RBS embarks on ‘horror story’ cull of 1000 helpdesk jobs

Royal Bank of Scotland is planning to cut 1000 IT support jobs as part of its ongoing cost-cutting programme in a move that has been described by the union as a ‘horror story’. Read more

Rok uses service management software outside of IT

Building and maintenance specialist Rok Group says it has enjoyed considerable cost savings since using service management software from Numara and is extending its use of FootPrints to manage non-IT processes. Read more

ITIL and the ServiceDesk – an industry being cut in two?

Has enough been done to improve ServiceDesk software and has ITIL kept up with the demands of the business? Exclusive research carried out by ServiceDesk360 and TechExcel suggests an industry divided between those who think good progress has been made and those who believe more must be done. James West and Rickard Jonsson, senior business development manager at TechExcel, analyse the results. Read more

What’s missing from ITIL by Noel Bruton, part 1 – Management

Following on from his article which argued that ITIL fails to offer adequate guidance for IT support professionals, Noel Bruton introduces the first in a series of articles to readdress the balance. He begins by looking at the misconception of the term ‘management’ which has been fuelled by the industry obsession with ITIL. Read more

How healthy is your service desk?

A free online assessment from the Service Desk Institute (SDI) which checks the health of your service desk has been made available. The Service Desk Performance Assessment is designed to establish the maturity of each desk and will benchmark your operation against the SDI’s international standard. The results will show how you compare to other desks and suggest areas where improvements can be made.

The assessment has 20 questions and will take around 15 minutes to complete. sdceval.sdi-europe.com

How Pret brought five star service to sandwiches

Food chain Pret says it has improved the level of service it delivers to customers in its 225 shops by consolidating the helpdesks which keep vital systems and equipment running. Read more

ITIL – impractical, unhelpful and doomed?

Noel Bruton explains why ITIL’s days are numbered, and introduces a series of articles which cover everything about effective IT support that is missing from the ITIL books. Read more

Cloud savings will lead to higher quality of service

The majority of businesses are investigating the potential of cloud to help control costs, rather than create more a flexible IT infrastructure. 63 per cent of respondents to a live poll carried out during an SDI web event admit they are investigating cloud to save money, with just 25 per cent driven by its potential to speed up implementation of software and services.

The poll was part of a webcast entitled ‘Service Desk, head in the clouds?’ hosted by SDI chairman Howard Kendall ,which explored how cloud software will impact IT support.   60 per cent of attendees said they are increasing self-help options with cloud in mind, as support shifts from helpdesk-only provision towards web-based communities for fixing issues.  Vinay Parmar, director of Openview, believes support teams must embrace the same cultural change that is revolutionising customer service in the consumer space.  “Users and customers will create their own support communities, so businesses either get involved and exert a degree of influence, or allow them to be self-governed.”

Asked what service desks would do with spare capacity if cloud-based software support becomes increasingly handled directly by the vendors, Tony Probert, European managing director of Cherwell, said that teams could focus on quality and becoming more attuned with the business drivers.  “IT will become better integrated with the business and service desks will have the time to study the customer data to influence positive change.”

The ITIL free-for-all begins?

ITIL has abandoned its independent roots, with the original guardians of the best practice framework no longer supporting further development, and the continued success of a certification scheme indicating that ITIL has become an almost wholly commercial endeavour. Read more

Little progress in attracting women to IT

Attempts to attract more women to IT are failing, with 95 per cent of respondents to a survey at the 360 IT exhibition saying their businesses could do more to readdress the employment balance. Read more

All smiles for Apple helpdesk customers

Apple has the best telephone helpdesk of all major computer manufacturers, topping a study by laptopmag.com for the third straight year. Read more

IT must embrace the light of chaos, not create more processes

A report by Gartner suggests working practices are becoming more chaotic and spontaneous, meaning that IT teams will have to reduce their reliance on strict processes and instead embrace flexibility. Tom Austin, vice president of Gartner, expects the amount of ‘non- routine work’ to increase in the workplace to 40 per cent by 2015. Read more

iPad adoption shows Apple making corporate inroads?

The BBC, British Army and Leicester City Council are all investing in Apple’s iPad for staff, adding weight to the argument that the Californian technology company is finally breaking into the corporate sector after years of being a niche provider. Read more

Clouds lifting as web-based software treated as business innovation

The number of businesses positive about the role that cloud computing can play in improving their IT delivery has exceeded the amount of sceptics for the first time. Read more

Best practice success puts Muller Dairy IT in the driving seat

Muller Dairy is one of the food industry’s great success stories. The number one yogurt brand in the UK, this innovative dairy business, which started life in a small Bavarian village in 1896, has never stopped growing since. This success seems to have come naturally over the years, as a result of the company’s strong values and incredible flair for innovation. Not just manifested in a product range which has revolutionised the world of yogurts as we knew it, but also in its skilful marketing strategy. Read more

Keep throwing money at failed 12 billion pound patient system, say doctors, it will be worth it in the end

Over a third of doctors say that patient records and lab results ‘go missing’ at least once per day, despite the billions spent by the NHS on the central database for storing personal information.

Research by GS1 UK shows that every day, 20,000 doctors wait at least an hour for patient information, while 4,000 wait over four hours.  80 per cent of the doctors questioned admit that miscommunication during multiple shift handovers was causing difficulties in patient care.

However, even though the £12 billion already spent by the NHS on a electronic patient care record has failed to fix these issues, doctors continue to support its ongoing development.  48 per cent say that a fully functional database would make them work more efficiently.

FrontRange aims for market dominance

Service management software supplier FrontRange has consolidated its UK operations as part of a long-term plan to offer a complete customer service and support solution. Read more

Helpdesk scam targets Microsoft customers

Criminals posing as Microsoft helpdesk staff are tricking the public into giving them remote access to their PCs, stealing personal and financial information and then charging customers a support fee of 185 pounds for good measure. Read more

LiveTime adds another piece to ITIL jigsaw

The Pink Verify seal of approval for release/deployment and financial management means that LiveTime’s service management software is now certified against 11 ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) processes. Read more

Remote support…without the downsides?

Netviewer claims to have taken remote support to the next level, with the latest version of its technology promising to deliver excellent performance over any network and integrity of sound even during overseas or VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) sessions. Read more