ITIL IT service Desk

[viv121]

Hi , I am new to ITIL with foundation certificate under my belt. At the moment struggling hard with the ITIL® definitions of IT Service Desk . Should the first point IT contact center be called ITIL® IT Service Desk or can it be also called ITIL® IT Helpdesk ?

Regards

Vivek Dubey
Manager -IT Processing Operation
HDPI/HSBC
Kolkata

[dboylan]

ITIL says that you should have a single point of contact for users to communicate with IT. ITIL uses the term Service Desk and defines what the requirements are for a group to meet the ITIL definition of a Service Desk.

Having said that, I would caution you against getting too hung up on the naming of your organization's Service Desk. You can call it whatever the organization wants.

I know one company that already has a group titled "Service Desk" that is in place to help the business with non-IT related questions. In that situation, calling the IT single point of contact the "Service Desk" would be very confusing.

I would also recommend against using the term ITIL in the title of the single point of contact. ITIL is an acronym that not even every IT professional knows. I would never expect an end user to know what ITIL means. Including ITIL in the title of the group that is the primary contact point for user/IT communication can only cause confusion.

Don

[Mark-OLoughlin]

Hi,

I wounld not use ITIl in the name. A lot of organisations have called the function the "Servcie Desk" when in fact they really only provide "Helpdesk" activities i.e take calls and forward them on and not much more after that. They have no knowledge base system and have very little to do with a first fix.

Should they change the name. Probably not as it may cause confusion. However if and when they decide to implement a ITIl based "Service Desk" they cn promote that as being a "Servie Desk" based on ITIL but still just call it The Service Desk.

The naming is not too important. What is important is that you and the business know if you are just offering Helpdesk activitie or Service Desk activities and if you move from a helpdesk to a service desk that you promote the bemefits and change to the business.
_________________
Mark O'Loughlin
ITSM / ITIL Consultant

[viv121]

Many thanks for getting back . ITIL gives definitions for a Call Center, A helpdesk and an IT Service Desk . By the definitions , IT Service Desk looks like a better place to work than a Call center and a Helpdesk. If we stick to the definitions, the IT Service Desk is a place which offers first line call resolution , which works closely with the Incident and the Problem Management, which participates in the CAB meetings, which takes inputs from the NOC and passes on to the Capacity Management and Availability Management . It all looks like a bunch of technicians working in a system.The Helpdesk on the other hand has to have a set of helpful lots whose job is to help end users and not to play any role in any ITSM processes. Some places the Service Desk is called a function as it has a role to play in all the areas which are called processes. They say V3 has some answers but where is it /when do we see it ?