Slides presented by Keith Wilkins of Avocet Recruitment during a webinar for SDI to discuss the ways that service desk analyst roles are changing, why and how this is coming about and what the future might have in store. Broadcast on 21 December 2015

1. A Presentation by KeithWilkins for SDI
Mon Dec 21, 2015 2:00 – 3:00PM
The Evolving Role of the
Service Desk Analyst

2. KeithWilkins (FIRP)
Managing Consultant
at Avocet Strategic Resourcing
“Great people deliver great service
andWE deliver great people”
Hi!Thanks for joining me today forAvocet’s first webinar with SDI!

3. The Background
The traditional Helpdesk:
 Originally manned by non-technical staff
 Supported the pre-selected technology
 Primarily call logging – no systems used
 Escalate issues to technical staff
 Low expectations from users
 Sat solely within the IT function

4. The Rise of the Service Desk
The introduction of ITIL saw the emergence of the Service Desk – a
Single Point of Contact (SPOC) between Users and IT Service
Management.
Activities:
 Provide business support
 Incident management
 Manage service requests
 Manage user relationship
 Two way communication
 Maintain information quality
 Produce management information

5. Evolution of the SDA?

6. SDA Skills Sets
1. Communication skills – bridging the gap between
users and technical teams
2. Customer service skills - telephone, email, in
person
3. Knowledge of current / relevant / emerging
technologies
4. Professional manner – understanding the
corporate business

7. Evolution of Skill Sets

8. Evolution of Skill Sets
1. Soft skills
2. Wide range of technologies and
operating systems – much broader
than previously.
3. Industry specific applications
4. Globalisation is rapidly bringing about
a greater need for multilingual SDAs

9. SDA Core Competencies
1. Empathy and patience
2. Proven analytical and problem solving skills
3. Able to prioritise effectively and execute tasks in a
high-pressure environment
4. Proven ability in supporting a broad range of
technologies
5. Good personality
6. Maturity
7. Flexibility
8. Team Player

10. Evolution of Core Competencies
1. Commitment to continual development –
personal and technical
2. Working to‘Best Practice’ standards
3. Experience of using ITIL / working in an ITIL
environment
4. ‘Big picture’ thinker + attention to detail
5. Ability to adapt to new and emerging
technologies

11. SDA Job Profiles
 Provide 1st and 2nd line support
 Incident Management and Service Request experience
 Excellent communication skills
 Deliver a high level of customer service
 Use of Service Management tools
 Provide‘How do I?’ support for end-users
 Contribute to the continual improvement of the environment
 Preparation and support of hand-held and mobile devices
 Involvement in a variety of ad-hoc projects – often leading
 Willing to constantly enhance own knowledge and actively share that
knowledge with others

12. Evolution of Job Profiles
1. The bar is now set higher than ever
2. Opportunities are attracting a higher calibre of
candidates due to the skills required and the career
path that it can offer
3. Focus on continual development and potential -
experience gained on a service desk can lead to a
variety of directions, such as infrastructure support,
application development, project management,
business analysis etc.
4. Emphasis on understanding the business activities,
information security and quality control

13. 1. Expectations are increasing in respect of the‘right’
balance of interpersonal skills, technical knowledge
and adaptability.
2. More emphasis on monitoring and measuring KPIs,
SLAs etc
3. Increased awareness of System Security
4. Project involvement with the implementation of new
technologies
5. Decentralisation of the service desk, which is no longer
only part of IT
6. Employers deciding if the service desk should lie
within the business
What do employers expect in 2016?

14. 1. Technically competent users mean more complex demands
on Service Desks
2. The increase of BYOD means that SDAs technical
knowledge will be wider than before
3. CYOD is more popular than ever so SDAs must develop a
working knowledge of all the commercially available
operating systems
4. Seamless integration
5. Increase in Social Media accessibility
6. Remote workers require continuous support
7. BRM role – working closely with business units
8. Instant and continuous feedback
What do users expect in 2016?

15. Service offerings

16. What will the fully evolved
SDA look like?

17. The Future
1. The user base is going to continue to become more
technically capable
2. SDAs need to evolve their skills and services
3. Introducing on-line chat, tutorials and self-service to
handle repetitive service requests that can easily be handled
by the customer
4. ‘Innovation Centres’ – beyond the Genius Bar
5. Continued customer focus
6. To outsource or not to outsource the service desk?

18. About Avocet
Avocet provides a bespoke recruitment function for
Service Desk, Service Delivery,
Technical Support & IT infrastructure areas.
We firmly believe that people are at the heart of
technology; developing systems, defining processes
and supporting the technology and users alike.
Our aim is to successfully match people with the roles,
the teams and the companies we work with.
People - the Heart of Technology
Any
Questions ?
www.avocetrecruiting.com
TEL: 01634 816058
EMAIL: KW@AVOCETRECRUITING.COM