations and communicate their benefits.

DELIVERABLES

• Communication plan
• Project summary

Effectively communicate the game plan to IT to ensure the success of service desk improvements

Communication is crucial to the integration and overall implementation of your service desk improvement.

An effective communication plan will:

• Gain support from management at the project proposal phase.
• Create end-user buy-in once the program is set to launch.
• Maintainthe presence of the program throughout the business.
• Instill ownership throughout the business, from top-level management to new hires.

Build a communication plan to:

1. Communicate benefits to IT:
   • Share the standard operating procedures for training and feedback.
   • Train staff on policies as they relate to end users and ensure awareness of all policy changes.
   • As changes are implemented, continue to solicit feedback on what is and is not working and communicate adjustments as appropriate.
2. Train technicians:
   • Make sure everyone is comfortable communicating changes to customers.
3. Measure success:
   • Review SLAs and reports. Are you consistently meeting SLAs?
   • Is it safe to communicate with end users?

Create your communication plan to anticipate challenges, remove obstacles, and secure buy-in

Why:

• What problems are you trying to solve?

What:

• What processes will it affect (that will affect me)?

Who:

• Who will be affected?
• Who do I go to if I have issues with the new process?

When:

• When will this be happening?
• When will it affect me?

How:

• How will these changes manifest themselves?

Goal:

• What is the final goal?
• How will it benefit me?

Create a communication plan to outline the project benefits

Improved business satisfaction:

• Improve confidence that the service desk can solve issues within the service-level agreement.
• Channel incidents and requests through the service desk.
• Escalate incidents quickly and accurately.

Fewer recurring issues:

• Tickets are created for every incident and categorized correctly.
• Reports can be used for root-cause analysis.

Increased efficiency or lower cost to serve:

• Use FAQs to enable end users to self-solve.
• Use knowledgebase to troubleshoot once, solve many times.
• Cross-train to improve service consistency.

Enhanced demand planning:

• Trend analysis and reporting improve IT’s ability to forecast and address the demands of the business.

Organize the information to manage the deployment of key messages

Create the communication plan

4.1.1 Create the communication plan

Estimated Time: 45 minutes

Develop a stakeholder analysis.

1. Identify everyone affected by the project.
2. Assess their level of interest, value, and influence.
3. Develop a communication strategy tailored to their level of engagement.

Craft key messages tailored to each stakeholder group.

Finalize the communication plan.

1. Examine your roadmap and determine the most appropriate timing for communications.
2. Assess when communications must happen with executives, business unit leaders, end users, and technicians.
3. Identify any additional communication challenges that have come up.
4. Identify who will send out the communications.
5. Identify multiple methods for getting the messages out (newsletters, emails, posters, company meetings).
6. For inspiration, you can refer to the Sample Communication Plan for the project.

Participants

• CIO
• IT Managers
• Service Desk Manager
• Service Desk Agents

Step 4.2: Build implementation roadmap

This step will walk you through the following activities:

• 4.2.1 Build implementation roadmap

This step involves the following participants:

• CIO
• IT Director
• IT Managers
• Service Desk Manager
• Representation from tier 2 and tier 3 specialists

Outcomes

The implementation plan will help track and categorize the next steps and finalize the project.

DELIVERABLES

• Implementation roadmap

Collaborate to create an implementation plan

4.2.1 Create the implementation plan

Estimated Time: 45 minutes

Determine the sequence of improvement initiatives that have been identified throughout the project.

The purpose of this exercise is to define a timeline and commit to initiatives to reach your goals.

Instructions:

1. Review the initiatives that will be taken to improve the service desk and revise tasks, as necessary.
2. Input each of the tasks in the data entry tab and provide a description and rationale behind the task.
3. Assign an effort, priority, and cost level to each task (high, medium, low).
4. Assign ownership to each task.
5. Identify the timeline for each task based on the priority, effort, and cost (short, medium, and long term).
6. Highlight risk for each task if it will be deferred.
7. Track the progress of each task with the status column.

Participants

• CIO
• IT Managers
• Service Desk Manager
• Service Desk Agents

Document using the Roadmap tool.

Related Info-Tech Research

ImplementHardware and Software Asset Management

The Standardize blueprint reviews service desk structures and metrics and builds essential processes and workflows for incident management, service request fulfillment, and knowledge management practices.

Once the service desk is operational, there are three paths to basic ITSM maturity:

• Having the incident management processes and workflows built allows you to:
  • Introduce Change Management to reduce change-related incidents.
  • Introduce Problem Management to reduce incident recurrence.
  • Introduce Asset Management to augment service management processes with reliable data.

Solicit targeted department feedback on core IT service capabilities, IT communications, and business enablement. Use the results to assess the satisfaction of end users, with each service broken down by department and seniority level.

Works cited

“Help Desk Staffing Models: Simple Analysis Can Save You Money.” Giva, Inc., 2 Sept. 2009. Web.

Marrone et al. “IT Service Management: A Cross-national Study of ITIL Adoption.” Communications of the Association for Information Systems: Vol. 34, Article 49. 2014. PDF.

Rumburg, Jeff. “Metric of the Month: First Level Resolution Rate.” MetricNet, 2011. Web.

“Service Recovery Paradox.” Wikipedia, n.d. Web.

Tang, Xiaojun, and Yuki Todo. “A Study of Service Desk Setup in Implementing IT Service Management in Enterprises.” Technology and Investment: Vol. 4, pp. 190-196. 2013. PDF.

“The Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC).” Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 2016. Web.

Contributors

• Jason Aqui, IT Director, Bellevue College
• Kevin Sigil, IT Director, Southwest Care Centre
• Lucas Gutierrez, Service Desk Manager, City of Santa Fe
• Rama Dhuwaraha, CIO, University of North Texas System
• Annelie Rugg, CIO, UCLA Humanities
• Owen McKeith, Manager IT Infrastructure, Canpotex
• Rod Gula, IT Director, American Realty Association
• Rosalba Trujillo, Service Desk Manager, Northgate Markets
• Jason Metcalfe, IT Manager, Mesalabs
• Bradley Rodgers, IT Manager, SecureTek
• Daun Costa, IT Manager, Pita Pit
• Kari Petty, Service Desk Manager, Mansfield Oil
• Denis Borka, Service Desk Manager, PennTex Midstream
• Lateef Ashekun, IT Manager, City of Atlanta
• Ted Zeisner, IT Manager, University of Ottawa Institut de Cardiologie

Assess Your Readiness to Implement UCaaS

Unified communication as a service (UCaaS) is already here. Find the right solution for your organization, whether it is Teams Phone or another solution.

Analyst Perspective

UCaaS is the solution to the hybrid and remote working world

Hybrid/remote work is a reality and there is little evidence to prove otherwise despite efforts to return employees to the office. A 2023 survey from Zippia says 74% of US companies are planning to or have implemented hybrid work policies. Given the reality of the new ways people work, there’s a genuine need for a UCaaS solution.

The days of on-premises private branch exchange (PBX) and legacy voice over internet protocol (VoIP) solutions are numbered, and organizations are examining alternative solutions to redundant desk phones. The stalwarts of voice solutions, Cisco and Avaya, have seen the writing on the wall for some time: the new norm must be a cloud-based solution that integrates via API with content resource management (CRM), email, chat, and collaboration tools.

Besides remaining agile when accommodating different work locations, it’s advantageous to be able to quickly scale and meet the needs of organizations and their employees. New technology is moving at such a pace that utilizing a UCaaS service is truly beneficial, especially given its AI, analytics, and mobile capabilities. Being held back by an on-premises solution that is capitalized over several years is not a wise option.

John Donovan
Principle Research Director, I&O Practice
Info-Tech Research Group

Insight Summary

Improved integration and communication in a hybrid world
Unified communication as a service (UCaaS) integrates several tools into one platform to provide seamless voice, video, chat, collaboration, sharing and much more. The ability to work from anywhere and the ability to use application programming interfaces (APIs) to integrate content resource management (CRM) and other productivity tools into a unified environment is a key component of employee productivity, whether at the office or remote, or even on mobile devices.

Simplify your maintenance, management, and support
Communication and voice using a cloud provisioner has many benefits and makes life easier for your IT staff. No more ongoing maintenance, upgrades, patching and managing servers or private branch exchanges (PBXs). UCaaS is easy to deploy, and due to its scalability and flexibility, users can easily be added or removed. Now businesses can retire their legacy technical debt of voice hardware and old desk phones that clutter the office.

Oversight on security
The utilization of a software as a service (SaaS) platform in UCaaS form does by design risk data breaches, phishing, and third-party malware. Fortunately, you can safeguard your organization’s security by ensuring the vendor you choose features SOC2 certification, taking care of encryption, firewalls, two-factor authentication and security incident handling, and disaster recovery. The big players in the UCaaS world have these features.

Executive Summary

Info-Tech Insight

Determine your communication and collaboration needs. Evaluate your current use of voice, video, chat, collaboration, sharing, and mobility whether for the office or remote work. Evaluate your security and regulatory requirements and needs. Determine the integration requirements when evaluating top vendors.

The evolution of unified communication

How we moved from fax machines and desk phones to an integrated set of tools on one platform in the cloud

Business drivers for moving to UCaaS

What organizations look to gain or save by moving to UCaaS solutions

Flexibility and scalability
Ability to add/remove users and services as appropriate for changing business needs, allowing for quick adaptation to changing markets.

Productivity
Offering features like messaging, collaboration tools, and video conferencing enables users to be more effective regardless of location and device. May lead to quicker decision making and reduced communication delays.

Cost savings
Eliminating the need for on-premises hardware and software, reducing maintenance and support costs. Predictable monthly billing.

Business continuity
Reducing risks of disruption or disaster. Allowing users to work from anywhere when the physical office is unavailable. Additional features can include disaster recovery and backup services.

Enhanced security
UCaaS providers usually offer advanced security and compliance features including encryption, firewall, intrusion detection, and certifications like HIPAA and SOC 2.

KPIs to demonstrate success

What key metrics should businesses measure to demonstrate a successful UCaaS project?
What improvements are needed?
What can be optimized?

What are the surveys telling us?

Different organizations adopt UCaaS solutions for different reasons

95%

Collaboration: No Jitter’s study on team collaboration found that 95% of survey respondents think collaborative communication apps are a necessary component of a successful communications strategy.
Source: No Jitter, 2018.

95%

Security: When deploying remote communication solutions, 95% of businesses say they want to use VPN connections to keep data private.
Source: Mitel, 2018.

31%

Flexibility: While there are numerous advantages to cloud-based communications, 31% of companies intend to use UCaaS to eliminate technical debt from legacy systems and processes.
Source: Freshworks, 2019.

UCaaS adoption

While many organizations are widely adopting UCaaS, they still have data security concerns

UCaaS deployments are growing

UCaaS is growing at a rate that shows the market for UC is moving toward cloud-based voice and collaboration solutions at a rate of 29% year over year.

Source: Synergy Research Group, 2017.

Security is still a big concern

While it’s increasingly popular to adopt cloud-based unified communication solutions, 70% of those companies are still concerned about their data security.

Source: Masergy, 2022.

Concerns around security range from encrypting conversations to controlling who has access to what data in the organization’s network to how video is managed on emerging video communications platforms.

Info-Tech Insight

Ensure you maintain a robust security posture with your data regardless of where it is being stored. Security breaches can happen at any location.

UCaaS vs. on-premises UC

Main benefits of UCaaS

• Rapid deployment: Cloud hosting provides the ability to deploy quickly.
• Ease of management: It’s no longer necessary for companies to manage communications across multiple platforms and devices.
• Better connection: The communication flow across teams and with customers is faster and easier with phone, messaging, audio and video conferencing available in one place.
• Scalability: Since UCaaS is an on-demand service, companies can scale their communication needs to what’s immediately required at an affordable price.

Info-Tech Insight

There are five reasons you should migrate to UCaaS. They are advanced technology, easily scalable, cost efficiencies, highly available, and security. There are always outliers, but these five criteria are a reliable foundation when assessing a vendor/product.

UCaaS architecture

The 6 primary elements of UCaaS

Unified communications as a service (UCaaS) is a cloud-based subscription service primarily for communication tools such as voice, video, messaging, collaboration, content sharing, and other cloud services over the internet. It uses VoIP to process calls.

The popularity of UCaaS is increasing with the recent trend of users working remotely full or part-time and requiring collaboration tools for their work.

• The main benefit to businesses is the ability to remove on-premises hardware and reduce technical debt.
• Additionally, it removes the need for expensive up-front capital costs and reduces communications costs.
• From a productivity perspective, delivering these services under one platform/service increases effective collaboration and allows instant communication regardless of device or location.

Features available to UCaaS/UC

Must-haves vs. nice-to-haves

Info-Tech Insight

Decide what matters most to the organization when choosing the UC platform and applications. Divide criteria into must-have vs. nice-to-have categories.

Security and UCaaS

• Maintain company integrity
• Enhance data security
• Regulatory compliance
• Reduce risk of fraud
• Protect data for multiple devices

What are the concerns? What is at risk?

• DDoS attacks: Enterprise transactions are paralyzed by flooding of data across the network preventing access
• Phishing: Users are tricked into clicking a URL and sharing an organization’s sensitive data
• Ransomware: Malicious attack preventing the business from accessing data and demanding a ransom for access
• Third-party malware: Software infected with a virus, trojan horse, worms, spyware, or even ransomware with malicious intent

Security solutions in UCaaS

End-to-end encryption is critical

SRTP

• Secure real-time protocol is a cryptographic protocol used to secure voice & video calls over IP networks
• SRTP provides encryption, message authentication, and integrity protection for voice and data packets. Using advanced encryption standard (AES) reduces chance of DDoS attacks

TLS

• Transport layer security (TLS) is a cryptographic protocol that secures data in transit over the internet, protecting from interception and tampering

VPNs and firewalls

• Virtual private networks (VPNs) are used to secure and encrypt connections between remote devices and the network. UCaaS providers can use VPN to secure access from remote locations
• Firewalls are your primary line of defense against unauthorized traffic entering or leaving the network

SIP

• Session initiated protocol (SIP) over TLS is used to initiate and terminate video and voice calls over the internet. UCaaS providers often use SIP over TLS to encrypt and secure SIP messages

SSH

• Secure shell (SSH) is a cryptographic network protocol used to secure remote access and communications over the network. SSH is often used by UCaaS providers to secure remote management and configuration of systems

Info-Tech Insight

Encryption is a must for securing data and voice packets across the internet. These packets can be vulnerable to eavesdropping techniques and local area network (LAN) breaches. This risk must be mitigated from end to end.

UCaaS

Seven vendors competing with Microsoft’s integrated suite of collaboration tools

Zoom

Best for large meetings and webinars

Key features:

• Virtual meetings up to 300 users, up to 1,000 with enterprise version
• Team chat
• Digital whiteboard
• Phone

RingCentral

Best for project management collaboration tools

Key features:

• Video conferencing up to 200 users
• Chat
• Voice calls
• Video polls and captioning
• Digital whiteboard

Nextiva

Best for CRM support, best-in-class functionality and features

Key features:

• Single dashboard
• Chat
• Cospace collaboration tool
• Templates
• Voice and call pop

GoTo Connect

Best for integration with other business apps

Key features:

• Video conferencing up to 250 participants
• Meeting transcripts
• Dial plan

Dialpad

Best for small companies under 15 users

Key features:

• Video meetings up to 15 participants
• AI transcripts with call summary
• Call controls share screen, switch between devices
• Channel conversations with calendar app

WebEx

Only vendor offering real-time translation & closed captioning

Key features:

• Video meetings up to 200 participants
• Calling features with noise removal, call recording, and transcripts
• Live polling and Q&A

Google Workspace

Best for whole team collaboration for docs and slides

Key features:

• Google meet video
• Collaboration on docs, sheets, and slides
• Google chat and spaces
• Calendars with sync updates with Gmail and auto-reminders

Avaya and Cisco

The major players in the VoIP on-premises PBX world have moved to a cloud experience to compete with Microsoft and other UCaaS players

Avaya offers the OneCloud UC platform. It is one of the last UC vendors to offer on-premises solutions. In a market which is moving to the cloud at a serious pace, Avaya retains a 14% share. It made a strategic partnership with RingCentral in 2019 and in February 2021 they formed a joint venture which is now called Avaya Cloud Office, a UCaaS solution that integrates Avaya’s communication and collaboration solution with the RingCentral cloud platform.

With around 33% of the UC market, Cisco also has a selection of UC products and services for on-premises deployment and the cloud, including WebEx Calling, Jabber, Unity Connections for voice messaging, and Single Number Reach for extensive telephony features.

Both vendors support on-premises and cloud-based solutions for UC.

Services provided by Avaya and Cisco in the UCaaS space

Avaya Cloud Office

• Voice calling: Cloud-based phone system over the internet with call forwarding, call transfer, voice mail, and more
• Video conferencing: Virtual meetings for real-time collaboration, screen sharing, virtual backgrounds, video layout, meeting recording, whiteboarding and annotation, and virtual waiting room
• Messaging: A feature that allows users to send and receive instant messages and SMS text messaging on the same platform
• Collaboration: Work together on documents and projects in real time. File sharing and task management
• Contact center: Manage customer interactions across voice, email, chat, and social media
• Mobile app: Allows users to access communication and collaboration features on smartphones and tablets

Cisco WebEx

• Voice calling: Cisco WebEx calling provides cloud-based phone system over the internet including call forwarding, transfer, and voice mail
• Video conferencing: Features include virtual meeting and real-time collaboration, screen sharing, and virtual backgrounds and layouts, highly scalable to large audiences
• Messaging: Features include chat and SMS
• Collaboration: Allows users to work together on docs and projects in real time, including file sharing and task management
• Contact center: Multiple contact center solutions offered for small, medium, and large enterprises
• Mobile app: Software clients for Jabber on cellphones
• Artificial intelligence: Business insights, automatic transcripts, notes, and highlights to capture the meeting

Service desk and contact center cloud options

INDUSTRY: All industries
SOURCE: Software reviews

What vendors offer and what they don’t

RingCentral integrates with some popular contact centers such as Five 9, Talkdesk and Sharpen. They also have a built-in contact center solution that can be integrated with their messaging and video conferencing tools.

GoToConnect integrates with several leading customer service providers including Zendesk and Salesforce Service Cloud They also offer a built-in contact center solution with advanced call routing and management features.

WebEx integrates with a variety of contact center and customer service platforms including Five9, Genesys, and ServiceNow.

Dialpad integrates with contact center platforms such as Talkdesk and ServiceNow as well as CRM tools such as Salesforce and HubSpot.

Google Workspace integrates with third-party contact center platforms through their Google Cloud Contact Center AI offering.

SoftwareReviews

UCaaS comparison table

* Some reported issues around sound and voice quality may be due to network
**Limited to certain plans

Differences between UCaaS and CPaaS

Microsoft Teams Phone

UCaaS for Microsoft 365

Consider your approach to the telephony question. Microsoft incorporates telephony functionality with their broader collaboration suite. Other providers do the opposite.

Microsoft’s voice solution

These options allow you to plan for an all-cloud solution, connect to your own carrier, or use a combination of all cloud with a third-party carrier. Caveat: Calling plans must be available in your country or region.

How do you connect with the public switched telephone network (PSTN)?

Microsoft has three options for connecting the phone system to the PSTN:

Calling Plan

• Uses Microsoft's phone system and adds a domestic and international calling plan, which enables worldwide calling but depends on your chosen license
• Since PSTN Calling Plan operates out of Microsoft 365, you are not required to deploy/maintain on-premises hardware
• Customers can connect a supported session border controller (SBC) via direct routing if it’s necessary to operate with third-party PBX analog devices or other voice solutions supported by the SBC
• You can assign your phone numbers directly in the Teams Admin Center

This plan will work for you if:

• There is a calling plan available in your region
• You don’t need to maintain your PSTN carrier
• You want to use Microsoft's managed PSTN
• No SBC is necessary in your organization
• Teams provides all the features your business needs

Operator Connect

• Leverage existing contracts or find a new operator from a selection of participating operators
• Operator-managed infrastructure, your operator manages PSTN calling services and SBC
• Faster, easier deployment, quickly connect to your operator and assign phone numbers directly from Teams Admin Center
• Enhanced support and reliability, operators provide technical support and shared service level agreements
• Customers can connect a supported SBC via Direct Routing for interoperability with third-party PBXs, analog devices, and other third-party voice solution equipment supported by SBC

This plan will work for you if:

• There is no calling plan available in your region
• Your preferred carrier participates in the Microsoft operator connect plan
• You are looking to get a new operator that enables calling in Teams

Direct Routing

• Connect your own supported SBC to Microsoft Phone System directly without needing additional on-premises software
• Use virtually any voice solution carrier with Microsoft Phone System
• Can be configured and managed by customers or by your carrier or partner (ask if your carrier or partner provides this option)
• Configure interoperability between your voice solution equipment (e.g., a third-party PBX and analog devices) and Microsoft Phone System
• Assign phone numbers directly from Teams Admin Center

This plan will work for you if:

• You want to use Teams with Phone System
• You need to retain your current PSTN carrier
• You want to mix routing – some calls are going via Calling Plans, some via your carrier
• You need to interoperate with third-party PBXs and/or equipment such as overhead pagers, analog devices
• Teams has all the features that your organization requires

For more information, go to Microsoft Teams call flows.

Teams phone architecture

Microsoft offers three options that can be deployed based on several factors and questions you must answer.

Microsoft Teams phone considerations when connecting to a PSTN

• Do you want to move on-premises users to the cloud?
• Is Microsoft's PSTN Calling Plan available in your region?
• Is your preferred operator a participant in the Microsoft Operator Connect Program?
• Do you want or need to keep your current voice carrier (e.g., does an existing contract require you to do so)?
• Do you have an existing on-premises legacy PBX that you want or need to keep?
• Does your current legacy PBX offer unique business-critical features?
• Do all/any of your users require features not currently offered in Phone System?

1. Phone System with Calling Plan

All in the cloud for Teams users

Infrastructure requirements:

*List of countries where calling plans are available: aka.ms/callingplans

2. Phone System with own carrier via operator connect

Phone system in the cloud; connectivity to on-premises voice network for Teams users

Infrastructure requirements:

*List of countries where Operator Connect is available: aka.ms/operatorconnect

3. Phone System with own carrier via Direct Routing

Phone system in the cloud; connectivity to on-premises voice network for Teams users

Infrastructure requirements:

*Unless deployed as an option to provide connection to third-party PBX, analog devices, or other voice equipment for users who are on Phone System with Calling Plans

A Metrigy study found that 70% of organizations adopting MS Teams are using direct routing to connect to the PSTN
Note: Complex organizations with varying needs can adopt all three options simultaneously.

Avoid overpurchasing Microsoft telephony

Microsoft telephony products on a page

Pros:

• The complete package: sole-sourcing your environment for simpler management
• Users familiar with Microsoft will only have one place to go for telephony
• You can bring your own provider and manage your own routing, giving you more choice
• This can keep costs down as you do not have to pay for calling plan services
• You can choose your own third-party solution while still taking advantage of the integrations that make Microsoft so attractive as a vendor

Cons:

• The most expensive option of the three
• Less control and limited features compared to other pure-play telephony vendors
• This service requires expertise in managing telephony infrastructure
• Avoiding the cloud may introduce technical debt in the long term
• You will have to manage integrations and deal with limited feature functionality (e.g. you may be able to receive inbound calls but not make outbound calls)

Why does it matter?

Phone System is Microsoft’s answer to the premises-based private branch exchange (PBX) functionality that has traditionally required a large capital expenditure. The cloud-based Phone System, offered with Microsoft’s highest tier of Microsoft/Office 365 licensing, allows Skype/Teams customers access to the following features (among others):

• PSTN telephony (inbound and outbound)
• Auto attendants (a menu system for callers to navigate your company directory)
• Call forwarding, voice mail, and transferring
• Caller ID
• Shared lines
• Common area phones

Phone System, especially the Teams version, is a fully-featured telephony solution that integrates natively with a popular productivity solution. Phone System is worth exploring because many organizations already have Teams licenses.

Key insights

1. Don’t pay twice for the same service (unless you must). If you already have M/O365 E5 customer, Teams telephony can be a great way to save money and streamline your environment.
2. Consider your approach to the telephony question. Microsoft incorporates telephony functionality into a broader collaboration suite. Other providers do the opposite. This reflects their relative strengths.
3. Teams is a platform. You can use it as a front end for other telephone services. This might make sense if you have a preferred cloud PBX provider.

Sources

“Plan your Teams voice solution,” Microsoft, 2022.

“Microsoft Calling Plans for Teams,” Microsoft, 2023.

“Plan Direct Routing,” Microsoft, 2023.

“Cisco vs. Microsoft Cloud Calling—Discussing the Options,” UC Today, 2022.

“Microsoft Teams Phone Systems: 5 Deployment Options in 2020,” AeroCom, 2020.

Contact Center and Teams integration

Three Teams integration options

If you want to use a certified and direct routing solution for Teams Phone, use the Connect model.

If you want to use Azure bots and the Microsoft Graph Communication APIs that enable solution providers to create the Teams app, use the Extend model.

If you want to use the SDK that enables solution providers to embed native Teams experiences in their App, use the Power model (under development).

Teams phone network assessment

Useful tools for Microsoft network testing and Microsoft Teams site assessment

Plan network basics

• Does your network infrastructure have enough capacity? Consider switch ports, wireless access points, and other coverage.
• If you use VLANs and DHCP, are your scopes sized accordingly?
• Evaluate and test network paths from where devices are deployed to Microsoft 365.
• Open the required firewall ports and URLs for Microsoft 365 as per guidance.
• Review and test E911 requirements and configuration for location accuracy and compliance.
• Avoid using a proxy server and optimize media paths for reliability and quality.

What internet speed do I need for Teams calls?

• Microsoft Teams uses about 1.2 Mbps for HD video calling (720p), 1.5 Mbps for 1080p, 500 kbps for standard quality video (360p). Group video requires about 1 Mbps, HD group video uses about 2 Mbps.

Key physical considerations

• Power: Do you have enough electrical outlets? If the device needs an external power source, how close can you position it to an outlet?
• Device placement: Where will your device be located? Review desk stands, wall mounts, and other accessories from the original equipment manufacturer (OEM).
• Security: Does your device need to be locked in certain spaces?
• Accessibility: Does the device meet the accessibility requirements of its primary user? Consider where it's placed, wire length, and handset or headset usability.

Prepare your organization's network for Microsoft Teams

• Network/Bandwidth requirements: You can probably put together something from these network requirements from Microsoft: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/prepare-network

Plan your Teams voice solution

• https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/cloud-voice-landing-page

Check your internet connection for Teams Phone System

• https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/business-voice/get-ready-internet
• Microsoft 365 network connectivity test (office.com)
• https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/confirmation.aspx?id=103017

Teams Phone Mobile

• https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/operator-connect-mobile-plan

UCaaS Activity

Questions that must be addressed by your business and the vendor. Site surveys and questionnaires for your assessment

Activity: Questionnaire

Input: Evaluate your current state, Network readiness
Output: Decisions on readiness, Gaps in infrastructure readiness, Develop a project plan
Materials: UCaaS Readiness Questionnaire
Participants: Infrastructure Manager, Project Manager, Network Engineer, Voice Engineer

As a group, read through the questions on Tabs 1 and 2 of the UCaaS Readiness Questionnaire workbook. The answers to the questions will determine if you have gaps to fill when determining your readiness to move forward on a UCaaS solution.

You may produce additional questions during the session that pertain to your specific business and situation. Please add them to the questionnaire as needed.

Record your answers to determine next steps and readiness.

When assessing potential vendors, use Tab 3 to determine suitability for your organization and requirements. This section may be left to a later date when building a request for proposal (RFP).

Call #1: Review client advisory deck and next steps.

Call #2: Assess readiness from answers to the Tab 1 questions.

Download the UCaaS Readiness Questionnaire here

Critical Path – Teams with Phone System Deployment

Example Ltd.’s Communications Guide

[Insert Organization Name]’s Communications Guide

Related Info-Tech Research

Bibliography

“8 Security Considerations for UCaaS.” Tech Guidance, Feb. 2022. Accessed March 2023.

“2022 UCaaS & CCaaS market trends snapshot.” Masergy, 2022. Web.

“All-in-one cloud communications.” Avaya, 2023. Accessed April 2023. Web.

Carter, Rebekah. “UC Case Study in Focus: Microsoft Teams and GroupM.” UC Today, 9 May 2022. Accessed Feb. 2023.

“Cisco Unified Communications Manager Cloud (Cisco UCM Cloud) Data Sheet.” Cisco, 15 Sept. 2021. Accessed Jan. 2023.

“Cloud Adoption as Viewed by European Companies: Assessing the Impact on Public, Hybrid and Private Cloud Communications.” Mitel, 2018. Web.

De Guzman, Marianne. “Unified Communications Security: The Importance of UCaaS Encryption.” Fit Small Business, 13 Dec. 2022. Accessed March 2023.

“Evolution of Unified Communications.” TrueConf, n.d. Accessed March 2023. Web.

Froehlich, Andrew. “Choose between Microsoft Teams vs. Zoom for conference needs.” TechTarget, 7 May 2021. Accessed March 2023.

Gerwig, Kate. “UCaaS explained: Guide to unified communications as a service.” TechTarget, 29 March 2022. Accessed Jan. 2023.

Irei, Alissa. “Emerging UCaaS trends include workflow integrations and AI.” TechTarget, 21 Feb 2020. Accessed Feb. 2023.

Kuch, Mike. “What Is Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS)?” Avaya, 27 Dec. 2022. Accessed Jan. 2023.

Lazar, Irwin. “UC vendors extend mobile telephony capabilities.” TechTarget, 10 Feb. 2023. Accessed Mar 2023.

McCain, Abby. "30 Essential Hybrid Work Statistics [2023]: The Future of Work." Zippia, 20 Feb. 2023. Accessed Mar 2023.

“Meet the modern CIO: What CEOs expect from their IT leaders.” Freshworks, 2019. Web.

“A New Era of Workplace Communications: Will You Lead or Be Left Behind.” No Jitter, 2018. Web.

Plumley, Mike, et al. “Microsoft Teams IT architecture and voice solutions posters.’” Microsoft Teams, Microsoft, 14 Feb. 2023. Accessed March 2023.

Rowe, Carolyn, et al. “Plan your Teams voice solution” Microsoft Learn, Microsoft, 1 Oct. 2022.

Rowe, Carolyn, et al. “Microsoft Calling Plans for Teams.” Microsoft Learn, Microsoft, 23 May 2023.

Rowe, Carolyn, et al. “Plan Direct Routing.” Microsoft Learn, Microsoft, 20 Feb. 2023.

Scott, Rob. “Cisco vs. Microsoft Cloud Calling—Discussing the Options,” UC Today, 21 April 2022.

Smith, Mike. “Microsoft Teams Phone Systems: 5 Deployment Options in 2020.” YouTube, uploaded by AeroCom Inc, 23 Oct. 2020.

“UCaaS - Getting Started With Unified Communications As A Service.” Cloudscape, 10 Nov. 2022. Accessed March 2023.

“UCaaS Market Accelerating 29% per year; RingCentral, 8x8, Mitel, BroadSoft and Vonage Lead.” Synergy Research Group, 16 Oct. 2017. Web.

“UCaaS Statistics – The Future of Remote Work.” UC Today, 21 April 2022. Accessed Feb. 2023.

“Workplace Collaboration: 2021-22.” Metrigy, 27 Jan. 2021. Web.

Elevate Your Vendor Management Initiative

Transform Your VMI From Tactical to Strategic to Maximize Its Impact and Value

EXECUTIVE BRIEF

Analyst Perspective

Transform your VMI into a strategic contributor to ensure its longevity.

By the time you start using this blueprint, you should have established a solid foundation for your vendor management initiative (VMI) and implemented many or all of the principles outlined in Info-Tech’s blueprint Jump Start Your Vendor Management (the Jump Start blueprint). This blueprint (the Elevate blueprint) is meant to continue the evolutionary or maturation process of your VMI. Many of the items presented here will build on and refer to the elements from the Jump Start blueprint. The goal of the Elevate blueprint is to assist in the migration of your VMI from transactional to strategic. Why? Simply put, the more strategic the VMI, the more value it adds and the more impact it has on the organization as a whole. While the day-to-day, transactional aspect of running a VMI will never go away, getting stuck in transactional mode is a horrible place for the VMI and its team members: The VMI will never live up to its potential. The work won’t be enjoyable or rewarding for most people. The VMI will be seen paper pushers, gatekeepers, and other things that don’t add value or should be avoided. Being reactive (i.e. putting out fires all day) is exhausting and provides little or no control over the work and workflow. Lastly, the VMI’s return on investment will be low, and unless it was established due to regulatory, audit, or other influences, the VMI could be disbanded. Minimal resources will be available to the VMI…just enough to keep it alive and obtain whatever checkmark needs to be earned to satisfy the original need for its creation. To prevent these tragic things from happening, transform the VMI into a strategic contributor and partner internally. This Elevate blueprint provides a roadmap and guidance to get your journey started. Focus on expanding your understanding of customer/vendor dynamics, improving the skills, competencies, and knowledge of the VMI’s team members, contributing value beyond the savings aspect, and building a solid brand internally and with your vendors. This requires a conscious effort and a proactive approach to vendor management…not to mention treating your internal “clients” with respect and providing great customer service. At the end of the day, ask yourself one question: If your internal clients had to pay for your services, would they? If you can answer yes, you are well on your way to being strategic. If not, you still have some work to do. Long live the strategic VMI!

Phil Bode Principal Research Director, Vendor Management Info-Tech Research Group

Executive Summary

Info-Tech Insight

The VMI must continue to mature and evolve, or it will languish, atrophy, and possibly be disbanded.

• A transactional approach to vendor management ignores the multi-faceted dynamics in play and limits the VMI’s potential value.
• Improving the VMI’s impact starts with the VMI’s personnel – their skills, knowledge, competencies, and relationships.
• Adding value to the organization requires time to build trust and understand the landscape (internal and external).

*Source: Information Services Group, Inc., 2022.

Executive Summary

Your Challenge

Spend on managed service providers and as-a-service providers continues to increase. In addition, IT services vendors continue to be active in the mergers and acquisitions arena. This increases the need for a VMI to help with the changing IT vendor landscape.

Source: Information Services Group, Inc., 2022.

Executive Summary

Common Obstacles

When organizations execute, renew, or renegotiate a contract, there is an “expected value” associated with that contract. Without a robust VMI, most of the expected value will never be realized. With a robust VMI, the realized value significantly exceeds the expected value during the contract term.

Source: Based on findings from Geller & Company, 2003.

Executive Summary

Info-Tech’s Approach

A sound, cyclical approach to vendor management will help ensure your VMI meets your needs and stays in alignment with your organization as they both change (i.e. mature and evolve).

Vendor Management Process

1. Plan

• Review and Update Existing Plan Materials

• Vendor Classification Models
• Customer Positioning Model
• 2-Way Scorecards
• Performance Improvement Plan (PIP)
• Relationship Improvement Plan (RIP)
• Vendor-at-a-Glance Reports
• VMI Personnel Competency Evaluation Tool
• Internal Feedback Tool
• VMI ROI Calculation Tools
• Vendor Recognition Program

• Classify Vendors and Identify Customer Position
• Assess the Relationship Landscape
• Leverage 2-Way Scorecards
• Implement PIPs and RIPS
• Gather Market Intelligence
• Generate Vendor-at-a-Glance Reports
• Evaluate VMI Personnel
• Improve Professional Skills
• Expand Professional Knowledge
• Create Brand Awareness
• Survey Internal Clients
• Calculate VMI ROI
• Implement Vendor Recognition Program

• Investigate Potential Alliances
• Continue Increasing the VMI's Strategic Value
• Review and Update Governances

• Outcomes
• Better Allocation of VMI Resources
• Measurable Impact of the VMI
• Increased Awareness of the VMI
• Improved Vendor Performance
• Improved Vendor Relationships
• VMI Team Member Development
• Strategic Relationships Internally

Info-Tech’s Methodology for Elevating Your VMI