For Alex Walker, the director of information technology at the Cetero Institute, the problem lies in front of him. Sometimes, Alex turned to the office window to see a technician running between the buildings, holding a personal computer in his hand, and running to the next one to interrupt the repair work.
The challenge
Every IT problem is equally important, and it is impossible to prioritize and arrange the time of technical staff.
Then, when the user in question and Alex (or one of the other two technicians) happen to meet in the lobby, they will have a brief conversation. In these short conversations, users will quickly tell the details of a type of problem, expecting the technician to arrange an interview later, review all relevant information, and prepare the hardware or software that may be needed to solve the problem.
But even this is not the whole problem. Usually, when Alex or technicians return to their desk, they will receive a note left by the user. These colorful messages are posted on computer monitors, chair backs and desktops to remind technicians of some issues that need attention. Since then, technicians have fixed the problem, and users need to constantly check the status. For both parties, such a working relationship is not good.
Alex is determined to find better IT working methods for the Cetero Institute, the industry's leading clinical research organization. With more than 25 years of experience from its founding company, Cetero has conducted more clinical pharmacology research than any other clinical research organization. The company has seven locations in the United States, including Alex's San Antonio campus, and one in Canada.
Alex said: "I have always been led by users. As IT employees, what we need to do is to be able to control the support work."
Find the "right" help desk
Alex started looking for a solution that would restore order to the current chaotic state. Early in his career, he used many help desk software, and Alex already had a pretty good idea about the right solution for Cetero. The ideal state is that he will find a help desk software with extensive functions and scalability, but it is not expensive, does not have a long implementation cycle, and does not require a lot of training. After in-depth understanding of the available solutions, Alex finally chose ServiceDesk Plus, ManageEngine's help desk software.
Alex said: “ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus provides the quality of large, expensive software, which is very affordable and easy to use.”
Service Desk Plus’s step-by-step setup wizard enables Alex to quickly install, configure, and immediately Start using the program. In fact, from installation to deployment to use, the entire process only took 30 minutes. The setup wizard has another benefit.
"Using the wizard has doubled my confidence in ManageEngine," Alex said. "It can be seen that this is a well-thought-out product. The layout is well done. The tasks are clearly marked so that they can be easily when needed. Check where the task is."
According to Alex, this ease of use continues to the user level.
"ServiceDesk Plus is very suitable for users. I don’t need to do any training. The user interface is like a standard email with some help desk-specific drop-down menus."
When submitting a question through ServiceDesk Plus, the user first selects The urgency ratio is used to set the severity of the problem. This classification helps Alex plan their work schedule when viewing the tickets in the queue. Alex can arrange the work of technicians according to the importance level of the work and the physical distance.
This allows technicians to focus more on the most important tasks and improve efficiency.
In the whole process of submitting the problem, ServiceDesk Plus is helping users understand the status of the problem. As soon as the ticket is submitted, the communication between the help desk and the technician starts immediately, and the help desk will automatically generate an email response to the user to ensure that their problem ticket has been received. Then, as the problem is solved, the user will continue to update until the problem is finally solved. At any time, the user does not need to care, nor ask Alex or the technical staff about the status.
Alex is also a user of Desktop Central, another product of Manage Engine. Desktop Central is a web-based desktop management suite. Alex uses Desktop Central with ServiceDesk Plus. Desktop Central allows Alex and technicians to solve technical problems through a remote desktop connection. When looking at the desktop screen, it is as if a technician is working beside the user, counting the installed software, deleting or adding programs, including patches and service packs.
"Desktop Central helps me manage all desktops on the network. I can push a standardized picture to all machines." Alex said: "I can choose any machine to install any application I want to install. ServiceDesk Plus is mine. The main interface, Desktop Central is the tool I use to serve the desktop.”
After Alex or a technician solves a problem, one-fifth of the randomly selected Cetero employees will receive a follow-up survey generated by ServiceDesk Plus. This survey will collect their opinions on the performance of Alex and his technicians in meeting their help desk needs. This feature not only helps Alex ensure that his team meets their standards, but it is also very beneficial in communicating with senior management.
With the help desk plus user surveys, coupled with its reporting function, Alex can keep management informed about the workload of his team and the value of the work they provide every day.
"A lot of what we did was ignored by other members of the organization." Alex said: "We are like plumbers. Although our work is not valued by everyone, we don't want accidents at work!"
"ServiceDesk
Plus reports actually Help me confirm whether I need additional technical staff,” Alex pointed out, “Management can know exactly where the IT department’s time is spent
. The quality of reports in Service Desk Plus is more detailed than other similar products. This is great Help!” “Because of Service Desk
Plus, our technicians’ efficiency has increased by 200%,” Alex continued: “This software establishes a cooperative relationship between users and technicians, allowing us to maximize our work. ."
About ServiceDesk Plus
ServiceDesk Plus is ITIL-based help desk software that can help you manage all communications from a single point. It provides integrated request management (fault notification), asset management , purchase order management, contract management, self-service portal and knowledge base, etc. ServiceDesk Plus has more than 100,000 customers in 185 countries/regions and is available in more than 30 different languages.
About ManageEngine
ManageEngine is an internationally renowned brand specializing in the development and sales of IT management software under Zoho Corporation. It provides services worldwide and has branches in the United States, India, Japan and China. ManageEngine provides IT management tools to help IT teams meet the organization's growing service and support needs. Traditional and emerging enterprises worldwide (including more than 60% of the Fortune 500 companies) are using ManageEngine products to support the best performance of their critical IT infrastructure (including networks, servers, applications, desktops, etc.).