This volume came about as a result of the authors' own practical experience in Help Desk operation and management and of hundreds of workshops the authors have conducted world-wide over the last fifteen years. It is intended to be a practical reference guide, but the suggestions, checklists and templates all need to be interpreted and amended in the light of the culture, technology, service maturity and constraints of each individual organization.
Delegates frequently ask us: "What is the best Help Desk software package?" or "What is the best way to set up a Help Desk?" Our only response has to be "Best for whom? It all depends." A key objective of this book is to show how and why "It all depends" and to provide readers with the best possible information on which to understand and evaluate options and to select the best - for them. If there is one thing we have learned over the last years, it is this: Good service has no history. Bad service has infinite history.
Based on extensive feedback from delegates from most of the Fortune 1,000 companies who have attended courses presented through Frost & Sullivan (Europe), AIC (South Africa), Monadnock (UK), The Infomatics Resource Centre (UK), IIR (UK), Digital Equipment (UK), Logtel (South America), CEL (Asia Pacific), UPMOCL (Middle East), Finborough Seminars, as well as delegates of in-company training for organizations like Dow Europe (Switzerland), The Intervention Board, BP, Shell International Petroleum, Logica (UK), Arthur Andersen (UK), Rolls Royce (UK), Global One (Germany and USA), Caterpillar (Switzerland), GAK (Netherlands), European Commission (Belgium), Transnet (South Africa), Sun Valley (UK), Nikon Precision (UK).
ANDREW HILES is a Fellow of the Business Continuity Institute and a Member of the British Computer Society. Andrew was founder Chairman of the influential European Information Market (EURIM) group which supports the UK Parliament's All-Party EURIM Group in handling European legislation. His first book on Service Level Management was published in 1991; his second book in 1993. He contributed to Croner's Guide to IT Purchasing. His software package, SLA FRAMEWORK , has been purchased by leading international companies.
Starting his I.T. career with the Royal Air Force in programming and systems, Andrew moved to London Transport in an operational role. Later, in their Central Productivity Unit and subsequently as I.T. Projects Manager and as Manager of the Business Process Re-engineering function, he led several major technical and organisational reviews involving the reorganisation of key functions of London Transport. From there he moved to the Post Office as their first Business Systems Consultant with responsibilities for major projects. Subsequently as Computer Services Manager at Harwell Laboratory he provided supercomputing, mainframe, midrange and client / server bureau services and operational support of mainframe and midrange installations that Harwell facility managed. He also had Customer Support and Quality Assurance responsibilities for the Datacenter.
Andrew is a Director of the Kingswell Partnership of I.T. Consultants - an international consultancy specialising in delivering service and managing business risk. He has helped hi-tech, financial, transport and government bodies to develop and enhance Customer Support and Service Desk functions and has supported both customers and suppliers in Service Level Agreements, Market Testing, Outsourcing and Facilities Management.
Andrew is a published writer and international speaker on service management. He has presented at Cranfield, Henley, Ashridge and GEC Management Colleges and at numerous conferences in Europe, USA, Southern Africa, the Middle East, Hong Kong, the Philippines and New Zealand and Australia. He has broadcast on IT topics on radio and television.
DR. YVONNE GUNN, BSc, MSc, PhD, is a Fellow of the Institute of Statisticians, a Member of the British Computer Society and a Chartered Physicist.
Yvonne is a Director of the Kingswell Partnership, with more than ten years experience of supplying consultancy on service management, Help Desks and customer support to a variety of blue-chip clients. She delivers in-company and public training presentations on Service Level Agreements and on Help Desk management in the UK, Europe, South Africa and South America.
Her clients include Cyta (Cyprus), BATELCO (Bahrain), Cyprus Popular Bank (Cyprus), Columbus Stainless (South Africa), Dell, EDS (South Africa), Caterpillar (Switzerland) and Unipalm-Pipex.
Yvonne has broad experience as a Computer Services Manager; in providing marketing and technical support for software sales; and in developing software.
For some 6 years Yvonne was Customer Support Manager for a major Computing Center which provided services on a wide range of platforms and workstations. Her responsibilities included Service Level Agreements. Yvonne supported high quality clients including demanding multi-national oil companies. Subsequently she was responsible for technical support and marketing of software packages with an international user base.
