Helpdesk SLAs
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@larsen161 said in Best practices for helpdesk portal options for end user:
Unless you need to route different issues to different teams, don't have the user select anything. Make it as easy for them as possible to submit an issue. You can use these categories on the back end if you want to so you can have some reporting info.
We will have a service desk analyst who will then classify to even more categories so that corresponding skill set tech will be assigned to and SLA's set based on each category. User will just select single categories to make it bit easier for analyst rather than reading through the entire request message
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@mike-davis said in Best practices for helpdesk portal options for end user:
I let them email. Then the ticket system looks for keywords and assigns the category by that, which in turn auto assigns a tech.
That's what we have now, but eventually we want users to use the portal always to get better classification on the first level and SLA applies based on subcategories selected by help desk analyst
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we are a very small team now, 250+ users 3 techs. Screen connect plays a bigger role here!
Idea is to set an SLA and review this on regular basis, find out the gap and either increase headcount or if no budget for additional headcount, then increase the SLA.
With the current tech headcount, the SLA that we are thinking are:
*Resolution includes temporary fix or work-around solution.New hardware requests usually take 4-6 weeks to deliver from HP (we can keep stock of 5 but the user requests are quite a lot this year and next year as well, but no finance approval to keep more than 5 as of now), so agreed with HR on this timeline.
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Would be great if I can get some feedback on the SLA draft.
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You might want to consider an SLO, not an SLA. SLA means that the team is seen as an outsider to be managed and to have punitive action if the SLA is not met. SLO means it is an objective that everyone is on the same team and working together to make possible. An SLA means you have zero obligation to do better than the SLA. An SLO suggests that you will do your best no matter what and attempt to not go over the SLO numbers.
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Might also want to think about how you deal with an internet outage. Although it's critical, it's also out of your hands sometimes. You can't promise a 6 hour resolution if your ISP can't meet that.
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for High, you might want to add that it's affecting multiple people and time sensitive work.
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@mike-davis said in Best practices for helpdesk portal options for end user:
Might also want to think about how you deal with an internet outage. Although it's critical, it's also out of your hands sometimes. You can't promise a 6 hour resolution if your ISP can't meet that.
Not sure where your located but I had this last week and home. took 48hrs for a fault to be found and BT to test then as it was found i needed a home visit another possible 24hrs to get an appointment from BT for the visit. Luckily that was the next day but was still off for 4 days
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Consider "network issues" under normal. Who determines what's a network issue? Does it matter if it's for one person or the entire LAN? If no on can use the internet because your DNS server is down, is that a network issue, or a internet issue? DNS sounds technical, so does that mean it's a High priority?
Do you see where I'm going with this?The purpose of the SLA is to set the expectation for the end user. When you define things in terms you understand, the end user might still be confused.
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@ambarishrh I would break off the SLA into a new topic.
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@aaronstuder said in Best practices for helpdesk portal options for end user:
@ambarishrh I would break off the SLA into a new topic.
How do i do that (retaining the related comments) as a new topic?
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It would also be create to create a troubleshooting category would eliminate a possible runaround of all of the employees in the search for answers.
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@ambarishrh said in Helpdesk SLAs:
we are a very small team now, 250+ users 3 techs. Screen connect plays a bigger role here!
Idea is to set an SLA and review this on regular basis, find out the gap and either increase headcount or if no budget for additional headcount, then increase the SLA.
With the current tech headcount, the SLA that we are thinking are:
*Resolution includes temporary fix or work-around solution.New hardware requests usually take 4-6 weeks to deliver from HP (we can keep stock of 5 but the user requests are quite a lot this year and next year as well, but no finance approval to keep more than 5 as of now), so agreed with HR on this timeline.
An SLA means that there is a punishment to you if you do not meet the requirements. What happens to the IT team if they cannot resolve these issues in the SLA time? How do you determine what is within the scope of what IT can have fixed and not?
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@scottalanmiller said in Helpdesk SLAs:
@ambarishrh said in Helpdesk SLAs:
we are a very small team now, 250+ users 3 techs. Screen connect plays a bigger role here!
Idea is to set an SLA and review this on regular basis, find out the gap and either increase headcount or if no budget for additional headcount, then increase the SLA.
With the current tech headcount, the SLA that we are thinking are:
*Resolution includes temporary fix or work-around solution.New hardware requests usually take 4-6 weeks to deliver from HP (we can keep stock of 5 but the user requests are quite a lot this year and next year as well, but no finance approval to keep more than 5 as of now), so agreed with HR on this timeline.
An SLA means that there is a punishment to you if you do not meet the requirements. What happens to the IT team if they cannot resolve these issues in the SLA time? How do you determine what is within the scope of what IT can have fixed and not?
The purpose for this is also to evaluate the existing issues, see if our small team can cater the requirements and based on the results we either get more people or increase the sla. As of now this will be visible only to IT team and based on our analysis we will release to users on a later stage with SLA that we can achieve
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@ambarishrh said in Helpdesk SLAs:
@scottalanmiller said in Helpdesk SLAs:
@ambarishrh said in Helpdesk SLAs:
we are a very small team now, 250+ users 3 techs. Screen connect plays a bigger role here!
Idea is to set an SLA and review this on regular basis, find out the gap and either increase headcount or if no budget for additional headcount, then increase the SLA.
With the current tech headcount, the SLA that we are thinking are:
*Resolution includes temporary fix or work-around solution.New hardware requests usually take 4-6 weeks to deliver from HP (we can keep stock of 5 but the user requests are quite a lot this year and next year as well, but no finance approval to keep more than 5 as of now), so agreed with HR on this timeline.
An SLA means that there is a punishment to you if you do not meet the requirements. What happens to the IT team if they cannot resolve these issues in the SLA time? How do you determine what is within the scope of what IT can have fixed and not?
The purpose for this is also to evaluate the existing issues, see if our small team can cater the requirements and based on the results we either get more people or increase the sla. As of now this will be visible only to IT team and based on our analysis we will release to users on a later stage with SLA that we can achieve
SLAs are not a good tool for that. Just use good reporting for that. SLAs are adversarial, not something you ever want to use internally.
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@scottalanmiller said in Helpdesk SLAs:
@ambarishrh said in Helpdesk SLAs:
@scottalanmiller said in Helpdesk SLAs:
@ambarishrh said in Helpdesk SLAs:
we are a very small team now, 250+ users 3 techs. Screen connect plays a bigger role here!
Idea is to set an SLA and review this on regular basis, find out the gap and either increase headcount or if no budget for additional headcount, then increase the SLA.
With the current tech headcount, the SLA that we are thinking are:
*Resolution includes temporary fix or work-around solution.New hardware requests usually take 4-6 weeks to deliver from HP (we can keep stock of 5 but the user requests are quite a lot this year and next year as well, but no finance approval to keep more than 5 as of now), so agreed with HR on this timeline.
An SLA means that there is a punishment to you if you do not meet the requirements. What happens to the IT team if they cannot resolve these issues in the SLA time? How do you determine what is within the scope of what IT can have fixed and not?
The purpose for this is also to evaluate the existing issues, see if our small team can cater the requirements and based on the results we either get more people or increase the sla. As of now this will be visible only to IT team and based on our analysis we will release to users on a later stage with SLA that we can achieve
SLAs are not a good tool for that. Just use good reporting for that. SLAs are adversarial, not something you ever want to use internally.
Yet they are integrated in several helpdesk options.
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@kyle said in Helpdesk SLAs:
@scottalanmiller said in Helpdesk SLAs:
@ambarishrh said in Helpdesk SLAs:
@scottalanmiller said in Helpdesk SLAs:
@ambarishrh said in Helpdesk SLAs:
we are a very small team now, 250+ users 3 techs. Screen connect plays a bigger role here!
Idea is to set an SLA and review this on regular basis, find out the gap and either increase headcount or if no budget for additional headcount, then increase the SLA.
With the current tech headcount, the SLA that we are thinking are:
*Resolution includes temporary fix or work-around solution.New hardware requests usually take 4-6 weeks to deliver from HP (we can keep stock of 5 but the user requests are quite a lot this year and next year as well, but no finance approval to keep more than 5 as of now), so agreed with HR on this timeline.
An SLA means that there is a punishment to you if you do not meet the requirements. What happens to the IT team if they cannot resolve these issues in the SLA time? How do you determine what is within the scope of what IT can have fixed and not?
The purpose for this is also to evaluate the existing issues, see if our small team can cater the requirements and based on the results we either get more people or increase the sla. As of now this will be visible only to IT team and based on our analysis we will release to users on a later stage with SLA that we can achieve
SLAs are not a good tool for that. Just use good reporting for that. SLAs are adversarial, not something you ever want to use internally.
Yet they are integrated in several helpdesk options.
Yes, because help desk software is a generic thing that can be used with the public, internally, or a combination of both. Just because a feature is already integrated doesn't mean it's a good option to use. I think of something like an SLA for leased lines like T1/T3.
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@travisdh1 said in Helpdesk SLAs:
@kyle said in Helpdesk SLAs:
@scottalanmiller said in Helpdesk SLAs:
@ambarishrh said in Helpdesk SLAs:
@scottalanmiller said in Helpdesk SLAs:
@ambarishrh said in Helpdesk SLAs:
we are a very small team now, 250+ users 3 techs. Screen connect plays a bigger role here!
Idea is to set an SLA and review this on regular basis, find out the gap and either increase headcount or if no budget for additional headcount, then increase the SLA.
With the current tech headcount, the SLA that we are thinking are:
*Resolution includes temporary fix or work-around solution.New hardware requests usually take 4-6 weeks to deliver from HP (we can keep stock of 5 but the user requests are quite a lot this year and next year as well, but no finance approval to keep more than 5 as of now), so agreed with HR on this timeline.
An SLA means that there is a punishment to you if you do not meet the requirements. What happens to the IT team if they cannot resolve these issues in the SLA time? How do you determine what is within the scope of what IT can have fixed and not?
The purpose for this is also to evaluate the existing issues, see if our small team can cater the requirements and based on the results we either get more people or increase the sla. As of now this will be visible only to IT team and based on our analysis we will release to users on a later stage with SLA that we can achieve
SLAs are not a good tool for that. Just use good reporting for that. SLAs are adversarial, not something you ever want to use internally.
Yet they are integrated in several helpdesk options.
Yes, because help desk software is a generic thing that can be used with the public, internally, or a combination of both. Just because a feature is already integrated doesn't mean it's a good option to use. I think of something like an SLA for leased lines like T1/T3.
I know. I just wish they were more granular in features as there are some hard coded features the are unnecessary and just clutter the classification of tickets. We currently use ManageEngine Service Desk and SLA's are built in and part of the reporting metrics despite the fact we don't use them.
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@kyle said in Helpdesk SLAs:
@scottalanmiller said in Helpdesk SLAs:
@ambarishrh said in Helpdesk SLAs:
@scottalanmiller said in Helpdesk SLAs:
@ambarishrh said in Helpdesk SLAs:
we are a very small team now, 250+ users 3 techs. Screen connect plays a bigger role here!
Idea is to set an SLA and review this on regular basis, find out the gap and either increase headcount or if no budget for additional headcount, then increase the SLA.
With the current tech headcount, the SLA that we are thinking are:
*Resolution includes temporary fix or work-around solution.New hardware requests usually take 4-6 weeks to deliver from HP (we can keep stock of 5 but the user requests are quite a lot this year and next year as well, but no finance approval to keep more than 5 as of now), so agreed with HR on this timeline.
An SLA means that there is a punishment to you if you do not meet the requirements. What happens to the IT team if they cannot resolve these issues in the SLA time? How do you determine what is within the scope of what IT can have fixed and not?
The purpose for this is also to evaluate the existing issues, see if our small team can cater the requirements and based on the results we either get more people or increase the sla. As of now this will be visible only to IT team and based on our analysis we will release to users on a later stage with SLA that we can achieve
SLAs are not a good tool for that. Just use good reporting for that. SLAs are adversarial, not something you ever want to use internally.
Yet they are integrated in several helpdesk options.
Helpdesks are often used and needed in adversarial conditions.
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@kyle said in Helpdesk SLAs:
@travisdh1 said in Helpdesk SLAs:
@kyle said in Helpdesk SLAs:
@scottalanmiller said in Helpdesk SLAs:
@ambarishrh said in Helpdesk SLAs:
@scottalanmiller said in Helpdesk SLAs:
@ambarishrh said in Helpdesk SLAs:
we are a very small team now, 250+ users 3 techs. Screen connect plays a bigger role here!
Idea is to set an SLA and review this on regular basis, find out the gap and either increase headcount or if no budget for additional headcount, then increase the SLA.
With the current tech headcount, the SLA that we are thinking are:
*Resolution includes temporary fix or work-around solution.New hardware requests usually take 4-6 weeks to deliver from HP (we can keep stock of 5 but the user requests are quite a lot this year and next year as well, but no finance approval to keep more than 5 as of now), so agreed with HR on this timeline.
An SLA means that there is a punishment to you if you do not meet the requirements. What happens to the IT team if they cannot resolve these issues in the SLA time? How do you determine what is within the scope of what IT can have fixed and not?
The purpose for this is also to evaluate the existing issues, see if our small team can cater the requirements and based on the results we either get more people or increase the sla. As of now this will be visible only to IT team and based on our analysis we will release to users on a later stage with SLA that we can achieve
SLAs are not a good tool for that. Just use good reporting for that. SLAs are adversarial, not something you ever want to use internally.
Yet they are integrated in several helpdesk options.
Yes, because help desk software is a generic thing that can be used with the public, internally, or a combination of both. Just because a feature is already integrated doesn't mean it's a good option to use. I think of something like an SLA for leased lines like T1/T3.
I know. I just wish they were more granular in features as there are some hard coded features the are unnecessary and just clutter the classification of tickets. We currently use ManageEngine Service Desk and SLA's are built in and part of the reporting metrics despite the fact we don't use them.
I generally prefer light, simple helpdesks. Unless you are a huge organization, most of that extra stuff is just wasted and in the way.
