Users Doing IT for Themselves – How to
make Self Service Work
Prepared by Daniel Wood, Head of Research, Service Desk Institute April 20112
Introduction
Welcome to this research report produced in collaboration with Cherwell Software and the
Service Desk & IT Support Show. The purpose of this report was to identify the adoption of
self support1 in the Service Desk industry and to highlight how it was being used. Additionally,
there was a need to discover whether this technology was improving service delivery and how
it was changing the way that we support users.
The title of this report conveys a broader message about how support is changing in the
Service Desk industry. Increasingly we are seeing that users are more able and willing to
initiate their own service requests and look to self help to provide them with the solutions to
their problems. If this trend was to become more widely adopted, we could conceivably
foresee a situation in the not too distant future whereby the way that Service Desks support
users will be changed irrevocably.
Users who are comfortable with self‐diagnosis and finding their own solutions will find that
their interactions with the Service Desk will change dramatically. The reverse is also true; if
the trend towards self service continues then Service Desks too will need to adapt and change
to meet the expectations and requirements of users as to how support is delivered.
In short, the whole concept and execution of service and support is at stake with the
accelerated use of self service/help technology – just how deep such trends run will be fully
explained and extrapolated in this report.
Executive
Summary
This report identifies the prevalence and use of self help and self service in the Service Desk
industry. The results for this survey were obtained from an online survey that was sent to
over five thousand ITSM professionals and ran from January to February 2011. The survey
was completed by 103 respondents, and their open and honest answers have been used to
produce the results in this report. Additional evidence and opinion was gleaned from personal
interviews conducted with Service Desk professionals by the author of this survey. Their
insights provide a valuable context to the quantitative data displayed in the report.
This report finds that the Service Desk industry demonstrates a high usage and adoption of
self service technology, and that many positive outcomes have been observed and reported
such as increased user satisfaction and overall improvements in service (page 20). However,
in many cases self support is immature and the correct processes and procedures have not
yet been formalised. What we also see is that the drive for self support comes primarily from
the Service Desk and IT Management and not, as we may expect, the users of IT (page 8).
Additionally, there appears to be little ownership of self support with only a small percentage
of respondents stating that someone was directly responsible – this is a major problem as
without responsibility no‐one is driving the initiatives and there is not one easily identifiable
person in overall control and command (page 27).
1
Please note that the term self support, for the purposes of this report, denotes the combined use of self service
It is also shown that usage and the validity of information available to users is a problem, but
is one which can be remedied through the guide provided at the end of this report (page 30).
Definitions
Self Service
Definition: In a retail or commercial environment, self service refers to the process by which
customers or users can help themselves and commonly refers to self service checkouts. It is,
in brief, the way in which customers deliver their own service without the need for help or
intervention. In the ITSM world, self service follows a broadly similar principle, but usually
refers to actions users can take such as service requests (for example, requesting new
hardware), or setting up a new user (requesting that they have their e‐mail client configured,
their own place on the network and their password and login details etc.). Self service is
useful because it reduces the numbers of calls to the Service Desk and empowers users to
initiate requests.
Self Help
Definition: Self help, as the name suggests, offers the ability for users to diagnose their own
problems and to administer their own solutions. The most basic kind of self help is a simple
FAQ or wiki that contains solutions to users’ most common problems. These will typically be
stored on a dedicated web portal or section of the intranet. More advanced solutions are
interactive digital assistants which are programmed with pre‐defined answers to users’
questions – Royal Mail’s ‘Ask Sarah’ is a good example of how this type of technology has
been employed effectively.2 Self help is, in essence, the way in which users of IT can be
proactive and solve their own problems without the need for Service Desk involvement.
2 “Royal Mail's ‘Ask Sarah’ web self‐service system cuts email enquiry volume by half”
4
Key
Findings
• 65 percent of respondents expect self support to have a considerable or major impact over the next 5 years • Self help and/or self service are currently used by 79 percent of those surveyed • The Service Desk is responsible for driving 34 percent of self support initiatives, but only 2 percent are driven by end users • The top 3 major drivers for self support were identified as budgetary, staffing and demand for 24/7 support • Reduced call volumes, better user experience and the ease with which service requests could be initiated have been the major benefits of self support • Lack of time and resources are the major barriers to implementation • Those aged under 30 were identified as the age group who would most readily adapt to self support • Less than 10 percent knew the cost of each self support interaction • The key motivations for implementing self support were to free up resources and deliver a better experience to users • Feedback from users regarding self support has been largely positive • A large number of Service Desks do not track any metrics from their tools • The major barriers to successful self support are out‐of‐date knowledge and lack of integration with support tools
1.
Setting
the
Scene
1. How many users do you Support?
The above chart demonstrates that there was a wide variation in the number of users that
our respondents’ Service Desks support. This variation is useful for this report because it
means that a range of Service Desks are covered, from those who support less than 250 users
to ones that have over 7500. This means that the report is not skewed towards one particular
size of organisation (or by inference Service Desk). We can thus see whether self support is
beneficial to a range of organisations rather than just one particular size. 20% 13% 14% 14% 9% 7% 23% Under 250 251-500 501-1000 1001-2500 2501-5000 5001-7500 Over 7500
2. What level of impact do you expect self help/service will have on the delivery of ITSM functions over the next 5 years? 22% 53% 12% 13% Marginal impact Considerable impact Major impact Don't know
This was a key finding from our report. As shown above, only 22 percent expect that self
support will have a marginal impact on service delivery. They believe that it will have some
impact but that its impact will not be game‐changing. By far the most popular response was
‘considerable impact’ which demonstrates that just over half of our respondents believe that
self support will have a marked impact on ITSM functions and suggests that they will change
how Service Desks operate and how service is delivered. Beyond this, 12 percent felt that it
would have a major impact, suggestive of irrevocable change for our industry. The above
results also highlight that only 13 percent felt that they did not know what impact self
support would have on service, which indicates that the vast majority are aware of what self
support will mean for their support operations and the level and degree of change that they
can expect from this technology.
Some comments from our interviewees included:
“It will allow for 24/7 support of customers, without necessarily having to have a manned
Service Desk out‐of‐hours. Combined with self service tools, customers will be empowered to
work at times more suited to them and enhance the business by providing more flexibility in
the workforce.”
“I think it will have an amazing effect as more and more users want to use their own
equipment from a non standard work environment. With finances becoming increasingly
more difficult to find, self service is a way that IT can save money for the business by reducing
staff costs by allowing users to manage their own calls.”
“It will allow specialised Service Desk staff to provide a higher level of service concentrating
on those issues where a closer interaction between customer and desk is needed”
“Huge in terms of the Service Desk. With the increasing volume of information available and
also the ability of social media to bring users together, the 'How‐to' questions should all but
disappear. Using the social media tools to allow other users to answer each others queries
will see ITSM only being required to answer the most technical of questions.”
“Just making some self help available is not sufficient, customers need to have buy‐in to this
service and see tangible benefits in using it. From the support perspective this is hugely
important in allowing service to continue to a high and effective level without having to
greatly increase costs in terms of staff headcount.”
3. Do you currently use, or are you planning to use, either self help and/or self service on your Service Desk?
As shown, the majority of respondents use both self help and self service, indicative of the
trend towards users being in control and literally being able to do IT for themselves. We can
suggest that most desks use both self help and self service because the technology that
underpins them is essentially the same, thus if you have invested in one solution then it
makes sense to extend it to the other. Additionally, if you offer one solution then it indicates
that the desk is attuned to self service provisions and users might reasonably ask why your
desk only offers one and not the other. Of those who use the technology in its individual
form, self help is used by a larger percentage than self service. The chart also shows that
about one‐fifth of respondents do not use self help or self service, a key result which shows
that although these technologies are prevalent in the industry, there are still barriers that are
preventing adoption. 10% 6% 63% 21%
Self help only Self service only Both
4. If you have either implemented or have a project to implement self help/service, who is driving the initiative?
Perhaps unsurprisingly, IT Management is the largest driver for adoption and this can be
explained by the fact they will be more likely to have control of the budget and have influence
at higher echelons of the business. Additionally, IT Management will be in a position to assess
the broader ramifications of self support adoption and its impact on IT as a whole. Business
Management too is shown to have a significant impact, again for the same reasons that so
many projects are driven by IT management. Slightly behind IT Management, it is shown that
about one‐third of projects for self support are driven by the Service Desk. This demonstrates
the Service Desk does have significant influence on project implementation, which is as it
should be given that the Service Desk is in the best position to judge their users’ wants and
needs.
Perhaps the most significant result though is that only 2 percent of self support
implementations are driven by end users, a finding supported by our interviews. This clearly
shows that it is the business that is driving implementation and not the people who are
actually using the technology and services.
From the customer interviews we determined that it is often the Service Desk going to the
business stating their reasons for implementing self support and the broader implications for
the business. For one of our interviewees, their Service Desk metrics told their own story – 35
to 40 percent of their calls were for ticket updates – so the Service Desk was in a strong
position to make their case for self service. This underlines that metrics are an integral part of
making a business case for investment. Another interviewee noted that his Service Desk were
able to develop their own self service portal through their existing intranet and thus could go
to the business with a tool already in place. Here the drive certainly came from the Service
Desk and was a project that they invested their own time and effort in.
8 34% 45% 19% 2% Service Desk IT Management Business Management End User Community
Some comments from our interviewees included:
“The Head of ICT is driving the implementation as a service improvement initiative. It has not
come from our user base as we are not a highly IT literate organisation and as such we tend
to have to present something and get their buy in as opposed to them coming to us with
suggestions.”
“The drive came from the IT function to minimise the number of calls coming in and ensure
that our resources are targeted on reacting to issues which need our attention and doing
project work, rather than fighting the same fires continuously.”
“This is being driven from both the 'business' and 'technology'. On the business side of the
organisation there is a desire for greater responsiveness (including time to implement new
features), visibility and lessening of 'red tape', and on the technology side there is a desire for
increased automation, efficiencies and cost reduction.”
“The drive has undoubtedly come from the business and we have had to respond to make
sure we're not completely bypassed.”
“Drive comes from the business who want to reduce costs yet still improve service
satisfaction levels: customers demanding better service will go elsewhere more quickly than
ever.” 5. What will be the major drivers for self help/service adoption? Check all that apply 0 5 10 15 20 25
Budgetary Staffing Demand
for 24/7 support Demand from users Demand from higher levels of the business To compete with others in the ITSM industry There will be no drive for self help or self service Don't know P er cen tag e
This question produced some revealing results. Firstly, as with most decisions in the ITSM
arena at the present moment, the major driver is identified as budgetary. Perhaps it is
awareness or need to ease the burden on staff that is driving self support? Or is it that the
desk needs the necessary staff with the correct knowledge to be able to manage self support?
Desks will need to assess whether they have enough staff available to properly manage and
maintain self support or whether it will overburden them. Additionally, our customer
interviews identified that self service could remove some of the more mundane tasks from
analysts (such as password resets, ticket updates etc.) and allow them to learn more skills and
take over some more second line tasks. One of our interviewees resonated with this and
stated that self support has helped with motivation as it removes the boredom of repeating
the same tasks, and challenges them to take on and explore new areas and learn new skills,
for example firewalls and information security, and work with other teams. A close third on
the list was demand for 24/7 support, which is of course one of the major benefits of self
support technology. With companies now increasingly multinational, the demand for support
that breaks the structure of the traditional 9‐5 is now becoming evermore pressing. 6. What have been the major benefits of self service tools? Tick all that apply 0 5 10 15 20 25 Easier for users to initiate service requests Quicker to set up a new user Easier for users to monitor and manage their requests Reduced call volumes Reduced cost of support Better user experience Pe rc e n ta g e
As with all adoptions of technology, the Service Desk and the business want to see tangible
results to justify the time, effort and expense they have invested. It is encouraging, therefore,
that the three highest most publicised benefits of self support all shared the top spot. When
we think about self support technologies, high on the list of benefits is improving the overall
user experience because, after all, everyday we dedicate ourselves to that end. Better user
experience embodies many different facets of self support, and it is hoped that Service Desks
are measuring and recording satisfaction levels – results later in the survey reveal that this is
the case and can provide the tangible results that are so sought after.
10
Reduced call volumes are again a key benefit, as self support removes the need for users to
requests on their own removes the burden from the desk and self help enables users to be
more proactive in finding their own solutions. The heart of understanding the impact of and
benefits of self support lies in recording and analysing your metrics.
Reduced cost of support is also listed as a realised benefit, which marries with chart 5 which
showed that budgetary reasons will be one of the major drivers for self service. Being able to
demonstrate that self service has reduced costs will help to drive adoption as desks keep a
close eye on their costs and budgets and allows them to make a compelling case to the rest of
the business in putting together a business plan. 7. What are, or have been, the major barriers to self help/service adoption? Check all that apply 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Budg et Lack of ti me Lack of k now ledg e/IT liter acy Lack of res our ces No dem and f rom us ers Do n't s ee a ny ben efits Not the r igh t or gani satio n fo r it to be e ffect ive Other P er cen ta g e
The responses for this question were quite varied, demonstrating the range of barriers and
constraints. Time and lack of resources featured most prominently, with budget in fourth
position, which is perhaps surprising when, for most technologies, budget usually features at
the top of the list. Time is a key barrier because self support requires significant investment in
terms of researching the correct solutions, dedicating time to ensuring that it is properly
implemented and marketed, and then monitoring and improving once implemented. All of
these activities also require resource, which explains why resources featured close behind.
Lack of knowledge and IT literacy is also linked to resources as one of the keys to making self
12
effectively. The results of the chart show that some feel that knowledge is too high a barrier
to be bridged in this way, or that there are not enough available resources to dedicate to an
educational effort.
Our interviews found that culture was a major barrier to self support adoption as users have
become so accustomed to picking up the phone to ring the Service Desk that they find it
difficult to change their habits. One interviewee made the perceptive point that users are
happy to use self support when it replaces basic admin tasks like password resets or making
service requests, but are less enthusiastic if it is at a more involved level and requires self
diagnosis. In these situations, they see it as more productive to pick up the phone or send an
e‐mail rather than fix their own problems.
Some comments from our interviewees included:
“Reluctance to change. Most ICT staff still do not understand that ICT is changing and no
longer can a 9‐5 job be associated with ICT. That said, self service will help; however, there
needs to be the opportunity of reaching a human being for more complex requests and to
ensure that the Service Desk remains completely customer friendly.”
“Users were reluctant at first, but as soon as they realised they could fix their issue more
quickly, or with minimal intervention, it became adopted quite quickly.”
“Self service has been in operation for some time within the organisation and has seen wide
adoption. However, there have always been groups of users who will either see the removal
of the 'human element' as a lessening of service or who will see the use of such a tool as
something that is frankly beneath them.”
“There have been two large barriers. One, ensuring that sufficient content exists. Promoting
a service that is not fit for purpose means that it will never get used so a lot of content has to
be created prior to launch, and most importantly the content has to be kept up to date.
Second, making information easy to access and easy to find. Simply placing lots of content in
a single container is not particularly useful, so allowing customers easy and structured access
to self help resources has been a challenge.”
“Initially, and in contradiction to one of the drivers, users didn't want to be logging their own
incidents as they 'didn't have the time' or they'd 'never done it that way before'. Once this
initial hurdle was overcome and users started to see benefits, then they became quite
proactive in wanting to improve the process.”
2.
The
Impact
of
the
Technologies
The survey was divided into three parts to separate respondents who used self service, self
help, or both. As identified in question 3, the vast majority of our respondents used both self
help and self service. The 3 available choices were: Self Service, Self Help or Both. 1. What level of interest do your end users have in self service technologies? Self Service 33% 50% 17% 0% Low interest Required Requested No interest Self Help 50% 20% 20% 10% Low interest Required Requested No interest
One of the biggest drivers for self support technologies will come from the users of IT, so it is
important to understand what their level of interest is. If our Service Desks are attuned to
customer thought and demand, then this will likely push adoption. The results show that a
significant percentage of respondents stated that their users had either a low interest or no
interest in self service technologies. For self service, 33 percent reported low interest, and half
stated that it was required. For self help this figure was 50 percent and was even higher for
both. For self help, 10 percent reported that there was no interest at all. These are significant
barriers to adoption of the technology, but we must reserve judgement because it is not clear
whether our respondents’ offered these opinions based on anecdotal evidence or from
results gleaned from customer surveys.
However, for self help and both, 40 percent of respondents’ stated that the technology was
either requested or required which demonstrates that there is a powerful demand from
users.
Tony Probert (European Managing Director, Cherwell Software) says…
It is likely that the impact of self help will be more limited, as this is primarily focused on
either issue resolution or end user training. Whereas, the demand for self service will
continue to escalate as more and more service oriented requirements, both within an
organisation and/or to external customers becomes more automated and user friendly. For
example, the increased online self service experiences being offered for shopping, banking,
travel, social media, etc.
2. In your opinion, which group of end users would more readily adopt the use of self service technologies?
Self Service
Those aged under 30 100%
Those aged 30 ‐ 45 0%
Those aged over 45 0%
14 Both 58% 19% 21% 2% Low interest Required Requested No interest
Self Help
Those aged under 30 44%
Those aged 30 ‐ 45 34%
Those aged over 45 22%
Both
Those aged under 30 74%
Those aged 30 ‐ 45 24%
Those aged over 45 2%
The opinions offered to this question reveal that those aged under 30 would be more likely to
adapt to self support technology. We can infer that this is because this age group is perceived
as more technically savvy than their elders, and are more willing to embrace new ideas and
ways of working. For each technology, those aged over 45 were deemed to be the least likely
to adapt to self service. For both, the figure of 2 percent for those aged over 45 indicates that
this will be a significant barrier to adoption as the success of self service is highly dependent
on its usage. Our interviews found that age was a concern for Service Desks as it was
indicative of a major barrier to self support success: culture change. It was indicated that older
users would be less adaptable and amenable to new channels of support.
Despite our findings for self support, in the social media sphere it is shown that the fastest
growing segment of Facebook® users is 55‐65 year old females. This indicates that those over
45 are becoming increasingly tech savvy, and we can expect that they will become more
comfortable with using self support mechanisms.3
Tony Probert (European Managing Director, Cherwell Software) says…
Every generation is becoming exponentially technology savvy, using computer and mobile
technologies from an earlier age than the previous generation, whether it be in their personal
lives or for the work they do. As such, it is inevitable that users in the future will feel
increasingly comfortable with technology and demand more self service access through
browsers and social media. 3. Do you know the cost of each self service interaction? Self Service Yes 0% No 100% Self Help Yes 10% No 90% Both Yes 6% No 94% 3
“Social Media Revolution statistics” http://www.socialnomics.net/2010/05/05/social‐media‐revolution‐2‐
16
Please note that there was a follow‐on question for those who answered ‘yes’ as to how much each interaction cost, but no‐one supplied an answer.
A common problem for Service Desks is in understanding how much each Service Desk
interaction actually costs. If we don’t know this figure then it ultimately becomes impossible to
calculate the cost of support. The reason why this is problematic should be self‐evident, but if
not it will become startlingly clear when the business asks how much it costs to run the
Service Desk. Answering this question with a blank stare is not likely to go down too well.
Very few desks measure the cost of each channel of support – be it telephone, e‐mail, or self
support – as demonstrated in SDI’s 2009 Benchmarking Report which found that 77 percent
did not measure them.4
It is therefore highly discouraging that no respondents’ stated that they knew the cost of self
service interactions, and that self help and both fared only slightly better at 10 percent and 6
percent respectively. This means that for the vast majority of respondents they have no idea
as to whether self service technologies are more cost effective than other channels of support
such as phone and chat, which would make it nearly impossible to justify investment in the
technology or to put together a business case. The business will also want to see an ROI –
impossible without knowing how much it actually costs per interaction. For those who are
using self support technologies, they should be a key performance measure alongside other
channels of support.
We asked our interviewees why so few Service Desks know the cost of each self service interaction:
“I think this is because in some organisations the information simply isn’t available to make
that calculation or is deemed too much work for the end result. It may also be that the
costings directly contradict the value of the project in the first place (having not been
calculated at the outset) and so could prove damning if revealed.”
“Colleagues generally have a perception that the cost of IT is given as an overhead to running
the business and not associated directly with the point of contact or level of usage. Only
recently, since businesses have become cost savvy are different methods being used to work
out the true costs of the IT function.”
“Most ICT sections/teams do not have a service catalogue, so the cost of service provision is
not known. It is therefore highly unlikely that interaction costs are even on the radar of most
ICT managers.”
“The unit cost of existing Help Desk services are often unknown and even not costed per
contact. This tends to be legacy based more than anything (we've always done it that way).
New self help products coming to market shall likely already know the cost per contact for
use as a comparator for benefit analysis.”
“Difficulty in establishing costs. Capital and ongoing costs can be established for
hardware/software but self service, by design, means the end user is responsible and their
4
time cannot be established easily e.g. is time more expensive out of hours/weekends when
most self service incidents occur? Or do we consider employee time equally across every
incident irrespective of employees’ position/salary?”
4. How many self service interactions require further assistance? Self Service 32% 0% 17% 0% 17% 17% 17% Don't know Don't Measure 0-20% 21-40% 41-60% 61-80% 81-100% Both 27% 22% 6% 24% 11% 8% 2% Don't know Don't measure 0-20% 21-40% 41-60% 61-80% 81-100% Self Help 34% 11% 33% 11% 11% 0% 0% Don't know Don't measure 0-20% 21-40% 41-60% 61-80% 81-100%
18
tric,
e correct
uestions to ascertain if users had tried self help first before calling the desk.
to be
nt
d to contact the
ervice Desk which is testament to the tool’s ability and implementation.
r
‐
hat on the whole self support is working
ffectively and is freeing up Service Desk resources.
have been the major benefits of self service technologies? Please check all that pply
The charts demonstrate that there was quite a mixed response to this question, but some
clear trends are apparent. Firstly, it is shown that on average one‐third of respondents did not
know how many self support interactions required further assistance. Additionally, 17 percent
of self service and 11 percent of self help and both stated that they don’t measure this me which suggests that it can be recorded on the ITSM tool, but that this functionality is not being utilised. What this demonstrates is that either their ITSM tool is not capable of
reporting these metrics, or that analysts are simply not recording it or asking th q
One of the raison d'êtres of self support is that it removes the need for the Service Desk directly involved in the support process – the results show that there is a high variation
between the technologies. For those who use both, only 6 percent reported that 0‐20 percent required no further assistance, and this figure was 17 percent for self service and 33 perce for self help. In a third of self help interactions then, the user does not nee
S
At the other end of the scale, those interactions that always or nearly always required furthe assistance was stated by respondents as 2 percent for both and 0 percent for self help. The
anomaly here was self service, with 17 percent saying that further assistance was invariably
required. What we can determine from these results is that for those who do measure, only 0
40 percent require further assistance, which shows t
e 5. What a Self Service 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 Reduced call volumes Lower cost of support Better user experience Increased user productivity Better perception of the Service Desk 24/7 support No discernable benefits P er cen tag e
Self Help 0 5 10 15 20 25 Reduced call volumes Lower cost of support Better user experience Increased user productivity Better perception of the Service Desk 24/7 support No discernable benefits Pe rc e n ta g e Both 0 5 10 15 20 25 Reduced call volumes Lower cost of support Better user experience Increased user productivity Better perception of Service Desk 24/7 support No discernable benefits Pe rc e n ta g e
Again, the charts show a variation in results. It is clear though that reduced call volumes
received was seen as the major benefit of self support, with respondents for self service
stating that 85 percent of them had seen a decrease in their call volumes. This percentage was
slightly less marked for self help and both, with a figure of 22‐23 percent. At the other end of
the spectrum, 8 percent of respondents for self help stated that there had been no
discernable benefits, but no‐one for self service or both reported the same. Therefore, on the
whole, self support is shown to have benefits to organisations.
Reduced call volumes are a great result for Service Desks as it allows analysts to focus on, as
one interviewee noted, the tasks that they are paid to do such as troubleshoot and problem
solve. It allows analysts to move away from the more mundane tasks of copying call logs into
the call logging tool and get involved in other areas, for example, working with the
networking team. The benefits of this are twofold: firstly it allows analysts to explore other
areas of the business and work with teams that they might one day have an aspiration of
joining. Secondly, it helps improve motivation and staff retention as analysts are able to
experience more variety in their work and gain additional skills that will be useful throughout
their career.
Howard Kendall (Chairman, SDI) says…
It’s really encouraging to see that organisations are recognising that enabling analysts to have
a variety of tasks aids motivation and retention, which ultimately results in a better service to
the business and experience to the customer.
Some comments from our interviewees included:
“We use a portal which allows the users to log and track their calls. It gives the analysts more
time to fix the calls instead of answering phone calls about smaller non urgent issues.”
“The major benefits to us are concentration on helping with the more complex issues and
resolving the "simple" issues in a more timely manner.”
“Users are able to fix the more common issues quickly both in normal hours and outside Help
Desk hours, leading to IT staff focusing on higher levels of problems and projects.”
“Has allowed a smaller number of Service Desk staff to deal with a larger number of incoming
issues and ensures that the appropriate information is captured from the start of the process
before the fulfilment teams get involved.”
“The major benefit will be to have the users handle their own requests interactively, maybe
through the use of short video tutorials.”
“1. Reduced incidents reported to service desk 2. Free support staff up to look at more critical
incidents 3. Reduced costs 4. Increased end user satisfaction.”
6. What were the primary motivations behind implementing self service technologies? Please check all that apply 20 Self Service 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 Cos t savi ng User dema nd Save tim e Free up res ourc es Recom mend ed by our s oftwa re sup plie r Pres sure from the b usin ess Imp rovi ng servic e to end user s No re al m otiva tion P e rcen tag e
Self Help 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 Cost sav ing Use r de man d To sa ve ti me To f ree up reso urce s Rec omm ende d by our sof twar e sup plier Pres sure from the bus ines s Wa nt to deliv er a bet ter s ervi ce to our use rs No re al m otiva tion Pe rc e n ta g e Both 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Cos t sa ving User de man d To s ave t ime To fr ee u p re sour ces Rec omme nded b y our sof twar e su pplie r Pre ssur e fro m th e bus ines s Wa nt to del iver a be tter se rvic e to our u sers No r eal mot ivat ion Pe rc e n ta g e
This question produced some interesting results. Firstly, it was shown that one of the key
motivations for those who have implemented self support was to free up resources, and this
reason was more popular than saving costs. We have touched on how self support can free
up resources, but it is interesting to discover that this has been such a motivating factor for
Service Desks. This indicates that there is an awareness that freeing up resources would have
beneficial implications in improving service delivery. Freeing up resources also suggests that
there will be more time available to dedicate to other tasks, and perhaps this is why saving
time features prominently in the results. Today’s Service Desks have so many different tasks
to perform that it is not surprising that they are looking at ways in which they can free up time
and resources – self support is clearly seen as a key technology to achieve this.
Where the demand for self support has come from – be it the users, the Service Desk or the
business – has been a key issue in the report so far and these results shed some additional
light. The need to deliver a better service to users was highlighted as a key motivating factor
behind self support, again underlining that we are in a customer service industry. Service
Desks are shown to be rising to the challenge set by users and are actively pursuing ways in
which to improve the service that they deliver to their users.
7. Have these motivations been achieved? Both 17% 5% 62% 16% Not sure None of them have Some of them have All of them have
22 Self Help 20% 0% 80% 0% Not sure None of them have Some of them have All of them have
Self Service 0% 0% 83% 17% Not sure None of them have Some of them have All of them have
This was a key question to enable us to understand if self support had met expectations and
enabled these objectives to be achieved. It is shown that for the vast majority, at least some
of the objectives had been achieved. This is probably the result we would have expected, but
for 17 percent of self service users and 16 percent of both, all of their objectives had been
achieved. These projects have evidently been successfully implemented and, crucially, have
been monitored and assessed to judge whether the key objectives behind the project had been
met. It is quite troubling to find that 20 percent of self help and 17 percent of both
respondents stated that they were not sure if their motivations behind self support had been
achieved. This indicates that there have not been effective measurements in place to record
any possible financial, time or resource savings. One interviewee responded to this question
by stating that their self support operations were still too immature to assess their
effectiveness, and whether they had achieved their initial objectives.
Some comments from our interviewees included:
“Not yet. Change and education of users to use self service as opposed to phoning is difficult,
but campaigns are helping to shift the focus to self service.”
“Yes. However, it was a victim of both its own success and some poor design decisions early
on. Self service became the only route to raise technology related requests within the
organisation and the demand for new functionality and configuration was greater than could
be managed by the development team. Lack of scalability and modularity also meant that as
the user base rapidly increased performance suffered drastically.”
“Not fully but we are working towards it.”
“Where implemented and accepted within a culture they have been successful.”
“Yes ‐ our first steps in self service are excellent and the business wants more!”
8. Have you received any positive feedback for your self service tool from users? Self Service Yes 80% No 20% Self Help Yes 60% No 40% Both Yes 69% No 31%
These are encouraging results for two reasons: firstly it is shown that self support has, on the
whole, been positively received by users. Secondly, it demonstrates that there are feedback
mechanisms in place to note and record customer satisfaction. As with any project that the
it is vital that feedback is monitored so that it can be used to iron out any flaws or issues and
to help direct and identify future improvements. 9. Which metrics do you currently track? Please check all that apply Self Service 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 Usage attempts Satisfaction Solved percentage Escalated to chat Escalated to support analyst None of the above P er cen ta g e Self Help 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 Usage attempts Satisfaction Solved percentage Escalated to chat Escalated to support analyst None of the above Pe rc e n ta g e Both 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Usage attempts Satisfaction Solved percentage Escalated to chat Escalated to support analyst None of the above P er cen tag e 24
A significant part of the report thus far has looked at the measurement and recording of the
respondents do not measure metrics related to self support. Indeed, for self help the
percentage was 38 percent and was only slightly lower at 33 percent for self service. For both,
this figure was even lower at 18 percent. For those who do measure, there was a marked
variation in results, but satisfaction and solved percentage both figured prominently. Solved
percentage is a vital metric to measure as it informs the desk as to how effective the tool is,
and what percentage of users have been able to find their own solutions. Usage attempts also
proved to be a popular metric to measure as it is the key to understanding if the tool is being
used and, in terms of service improvement, where marketing needs to be improved to
provide better information to users to help increase the usage.
Slightly lower on the list of choices were the two options concerning escalation. Ultimately,
escalation shows where self support has proven to be ineffective in solving users’ issues, either
because the user was not clear on where to find the information or how to make sense of it, or
simply that the solution did not work. Understanding escalation percentages can help to
improve the self support services and can be used to calculate how much time self support
actually saves when the analysts’ time is taken into account in dealing with escalations from
self support. 10. Who is responsible for managing and moderating self service? Self Help 50% 10% 10% 10% 20%
Service Desk Manager Service Desk Team Leader Multiple people contribute Dedicated position for self help No one is directly responsible
Self Service 33% 33% 17% 17% 0%
Service Desk Manager Service Desk Team Leader Multiple people contribute Dedicated position for self service
Both 36% 23% 18% 8% 15%
Service Desk Manager Service Desk Team Leader Multiple people contribute Dedicated position No one is directly responsible
The charts demonstrate that for the majority of Service Desks the Service Desk Manager is
directly responsible for monitoring and moderating self support. Only between 8‐17 percent
had a dedicated position for self support and 20 percent of self help providers and 15
percent of both stated that no‐one was directly responsible. This suggests that the
responsibility for self support is shared amongst Service Desk staff, if no‐one is directly
responsible then it also means that no‐one is directly accountable. If self support experiences
problems then someone should be in charge to directly solve these. Perhaps this is why the
recording of metrics was so low as there is nobody in direct charge to monitor the tool and
pull out the metrics. Even if the responsibility for self support is shared, it is important that
there is a recognised person in charge who can lead the team and relay necessary information
to the correct parties, including users.
11. Have there been any downsides to self service? Please tick all that apply 26 Self Service 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 T oo t im e c ons um ing t o m ai nt ai n/ m oder at e Does not of fer a pos it iv e us er ex per ienc e Not bei ng us ed by us er s K nowl edge i s out -of -dat e and i s not updat ed f requent ly enough L a cks i n te g ra ti o n wi th s uppor t t ool Has c aus ed c al l vo lu me s t o inc reas e P e rcen ta g e
Self Help 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 T oo t im e c ons um ing t o m ai nt ai n/ m oder at e Does not of fer a pos it iv e us er ex per ienc e Not bei ng us ed by us er s K nowl edge i s out -of -dat e and i s not updat ed f requent ly enough L a cks i n te g ra ti o n wi th s uppor t t ool Has c aus ed c al l vo lu me s t o inc reas e P e rcen ta g e Both 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 To o ti m e c ons u m ing t o m ai nt ai n /m oder at e D o e s n o t o ffe r a pos it iv e us er ex p er ienc e Not bei n g us ed by us er s K nowl ed ge i s out -of -dat e a nd i s not updat ed f requent ly eno ugh L a cks i n te g ra ti o n wi th s u ppor t t ool H a s ca u se d ca ll vo lu me s t o inc reas e P e rcen ta g e
The most common downside to providing self support appears to be that it is not being
utilised by end users. The key to a successful self support tool, as will be discussed in the next
section, is marketing. If the technology is there but it is not promoted then it is likely that it
will not be utilised to its full potential. If the tool is not being used then it also makes it difficult
to justify the time and cost spent on implementation as you will not be able to see any useful
benefits if it is not being used. Also noted as downsides to self support were that knowledge
was out‐of‐date and that it lacks integration with the support tool. The knowledge problem
will most likely arise from the fact that there is no‐one directly responsible for self support and
therefore no‐one to effectively moderate and update the information. The knowledge issue is
problematic because it will force down the usage of self support, which in turn will create the
impression that self support has not been a worthwhile investment. Understanding that the
two are intrinsically linked will be vital in addressing this problem. Self support can only be
effective if it is constantly monitored and updated – this should be a key consideration before
embarking on self support implementation.
28 Some comments from our interviewees included:
“User take up has to be close to 100 percent, therefore end user communication/training on
product and business benefits need to be emphasised. There may need to be an element of
mandatory directives made.”
“Customer communication and satisfaction can be impacted. Service Desks and Help Desks
are an emotional crutch for users when something does not work. When frustrated by this,
having to fix it yourself can be negative.”
“The time taken to investigate user requirements and the time taken to instigate and do the
project. Currently, we are at a very early stage in ITIL/ITSM adoption.”
“No major downsides ‐ but a rather steep learning curve.”
“Self Service does not really have any downsides although there is an initial upfront effort and
cost that has to be met to launch such a facility. It should not be underestimated what needs
to be done to make an effective Self Service facility that is used by customers rather than just
meeting a management requirement.”
“I'm not sure that there have been any 'major' downsides. There was an initial reticence over
using such a system although this was quickly overcome. I suppose one of the biggest
'headaches' was in ensuring that the correct level of training was rolled‐out to all users. Some
needed basic 'how to log and track an incident' type training, whilst others needed more in‐
depth 2nd or 3rd line support level training. Although not a big company (this contract
anyway) the majority of staff are on a shift system and it took some time to get everybody
trained.”
3.
How
to
Make
Self
Service/Help
Work
for
Your
Organisation
The provision of web portals for users has become commonplace in today’s Service Desk
environment – as our survey shows 79 percent of desks are currently using or planning to
implement the technology. The benefits of using the technology are obvious: they allow users
to gain instant access to solutions and thereby reduce the number of calls to the Service Desk.
Self help portals can be very effective in answering the most common problems users have by
either suggesting the steps that they should take to solve their problem, or by directing them
to the sources of pertinent information.
However, most implementers overlook how difficult it is to create a robust and effective self
support solution. A successful adoption will often take a significant amount of time to develop
and will involve all sections of the company from finance and management, to analysts who
will be expected to update the information available to users on a regular basis. Whilst our
survey shows that self support has numerous benefits for Service Desks, it is also true that a
badly designed and poorly managed portal can actually increase the burden on a Service
Desk. This section looks at some keys ways to avoid the pitfalls of self support and make it
work for you.
Tony Probert (European Managing Director, Cherwell Software) says…
The key to ensuring end user engagement and adoption is through the delivery of user
friendly, flexible, scalable and appropriate information. Rich integration with other widely
used technologies such as SharePoint and social media, plus personalisation capabilities will
be key to success. In addition, access to federated knowledge sources, using dynamic
mapping to provide simultaneous access to multiple information sources, including
knowledge articles, wikis, document stores and multiple web sites will be a must. The growing
service culture will leverage all new and emerging technology, not just the familiar browser
interface that people have grown accustomed to.
What information do we want?
First and foremost it should be determined what kind of information you want to make
accessible to users. Do you only want it to contain the solutions to the most common
problems such as how to access the internet/e‐mail etc? Or maybe you want to go further
and suggest fixes for more complex problems, or allow users to reset their own passwords,
self ticketing or live chat. Maybe instead of offering solutions, you direct users as to where
they can go to find help and assistance, either guiding them to other web pages or providing
contact information.
There also needs to be an awareness of what self support is replacing. Is it designed to make
phone and e‐mail the secondary channel for support with users directed towards self service
before anything else? Or is it simply there to allow users to log and monitor their own tickets
or requests? The latter is obviously a much easier sell than the former, especially if the
ticketing process was difficult and obtuse to begin with.
30 Access
It should be considered how users will access self support. For most companies it will be
found on the intranet; the downside of this is that it is then potentially inaccessible to
external users, such as those off‐site or away on business, without logging into the domain
remotely. Therefore, it needs to be determined who will be the primary beneficiaries of self
support: if it is only ever going to be used by those on‐site then the Intranet is sufficient; if it is
for external users then a web portal is more pragmatic. The benefit of making self support
available externally is that you are not encumbered with problems of different time zones
and it is available 24/7, so provides information even when the Service Desk is unavailable.
Marketing
The importance of marketing to the success of self support cannot be overstated: indeed
many of the issues with self support identified in this report – such as low usage and
delivering service to users – can be alleviated through wide‐ranging and informative
marketing activities. All too often self support is hidden away on a company’s intranet and is
only utilised when users serendipitously stumble upon it. Once installed self support should
be heavily marketed to all users extolling its benefits and virtues and providing precise
information of how users can access it. A large barrier to adoption will be changing the
culture of support from users who instinctively call or e‐mail the Service Desk, to one where
self service is their first port of call. In a way, Service Desks can be a victim of their own
success – as one interviewee noted, her desk is so friendly and delivers such excellent service
that users love talking to them so it will prove difficult to direct them towards self service. The
simple fact is that some users like speaking to analysts, with conversations sometimes not
always directly related to support issues. Perhaps a balance can be drawn by making sure that
users know that the Service Desk is still available to take calls and attend to users’ problems
as they have always done; self support is merely the first place users can look – it is not the
only one. In addition to making it easily accessible, self support pages should be easy to use
and navigate – a portal that is laborious and difficult to glean information from rather negates
the benefits that it should provide. Therefore, it should follow the same design as the rest of
your company’s intranet/web site so that it is instantly familiar.
Refresh
Self support lives and dies by its information; therefore if it’s outdated or incorrect then usage
figures will plummet and it will not provide a good user experience. Having someone
responsible for monitoring content is vital in ensuring that it’s relevant and useful. The best
way to update content is to get all of the team involved in adding solutions – perhaps offering
a token present to the top contributor – and having someone check and validate the
information. Not only does this help increase the amount of accessible information, but it also
involves the whole team in the self support process.
Monitor
It is disappointing that so many Service Desks do not track the metrics from their self support
tools. Without measuring, we do not know the usefulness of self support or how many
in business language whether the tool has been a success or not. Some of the key metrics to
track are identified in the report, but there are also others that could be measured such as
cost per interaction, usefulness of the information, resolution time, how much time people
spend on the site etc. For the last metric, a web‐monitoring tool such as Google Analytics
could prove invaluable.
Ownership
Making someone directly responsible for self support is the key to a successful
implementation. The lack of ownership demonstrated in this report will likely change over the
coming years, just as five years ago there were no job titles such as Service Level Manager or
Change Manager but these are now commonplace. As self support matures and gains more
traction in the industry then it seems inevitable that dedicated positions will become
evermore prevalent. The main reason behind having someone directly responsible is that they
are the go‐to person for anything that happens with the portal, be it any problems that arise
or to gain a better understanding for the Service Desk or the business about how the
technology is driving and improving performance. A key responsibility for the self support role
will be monitoring an array of metrics and reporting on any trends and patterns that can then
be incorporated into a Service Improvement Plan.
The Key Points to Implementing Self Support:
• Determine the need and opportunity – not all customers are best served by self
support. The benefits should be weighed up against the risks
• Define the value – both users and the organisation need to have a clear idea about
what they want to get out of self support
• Keep the information clear and concise – users will be annoyed if it takes them ages to
sift through useless information in search of their solution
• Select appropriate technology – it needs to fit the requirements of users and the
company
• Make sure they come back – provide an excellent portal and users will be more
encouraged to use the service again. This can be achieved by ensuring that the
content is constantly refreshed and up‐to‐date
• Make sure someone is directly responsible, preferably with a dedicated self support
position
