Written by Graham Furnis
My last article discussed the structure of an IT Service within the ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library). The Core IT Services is supported by one or more Enabling Services and is distinguished by one or more Enhancing Services.
Enhancing services can be professional ones; and the Service Desk can be considered a critical one for ITSM success. The Service Desk is not usually listed as an Enhancing Service due to being available to everyone as a Single Point of Contact for all IT Services. However, in many cases, the Service Desk is the real and relevant differentiator when you consider that basic IT Services offered from one Service Provider to another are very similar. This differentiation perhaps justifies the importance and attention paid to the Service Desk in for ITSM initiatives.
If we accept that the Service Desk is a critical enhancing service to the organization in general, then this forms the basis for a business case for funding and establishing a best in class Service Desk department in any organization. Even in the face of outsourcing parts of the Service Desk, I would argue that there is always a case for maintaining some level of an internal Service Desk. Many times I’ve spoken with and heard the business executive explain “we’ve been penny wise and pound foolish on our outsourcing decisions”.
Let me end this by putting a stake in the ground: that every organization is better off having a “core” internal Service Desk, and that this Service Desk can be augmented through outsourcing of generic services. This really is nothing new; it’s called “right-sourcing”.
Graham Furnis is fully immersed and passionate in providing ITSM solutions. He is a business-driven IT professional with 20+ years of technology and management experience. He is certified as an ITIL Manager and Expert as well as an accredited instructor.