The typical Service Desk model consists of 1st line support contemplating how a call should be answered, and then passing it to 2nd and 3rd line to fulfil the requirement.
In the new world of Cloud and AI Ops, there is a more streamlined; efficient and autonomous process. In the 21st-century, end-users can fulfil many of their requests via self-service and 1st line automation, which will in turn deliver a lower volume of detailed tickets to 2nd and 3rd line analysts.
The Background
Historically the person raising the issue in the ITSM and fixing it was the same, the Service Desk customer was the Service Desk user. Over time with increasing volumes this process became too cumbersome and so, an additional layer of 1st Line was brought into the organisation. The 1st line support looked for the alarms, raised the ticket and then assigned the request to another team to fix the fault. Fundamentally, the customer was still a Service Desk user.
The biggest challenge for many of the companies, who want to modernise their business operations, is the disconnect and silos that have grown around Service Requests.
There are two pools: on one side there is a set of IT services and the people who run and maintain them. On the other, the people who use and consume those Services.
Between the two, there is the Service Desk who are in theory the bridge between IT and the users. However, in many companies the Service Desk, or Service Management function, has developed into a team in its own right. This group act as a standalone gatekeeper rather than a link, and some have reached the stage of focusing all the operations and development to the needs of those who log into the Service Desk; regrettably this may not meet the needs of the end user community; internally or externally.
This disconnect causes consternation and dissatisfaction in the user base, whose only means to interact with IT is via the Service Desk process. Unfortunately, the person answering the call is often not able to deal with their request and the ticket then commences the arduous journey through the numerous teams and their individual queues, all of which causes process delays to the request being fulfilled.
User Expectations
A few years ago, when someone booked a taxi, the person would call a private hire firm, speak to a disinterested operator, who promised to arrange for their collection in about 20 minutes, this individual would then stand in the cold, praying their cab would appear.
In comparison to Uber; a streamlined automated process which connects the user to exactly what they need and resolves their request in minutes. Many of us have become accustomed to this swift and easy resolution in our personal lives, and the expectation is on employers to facilitate the same experience at work also.
Today’s Service Desk
When looking at the regular work of a Service Desk today; an employee will call to raise a request to, for example, obtain access to a business function which is required to do their job, such as an active directory group. Or, perhaps a user raises a change to acquire a new VM or server build. An associate will even call to log a request for new software to be installed.
Each shift, the Service Desk and IT operations teams will have a set of tasks they are required to undertake, either to make sure everything is as it should be, or to check the number of times something has occurred; this forms their daily checks or standard tasks.
A new employee joining a company generates a mountain of manual tasks to complete, for the new user to be setup and gain access provisions.
Even in 2020, many companies’ Service Management tasks are all fulfilled manually. In this modern age there is no need to do this by hand. Requests can be completed the easy way; automatically with Service Request Automation.
What is Service Request Automation?
Service Request Automation delivers the tools to implement and formalise processes by capturing, modelling, and executing these steps into an automated process.
These processes integrate with popular Service Desk, and Enterprise Management tools and standard email, databases, monitoring tools, logs, file systems, and native operating system functions.
There is a large library of configurable activities to drag-drop-and-link, enabling rapid construction and deployment of automated processes.
Automated Fulfilment
The key to automated fulfilment is to simplify the complex world of IT, into straight forward business practices that any user can follow.
When an organisation implements a self-service portal, users can request any IT Task to be undertaken. The Automation interfaces to the Self-Service Portal, this integrates with the Service Desk for approval and logging, and then undertakes the request on behalf of the user.
Tasks that would often be too complex or would require high level access can be delegated to anyone who can follow the desired business process.
Summary
Resolving Cloud Service Requests the easy way isn’t about ripping out the ITSM you already have in situ and replacing it with a new tool. The easy way is wrapping automation and self-service around your existing Service Desk tools and processes. Users don’t require IT administration rights, the automation controls what is actioned, eliminates human error and ensures your existing ITIL processes are followed.
The easy way to fulfilling your organisation’s Cloud Service Requests is about empowerment; giving all users the ability to make requests for themselves, delivered with the agility and speed they are used to in their personal lives.
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