The IT Service and Support Awards 2018 took place on the 13th March at the Hilton Metropole in Birmingham. Ahead of the awards, Best Small Service Desk finalists Arqiva talk about the awards process and how they have improved their service desk in the past year.
What made you decide to enter the awards?
We had reached a level of maturity within the desk that I felt this was the right time. I attend the SDI awards annually, and over the last couple of years my level of confidence of what we are driving to achieve here at Arqiva has always been reinforced, as the key areas that make a service desk successful we are well established in.
We strive to deliver world class service and with the right blend of people, I believe we are achieving this. Our systems and tools, processes, people, environment are all conducive to a productive customer focused service desk; we embrace continual improvement and the analysts that work on the desk are empowered to change the way we work and deliver our services on a daily basis, which makes for a positive customer experience.
What part of the awards process did you enjoy the most?
For the team making the video, this has created a great atmosphere within the area and something fun to put these creative minds to. We spend a large part of our life at work so to add some fun into this is paramount and the making of our short video has certainly done that. The presentation in Birmingham from a personal point of view was the most enjoyable as I love to take myself out of my comfort zone and challenge myself – to then get the phone call that we had secured a place in the finals was amazing.
In the last 12 months, what has been the most successful initiative your team has implemented to help your business improve its performance?
We do this every day: improvement is our culture. To pick out one I would say the removal of administration rights from half of the business. To remove the software licensing liability and cyber security risk we had is a great success story and the service desk drove and implemented this which was no mean achievement.
We achieved this with clear communication and collaboration with the business to understand the challenges they would face in their daily role without these elevated rights, put workarounds in place to mitigate this, and have a clear plan with the business. This is a difficult customer journey as we are changing the way they work. The value of the service desk is when we are faced with the difficult challenges and this for me was one and implemented with minimal disruption and great success.
What are your top 3 tips to make a service desk successful?
1. Make sure you employ the right people with the correct behaviours.
2. Empower your staff to change the way they operate on a daily basis through continual improvement – these improvements should be driven by the voice of the customer.
3. Ensure that the service desk are part of the business, understand the strategy of the company, our goals and objectives are aligned with them. We can then add value.
What one thing do you think really makes you stand out as a service organisation?
Our relationship with the business. We understand the challenges they face and forge our support around them to add value. These are grown and nurtured to ensure we have the voice of the customer at the forefront of our minds at all times. We regularly attend team meetings, service reviews to ensure we are in touch with their challenges, this in turn builds trust and respect. We are the service driven face of IT. The work that we do is seen as a value add part of the company, not a support function.
How are you preparing to evolve your service desk over the next few years? Please share your most exciting plan with us!
We are halfway through a technology transformation. This includes network, systems and tools and a complete technology refresh. We have some exciting opportunities with new systems & tools to really transform the way we operate, to reduce some of the manual activities we perform today.
In tandem with automation we can then look to improve the service we deliver, improved accuracy and governance, privilege and access management opportunities. The next few years hold very exciting times for the service desk and I believe that the way that we work today will change significantly over the next few years so we must be agile and embrace these changes.
If you could choose any celebrity to work on your service desk, who would it be?
Barack Obama – His “Yes we can” and “Fired up, ready to go” speeches are truly inspirational. His attitude and behaviours are magnificent. If he could do that to millions of people around the world, just think what he could do to our team. I am sure my colleagues and customers would like him helping them with their IT issues!
What does it mean to your team to be a finalist in the ‘Best Small Service Desk’ category?
It’s a great achievement to get through to be a finalist. Its reward and recognition for the team and reinforces the great work they do.
What advice would you give to anyone entering the awards next year?
The first thing would be to really turn the spotlight on what you do. What are the things you do well and where can we make improvements? It really is a self-analysis. The positive vibe it has created is fantastic and that outweighs the hours spent putting submissions, presentations, and of course the video!
The 2019 IT Service & Support Awards will take place on Tuesday 26 March at the Birmingham Hilton Metropole. Entries are now open – start working on your submission today for your chance to be recognised as one of the shining stars of the IT support industry.
