Live Support: A Critical Element in Enterprise Mobility Support
Gartner's research on the impact of mobility on the IT service desk highlights the challenges presented by the changing device landscape within the corporate environment. One of the key impacts noted in the research is that "the lack of new support capabilities for mobile devices is reducing the quality of service (I&O) organizations provide to users." There are some important distinctions to consider in support for mobility as compared to basic mobile device support.
- Mobile device support is more associated with basic device set-up, management and connectivity, and has historically centered around mobile phones
- Consumerization of IT has been a key driver for the introduction of new mobile devices (following Apple's iPad) and changes in enterprise mobility approaches, including BYOD, COPE and related models. The new tablets and hybrid devices from Microsoft and it's resellers, Android, Apple and others are changing mobile support dynamics significantly, especially since some of these (such as Microsoft's Surface Pro 2 and Toshiba'sPortege tablet) are actually full computers – with many features and characteristics of lighter tablets but full capabilities of a laptop as well
- The introduction of these broader mobile devices is now blurring the lines between basic device set-up/hardware/connectivity support and more advanced "how to" application and device support – with the latter involving assistance with how to use the device and the applications on it. This "how to" support is absolutely a need among today's highly mobile business users, and often an area where they are left to find their own help. Mobile device support is evolving to something perhaps more aptly described as Workforce Mobility Support, or Enterprise Mobility Support.
As referenced in the research, it is important to provide self-help tools for mobile users, and peer support through social media channels can be an additional resource. But there is still an important need today for live, just-in-time support which does not require the business user to go on a "search and find" mission in a time-critical situation. With the rapid evolution of mobility tools, and the highly mobile and remote workforce, business users today need and expect more support, not less. Directing them to self-help tools and "find your own support" without offering the critical live support they need has the potential to create a wider chasm between the users and IT, and lead particular user groups to develop a business case for budget to acquire the requisite support for their individual, departmental or divisional needs – often without the help or involvement of IT. Those IT organizations that miss or dismiss this need for live, personalized support are missing an important opportunity to reinforce their role as strategic enablers to the business. But effectively filling the live support gap also presents its challenges.
The distinctions noted above, compounded by the range of devices which may now exist within a single corporate environment, make it especially difficult for the service desk to provide the needed support. How can they staff and keep their personnel trained to meet these new support needs? Should they expand the size of their in-house team? Should they hire contractors, or outsource? An emerging alternative is "smart-sourcing", a variation on outsourcing which allows service desk management to broker a mix of IT support services, staffing a core service team internally and snapping in specialized third-party resources to fill critical service and capacity gaps. In the smart-sourcing model, the internal team is kept focused on mission critical and proprietary initiatives which cannot be handed off to external providers, while additional specialized resources and "flex capacity" are selectively added to complement and supplement the in-house team. This model is particularly applicable in today's world of accelerated change, in which permanent organizational structure decisions are difficult, but immediate action is required to address changing business needs.
Live support will continue to be a critical element in an effective enterprise mobility support program, and can be readily provisioned through a range of alternative approaches, including smart-sourcing specialized support resources. Organizations pursuing a smart-sourcing strategy can expect to see benefits ranging from improved ability to handle support demand, better control over support their users receive in a heterogeneous mobile environment, increased internal customer satisfaction ratings, and positive feedback from business users on the support provided by their enterprise service desk – all important goals for the service desk and IT today, and over the next several years.
Source: Vitalyst
