ITIL without an ITIL based desk? will it last?

[zoe41]

I've got a bit of a project exception the days of the credit crunch have effected my service desk provision. eg I might not get one or get the one I want. The one I have isn't fit for purpose. I do have a hope that one day there will be light at the end of the tunnel I might get something.

So I am in the make do and mend level. In fact not going to do much mending of the current tool because it isn't cost effective and there is some reluctance to dedicate time to something that will be replaced.

We don't have a lot of contacts per months, hundreds not thousands. We are a very techie environment so release and change are really important.

I'm completing an audit and findings at teh moment based on ISO20000. Whats the thought on ITIL adoption without the correct tool set in a developement type environment? I can see improvements in the softer areas like SLM, Relationship management, Service catalogue, processes like escalation management, communication etc etc.

The stuff like cmdb forget it I don't have one, I do bits of assets and some event management.

So it's bitty. Anyone else in this boat. Why didn't they right a book about ITIL on a shoestring?


Zoe

[Diarmid]

Zoe,

I want to start by rephrasing your question: can you have effective service management without a service desk?

The answer is yes. In fact (off the top of my head) ISO20000 does not have much to say about a service desk.

What you need is the capability to manage and resolve incidents in ways that are good for your customers. Part of doing that requires that your customers can raise incidents; another part is that you can track the resolution process; etc.

You have a bigger problem (with ISO20000) over your CMDB as it is explicitly required. Even here you can meet the requirement without anything sophisticated so long as you can demonstrate that it is controlled, maintained and accessible as required for other processes.

Having said that, the right helpdesk software can make things a lot easier in the long run.

The bottom line is that you can use ITIL to the full to help you build as good a system for Service Management as you can afford which is to say wherever and however the benefits outweigh the costs.
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