4-04-30 Managing the Help Desk in the Client/Server
Environment
John P. Murray
Payoff
The demands of managing the basic components of an effective help desk support function—strong customer support, rapid response to problems, and a knowledgeable staff—intensify in client/server environments. This article prepares IT managers to handle the staffing, budgetary, hardware and software, and productivity issues associated with an expanded help desk function.
Introduction
The rapid movement to client/server processing presents the managers of information technology with many new opportunities and challenges. Many of these are obvious: selecting technology, choosing and developing staff, and introducing standards and controls.
In the midst of these concerns, the needs of the help desk may be overlooked. The growth of client/server processing will generate a concomitant expansion of the duties and responsibilities of help desk personnel. IS professionals in charge of the company's help desk must become aware of the opportunities and challenges awaiting them in the client/server environment and develop effective, responsive approaches to meet these challenges.
Issues in Client/Server Processing
Although some organizations have successfully made the transition to client/server processing, most are only in the earliest stages of the transition. Being at the beginning stage of the movement to client/server processing gives help desk managers time to consider the issues involved and to develop appropriate methods and procedures to ensure both adequate control and customer satisfaction. Managers who use that time to develop a solid help desk function can better meet the challenges of the client/server environment.
Rapid Growth and Change
Help desk managers must recognize and manage three issues associated with the introduction and rapid growth of client/server processing. Those issues are:
· The difficulty of maintaining adequate levels of help desk customer service once a decision is made to commit to a client/server environment.
· New help desk customers who are unfamiliar with the technology being used. The advantage of client/server processing to expand the capabilities of technology beyond traditional boundaries means that help desk staff must be prepared to address
increasingly complex questions and situations.
· The need for help desk staff to keep pace with rapidly changing and new technology. To enable staff to do so, managers must increase their commitment to staff education
and training. Staff levels may also need to be increased to maintain high levels of customer service.
Budgetary Concerns.
Increased need for staff education requires an increased budget. To develop realistic budget estimates, help desk managers themselves must learn about the technology as early as possible in the planning stage. Knowledge of the new technology coupled with
aggressive advocacy of the critical implications of adequate staff training should secure the necessary monies.
It is unrealistic, however, to expect all members of the help desk staff to be fully trained in all aspects of the technology being used. Individuals should be selected to become key employees with a given technology and receive initial training in the technology, as well as advanced training as the technology evolves.
Maintaining Mainframe Support
The transition from mainframe to client/server processing presents some difficulty for everyone in the IT department. Much of what has worked in the mainframe world,
particularly regarding general management practices, will work as well with client/server processing. However, help desk staff will have to address some challenging differences. One of the biggest challenges for help desk staff will be balancing the continued need for strong support to the existing mainframe environment with building the client/server environment. Additional resources may be needed to achieve this balance.
Calculating Expenses.
Help desk managers can develop a strong case to support requests for increased expenses by emphasizing the primary mission of the help desk function: maintaining high levels of customer service. Here, too, being in the early stages of the transition to
client/server processing provides the advantage of upfront planning time.
A well-thought-out request for budget increases should begin with current help desk expenses because the existing work load associated with mainframe support is not going disappear for some time. Using that baseline figure, help desk managers can calculate a figure that reflects the effect of the anticipated increase in customer support on the work load.
One way to develop that figure is to determine the average number of customers currently supported by each help desk employee. Next, managers should estimate the number of additional customers to be supported in the new processing environment. Applying the current ratio of help desk support people to customers to the number of anticipated new customers provides a good estimate of the number of additional staff required.
Managing The Client/Server Environment
The basic components of an effective help desk support function—strong customer support, rapid response to problems, and a knowledgeable staff—will not change in either the client/server or the mainframe processing environment. The challenge for help desk managers is to go beyond these existing issues to identify and develop plans to manage new items that are certain to arise in the changing processing environment. Because
existing mainframe processing functions will remain for what may be a considerable period of time, success will depend on the effective interaction between the mainframe and client/server processing environments. The continuation of mainframe activities also means that current mainframe processing difficulties will remain in the client/server environment.
Meeting and staying ahead of the demands of rapid growth and change in the complex and volatile client/server environment necessitates effective control mechanisms that can identify problems within the networks immediately. Once problems are identified, their quick resolution is key.
Hardware and Software Management
The rapidly changing hardware and software of the networking world contrasts sharply with the relative stability of mainframe hardware and software. Equipment may be shifted between networks or abandoned as processing requirements change and old hardware is rapidly replaced by new technology. Simply keeping up with these changes and knowing what is installed across the various networks will be a considerable task for help desk personnel and one that cannot be allowed to reduce overall levels of customer service.
Several inexpensive and easy-to-use tools and techniques can help managers meet the challenge posed by the volatile client/server environment. They include software to record and track the hardware installed throughout the organization, fixed assets accounting packages, and personal computer drawing tools that develop graphic representations of all hardware and software configurations.
Monitoring and Solving Problems
The introduction of network processing expands an organization's opportunities to use technology effectively.
As direct access to data becomes more common throughout the organization, demand for that data will grow and the manner in which it is used will diversify. Use of groupware processing means that organizational networks are increasingly linked. In such an
environment, the failure of a particular network can bring the entire processing environment to a halt.
The inherent complexity and dynamism of client/server processing demands that problems within the environment be precisely diagnosed and expeditiously resolved.
The first step in this process is to determine the cause of a particular problem. Problems may result from one or more of the following factors: human error, hardware failure, and failure of operating or applications software.
Trained Staff and the Online Help Desk Manual.
Prompt identification and resolution of client/server processing difficulties depends foremost on having well-trained, knowledgeable staff members. These personnel are helped in turn by a help desk manual, which should be developed over time and made available online. The manual should contain information about common problems found in the network processing environment and solutions to resolve them; it should also be
promptly updated following changes in the environment. Not only does the manual aid in addressing problems, it provides a sound tool for training new personnel. Online
availability also lets employees outside the help desk unit use the manual to identify and correct more-common problems on their own, in accordance with the primary aim of identifying and resolving networking problems as expeditiously as possible.
Monitoring Tools.
Automated network software tools that monitor the performance of the network and the various components on it and collect and track errors should be installed. One such tool allows a help desk employee to take over a personal computer on a network and recreate a problem before beginning to resolve it. This ability eliminates the need for the employee to ask the customer a series of questions when a problem occurs.
Another set of tools provides for the monitoring and management of the overall client/server processing environment. These tools let staff members see, and therefore better comprehend, what is occurring within the client/server processing environment at any given time. They are used in two ways:
· The tools provide snapshots of the health of the processing environment and aid in detecting and correcting problems.
· The tools improve long-range planning capabilities for client/server processing by aiding staff to develop models of proposed environments and processing scenarios. The help desk manager can then use these scenarios to assess the ramifications of changes within the processing environment and to forecast the staff, hardware, and software needed to provide adequate levels of support as the organization grows and changes.
An example of the second use concerns the growing pressure to expand to full-time processing. Data gathered through the building of models to identify the processing demands of this expanded environment can be used to identify concomitant help desk staffing needs. That data, in turn, should be used as the basis for requests for necessary increases in the help desk budget.
The volatile nature of the client/server environment dictates that managers do
everything possible to anticipate future needs. They must learn to anticipate changes to the environment and to react quickly to them. Being able to use the appropriate tools will ease the work of help desk managers and enhance their standing within an organization.
Developing Effective Help Desk Support
An effective help desk function requires more than use of appropriate management tools. Customers must be able to reach the key personnel who are trained to deal with aspects of the processing environment that exceed the skills of frontline help desk personnel.
That said, frontline personnel should be able to resolve at least 85% of calls received. In today's, and certainly in tomorrow's, complex networking environments, the issues that exceed the skills of frontline personnel will only increase.
Having the person who originally takes a call be able to resolve a customer's problem results in a high level of customer satisfaction. Waiting for the right person to respond to a call for help or being transferred to several people to get an answer is a time-consuming and frustrating experience for everyone involved. Clearly, providing such a high level of customer service requires a considerable investment in staff training and in sound, clear documentation of policies and procedures. However, the value to the help desk customer of this investment in training and documentation should not be doubted.
Obviously, there will be times when a frontline person will not be able to solve a problem, particularly when the problem is complex and requires special skills. A process
must be implemented that lets the frontline employee get assistance from an appropriately skilled person. One way to address this issue is to designate members of the technical support staff as backup resources for help desk personnel. Technical staff so designated must understand the need to provide prompt service to frontline staff.
Improving Productivity and Quality
Effective management and control of the networking environment depends on proper use of a help desk software package.
The Help Desk Reporting System
Help desk managers can increase the value of software monitoring packages by using them to form the basis of a help desk reporting system. The data they contain on the causes of problems and their resolution can be used to generate valuable reports for IT managers, help desk customers, and senior managers within the organization. At a minimum, these reports should include:
· An analysis of the help desk work load. Data captured over time can aid help desk
managers analyze work-load trends and project anticipated growth, an important factor in preparing accurate budgets. Having the time to prepare for increased demand ensures continued high levels of customer service.
· Identification of areas of difficulty. Once such areas are identified, monitoring
software can aid help desk personnel determine their causes and formulate preventive processes. Often, help desk personnel repeatedly correct the same problems because the correction process addresses the symptom rather than the problem. Focusing on the cause of the problem and making the needed corrections will reduce the work load of the help desk section.
· A record of adverse processing incidents in the production environment. As
organizations increasingly use objective processes to measure and improve the productivity and quality of information technology, data gathered from the help desk monitoring system will become a valuable part of objective performance assessments.
Use of a help desk monitoring tool brings a high level of objectivity to the management of the IT function. As networking expands and the pressure for continuous processing and quick problem resolution grows, IT managers will want to be armed with objective data to counter claims of poor service.
Using monitoring software not only to gather data on occurrences of incidents throughout the processing environment, but also to identify the cause of those incidents provides IT managers with the basis for improved productivity and quality. The effort needed to install and maintain processes that adequately monitor and measure the processing environment will be more than offset by the rewards.
Specific Measurement Criteria.
The more objective and repeatable the measurement process, the greater the level of credibility among IT customers. Specific items that should be measured through
monitoring software include:
· The number of calls to the help desk answered by the voice mail system rather than by a person. To the extent practical, all calls should be answered by a person.
· The total number of calls for a specified period(perhaps a month), which can be compared with previous figures for similar periods.
· The number of calls resolved by the frontline help desk person and those referred to higher support personnel. In addition to a call-response breakdown, the type of calls being referred should be identified. Analysis of the calls may indicate difficulties within the IT system or a need for increased training for frontline help desk staff.
· The number and type of calls still open after a given time period. A good monitoring system will automatically identify such calls and, if needed, alert the next level of help desk personnel to outstanding calls. It is important to analyze why such calls are not quickly resolved and to correct any problems.
· Identification of specific sections of the IT department responsible for adverse processing incidents. This procedure requires time and negotiation within the department. However, the information it yields is critical to the development of effective productivity and quality programs.
Help desk productivity, quality, and customer service levels should be objectively measured on a regular basis. Publishing and mailing an annual help desk customer survey is one way to measure those levels as well as track trends over time. Help desk customers can assist in devising the survey to ensure that the questions address the needs of
customers rather than of help desk staff.
Developing Help Disk Standards
Although the client/server processing environment differs from the mainframe environment, the requirement for appropriately enforced standards remains. In fact, because the client/server environment enables people outside the IT department to control more of the technology they use, the need for standards is even greater in the networking environment.
The primary standard for the help desk is the provision of a level of customer service that exceeds customer expectations. The key to meeting that standard lies in ensuring that the help desk function is viewed by customers as being as responsive as possible.
Regardless of how well the function may do in other areas, a perception of unresponsiveness is damaging.
Responsiveness can be achieved by requiring that every call to the help desk be answered by a person. This may require additional expense and result in, at times, overstaffing.
A major advantage of client/server processing is that it allows users to work more rapidly. If users cannot obtain prompt help desk service, that advantage is lost. For this reason, use of voice mail to record incoming problems is questionable in the help desk environment. Voice mail systems cannot solve problems, and their use in organizations in which customers directly use technology causes delay and quickly creates ill will.
Enforcement of help desk standards requires the continuing support of IT managers because compliance often depends on action from other parts of the IT department. One standard, for example, might require that 80% of calls be resolved on the first call, 90% be
answered within 24 hours, and 98% within 40 hours. Some of these calls will require assistance from other areas of the IT department. When that assistance is not forthcoming on a timely basis, the standard will not be met. Not only will the performance of the help desk be impaired, but the entire department will be negatively affected.
Conclusion
Increasing demands for improved levels of customer service from the IT department will result in an expanded and strengthened help desk function. The performance of the help desk and the quality of support received by IT customers are directly correlated. Because of that, and because customer service remains a salient issue in most organizations, a strong help desk function is mandatory.
The time to pay attention to the expanding role of the help desk should be before the function becomes overwhelmed by increasing responsibilities and pressures. Building a strong help desk operation is a critical requirement in all IT organizations.
Author Biographies
John P. Murray
John P. Murray is technical resource manager of Compuware in Madison WI.
