PC remote control, Mac remote control, Linux remote control – you have it all with Bomgar

Although PCs are largely the platform of choice, plenty of companies are looking to include Mac: Both IBM and Cisco are apparently evaluating it, and Juniper Systems is conducting a pilot involving 600 staff. Juniper CIO, Michele Goins, said that if support costs aren’t too high “let’s open the floodgates and go Mac.” The primary concern with support is having IT helpdesk reps who can manage a mixed environment: hiring and/or training support specialists would drive costs up. Companies considering integrating with Mac should have a look at Bomgar for their help desk support software: You can support Mac, PC, and Linux on one platform, and the price tag, especially over a long period of time is impressive. A comparative cost analysis shows a savings of nearly two-thirds over a five-year period. That could certainly help defray the costs of getting IT help desk reps up to speed. Check it out.

Correct utilization of help desk support software can add value to your ITIL efforts, but getting off on the wrong foot with implementation can set you back.

On January 24th, Bomgar aired a webcast designed to help you learn more about getting value from ITIL in an IT helpdesk environment. The right strategy, planning and implementation can help resolve incidents more quickly, decrease on-site dispatches, increase first call resolution rates and improve the overall customer experience. If you get started on the wrong foot in your first year of an ITIL project, which many companies do, it can require a lot of work to straighten out. ITIL: 10 deployment mistakes (and fixes) discusses the most common errors, and how you can either prevent or fix them. This is good information that applies to any company starting an ITIL project – whether it involves IT or not. It will help you get the gang onboard and make sure your project is more than just an exercise.

Bomgar’s remote access software may help IT administrators in educational institutions achieve their goals despite budgetary constraints.

According to a recent survey, the majority of IT administrators at higher education institutions rate their IT helpdesk funding as inadequate. Despite grants, fees for service and student technology fees, funding is primarily derived from central IT budgets. These budgetary constraints impede progress towards administrators’ primary goals. Help desk support software from Bomgar has significantly improved IT help desk metrics in the education sector and may be the solution IT administrators need.

The survey, conducted on IT administrators of 454 higher education institutions, found that 55.7% rate their IT help desk funding as less or much less than adequate. Only 3.2% rated the funding as more than required.

The survey also found that about two-thirds of the participating IT administrators have a set of common goals: To improve user satisfaction, to increase the number of help desk calls resolved at first incident, and to resolve more incidents per unit of time. Reaching these goals is difficult without adequate funding.

More survey data is available from http://www.educause.edu/ecar: Caruso, Judith Borreson, and Mark C. Sheehan. “Service on the Front Line: The IT Help Desk in Higher Education” (Key Findings). Boulder, CO: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research, 2007.

Educational institutions using Bomgar help desk support solutions have significantly improved their metrics. One school district with three reps supporting 3,000 systems across 10 sites documented an increase of 90% in first call resolution, and call handling capacity increased six-fold. One major university supporting more than 31,000 end users increased their first call resolution rates by 40 – 50%, decreased call escalation by 80%, and reduced call times by 50 – 75%.

The EDUCAUSE survey also found that the IT helpdesk services of most institutions are limited to telephone, e-mail, and in-person interaction, sometimes at the user’s location. However, institutions with more tools available had higher quality of service ratings and therefore enjoyed greater customer satisfaction. Help desk support software that enables help desk reps to service both attended and unattended systems remotely may be a pivotal addition to the toolset.

For more information on how expanding your IT help desk services with Bomgar’s remote access software can improve user satisfaction, first call resolution, and the number of incidents resolved per unit of time, visit the Bomgar website.

The right help desk support software, fully utilized, can effect significant improvement in service and support at a fraction of the cost according to new Bomgar webcast

IT spending has been on the decline for the last three years and, with the current state of the economy, the trend is threatening to continue. Many CIO’s are now called upon to work with reduced budgets while delivering the superior service and support required to maintain existing customers and attract new ones. The majority of CIO’s are focused on improving service and support as a top priority and help desk support solutions that can do so while reducing support costs are of major benefit. Bomgar’s new webcast offers insight into how CIO’s can fully utilize remote access software to meet current demands.

IT budgets, as a percent of revenue, were reduced to 6.7 percent in 2007, down from 7.4 percent in 2006 and 7.7 percent the year prior, according to State of the CIO surveys. Forrester predicts IT spending will also slow in 2008, and IDC says spending will be between 5.5 percent to 6 percent, compared to last year’s 6.9 percent.

According to the State of the CIO survey, improving internal and external user satisfaction is among the top five IT management and technology priorities for 2008. However, 51 percent cited inadequate budgets as a major barrier to their effectiveness. Lack of technical skill sets within IT was also among the top five barriers for 36 percent of the respondents.

Fully utilized, the right remote access software can help overcome budget constraints and lack of highly skilled IT personnel. If the full potential of remote access software is realized it can improve the efficiency of the help desk support team, reduce costly on-site dispatches, enable the company to deliver on committed service level agreements, improve Mean Time to Repair, and help consolidate the tools within the enterprise to one solution that can reach both attended and unattended systems.

A recent webcast from Bomgar, the makers of the only appliance-based remote access software, offers invaluable information on how remote access software technology can have a direct impact on support cost structure and IT service quality. The webcast focuses on results achieved by customers in their environments to illustrate the relationship between service quality, cost control, and the customer experience.

Watch Reducing Customer Support Costs and Improving Service Quality with Remote Support to find out what full utilization of the right remote access software can do for your company or, for more information on Bomgar’s help desk support software, visit the Bomgar website.

Help desk support teams service the customers; a good manager services the team

One would think that managing a small call center would be easier than a large one. However, common occurrences that have no impact on a large call center can devastate a small set-up. A help desk rep being out of the office ill is a good example – when there are hundreds of reps, one missing person doesn’t stop production; one missing person in a small group is another story. The people management skills required are also unique to this more intimate setting: personnel problems that might not be noticed in a large group are glaringly obvious in a small group and can affect morale. Overall, the small call center requires a more personal touch and, when something goes wrong, it needs to be jumped on right away. Creativity – the Key to Success for Small Call Centers offers several management tips designed for the small IT helpdesk department or call center. Check it out.