Sunrise Software’s new podcast series shares customer best practice and innovation in Service Desk Management

Sunrise Software is running a series of podcasts with invited customer speakers discussing their experiences, examples of innovation and best practice in Service Desk Management. The podcasts are being facilitated by Barclay Rae, the high profile industry consultant with extensive experience in ITSM, Service Desks, Customer Services and CRM. Starting in June, each podcast will host a different guest speaker from organisations in the private and public sectors, sharing their experience of implementing successful Service Desk systems and practices.

The first podcast features guest speaker Dean Coleman, Director of Client Services at UKN Group, a leading managed services provider, discussing how adopting ITIL processes has contributed to the Service Improvement goals that underpin the core business. Dean discusses how Sostenuto is used to track and manage incident, problem and change data for customers, which is then used to improve service delivery. The team also uses email customer feedback and annual surveys to support the SLA data to monitor, assess and improve its service delivery.

UKN was awarded 3 star certification by the Service Desk Institute (SDI) as a result of its successful collaboration with Sunrise Software to create a first-class Service Desk that has supported rapid business growth and organisational change over the past few years. UKN are now working towards 4 star accreditation.

The second podcast, due to go live later June, features Clare Watson, Service Delivery Manager at Newham Partnership Working (NPW). Formed in July 2012, NPW took over the running of four key school services from the London Borough of Newham – Education ICT, Schools HR, Governor Services and School Support Services. The NPW Education ICT team supports a variety of users, including headteachers, school business managers, teachers and teaching assistants. All of whom use different IT systems, from Management Information and data systems to teaching ICT and using whiteboards in the classroom.

Clare discusses how early collaboration with end users, headteachers, teachers and ICT coordinators, has resulted in a successful customer support service. The team identified and agreed Service Level Agreements, priorities and training requirements with key staff prior to implementation. Monitoring calls and service requests has also enabled the ICT team to proactively identify and advise headteachers where equipment needs refreshing or staff training might be required.

Geoff Rees, Sales Director at Sunrise Software, commented: “At Sunrise we know that implementing a Service Desk Management system does not automatically ensure that an organisation delivers great service. It is also about culture, people and processes within the company. Sharing best practice and innovation from other professionals working in the field can provide guidance and ideas for others as they embark on their own Service Desk implementations. These podcasts are a great way to deliver this information that people can tap into at their convenience.”