Outsourced Help Desk Solutions: Strategies for Excellence

Unlock exceptional outsourced help desk solutions in our category, "Outsourced Help Desk Solutions: Strategies for Excellence." Dive into articles offering insights and successful strategies for navigating the complexities of help desk excellence, tailored for business owners, IT professionals, and support enthusiasts.

What is First Call Resolution (FCR): Why It’s a Critical KPI Metric

First Call Resolution (FCR) Metrics

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One of the most important metrics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in any help desk or customer service call centers worldwide is First Call Resolution (FCR).

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What Is IT Operations Management (ITOM)?

IT Operations Management (ITOM)

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IT Operations Management (ITOM) is becoming increasingly crucial for delivering ever more complex IT operations and service management across multi-national and large organizations.

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ITIL Checklist: Free Request for Change (RFC) Template

Request for Change (RFC) Template Checklist

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Request for Change Definition: What is an RFC?

In IT Service Management (ITSM), and according to ITIL® practices, a Request for Change (RFC) is a formal, budgeted request to implement changes.

In most cases, an RFC is outside of any standard, minor-level changes. RFCs are part of the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) Change Management processes, as defined in previous iterations of the ITIL framework and the current one, ITIL v4.

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Remediation Planning: How a Backout Plan Differs from a Rollback Plan in IT

Backout vs Rollback Plan

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Change Management is a constant for ITIL and ITSM. Changes are often necessary, whether software or hardware roll-outs or systems upgrades. Regrettably, as every IT professional and team leader knows, mistakes can happen.

Not every change management plan goes smoothly, and when you hit bumps in the road, you need control of the complete end-to-end process. Part of ensuring you have that control is to have contingencies in place for rolling back some of the changes that have been made.

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IT Swarming Support Model: Getting the Job Done Through "Controlled Chaos"

IT Support Swarming

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The Swarming Support Model in IT service is a collaborative approach to problem solving that can help teams work more effectively and efficiently to resolve issues and improve customer satisfaction.

With this approach, IT specialists, including the service desk, technical support, and development teams, work together to resolve a ticket. Leveraging collective knowledge and skills, the swarm methodology can lead to faster and more effective ticket resolution.

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What SLA Metrics Are Worth Watching? 8 Key Metrics for Measuring Service Level Agreement Performance

Measure SLA Performance

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Every IT and ITSM (IT Service Management) leader must closely monitor Service Level Agreement (SLA) performance metrics.

SLA metrics are a measurable way of demonstrating that your team or department is hitting or missing key performance indicators (KPIs) within an SLA.

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Definition of Change Management vs. Change Enablement: How Do They Differ?

Change Management vs. Change Enablement

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For any IT organization, the management of change is a challenging process to implement.

Over the years, the process of implementing change has become codified around a core best practice concept known as Change Management.

For IT leaders, CIOs, and IT professionals trained using ITIL® methodologies, the concept of Change Management has been replaced with a new, more dynamic framework known as Change Enablement.

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Help Desk vs. Service Desk vs. ITSM: What Are the Differences?

Help Desk vs Service Desk vs ITSM

IT support leaders often need to decide the best service approach for their entire organization. Forcing themselves to ask the question: "Which is better, an IT help desk, service desk, or IT service management?"

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How to Use the 80/20 Rule (Pareto Principle) in IT Service Management

80 20 Rule Pareto Principle

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The 80/20 Rule is the principle that 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. It's often used in business to help identify how to operate more efficiently. It can be applied to almost every area of business, including IT Service Management (ITSM).

IT service organizations and teams are focused on providing the best possible service to their internal customers. Efficiency has always been integral to ITSM. Monitoring Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and dashboards, and adherence to Service Level Agreements (SLAs) is essential to producing successful outcomes in ITSM.

But how do IT service managers and IT leaders know how and where to focus the team's resources and time?

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Master Service Agreement (MSA) or Service Level Agreement (SLA): Which Do You Need in Business?

Master Service Agreement (MSA) vs Service Level Agreement (SLA)

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In the IT sector, internal and external relationships are often governed by legal or quasi-legal documents. In IT and ITSM, the terms "Master Service Agreement" and "Service Level Agreement" are often used interchangeably. 

However, there are differences between the two kinds of agreements that can impact how you want to use them in your organization. While both can be used for similar purposes — such as establishing clear expectations for internal IT service providers or external vendors — what separates them and how they're used are sufficiently different that it's worth taking the time to understand why this is important.

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