34 www.ThinkHDI.com I November/December 2009

Doug Mueller Corporate Architect, BMC Software

Today, many organizations are “mobilizing” their critical business applications. Managers can access information and submit approvals while away from their offices. Field service representatives can receive incident tickets and act upon them using incident and problem management applications. They can use the devices to check product pricing and availability and enter orders.

Some workers are shifting entirely from desktop and laptop PCs to mobile devices. Consequently, IT staff must manage and support them with the same level of rigor discipline as other critical resources. Managing mobile devices presents a major challenge, however, because they introduce an additional layer of complexity to the IT infrastructure. They add many new devices and a patchwork of complex Telco networks outside the purview of the IT staff.

To address this challenge, mobile devices need to be brought into the visibility and span of control of the IT staff. This can be accomplished by following a Business Service Management (BSM) approach and treating these devices as another layer in the IT infrastructure. BSM is a comprehensive approach and unified platform for managing IT.

With BSM, IT can manage these devices from the same comprehensive, unified service management environment as other IT resources and provide high-quality service and support. For example, IT can provide the same policy-based, end-to-end automation of software provisioning, updating, and patching processes to mobile devices that are delivered to laptops and PCs. As a result, IT can fully exploit the capabilities of mobile devices, without jeopardizing service quality or compliance.

Itseemsdesktopcomputersare

becomingathingofthepast;

weseeworkersnowwithlaptops,

smartphones,Blackberries,and

otherhandhelddeviceswithinour

businesses,notonlyonsitebutat

home,atthecoffeeshop,atthe

airport,atabusinessmeetingout

oftown,etc.Theseworkersare

computersavvy,Internetsavvy,

wanttobeabletofunctionasif

theyweresittingintheiroffice,

andwanttheirservicerequests

handledwiththesamestandards

andexpectationsasin-house

incidents.Telecommutingand

mixedmobileworkforcedemands

arehighfortoolsandfeaturesto

supportandconnectplatforms,

hardware,andpeopleseamlessly.

Howareweadaptingoursupport

andtechnologytomeetuser’s

needs?

TechnologyTrends

Brenda Dentinger GoToAssist Product Marketing Manager, Citrix Online

Nathan McNeil Co-Founder & VP of Product Strategy, Bomgar

Hanging Up is Hard to Do: Why Moving From Phone to Web Is Not Working and How to Fix it

You’ve already fixed his problem, but he just drones on. But you can’t hang up on him. That would be rude, and besides, he’d just call back and complain to your boss.

A similar dilemma is faced by support centers trying to move to Web-based support. It doesn’t look difficult. After all, we live in a Web-based world. Your users probably spend more time on Facebook than the phone. They use e-mail and instant messenger. They don’t know how to lick a stamp. They use LOL, BTW, and TMI, even if they can’t spell DHCP.

So why do you your users keep calling you, and why is it so hard to hang up and get them using the Web?

The answer: You are training them to use the phone.

Most companies direct the user to the Web to start a support incident. The user is supposed to try the knowledgebase, search the online forums, and then…call support. Users are not dumb. If they are going to have to call you in the end, then they will call you inthe beginning.

Training users to start on the Web requires that support be able to finish on the Web as well. To do this, the user has to be able to interact with assisted support the same way they interact with self-help. The tools are different (the user may chat or screen-share with a support rep online instead of type in a search query) but the interaction is still Web-based.

If users can finish every support incident over the Web, then they won’t start them with a call, and you just might be able to hang up the phone.

Flexibility is the key to surviving, even thriving in today’s support environment. Our customers and employees have embraced technology in ways we couldn’t have imagined a few years ago. Twitter anyone? Download a smart phone app? The way customers engage online and the demands of a mobile, remote workforce are driving us to rethink how we provide support.

We have to accept that workers are no longer chained to their desks and not always using company-issued computers. Regardless of operating system, hour-of-day or location, employees will be sweating to meet deadlines and help desks will need to support them. The easiest, most flexible way to support your remote and mobile workforce is by utilizing such technology as clientless remote-support tools. These tools allow your team to support anyone, in any location, from anywhere—with a click of a mouse.

Believe it or not, this new, more flexible way of working is actually a good thing. As this year’s flu season fast approaches, employees may need to work from home because the office or their child’s school is closed. With remote support, your help desk will already be set to provide full support when your staff must work from home.

We are all doing more with less this year and wemight be required to do it all from home. If you can make your job and your team’s job easier, you will ease some of the pressure and still feel good about what you are able to accomplish.

35

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