In Wake of Corona Virus, IT Service Desk Is Struggling

Cupertino, Calif. Sept. 13 2021 – Budget season is upon us once again, and many businesses are scrambling to re-prioritize their spending because of the impact the pandemic has had on operations.

90 Percent of Employees Need More IT Support Since Working Remotely

Cupertino, Calif. Sept. 13 2021 – Budget season is upon us once again, and many businesses are scrambling to re-prioritize their spending because of the impact the pandemic has had on operations. Many company leaders have been operating in an unprecedented state of emergency for a year and a half, but now is the time to shift focus over to support, IT service and customer satisfaction once again.

In fact, a recent survey of 500 office workers shed light on a global, persisting problem of a lack of sufficient tech support:

  • When asked what the average time in which an IT problem was solved, 39 percent of survey respondents said within 60 minutes, 28 percent said more than an hour, and 12 percent said more than one day.
  • Response times were overall unsatisfactory as 47 percent of respondents expected help from support within 30 minutes, and 69 percent wanted to be helped in less than 60 minutes.
  • 1/4 of respondents directly stated that they are not happy with their current IT support.

Why is the IT service desk suffering?

Over the course of the pandemic, countless companies altered their business models last minute to include more remote workers, and they still retain hybrid working models today. There was an increase in demand for new hardware (to ensure each employee has what they need to perform their job), as well as for new software (to aid in virtual data transfer/storage and remote work.) Leaders were just trying to keep up!

A second global survey confirmed this. IT managers in Brazil, Mexico, US, Germany and Singapore saw an increase in IT security incidents. 55 percent of them have seen a greater than 25 percent increase in incidents since workers first left the office. More threat, more work.

From the customer perspective, this is a problem: The number one complaint (39 percent) of those in the original survey was that it took too long to get an answer from support. Additionally, 23 percent of respondents said they were frustrated because they didn’t know the status of their request.

How should IT leadership respond?

IT leaders need to commit budget and time to supporting the IT service desk and refocusing on customer experience.

Businesses looking to re-evaluate their company’s needs and budget should consider:

  • Adding additional staff members because employees that are stretched too thin tend not to perform well.
  • Investing in a service management solution to speed up request resolution.
  • Implementing self-service tools, such as a knowledge base and customer portal, to allow customers faster access to the status of their cases.
  • Reinvesting in training programs and introducing IT certification incentives.
  • Re-focusing on teamwork, team bonding and open communication.
  • Researching the benefits of outsourcing to experts where needed.

Said Christopher Kuhn, OTRS COO and General Manager of OTRS, Inc, “This past year has been hard for almost everyone. Companies have been scrambling to adjust to our new reality, which includes more remote workers. It’s important that companies step back now and take a holistic view on support and service desk activities to ensure that their employees, as well as customers, have the support they need to excel in this new environment.”

OTRS Group helps businesses improve and professionalize service delivery (both to employees and customers), automate prioritization of tasks and ticketing, offer support on a variety of platforms (such as via phone, email and online chat), provide customers with a customizable portal and much more. For more information on OTRS Group solutions, visit OTRS.com.

 

 

 

About OTRS Group

OTRS Group is the manufacturer and the world’s largest provider of the service management suite OTRS, awarded with the SERVIEW CERTIFIED TOOL seal of approval.

It offers companies industry-independent solutions for structured communication in customer service, IT service management and security management. In addition to the core product OTRS, the security solutions STORM and CONTROL ensure efficient cybersecurity incident management and transparent documentation in accordance with standards such as ISO 27001.

Among its customers are Lufthansa, Airbus, IBM, Porsche, BSI (Federal Office for Security in Information Technology), Max Planck Institute, Toyota and Hapag Lloyd. OTRS is available in 40 languages. The company consists of OTRS AG and its six subsidiaries OTRS Inc. (USA), OTRS S.A. de C.V. (Mexico), OTRS Asia Pte. Ltd. (Singapore), OTRS Asia Ltd. (Hong Kong), OTRS do Brasil Soluções Ltda. (Brazil) and OTRS Magyarország Kft. (Hungary). OTRS AG is listed on the basic board of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. For more information, see www.otrs.com.

Press Contact OTRS:
 
Address OTRS AG
Zimmermühlenweg 11
61440 Oberursel
Name Laura Bug
Phone +49 6172 681988-32
Email pr@otrs.com

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