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Do users care about desktop support?

And is it worth measuring how much?

Mini-Poll This week we are looking at the problems of managing the desktop infrastructure and especially the question of its cost.

Tightly coupled with the whole topic of managing PC users is the effect that desktop support has on the whole perception of IT service delivery. We all know that if we ask a user what they think of IT there is a direct relationship between their level of satisfaction and how long ago they last had a "problem", whether self-inflicted or otherwise.

So just how do you measure desktop support? To delve into this we have put together a short poll to provide something to do before the next user calls in. Fill us in on how you measure desktop support effectiveness, what service level agreements you have in place with end users and how you gauge their perceptions of desktop support - always assuming that the users have evolved enough to have perceptions that can be gauged beyond "furious".

READER POLL

1. What metrics do you have in place to measure desktop support? (Please tick all that apply)

Number of support calls reported
Number of support calls resolved
Time to resolution
Estimated cost of diagnosis and resolution
Specific criteria depending on support call type

2. Do you have any tools to measure problem downtime and time to fix?

Yes - fully automated as part of help desk / support desk
Yes - in part, based on information from systems and their own management tools
No - we have no formal tools but we have some idea for reporting purposes
No - we have nothing really in place

3. Do you have any formal service agreements covering "Time to Fix"?

Standard across the enterprise for all users / problems / call types
Fixed agreements for each call / support problem type
We have variable standards that users may select, each with a cost point
No - but we do our best for each and every call based on business need/caller loudness
No - our users don't care about time to fix, they just don't want anything to fail, ever

4. How do you gauge user perceptions of fault/support handling? (Please tick all that apply)

Number of complaints
Amount of praise
Using service quality management tools (end user response time etc)
Internal surveys
External surveys
Gut feel
Not at all

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