Cost Control Is Driven by Financial Crisis
Focus of CIOs and CSOs

For the last few weeks we have seen stock markets around the world contract, driven by failures of Freddie Mac and Fannie May, trade deficits, soaring oil prices and ever-tightening lending markets. Oil prices have been falling (which is a good), gold prices are rising (which is bad) , and inflation will soar with the $700 billion dollar bailout.  

CIOs and CSOs are now under extreme pressure to control expenses in their enterprises as executive management struggles to maintain earnings in an increasingly challenging market. CIOs and CSOs are being forced to focus on their top initiatives next year while cutting costs.

Enterprises are setting themselves up for a classic battle that between forces that are trying to cut expenses while others see the need for continued, and maybe even increased, spending on information technology and security to improve productivity and mitigate the growing frequency and intensity of potential threats.

The challenge is to translate the value of the organization's investment in information technology and security into the business value that it delivers to the organization. Whether that value is improved productivity, fewer data breaches, reduced shrinkage or whatever metric you happen to use in your industry, be sure to make that argument now before any cuts are mandated by uninformed leaders whose actions could significantly increase the risk to your business.

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How Do Customer Measure IT Service 

IT Service Management Means Managing Customer Expectations

IT Service quality is driven by IT's customers perception of the value of all of the services and costs associated with IT.  Janco has found that IT customers measure IT service levels based on six perception they have of IT that are:

• Timely and consistent responses - are solutions within the required timeframe and are they the same no matter who within the IT function provides it.
• Quality and speed of responses - from the moment IT is brought into the loop until the first right solution is provided is the customer satisfied with the service.
• Chargeback is worth it - the customer feels service provided is worth the cost charged back to the department.
• Proactive problem solving - finding problems with systems and solutions before the IT customer does it and providing a good working solution.
• Training and application tools which help - having a formal training program and materials that help to train new users and provide IT customers with good problem solving tools
• Updates to systems and applications which are meaningful - whenever a change is implemented which requires an "upgrade" is there value to the IT customer or is just an "IT thing."

Some quick action steps that any IT group which interacts with remote customers are:

• Reducing call-handling time - As technology becomes more complex, walking novice customers through problem identification, recovery procedures or checking detailed settings can take time and increase customer frustration. Tools need to be implemented that ease this process.
• Increasing first-interaction closure rates - When agents are able to instantly "see" error situations without having to walk through a tedious scripts closure are speed up.
• Deflecting phone interactions - Allowing customers to communicate effectively in their channel of choice is critical to improving IT Service Management levels. As Generation X and Y age into the target demographic of more industries, understanding their channel preferences means offering more options. Remote support offers the same capabilities via Email or a Web chat/collaboration session as a phone call.

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Cost Control Is Driven by Financial Crisis

Customer Measure of IT Service

Record Management

Client Server

Links

Metrics HandiGuide
ITSM
CIO Productivity Kit
IT Job Descriptions
2008 Salary Survey

Record Management Retention and Disposition Policy

Template comes in MS WORD format and is easily modified to meet the needs of enterprises of all sizes.  It comes with a dozen forms which can be used immediately to create a record retention and disposition schedule.

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Client Server
HandiGuide

The Client Server Management HandiGuide contains over 155 pages of practical ways to manage the Client Server operating environment. The Client Server Management HandiGuide is available in both PDF and WORD 2007 and WORD 2003 formats.

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