Desktop Support Metrics: Overview

When it comes to end-user support, most people automatically think of the Level 1 Help Desk. The Help Desk has been extensively studied and researched, and the Best Practices for Level 1 Support are well documented and well understood. The same, however, cannot be said of Level 2, or Desktop Support. This critical support function has historically received far less attention than the help desk, and for most IT organizations it represents a fertile opportunity for performance enhancement. This is particularly true when it comes to Key Performance Indicators for Desktop Support.

Many of us have heard the sage advice “You can’t manage what you don’t measure.” This is particularly true for Desktop Support, where effective performance measurement is not just a necessity, but a prerequisite for effective management. Despite the widespread belief in this statement, few Desktop Support organizations use KPI’s to their full potential. In fact MetricNet’s research, gathered from literally hundreds of Desktop Support benchmarks, suggests that the vast majority of Desktop Support organizations track very few (if any) performance metrics. And the KPI’s they do follow are used to merely track and trend their Desktop Support performance – but nothing more! Unfortunately, in this mode, one misses the real value of performance measurement by failing to exploit the diagnostic capabilities of KPI’s.

The true potential of KPI’s for Desktop Support can only be realized when they are used holistically, not just to measure performance, but also to:

• Track and trend performance over time
• Benchmark performance vs. industry peers
• Identify strengths and weaknesses in Desktop Support
• Diagnose and understand the underlying drivers of performance gaps
• Establish performance goals for the organization
• Prescribe actions to improve results, and achieve World-Class Performance

In short, performance measurement and management is a critical discipline that must be mastered for any Desktop Support Organization that aspires to World-Class performance.

In the coming days, MetricNet will blog about the KPI’s that are most critical for measuring and managing your Desktop Support Organization, and for achieving World-Class Performance in Desktop Support!  Please follow us if you can.