InvGate Blog

Goodbye 2020 and hello 2021. Let’s hope that the new year brings with it better times for us all, both socially and at work. In terms of the latter, the wide scale impact of the global pandemic made 2020 a year of unprecedented workplace change. Changes that in turn impacted the role and business needs of IT service management (ITSM) and the IT service desk in particular.  

Topics: IT Service Desk

Have you ever stopped to wonder why the very diligent implementation of new technology – to time, cost, and quality – doesn’t deliver the expected benefits? IT self-service capabilities are usually a great example – with only limited adoption by employees (with it, therefore, difficult to realize the anticipated return on investment). There might be a variety of reasons that this happens, with a common one being the lack of recognition of the technology implementation being a people change because it affects the traditional ways of working. Consequently, there’s limited or no investment in organizational change management tools and techniques. 

Topics: ITIL 4, Organizational Change Management

It’s safe to say that many of us will be glad to see the back of 2020, with 2021 hopefully bringing with it a return to normality (or as close as we’re able to get to it). This applies to both our social and work worlds, but in terms of the latter, things are likely to have changed forever. Especially in terms of IT service delivery and support. Where it leaves most IT departments with the need to change, and ideally to optimize, their IT service desk capabilities for both new ways of working and the differing expectations of the employees being served. So what do you need to do? And where should you start? 

Topics: IT support

The latest version of ITIL – ITIL 4 – was released in 2019 with a new focus and a different portfolio of IT service management (ITSM) guidance. For anyone interested in IT asset management (ITAM), a key difference was the inclusion of ITAM as a core ITIL 4 ITSM practice. If this IT management discipline is new to you, then ITAM can be described as the service management practice that helps you to maximize value, control costs, manage risks, support decision making, and meet regulatory requirements. In other words, ITAM is the practice that helps you to keep track of your IT asset estate, to ensure that the appropriate licensing is in place, and to maximize potential by managing assets from provision through to retirement.  To help, this blog looks at the key guidance points within the new ITIL 4 ITAM practice. 

Topics: ITAM, ITIL 4

Thanks to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, many organizations have been forced to undergo rapid transformations in how they operate, including their use of technology. Cloud-based applications, personal devices, and working from home all often become the rule rather than the exception. Now, as things start to settle down (on what is likely to be a long road to recovery), there’s a renewed focus on ways of working and how technology can help to optimize business operations and outcomes. To help, this blog looks at how IT service management (ITSM) can aid your organization’s much-needed digital transformation in the ‘new normal’. 

Topics: ITSM, Digital Transformation

The latest version of the ITIL IT service management (ITSM) best practice guidance – ITIL 4 – was released in 2019. Unlike ITIL v3/2011, this positioned the service desk as a practice – the replacement for process-based guidance – within the service management practices. For most organizations, the IT service desk remains the single point of contact for IT and the custodian of incidents and service requests. To help, the latest version of ITIL now offers more service desk guidance than ever – especially related to automation, customer experience (CX), and the required people skills.  Please keep reading to find out more as we offer up five key guidance points from the ITIL 4 service desk practice content. 

Topics: ITIL, ITIL 4

Have you ever stopped to think about the breadth or scope of IT asset management (ITAM)? You might already know that it’s an IT management and IT service management (ITSM) capability that helps your organization to maximize value, control costs, manage risks, support decision making, and meet regulatory requirements. But have you ever stopped to think about the range of IT assets that fall under the ITAM practices’ purview? 

Topics: software asset management, IT Asset Management

As most IT service desks help to bring some employees back into the office and facilitate continued working at home for others, there’s a need to take stock of the IT services and IT support practices to meet employee needs – wherever they might be working – in the “new normal.” Importantly, this review of the status quo versus what’s now needed needs to encompass not only the practices used to deliver and support IT services, plus the services themselves, it also needs to include the level of IT service desk staffing and the required skills. Put simply, there’s a need to apply workforce planning methods to your IT support capability in addition to addressing changes to processes, technologies, and service levels and priorities. 

Topics: Service Desk

The COVID-19 crisis changed the world on both a social and business level, with IT departments not immune to its impact. Many have seen an unprecedented number of requests for help, with them needing to manage an ever-increasing queue of tickets with reduced resources and trying to maintain service levels in a socially distanced environment. As we emerge from the crisis into what many are calling the “new normal,” we think it’s fair to say that we’ve all had to collectively up our IT support game. Not only to cope with the operational changes imposed on us but also to cater to the rising employee expectations. To help, this blog looks at how to improve your IT service desk’s employee experience in the new normal across eight key areas.

Topics: new normal