Meaningful Metrics Online

Demonstrating
Service Desk Value

Through More
Meaningful Metrics
Written by
Daniel Wood, Head of Research, Service Desk Institute
In collaboration with
Table of Contents
Introduction
Key Findings
Part One Demonstrating Value
1. Which of the following performance metrics do you currently measure?
2. What one metric is most important to the Service Desk?
3. Who is responsible for producing/measuring Service Desk metrics and reporting on them?
4. How often do you produce Service Desk metrics reports?
5. Do you communicate/publish your metrics targets?
6. To whom do you present your Service Desk metrics?
7. Do customers/end users ask to see metrics reports?
8. Sharing metrics with the business has helped to improve the Service Desks relationship with the business
9. Does the business make decisions based on the metrics you produce?
Part Two Metrics and the Business
10
1. What metrics/information does your business ask you for?
10
2. What one metric is most important to the business?
11
3. What information does your business want to see you produce more of?
11
4. Which of these cost based metrics do you currently measure?
12
5. Which, if any, of these 5 business value metrics do you currently measure?
12
Part Three Business Value Metrics
13
Presenting Business Value Metrics
14
Moving Beyond the Basics Delivering True Business Value
15
Part Four Metrics Best Practice
16
The SDI 17 best practice metrics
16
Displaying Metrics Information SDC best practice guidelines
16
Why do Metrics Matter?
22
Conclusion
23
Part Five Interviews
24
DEMONSTRATING SERVICE DESK VALUE THROUGH MORE MEANINGFUL METRICS
Introduction
Welcome to the SITS13 The Service Desk & IT Support Show white paper produced in collaboration with
SDI and Cherwell Software. The motivation for this white paper started with an understanding that metrics
have always been a vital component of our Service Desks. Since their very genesis, Service Desks have sought
ways to understand their performance and set targets. Today, the story of metrics is one of reporting on a
wide-range of performance measures, each designed to demonstrate that the Service Desk is delivering value
and quality to their organisation. Metrics also provide management with the quantitative data they need to
make accurate and reasoned decisions there is widespread adherence to the mantra that you cant manage
what you cant measure. However, in the IT world of today it is more than just the ability to manage, it is
increasingly about value and providing metrics to substantiate this to your organisation.
This is a research report of two halves: the first is a state of nation survey, which offers a view of metrics right
here and now. What metrics are important to Service Desks? How are they using metrics in their everyday
Service Desk life? Who are they sharing metrics information with and why? It also looks to the future: what
should we be looking at now to ensure we stay relevant and meaningful in the years and decades to come?
Which business related metrics are offering fresh insights and perspectives? What tools are available now to
achieve this? This white paper will reveal the answers and aims to prepare you for the future.
The second half provides additional best practice metrics guidance from the Service Desk industrys leading
authority, the Service Desk Institute, accompanied by interviews with the respondents to our online survey.
Executive Summary
This white paper identifies the range and use of metrics today in the Service Desk industry. The results for this
survey, which ran in January and February 2013, were obtained from an online survey sent to more than 5,000
ITSM professionals. Additional evidence and opinion was gleaned from personal interviews conducted with
Service Desk professionals and consultants by the author - their insights provide valuable context to the
quantitative data displayed in this white paper.
This research study reveals there is a widespread acceptance and adoption of metrics, and that quantitative
information is playing a vital role in the decision making process. It is also shown that many Service Desks
have adopted a variety of industry best practice metrics, but there is a wide range of opinion on which metric
is the most important. This can be explained by the fact that every Service Desk is different and seeks a range
of information to enable it to make important decisions surrounding resourcing, service delivery and customer
satisfaction. The interviews reveal that Service Desk professionals are interested in enhancing and broadening
the range of metrics they measure and report on and are keen to produce information of interest to the
business: there is a clear desire to engage and work with the business to drive performance forward.
We also see that metrics are changing the way organisations work by making information available to a wider
range of people than ever before. It is becoming clear that adoption of business value metrics will form a key
component of the transition from traditional Service Desks towards business service centres.
Key Findings
The most important metric to both the Service Desk and the Business: resolved within SLA
The business wants to see more information on performance against SLAs
The most common metric businesses ask for is resolved within SLA
For most Service Desks, the Service Desk Manager is responsible for producing metrics reports
Service Desk reports are most frequently produced on a monthly basis
Metrics reports are usually presented to senior management
Only 28 per cent of customers ask to see metrics reports
53 per cent believe sharing metrics reports has improved the Service Desks relationship with the business
50 per cent of businesses make decisions based on metrics
The most common cost based metric is cost of IT operation
40 per cent of respondents do not currently measure any business value metrics
Part One
Demonstrating Value
1. Which of the following performance metrics do you currently measure? (Choose all that apply)
Metric
Number of incidents and service requests
92
% of incidents resolved within SLA
65
Incident resolution time
63
Average time to respond
54
Backlog/open incidents
53
First contact resolution rate
47
Abandon rate
43
Comparison of SLA goals to actuals
42
Average resolution time by priority
25
Average resolution time by incident category
20
Re-opened incident rate
17
Remote control and self-help usage
14
Hierarchical escalations
13
Functional escalations
10
Cost per incident or service request
10
Total cost of ownership
Relative cost per incident per channel
None
The above 17 measures are taken from SDIs international best practice standard. The standard, created in
collaboration with industry experts from across the globe, prescribes the metrics the industry should measure
in order to deliver value to the business and drive performance. A comprehensive guide to these 17 measures
is included in part four of this white paper.
The results to this question reveal that 92 per cent of Service Desks are currently measuring the number of
incidents and service requests received. We would expect this metric to be the most ubiquitous as without it,
the Service Desk would be unable to resource effectively or ensure it was operating at its correct capacity.
The number of incidents and service requests signifies, in very broad terms, the work the Service Desk gets
through on a daily basis trended over time this metric will reveal if the Service Desk is becoming busier and
if more or less resource is needed to respond to customer interactions in a timely
fashion.
In todays
Second on the list is percentage of incidents resolved within SLA. This metric is the
measure of the Service Desks adherence to the contract that exists between the
Service Desk and the business. It is this metric that demonstrates whether the Service
Desk is delivering on its contractual agreements, and is of great interest to the Service
Desk and the business as both have a vested interest. For many Service Desks, this
metric along with customer satisfaction is their key performance indicator.
Rounding out the top three is incident resolution time with 63 per cent of
respondents choosing this option. As with incidents resolved within SLA, this metric
enables Service Desks to understand how long they are taking to resolve incidents
and thus can make effective decisions surrounding areas such as resourcing,
performance, and service improvement amongst others.
competitive
economy every
Service Desk
should know its
cost base and seek
to make itself
more effective and
productive.
HOWARD KENDALL,
FOUNDER, SDI
Interestingly, all the cost-based metrics feature in the bottom four, with only 10 per
cent measuring the cost per call or service request. This low percentage marries with SDIs own historical
research that highlights only a small percentage of Service Desks understand their cost per call or email. Many
observers find it implausible that so few Service Desks measure these metrics given that spending and costs
are constantly under the financial microscope. The answer for this low figure, as supported by the evidence
from our interviewees, is that Service Desks find it very difficult to get a firm handle on their costs, although
many would like to have a better understanding. A simple formula for calculating cost-based metrics is
included in part four of this white paper.
4
Part One: Demonstrating Value

2. What one metric is most important to the Service Desk? (Select one only)
Metric
Resolved within SLA
24
Customer satisfaction
19
First Time Fix Rate/First Contact Resolution
13
Average Time to Respond
11
Number of incidents
Number of open incidents
Cost based metrics (cost of operation, cost per call etc.)
Average resolution time
Availability of services
Number of incidents resolved
Abandon rate
Number of incidents per service
Number of incidents escalated to problems
As shown, resolved within SLA and customer satisfaction topped the list of the most important metrics for the
Service Desk. Some of the comments that accompanied these two metrics are that resolved within SLA was
the ultimate assessment of Service Desk performance as it demonstrated the ability to respond effectively and
enables users to get back to work quickly and efficiently.
For customer satisfaction, it was considered the combination of all other metrics if performance was strong
across a range of metrics, customer satisfaction therefore would be good as well. As one respondent noted, it
is the customer who passes the overall judgement about the service that is provided.
Rounding out the top three is First Time Fix Rate/First Contact Resolution (these are incidents that are
resolved whilst speaking to the user and without having to ask for additional help or assistance). One of the
comments for this metric is that it was the most important measure for the Service Desk as it depicted the
cheapest method of support to the business and is the most cost effective, whilst also ensuring maximum user
productivity.

3. Who is responsible for producing/measuring Service Desk metrics and reporting on them? (Select one only)
Job title
Service Desk Manager
29
Multiple individuals
24
Other, please enter role
10
Service Delivery Manager
10
Service Desk Team Leader
IT Manager
Not one single person
Service Desk Analyst
Business Relationship Manager
The most popular option was Service Desk Manager, which is a result we would expect given it is them who,
in many cases, have overall control, visibility and responsibility for the Service Desk operation. However, the
results above also show there are often multiple individuals involved in creating metrics reports. This will
mostly be where individuals have different areas of responsibility or the reporting function might be too timeconsuming for one person on their own. One of the Service Desks biggest issues with their Service Desk
solution is that it is difficult and laborious to extract the information and data required to produce metrics
reports.
The results also show that the responsibility for producing metrics reports fall to people not included in the
above categories. For those who selected the other option, the job titles include the following:
Customer Support Manager

Knowledge and Reporting Manager
Awareness and Service Improvement Team
Knowledge Manager
Customer Service Manager
Head of IT
Problem and Reporting Analyst
IT Contractors
Service Support Manager
Service Delivery Coordinator
Operations Manager

4. How often do you produce Service Desk metrics reports? (Select one only)
Frequency
On an ad-hoc basis
10
Daily
11
Weekly
27
Fortnightly
Monthly
46
Quarterly
Every 6 months
SDIs Service Desk standards recommend that metrics reports are produced on a monthly basis and
disseminated as far and wide throughout the business as possible. The results above show that monthly is the
most common frequency, although over a quarter of respondents produce metrics reports on a weekly basis.
Of course, the variety and range of information may vary in the monthly and weekly report and may be shared
amongst different groups. For example, the weekly report may just be used within the Service Desk to
highlight that weeks performance and where it has hit or missed targets. The monthly report may delve into
more detail, include additional and a broader range of metrics, and may be presented to and with a different
audience in mind.
As with all metrics, the key is to consider how the reports are used and what decisions can be made on the
strength of the available data. Many long-term strategic decisions can only be made with a credible amount
of historical data trended over time.
5. Do you communicate/publish your metrics targets?

Every metric the Service Desk records should have a target or goal attached to it. Without a target, it is
difficult to accurately gauge performance and trigger alerts if certain metrics are about to breach targets.
Targets should be intelligent they should be reviewed and adjusted in line with Service Desk performance and aspirational but not to the point that they damage morale if they are consistently missed. Used correctly,
targets can be a great motivator and provide something tangible for the whole team to aim for.
The results show that just two-thirds of Service Desks communicate and publish their targets. Targets provide
an easy way to assess Service Desk performance and are helpful in making sense of data.
It is troubling that 32 per cent of Service Desks do not communicate metrics targets. The Service Desk needs
to be open and visible if it is to become a trusted business partner.
32%
68%

6. To whom do you present your Service Desk metrics? (Choose all that apply)
Audience
IT Director
46
General senior management
44
Internal customers
30
Just within IT
30
Executive team
28
Just within the Service Desk
27
CIO
21
Internal/external customers
16
External customers
It is interesting that just under a third of the overall responses (30 per cent) indicated that metrics reports are
only shared within IT and 27 per cent said just within the Service Desk. This raises interesting questions about
who the data is produced for and the level of interest audiences have in what is presented. Many Service
Desks would say that internal and/or external customers are not interested in seeing Service Desk metrics.
This might be true, but Service Desks should consider what information the customer is maybe interested in
and how to present that information.
Part three of this white paper looks to the future of Service Desk metrics and examines the metrics that will
provide the business with a clear understanding of Service Desk performance and how the Service Desk adds
value to the business. For metrics to evolve and for the Service Desk to form tighter business relationships,
metrics need to offer information the business, its employees and its customers find genuinely interesting and
useful. Sharing this information will help to drive engagement levels, and it will be increasingly important for
all parties to have visibility of relevant and important Service Desk information. This will move the Service
Desk forward and break down the barriers that currently confine it.
7. Do customers/end users ask to see metrics reports?
28%
72%
Following on from question six, the majority of customers/end users are not interested in seeing Service Desk
reports. The reason for this could be because of a general lack of engagement with the user population, or as
explained, perhaps the Service Desk does not currently produce information that is useful and/or of interest
to its customers.

8. Sharing metrics with the business has helped to improve the Service Desk's relationship with the
business
2%
15%
10%
35%
38%
In essence, this is the crux of why the Service Desk wants to share information with the business it is keen to
improve its relationship and become a trusted business partner. As shown, by sharing information, 53 per cent
of Service Desks believe it has helped to improve the Service Desks relationship with the business. This is an
encouraging result and demonstrates the benefits that can be realised through communicating metrics in the
correct way. It also shows there is a level of demand and interest for metrics from the business and that the
business is keen to obtain insight into the Service Desks performance. It is vital for Service Desks to
constantly and consistently engage to get closer to the business and to create opportunities to share
feedback and recommendations.
Also of significance is the 35 per cent who said they are unsure. These respondents are not certain that
sharing information is having any discernible benefits. For Service Desks in this position, it is worth
considering how information is shared and whether there is any support or guidance available to help the
business make sense of it is the business asking for certain information or is the Service Desk simply
providing information it thinks the business will find useful? This is an important question to answer as real
improvements in the business/Service Desk relationship will only come when there are clear communication
channels and an inherent understanding of the demands from both parties.
9. Does the business make decisions based on the metrics you produce?
50%
50%
A clear divide, and an important result as it demonstrates that only half of businesses are using Service Desk
metrics as a basis for decision making. However, it is important to note that the information provided by the
Service Desk is helping to improve the decision making process. One of the most important business
decisions based on metrics is resourcing. Many Service Desks rely on metrics to help make the business case
for more staff or further investment.
Part Two
Metrics and the Business
Part one of this white paper focused on the Service Desks ability to demonstrate its
value and share this information with the business part two moves on to the next
step, which is to examine metrics from a business perspective. The business may be
interested in the same metrics the Service Desk currently measures or may want
measurements to help the business increase its understanding and make key
decisions.
1. What metrics/information does your business ask you for? (Please check all that apply)
These results show there is a strong business demand for metrics with only 14 per cent stating the business
does not ask for any metrics. The chart above identifies that the business is primarily interested in the Service
Desks performance, with 80 per cent of respondents selecting this option. Second on the list is customer
satisfaction, a key performance measure for the Service Desk as it is a true litmus test of the service provided
to customers. These results show that the business is interested in understanding what customers think of the
service delivered by the Service Desk. Often, KPIs will provide a useful accompaniment to customer
satisfaction if customer satisfaction is low one month, this may correlate with a corresponding increase in
call volumes and/or a lower first contact resolution rate.
This will become more and more important as

technology is in almost all products and
services. Service Desk data shows what
outcomes are being implemented and can lead
to service improvements.
HOWARD KENDALL, FOUNDER, SDI
10
Part Two: Metrics and the Business

2. What one metric is most important to the business? (Select one only)
Metric
Resolved within SLA
25
Customer satisfaction
19
Cost based metrics (cost of support operation, cost per call etc.)
18
Availability of services
11
Average resolution time
Number of incidents/service requests
First Time Fix Rate
Lost service hours
Abandon rate
Backlog data
This question produced some interesting results. The top two choices are the same the Service Desk chose as
the most important metrics to them. Thus, there is a unity and common understanding of the important
measures. However, 18 per cent of respondents stated that cost based metrics were the most important
measure to the business, whereas for the Service Desk, this was the seventh most popular option. Clearly, the
business has a different expectation and looks for different measures to understand the performance of the
Service Desk. That being said, it is also true that the business, like the Service Desk, looks at adherence to
SLAs and the service delivered to customers as the key measures of Service Desk performance.
3. What information does your business want to see you produce more of? (Please choose the most
important option only)
Clearly there is a demand from the business for performance based metrics, and it is keen to understand if
the Service Desk is meeting its agreed SLAs. Following closely behind is customer satisfaction the business
wants to understand if it has a satisfied user population and if there is a good level of service delivered by the
Service Desk.
Some comments include:
Actually, the business is not particularly interested - it is us as a department that are interested in our own
performance and define what we believe is good for the business.
The business is unsure what they want and what their requirements are.
Marketing and sales Balance of workload User tips Cant get them to tell me Breakdown of incidents
11
Part Two: Metrics and the Business

4. Which of these cost based metrics do you currently measure? (Please check all that apply)
It is encouraging that 91 per cent of respondents measure cost based metrics in some form. The cost of the
IT operation is the most popular cost based metric as this is where the Service Desk budget is derived from
and includes every cost associated with delivering service. For those that do not measure this cost, we can
assume the responsibility for this function sits outside of IT, and it could be the case that the Service Desk
does not have visibility of its operating budget.
Correlating closely with results in part one of this white paper, it is shown that only a small percentage of
respondents measure cost per email, but many more measure the cost per call. A result of this difference is that
it becomes very difficult to assess the most cost effective channel for support. For example, by not measuring
cost per channel, the Service Desk would have difficulty justifying investment in new technology such as live
chat or social media as would not have a clear understanding if this offered a cheaper way of providing support.
This is especially true for Service Desks that look to offer self-service and self-help until you know the cost for
each of your contact channels, it becomes very difficult to create a comprehensive business plan.
5. Which, if any, of these 5 business value metrics do you currently measure? (Please check all that apply)
The metrics included above move beyond the realm of traditional performance metrics they look at the real
value the Service Desk delivers to the business and the cost when IT fails. 37 per cent measure the business
impact of IT failure and along with lost IT service hours and lost business hours, these metrics provide a true
depiction of the value of the Service Desk operation. It is encouraging that 60 per cent of Service Desks are
measuring business value metrics as in the long term, this will help to bridge the gap between the Service
Desk and the business as they reach a mutual understanding regarding the metrics that are important and
useful to both parties. More discussion of business value metrics is included in part three of this white paper.
12
Business Value Metrics
Part Three
Traditional metrics have focused on telling the business how good the Service Desk is
by detailing the number of calls answered, first time fix rate, incidents resolved within
SLA, and a diverse array of many other metrics. Business value metrics should be
comprised of any measures that will be beneficial to the business and provide a clear
idea of performance and value.
Introducing business metrics can be a huge leap of faith as they move beyond measures of how well the IT
department is doing. Business value metrics place ITs business performance front and centre. Statistics such
as how many business hours have been lost due to IT faults can be disconcerting and is perhaps something
that most Service Desks are not comfortable sharing. However, it is expected that more and more businesses
will want access and visibility to these types of metric as they provide a crucial way to ascertain the value of
the Service Desk and its place within the organisation.
Business value metrics also provide real benefit for the Service Desk as they offer tangible data to support
and augment business decisions. Justifications for extra budget or resource will be much more robust if
supported by business value metrics. The idea is not to use the data to hide or disguise but to use these
measures as a platform to introduce future improvements and advancements. It is clear there is a need to
move beyond us and them: IT acts as a partner to and enabler for the business. Communicating value and
metrics in a way that the business understands is a critical step in improving this relationship. Understand
what the business needs in terms of information; ask what information would be useful to it. Establishing
answers to these questions is a crucial step in building a bond between the business and the Service Desk.
What are business value metrics?

The metrics below offer some indication of the type of metrics that should be considered when exploring the
business value metrics.
Lost IT service hours

This metric is important because it provides the business with a clear indication of for how long IT services
were unavailable to the business. This is an example of a metric that provides real value and insight to the
business and will provide clear indications of performance. It will also provoke debate and discussion
surrounding why hours were lost and what actions can be taken to prevent lost hours in the future.
Lost business hours

This provides a fuller picture of the impact of IT failure. Of course, not all businesses are entirely dependent
on IT to function and operate. Like lost service hours, this metric provides the business with a clear
understanding of the importance IT plays in its organisation. Lost business hours can then be further
scrutinised to ascertain exactly how much revenue was lost due to IT failures.
13
Part Three: Business Value Metrics

Business Impact
This goes beyond the traditional metrics of saying how good the service provided actually is. By
understanding that different areas of the business have different levels of importance and can be affected to a
greater or lesser degree by IT failure, the Service Desk starts to create a mature and business focused view on
the value it provides to the business. The example table below offers one such way to calculate the relative
importance of each area of the business, and in turn, calculates the impact of lost IT availability.
Example: Note each IT service is weighted according to its business importance/value.
IT Services
Weighting
Lost minutes
Impact Rating
Website (external)
20%
300
6000
Server availability
50%
10
500
Email
15%
200
3000
Intranet
10%
30
300
Telephony
5%
350
1750
As the table shows, the biggest business impact was that the website was unavailable. However, even though
the server was only down for 10 minutes across the month, by virtue of it having the highest weighting, it was
accountable for an impact of 500. Looking at the business impact of the failure of each service allows you to
understand that not all IT services are created equal and some have a much more marked and noticeable
impact than others.
Risk of missing SLA targets

One of the traditional metrics included in SDIs Service Desk Certification performance measures criteria is
percentage of incidents fixed within SLA. This is a reactive metric as it looks at past events, and while this
hindsight can be useful in planning future improvements, being proactive allows visibility before the event.
The risk of missing SLA targets allows the business to prepare for the potential of missed targets and plan
accordingly. If SLAs are going to be missed because of change, this can be explained to the business. Some
of these changes will be unavoidable, but to strengthen the business and Service Desk relationship, its
important to show that IT is making the business aware.
Some targets might be missed because of lack of resource. In this instance, this metric becomes not just
about sharing information with the business but actually provides a critical opportunity to ask the business for
extra resource to try to prevent targets from being missed.
Presenting Business Value Metrics

Presenting metrics in isolation can be misleading and can distort the realities of the service being delivered.
The example graph below shows a different story when different aspects of service are compared, enabling
the Service Desk to better review service quality and amend processes and procedures based on statistical
data, which will contribute to an organisations drive for continual service improvement.
14
Moving Beyond the Basics Delivering True Business Value

The very first table of this white paper clearly shows the preoccupation of Service
Desks to provide information relating to look how good we are! The focus on
providing data to demonstrate business value delivered by IT via the Service Desk is
negligible. Obviously it is important to show that IT and the Service Desk is effective
and consistent, but ultimately, business management and stakeholders are
increasingly interested in the business value provided. If the services provided do not
help the business to be more efficient and productive, there is no value to them, and
the business will look to alternatives.
Current Service Desk metrics are almost exclusively focused on how IT and the Service Desk are run, that they
are efficient and productive. There are increasing requirements to provide metrics that identify information
that can contribute to positive business outcomes as this is what senior business executives care about not
how quickly the phone was answered.
For example, a leading insurance company has started the journey to deliver business value reporting via the
Service Desk, whereby the information they provide clearly shows the monetary implications to specific
business units due to systems downtime. Based on agreed business criteria, reports show the impact of lost
systems availability and financial implications to the business. With this focus, the company can better analyse
how a service is designed and compare how a service is actually operating versus how the business needs it to
operate in order for it to meet its business plans.
Each organisation will have individual requirements for business value metrics and reporting, but increasingly,
more information is becoming available from which to create a framework. A key issue will be the ease with
which it is possible for organisations to collate, extract and present this information. However, base
recommendations will be to identify three to five core metrics to measure results relating to services,
financials and people across the business, and to deliver information via business value dashboards and
reporting that can be easily accessed and consumed by business stakeholders and users.
This initiative is about ensuring that through the Service Desk, IT is better able to present more balanced
information about the value of the IT services provided.
15
Part Four
Metrics Best Practice
This section of the white paper contains a description of SDIs 17 best practice
metrics. These metrics form a part of the performance measures criteria for SDIs
international Service Desk Certification (SDC) standard. This standard, revised every
three years, is created by industry professionals from across the globe. It aims to
provide Service Desks with a set of standards that will raise the performance of their
Service Desk: the performance measures component of the standard highlights the
key metrics that should be measured to create a comprehensive analysis of Service
Desk activities.
The SDI 17 best practice metrics
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
Number of incidents and service requests

Abandon Rate
Incident resolution time
First Contact Resolution Rate (FCR)
Percentage of incidents resolved within Service Level Agreement
Re-opened incident rate
Backlog Management
Hierarchic escalations (management)
Functional escalations (re-assignment)
Average resolution time by priority
Average resolution time by incident category
Comparison of SLA goals to actual targets
Remote control and self-help monitoring measured against goals
Total cost of ownership
Relative cost per incident by channel
Cost per incident or service request
What do these metrics mean?

1 Number of incidents and service requests
This measures how many incidents or service requests the Service Desk receives. This can also be broken
down by channel, i.e. phone, email, live chat, in-person etc.
Why its important

Measuring the volume of calls enables you to create an effective and robust staffing model; allow you to
see when your busy periods are by highlighting peaks and troughs; ensure you have enough resources;
and understand through what channels your calls are coming in from.
2 Average time to respond

The standard says: The Service Desk routinely and consistently collects and analyses the average time it
takes to acknowledge an incident or service request by channel or method (phone, e-mail, user-logged, live
chat, SMS, fax, etc.)
Why its important

Knowing how long it takes to respond is a key indicator of how well your Service Desk is performing.
Working with this metric and breaking down time to respond by analyst or channel will enable you to
make improvements and identify training needs.
16
Part Four: Metrics Best Practice

3 Abandon Rate
The Service Desk routinely and consistently collects and analyses data about the percentage of user
telephone calls that are terminated prior to establishing contact with an analyst.
Why its important

This is one of the most important metrics because this informs you as to the availability of your Service
Desk to respond to customers. Understanding the abandon rate will help to inform staffing and resource
management, and will allow you to better plan for peaks and troughs.
4 Incident resolution time

The Service Desk routinely and consistently collects data about the average time taken to resolve incidents
and service requests and compares it to the goals/objectives detailed in the Service Level Agreement(s)
(SLAs).
This metric looks at how quickly you resolve incidents and compares these resolution figures to the goals in
the SLA.
Why its important

Understanding the number or percentage of incidents resolved within each priority category offers a
clear indication of how your Service Desk is performing against the obligations and agreements you have
with your customers.
5 First Contact Resolution Rate (FCR)

The Service Desk routinely consistently collects and analyses the percentage of incidents and service
requests that are resolved to the customers satisfaction during the initial call or electronic exchange
between end-users and the Service Desk excluding the entitlement procedure.
This metrics is fundamentally different to first level (or line) fix rate, which concerns incidents resolved at first
level (Service Desk) without being escalated to a resolver team (2nd and 3rd line).
Why its important

Knowing the first time fix rate is important as this will give you an understanding of the competency
level of your Analysts and the type and difficulty of the incidents they grapple with.
6 Percentage of incidents resolved within Service Level Agreement

The Service Desk routinely and consistently collects data about the percentage of incidents and service
requests resolved within the timeframes specified in formal service level agreements.
This measure allows you to understand how you are performing against the agreements you have with your
customers. Service Levels are often classed by priority (P1, P2, P3 etc.) with P1 being the highest priority with
the lowest agreed time to fix.
Why its important

Measuring this metric allows you to ascertain whether the priority levels are correct or if theyre
unobtainable. For example, if you are consistently breaching priority levels, it could be the case that the
agreed resolution times need to be changed, or that you require more resources to make them
achievable.
7 Re-opened incident rate

The Service Desk routinely and consistently collects data about the percentage of closed incidents and
service requests subsequently re-opened for additional follow-up.
This will benefit from some analysis on what incidents have been re-opened to gain a better understanding of
why the re-open has occurred.
Why its important

Understanding why incidents have been re-opened is important because it identifies if there is a training
need to explain why incidents were not closed in a satisfactory way. Examining re-opened incidents also
helps to inform the process for closing incidents. If lots of incidents are being re-opened, it suggests
they are not being closed correctly if the reverse is true, it suggests the fixes provided are satisfactory
or that incidents are not being re-opened when they should be (its being logged as a new incident) or
that customers do not have a large enough window to offer their opinion on whether the fix was
adequate.
17

8 Backlog Management
The Service Desk routinely and consistently collects data about the total number of open incidents or
service requests compared to their age.
Its worth considering assigning someone to monitor the backlog data to see why calls are still outstanding
and how they will be resolved. This is called the TRIAGE process.
Why its important

Understanding what calls are still open and why is an incredibly useful process as it allows you to identify
if calls are being closed correctly; if calls are being escalated correctly; what action needs to be taken to
resolve the open incidents; and why these incidents have not been resolved thus far. Backlog data can
also identify if there is a lack of resource on the Service Desk.
9 Hierarchic escalations (management)

The Service Desk routinely and consistently collects data about the percentage of incidents or service
requests escalated to management in order to avoid a developing SLA breach.
Why its important
Its important to measure how many incidents are escalated to management as this will help to identify if
there are any training issues. It will also allow you to see how much resource is being taken by
management fixing incidents and handling customer complaints and feedback.
10 Functional escalations (re-assignment)

The Service Desk routinely and consistently collects data about the percentage of incidents, and service or
change requests transferred to a technical team with a higher level of expertise in order to avoid an SLA
breach developing.
Functional escalations are distinctly different from hierarchic escalations in that this type of escalation is to
another team, and not management. Functional escalations will be incidents that are passed to resolver teams
(2nd and 3rd line).
Why its important

Much like hierarchic escalation, functional escalation enables you to understand the number of incidents
passed to the resolver teams, and trends during a period of time. It will enable you to see if training
courses have had an effect on the number of escalations to resolver teams, and can be useful in
identifying future training needs. By manually looking through some of the incidents escalated, you will
begin to understand what incidents most commonly require external assistance and whether training for
the 1st line team will be beneficial.
11 Average resolution time by priority

The Service Desk routinely and consistently collects data about the average length of time taken to resolve
incidents analysed by their priority.
Why its important
This metric enables you to see if the priority categorisations are correct and if you are meeting your
targets on a regular basis. It is important to look carefully at the exceptions to understand why they have
breach and what can to done in the future to prevent them from breaching again.
12 Average resolution time by incident category

The Service Desk routinely and consistently collects data about the average time required to
process/resolve a user incident or service request based on incident or service request type.
This metric looks specifically at incidents that are resolved within the set delineations the Service Desk has
decided. These might typically include categories for password resets, e-mail problems, hardware errors, etc.
This metric is distinctly different from resolution by priority type.
Why its important

Measuring the resolution time by incident category allows you to identify the most common incidents
and how quickly they are resolved. Its important to look at the exceptions to see what incidents have
exceeded their goal or target time for resolution. Recording incidents by category also allows you to
build a list of the most common incidents your Service Desk attends to. Youll also be able to see what
type of incidents take the most time to resolve and which ones are quick fixes.
18

13 Comparison of SLA goals to actual targets
The Service Desk routinely and consistently collects data about its service level commitments and compares
it to its actual performance results.
Why its important
Many Service Desks live or die by their performance to SLA targets, and if the wider business is
interested in metrics, this is the one it tends to hone in on. From a management perspective, comparing
performance against SLA can be invaluable in helping to identify areas for improvement and
understanding strengths and weaknesses.
14 Remote control and self-help monitoring measured against goals

The Service Desk routinely and consistently collects data about the frequency that remote control tools are
used and the number of times that self-help tools assist in incident and service request resolution compared
against goals.
This can be a difficult metric to record. There are two ways to tackle this problem. Do some development work
to include a flag that analysts can tick if they have used remote support. For self help you could have a tick box
for users to tick to indicate whether the article/guide/FAQ was useful or not. Developing this further, a rating
system could be adopted, allowing users to make comment on the quality and accuracy of the information.
Why its important

Measuring remote control usage is vital as it provides a real insight into the abilities of your analysts.
Also, who is using remote support? What incidents is it most successful at fixing? What customers can
remote support are there some that refuse to allow analysts to connect to their machine in this way?
Measuring who uses remote support identifies any nascent training needs if its not being used, why
not? Do analysts know how to use it? These are revealing findings and will help to train and educate
your Service Desk.
For self-help, its important to understand the effectiveness and quality of the information you have
made available as this will help to refine and shape future articles and information. Also, you want to be
able to identify if this information is being used and whether more marketing needs to be done to help
promote the availability of self-help to the user population.
15 Total cost of ownership

The Service Desk routinely and consistently collects data about the total support cost of each contact
and/or customer.
Total cost of ownership refers to the total cost of running the Service Desk.
Why its important

Quite simply, its vital to understand how much the Service Desk costs to run. Only through
understanding these figures can you discover whether there is the money available for increasing
resources or increasing spending in other areas. Measuring, tracking and trending the cost of ownership
will enable you to ascertain if your Service Desk has made any cost or efficiency savings.
16 Relative cost per incident by channel

The Service Desk routinely and consistently collects data about the relative cost of Service Desk operations
by channel i.e. telephone, email, live chat, SMS, fax, walk-ins etc.
A simple method for calculating costs:
Average Cost per call/per e-mail
This, along with cost per e-mail, is the essential metric to grapple if you want to determine the value of your
Service Desk, yet, as revealed in part one of this white paper, only 10 per cent of Service Desks measure this
metric.
Things to consider:
To give an accurate and fair measurement the cost of second and third line support should be included.
Determine which measures should be incorporated to give the final figure. For example, some intangible measures
should be given a weighting and added to the final total such as call waiting time or informal peer support.
You will also need to know your staff costs to get an accurate handle of call costs.
19

A method for calculating cost per call/per e-mail
Some companies use the actual Service Desk budget to calculate cost per call. In essence, they include every
cost involved in running the Service Desk and divide this by the number of calls received. This method is a
little too simplistic for what were really looking for in the cost per call metric, but it does highlight why a
comparison of metrics is so difficult.
Others will include every cost involved in taking the call. They will include postage costs if hardware needs to
be replaced to. They might include the cost of using technicians or field agents. Some will include the cost
associated with the loss of productivity created by the user being on the telephone. This is why there is such a
high variation in the reporting of this metrics. This is a much more involved way of measuring the metric, but it
may also be more informative. If a value can be placed on productivity loss, it will be clear how vital the
Service Desk is to the operation of the business. If you can report that your desk saved x amount of
productivity, this will place your desk in a very strong position.
The Formula
There are lots of different ways this metric can be measured, but here is one of the best, all-encompassing ways:
The all-encompassing way
All costs
associated with
providing support
(including heating, lighting, rent,
salaries, hardware, software etc.)
number of
Analysts
number
of minutes
worked
Time taken to
resolve and
close an incident
Cost
per call
or email
Cost
per Analyst
per minute
Then...
Cost
per Analyst
per minute
Explanation
Ultimately, you want to understand your Service Desk staff cost, broken down into as small a unit as possible.
Your HR department can tell you all the components you will need to measure this: salary, benefits, heating,
lighting, equipment and any other measures that you think should be included. From this data, you can then
work out how much an Analyst costs to employ per minute.
Add to this figure the lifetime cost of software support including support and maintenance. You can split the
costs over three years to give you some idea of what it actually costs to run the systems.
You might want to add hardware costs and the cost of using second and third line (although of course, you
could have Analyst cost per call, second line cost per call etc.)
Adding up the above will give you the cost per call/e-mail per minute, which then needs to be multiplied by
the time duration of the call/e-mail.
Service Desks must know what

we can add to the business
potential to enhance and
expand further.
HOWARD KENDALL, FOUNDER, SDI
20

The simple way
Total salaries
of Service
Desk staff
number
of Analysts
number
of minutes
worked
Cost
per Analyst
per minute
Then...
Cost
per Analyst
per minute
Time taken to
resolve and
close an incident
Explanation
Cost
per call
or email
The formula is essentially the same, except the number of included costs is significantly reduced. While this
might give you a number that is less accurate, is does not mean that it will be less useful. Ultimately, whatever
measure you choose needs to provide you with an indication of whether your costs are going up or down
over time. Both of the suggested formulas will provide you with a stake in the ground and a useful
benchmark from which to analyse your support costs over a period of time.
Comment from Tony Ranson, Independent Consultant
Why do service desks find it difficult to measure cost-based metrics?
Im not sure Service Desks find it difficult to measure costs, but I think so few do because they have not yet
reached that level of maturity: its simply the case that they have not thought about costs yet. For many
Service Desks, the thought of measuring costs is like a new science, and the approach to measuring costs can
be overwhelming. What I would suggest is that service desks approach measuring costs by making a stake in
the ground, which is fundamental to see if you are getting better or worse. There is time to finesse and
improve over time through continual service improvement.
17 Cost per incident or service request

The Service Desk routinely and consistently collects data about the cost per incident and service request of
the Service Desks operations (including people, support infrastructures, and overheads).
For this metric, you can use the same formulas as for cost per incident per channel, except in this instance,
youre looking at the total cost of incidents and service requests.
Displaying Metrics Information SDC best practice guidelines
The graph below is a best practice method for displaying metrics data. The graph should contain data for a
12 month period; have a goal or target line; show the trend of the data; and be presented in a clear, concise
and consistent standard format. Metrics should be presented in a format acceptable and clear to the
business and adheres to corporate guidelines.
21
Why do Metrics Matter?

Service Desks need to understand the value they offer to their users and the business.
As the survey results show, adherence to SLA targets and customer satisfaction are
key metrics for Service Desks, and these metrics are true determinants of business
value. The other component of value is the cost aspect. The survey reveals that a
large percentage of Service Desks do measure some aspects of their costs and rely
on these measures to truly understand the value for money they offer to the business.
Why is it important to understand the value of IT to the business? If you dont know your value, its much
harder to justify any staff or budget increases for your Service Desk. If Service Desks are unable to measure
and communicate their value, the stigma of IT being a cash drain will remain in vogue. Furthermore, with
companies tightening their belts, reducing spending on IT might be near the top of the cull list. If companies
dont know the value of IT, it will be more likely that Service Desk budgets will be cut in preference to areas of
the business that do provide tangible evidence of their value.
Why do Service Desks find it difficult to establish their business value? Firstly, they find it hard to establish
what metrics they should be measuring, how to measure them, and what they should do with the results.
Secondly, the majority of Service Desks are concerned with reporting how they spend money, not on
determining the value that these expenditures actually provide. The good news is that fixes to these problems
are relatively straightforward: with a few simple metrics measurements, the business will have a much greater
understanding and appreciation of the Service Desks value.
Secondly, the Service Desk as its name implies is primarily concerned with delivering a service to its users
and customers. One of the ways to achieve this is to manage expectations by setting contracts in place. In
doing so, both parties know what they are expected to deliver and when the resolution can be expected.
Measuring this will demonstrate if these deadlines are consistently being met, and therefore, if a good service
is being delivered. If targets are consistently breached, this indicates there are some key problems that need
to be addressed as a matter of urgency if you are not measuring this data, you will not know if this is the
case.
The ultimate answer to the question of Why do metrics matter? is that if you dont know how much your
services cost or whether you deliver a good service that meets expectations, you can expect some tricky
times ahead. It has never been more important to demonstrate your value from a financial and customer
perspective.
22
Conclusion
It is clear from the survey results and the discussion of business value metrics that
metrics is a big Service Desk topic. Lots of debate exists around the most important
Service Desk measures and of course, these vary depending on a Service Desks
structure, goals and the types of organisation and users supported. The commonality
is found in the drive to demonstrate value: this explains why adherence to SLAs and
customer satisfaction featured so prominently on the list of metrics important to the
Service Desk and the business.
Service Desks today look to demonstrate or prove they provide value for money and that they can justify
further investment and expansion. Metrics play a crucial role in delivering this message as they offer tangible,
empirical evidence that the Service Desk is delivering a quality service. When so much of IT is difficult to
define and accurately cost, metrics play a crucial role.
It is also clear that metrics are evolving and maturing away from demonstrating performance to
demonstrating core business value. Understanding the role that IT plays in delivering value to the business
in terms of supporting users, ensuring availability and mitigating risk against IT failure are key
considerations, and we can expect businesses to look more and more towards tangible demonstration of
these values. It is heartening to find that so many Service Desks measure some metrics and that many of these
are considered industry best practice measurements it is these metrics that will provide the strong
foundations for future business value measurements.
23
Part Five
Interviews
Simon Middleyard,
Joint Head of Service and Infrastructure, Government Organisation
Simon is responsible for all aspects of IT service and desk side support and has been in post for 18 months.
He has a strong service management background having previously been a Service Desk Manager. His
Service Desk has experienced significant change in the 18 months that he has been in the role. In this time,
they have also implemented SLAs, event surveys and other KPIs. The service desk supports 1000 users.
The key metrics

18 months ago there were no metrics in place, and customers and the organisation had no expectations
around the level and quality of support they should receive from the Service Desk. This changed when the
Service Desk expanded from one to three Analysts. The Financial Director wanted metrics that would
demonstrate that the heavy investment in recruitment was worthwhile: essentially he was interested in
understanding if the Service Desk was offering value for money. As a result, Simon and his team implemented
SLAs with four priority levels and an event based survey sent to users after every call is closed. Prior to these
additions, the service desk did not have any metrics in place. Performance against SLA and customer
satisfaction provides the Business Director with a general flavour of the service provided.
Sharing metrics
Simons team share metrics on a weekly basis at their Wednesday morning meeting. During this meeting,
metrics are discussed, and on a monthly basis, these metrics are passed up to Director level. The Director is
primarily interested in if the Service Desk is missing SLA targets as this is their primary measure of Service
Desk performance. They also share customer satisfaction results graded on a 1-4 scale.
Cost based metrics

Currently, Simons team does not measure any cost based metrics. He thinks it would be difficult to create a
calculation as their tool has been developed in-house and does not currently record the information required.
He believes that Service Desks find it difficult to measure cost based metrics as often, they do not know
where to start. Simons team thinks it is able to demonstrate value through adherence to SLAs and customer
satisfaction, and these metrics help to justify the investment in additional staff.
David Lee,
Service Desk Team Leader, Northumbria Healthcare
David has worked on the Service Desk for the past six years. He started as a Service Desk Analyst before
moving into desktop support. He became Service Desk Team Leader two and a half years ago. His team
consists of six first line Analysts that support 9000 users.
The key metrics

Up until 2011, the service desk only used to measure the number of logged tickets and found that this met
many of its reporting objectives as it enabled the desk to understand the volume of work and resources
needed. The turning point came when David attended an SDI metrics event in Manchester. Hearing the
presenters and attendees experiences of metrics proved to be a real eye-opener for David, and he created a
suite of seventy five metrics. The key metrics for David and the ones that help him understand the service
desks performance are total contacts (number of incidents and service requests); average ticket turnaround
time; and resolved within SLA.
Sharing metrics
David creates a monthly metric report containing a selection of his seventy five metrics. This report contains
graphs and commentary and is distributed amongst the Service Desk team. Beyond this, the Head of
Department also receives a monthly report compiled from the data provided by each of the Team Leaders.
The author of this report decides which metrics to include, but of greatest interest to the business is the
performance against SLAs: indeed David notes the business is more concerned with adherence to SLA than
how busy they are and how many tickets they log. David noted that it can be difficult to create metrics reports
within their ITSM tool, although he has managed to automate many of the metrics included in his report.
Including other metrics would require delving into SQL.
24
Part Five: Interviews

Cost based metrics
Currently they do not measure any cost based metrics although David is interested in doing so. He would be
interested in some additional guidance as formulas he has looked at have been complicated and unwieldy.
Lauren Conrad,
Service Desk Coordinator, Lucidica
Lucidica are a managed service provider based in London. They support small companies typically with
between 1-50 employees. Established in 1999, Lucidica has grown its business by offering support with a
personal touch and strong customer service.
Lauren Conrad is a Service Desk Coordinator and looks after a team of seven Engineers she has been in the
role for the past two years.
The key metrics

Every morning, Lauren looks at the previous days open and closed calls and calls not started, which are jobs
logged but have had no action taken on them. The open and closed calls allow Lauren to see the backlog and
which calls she needs to assign an Engineer. There are two types of SLA, one for contract clients and the other
for ad hoc work. Lucidica also measures customer satisfaction by conducting a telephone interview with a
random selection of 20 per cent of their closed calls this allows her to identify if calls have been closed
correctly and resolved to the clients satisfaction.
Sharing metrics
Lucidica does not share metrics with clients as any problem areas are identified through account managers
and primary contacts. Clients dont tend to ask for metrics reports, and the business ethos is around building
relationships. However, Lucidica does produce an annual report for every client informing him/her of current
problem areas, current SLAs and call volumes.
Cost based metrics

Lucidica do not measure any specific cost based metrics although every Engineer records the time spent on
each job and an annual net rate bill is produced this allows Lucidica to understand the profitability of each
client and adjust resources as necessary. This report might also prompt changes to SLAs or highlight clients
that are having lots of problems.
Gary Adams,
Service Desk Manager, NHS Hertfordshire
Gary has worked on NHS Hertfordshires Service Desk for the past nine years and has been Service Desk
Manager for eight of those. The Service Desk supports 8,000 users and is open 365 days a year, 7.30 22.00.
The Service Desk has undergone a remarkable transformation during Garys time having progressed from a
log and flog desk with a First Time Fix (FTF) rate of 12 per cent to a current rate of more than 60 per cent.
The desk has also increased in size from four to fourteen people, and their user population has increased
along with their geographical scope.
The key metrics

On a daily basis Gary focuses on FTF rate, First Level Fix rate, SLA performance, Average Speed to Answer,
and total points of contact (total number of interactions). The Service Desk is currently averaging 12,000
points of contact per month. For Gary, First Level Fix was a really interesting metric as it enabled them to
discover how much the Service Desk could fix without escalating to second or third line.
The business is driven by what the Service Desk says is important. However, the business does focus on
response and resolution within SLA and the availability and uptime of hardware.
Cost based metrics

Gary has looked at cost based metrics but has not yet created any concrete measures. Gary thinks creating
25

cost based metrics is difficult but is interested to understand and learn from others who currently have these
measures in place. Going forward, Gary is aware that cost based metrics will be increasingly important as his
Service Desk will be asked to justify its value and demonstrate it has a clear understanding of costs.
Fiona Campbell,
IT Customer Services Manager, Customer Protection Agency
Fionas role covers all elements of internal support and some external support. She manages two desktop
engineers, five Help Desk Analysts and one Team Leader.
The key metrics

This was an interesting question for Fiona. Up until last year, Fiona had a strong focus on metrics and looked
to measures such as number of incoming contacts, calls handled, average response time, and quality of calls.
However, a new IT Director joined the organisation and advocated a different focus and approach and asked
Fionas team to spend less time on metrics. He believed that as long as the service was working, there was no
need to spend time measuring metrics. As a result, Fiona has moved away from metrics and instead relies on
customer feedback to assess how effectively her team is delivering support. Fortunately, customers are very
vocal and thus provide Fionas team with an honest and candid appraisal.
Fiona still measures metrics but does not report on them. She has found this difficult as metrics formed a key
component of the appraisal process and one-to-ones. Now, management is performed using gut feel rather
than empirical data. However, Fionas team only has fifteen per cent of its calls outstanding at the end of the
work day so this demonstrates to her that they are working effectively. She also receives positive feedback
from her customers, which to her, makes the job worthwhile.
Jason Kearney,
Service Delivery Manager, Orbit Services
Jason has been Service Delivery Manager at Orbit for the past 18 months. During this time, he has moved
the Service Desk function out of its previous position within the Customer Services team and into its own
department. The motivation for this was that the business was reporting bad feedback and lots of calls went
unanswered. The Service Desk has around 14 people, including first and second line. His team support
around 1,200 users with a large percentage being mobile workers.
The key metrics

Jasons key metrics are driven by the demands of the business. He focuses on availability, hardware requests
(volume and turnaround time) and SLA performance centred around time to restore services, fulfil requests
and time to resolve. Their current SLA performance is 90 per cent for incident management and around 95
per cent for request fulfilment. Jasons team also has a metric for training requests fulfilment with internal
training provided within 21 days of the request: they are currently hitting 90 per cent for this measure. A good
indicator of the increased performance of the Service Desk following its relocation from the Customer
Services was that the First Time Fix rate increased from 1 per cent to 50 per cent.
Sharing metrics
Metrics reports are produced on a monthly basis and are shared with the business. There is also a quarterly IT
strategy board meeting during which the business is asked what it wants from IT, and from these discussions,
a rolling two year plan is created. A good example of this feedback: the average speed to answer time was
increased from 20 seconds to 40 seconds as the business told the Service Desk it was happy to wait longer if
there was a better chance of incidents being resolved.
Cost based metrics

Currently, Orbits Service Desk does not measure any cost based metrics, but this is definitely something they
are looking at in the future.
26
Richard Haslam,
Service Desk Coordinator, Royal College of Physicians
Richards Service Desk is comprised of eight people, with two on the first line. They support 450 staff located
across thirteen sites. They handle 8,000 interactions a year. Richard has been in his current role for the last
three years.
The key metrics

For Richard, the metrics he focuses on are call to logging time (how long does it take for calls to be logged
into the system), time to close and performance against SLA. Beyond this, Richard drills deeper and looks for
what type of incidents are received and then takes the proactive approach of trying to minimise future
occurrence. He accomplishes this by identifying any training needs or if the hardware being used is faulty: by
taking this proactive approach, he is looking to minimise the volume of these incidents in the future.
Sharing metrics
Metrics are shared in a monthly report shared with the Head of Operations who then passes it on to the CTO
and other senior management. Senior management is interested in seeing if the Service Desk is meeting its
SLA targets, and Richard and his team keep on top of the SLAs by monitoring any SLA breaches and following
up on the reasons behind the failures. There is a strong development culture, and Richard and his team are
constantly looking at ways to improve.
Cost based metrics

Richard has calculated the cost per call and email by dividing the salaries of the team by the time it takes to
complete the work. Using this measure, he can calculate the cost of each piece of work and estimate how
much can be saved through education and training programmes. This measurement has provided Richard
with a stake in the ground so he can see if his support costs are changing over time. It has also helped to
move away from the perception that the Service Desk is a resource that can be infinitely consumed.
27
About Cherwell Software

Cherwell Software is one of the fastest growing IT service management
software providers. It has corporate headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo.,
U.S.A.; EMEA headquarters in Wootton Bassett, U.K.; and a global network of
expert partners. Cherwell Software is passionate about customer care and is
dedicated to creating innovative technology built upon yesterday values.
Its award-winning flagship product is Cherwell Service Management, a fully-integrated service management
software solution for IT and technical support professionals with out-of-the-box PinkVERIFY accredited ITIL
processes and wizard-driven customisation that allows customers to tailor the tool to match their processes
without writing any code. Cherwell Service Management offers unmatched flexibility in hosting and
concurrent licensing for low total-cost-of-ownership.
www.cherwell.com
About The Service Desk Institute (SDI)

Founded in 1988 by Howard Kendall, the Service Desk Institute (SDI) is the
leading authority on Service Desk and IT support related issues, providing
specialist information and research about the technologies, tools and trends of
the industry. It is Europes only support network for IT Service Desk
professionals, and its 800 organisation members span numerous industries.
Acting as an independent adviser, SDI captures and disseminates creative and innovative ideas for tomorrow's
Service Desk and support operation. SDI sets the best practice standards for the IT support industry and is
the conduit for delivering knowledge and career enhancing skills to the professional community, through
membership, training, conferences, events and its publication SupportWorld magazine. It also offers the
opportunity for international recognition of the support centre operation through its globally recognised
Service Desk Certification audit programme.
www.servicedeskinstitute.com
About SITS The Service Desk & IT Support Show

The show is comprised of an exhibition of the latest products, services and solutions
from some of the worlds leading suppliers, and a world-class education programme
including over 40 seminars, keynotes, briefings and discussions. With over 4,500
ITSM professional converging, its a great networking opportunity and there is no
charge to attend.
www.servicedeskshow.com
28
NOTES
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Demonstrating

Service Desk Value

Part One Demonstrating Value

1. Which of the following performance metrics do you currently measure?

2. What one metric is most important to the Service Desk?

4. How often do you produce Service Desk metrics reports?

5. Do you communicate/publish your metrics targets?

6. To whom do you present your Service Desk metrics?

7. Do customers/end users ask to see metrics reports?

Part Two Metrics and the Business

1. What metrics/information does your business ask you for?

2. What one metric is most important to the business?

4. Which of these cost based metrics do you currently measure?

5. Which, if any, of these 5 business value metrics do you currently measure?

Part Three Business Value Metrics

Presenting Business Value Metrics

Moving Beyond the Basics Delivering True Business Value

Part Four Metrics Best Practice

The SDI 17 best practice metrics

Displaying Metrics Information SDC best practice guidelines

Why do Metrics Matter?

Part Five Interviews

DEMONSTRATING SERVICE DESK VALUE THROUGH MORE MEANINGFUL METRICS

DEMONSTRATING SERVICE DESK VALUE THROUGH MORE MEANINGFUL METRICS

Number of incidents and service requests

% of incidents resolved within SLA

Incident resolution time

Average time to respond

First contact resolution rate

Comparison of SLA goals to actuals

Average resolution time by priority

Average resolution time by incident category

Re-opened incident rate

Remote control and self-help usage

Cost per incident or service request

Total cost of ownership

Relative cost per incident per channel

DEMONSTRATING SERVICE DESK VALUE THROUGH MORE MEANINGFUL METRICS

Part One: Demonstrating Value

Resolved within SLA

First Time Fix Rate/First Contact Resolution

Average Time to Respond

Number of open incidents

Cost based metrics (cost of operation, cost per call etc.)

Average resolution time

Number of incidents resolved

Number of incidents per service

Number of incidents escalated to problems

DEMONSTRATING SERVICE DESK VALUE THROUGH MORE MEANINGFUL METRICS

Part One: Demonstrating Value

Service Desk Manager

Other, please enter role

Service Delivery Manager

Service Desk Team Leader

Not one single person

Service Desk Analyst

Business Relationship Manager

Customer Support Manager

DEMONSTRATING SERVICE DESK VALUE THROUGH MORE MEANINGFUL METRICS

Part One: Demonstrating Value

5. Do you communicate/publish your metrics targets?

DEMONSTRATING SERVICE DESK VALUE THROUGH MORE MEANINGFUL METRICS

Part One: Demonstrating Value

General senior management