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As a CIO/IT Director, are you and your team prepared to engage with IT help desk software vendors to make a new purchase or upgrade?

Do you know all the right questions to ask?
Do you have access to the most current analysis tools available?
Can you effectively coach your team?

At this Webinar, you will learn:
* Preparation is the key to successful vendor engagement and negotiations
* Avoid mistakes that most experienced CIOs/IT Directors make that cost a lot of time and money
* Effectively coach your team on how to shortlist the right group of IT help desk software vendors for a rigorous vetting process

Sign-up for this Webinar and receive a complimentary five-week minicourse subscription to winning negotiation strategies, tactics and lessons in an Executive Summary easy-to-digest format.

Sign up for the Webinar at https://www.givainc.com

This complimentary and informative Webinar is hosted by Giva, Inc. and CDC Global Services.

Build an RFP for IT Service Desk Outsourcing

By engaging with an outsourcing partner, an organization can quickly gain a number of benefits to quickly move to a higher level of service:

• Infusing expertise and knowledge of the latest industry best practices and technology
• Swift implementation of more efficient processes and operations
• Productivity and performance improvements
• Addition of a wider range of services
• Establishment and better management of service levels
• Increased ability to focus internal resources on core or high priority projects
• Reduction in costs and lessening of the burden of employee care and feeding
• Increased flexibility to respond to spikes or decreases in volume
• Redundancy to ensure business continuity and disaster recovery

These benefits will only be realized if the right outsourcing partner is chosen. Organizations must be prepared to properly evaluate potential outsourcing partners and to ask the right questions. This process requires a formalized evaluation methodology which consists of self analysis to understand your needs, costs, and capabilities and then a formal process to use that information to find the right fit.

Click  https://www.givainc.com/resources/wp/considerations-outsourcing-service-desk/ to download a White Paper and read more about how to select the best IT service desk outsourcer and how to build an RFP for outsourcing your IT service desk so that you can select the best vendor.

Going Beyond the Metrics Described in the SLA

The key to retaining customers is keeping them satisfied. To do that, you must go beyond the metrics described in the SLA. It is easy to get too focused on response performance when starting service level management. However, customers do not really care about the numbers. They want a help desk that addresses problems to their satisfaction.

Implementing customer satisfaction surveys demonstrates that you value your customers’ business and provides you with the information you need to continue to meet their needs. These surveys do not replace, but supplement the empirical numbers of service level agreement compliance reports.

This white paper illustrates how you can retain customers by measuring their satisfaction with your customer service management software. It also describes the strengths and weaknesses of different types of customer satisfaction surveys, such as periodic and incident surveys.

See https://www.givainc.com/resources/wp/the-value-of-customer-surveys/ and click “Download White Paper” to request this White Paper.

This white paper discusses ten ways that ITIL can improve information security:

1. ITIL keeps information security service and business focused.
2. ITIL can enable organizations to develop and implement information security in a structured, clear way based on best practices.
3. With its requirement for continuous review, ITIL can help ensure that information security measures maintain their effectiveness as requirements, environments and threats change.

Request a copy of the white paper to see the rest of the ways that ITIL can improve information security.

See https://www.givainc.com/resources/wp/ten-ways-it-infrastructure-library-itil-improve-information-security/ and click “Download White Paper” to request this White Paper.

Compare alternatives based upon Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

This white paper presents a framework for help desk and customer service/call center software vendor selection.

Acquisition cost is only a small part of the total cost of ownership (TCO) of help desk and customer service software. There are also significant lifetime recurring hard costs in personnel. All the costs to consider are discussed including a detailed breakdown of training costs, report creation, server requirements, web implementation, future customization, upgrades, network costs, etc.

Many help desk or customer service/call center software applications appear to be the same on the surface. Learn to ask the right questions that vendors hope you do not ask. This total cost of ownership (TCO) approach will allow you to compare products on an “apples-to-apples” basis.

See https://www.givainc.com/resources/wp/looking-beyond-sticker-price-call-tracking-software/ and click “Download White Paper” to request this White Paper.

Decrease capital, deployment, labor, operations, network, training and support costs

Are you interested in learning right now how much money Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) can save you on your help desk or customer service software?

According to Gartner Group, a global IT research firm, the annual cost to own and manage software applications can be up to four times the cost of the initial purchase. As a result, companies end up spending more than 75% of their total IT budget just on maintaining and running existing systems and software infrastructure. The number of software applications that a company may need are infinite. The resources to operate these applications however are finite.

The Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) revolution allows companies to subscribe to software applications and outsource operating the back-end infrastructure to the SaaS vendor. The SaaS vendor can do this much more cost effectively; providing significant overall cost savings for the company. SaaS can significantly decrease capital, deployment, labor, operations, network, training, support and intangible costs. As a result, companies can spread their IT budget across many more applications to support and grow their business operations which will in turn contribute to the bottom line.

This White Paper provides the reader with a comprehensive look at the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) analysis any decision maker should complete before making a choice between a SaaS or a traditional software deployment.

See https://www.givainc.com/resources/wp/save-money-software-as-a-service-saas/ 

and click “Download White Paper” to request this White Paper.

Is Your Help Desk SLA Complete?

IT help desks and customer service organizations prepare service level agreements to detail the services provided to customers. SLAs describe how the work of the IT help desk and customer service organization is prioritized along with agreed upon response and resolve times.

For example, a Service Level Agreement (SLA) describes the factors influencing first level problem determination, such as:

• Number of customers affected
• Effect on business mission
• Context of problem
• Deadlines
• Estimated solution time
• Application involved
• Frequency of problem
• Customer’s sense of priority
• Customer’s commitment level
• Availability of workaround
• Threat to data integrity or computer security

Tables used to define severity levels describe how calls are prioritized and the associated response and resolve commitments.

Request this sample service level agreement, which is consistent with help desk and customer service industry best practices. Be sure all relevant topics and details are included in your SLA.

See https://www.givainc.com/resources/wp/sample-it-help-desk-service-level-agreement-sla/ and click “Download White Paper” to request this White Paper.

Increased First Call Resolution Rate Lowers Costs

Knowledge Management is the ongoing process of capturing, optimizing, and delivering information. It is not a one-time purchase of a new support center tool. Therefore to calculate the Return On Investment (ROI), you need to evaluate the cost of implementation and the cost of management. Quantifying the financial savings benefits of a knowledge base can be difficult.

Most managers are able to forecast the costs, but struggle to forecast the savings. Companies struggle to put a value on customer satisfaction, job satisfaction, quality service, and the intellectual capital that is captured in the knowledge base. Before you can forecast an improvement using a knowledge base, you have to establish a baseline from which to measure.

This knowledge base white paper demonstrates how to calculate and quantify savings from:

• Reducing the average call time in your call center
• Increasing the first call resolution rate
• Reducing the escalation rate
• Reducing the training time of a new support person

See https://www.givainc.com/resources/wp/knowledge-management-return-on-investment-roi-overview/ and click “Download White Paper” to request this White Paper.

Urgent, Simple, Routine Change Quick Approval-Giva eChangeManager

The Change Manager or a member of the Emergency Committee can also click on “Quick Approve” from the home page to approve urgent, simple or routine changes.

To learn more, view the eChangeManager demo!