In the present global economic slowdown every internal entity within an organization has to operate with tight budgets and need to understand the financial constraints that they are operating under. The internal Helpdesk entity must think of itself as a business unit. How do you make the Helpdesk unit within an organization cost-effective? One of the most effective strategies is to embark on a proactive problem resolution exercise. For instance, all data related to past incidents and their fixes can be analyzed to identify the most common root causes and eliminate incidents before they actually happen and disrupt business activities. The following points help service managers take the Helpdesk activity to the next level: Manage the Helpdesk entity as a business unit Align the Helpdesk objectives with the business goals Inform the teams what the organization expects from them Make sure that all deliverables are met Produce clear, concise and coherent reports which relate to the business function Adhere to agreed service levels Perform regular audit and compliance activities needed to meet business or regulatory requirements Provide training to all staff and document all activities and processes performed within the Helpdesk entity Remember, that gone are the days when a service manager used to state that an internal Helpdesk function is an added value to the organization without attesting its ROI. Although, Helpdesk has plenty of intangible elements it can still has a valid business case and convince senior management that it is a necessary business function.
The GoToManage tool is a service that allows IT support staff manage IT resources remotely. The tool by Citrix Online is now available in three languages. Localized versions of GoToManage helps international organizations with geographically dispersed branches consolidate remote management services using one tool. The tool allows you to connect to unattended computers and servers, provide remote support services to your branch office users and IT teams. It also features monitoring capabilities. These include monitoring the health and performance of servers, taking an inventory of all hardware and software, track network usage and setting alerts when something breaks down. To learn more about GoToManage go here:
Create stunning presentations with Zoho's Show 3.0. The tool has what it takes to create and deliver attractive presentations while there's no need to carry with you any removable media, you just need an Internet connection – deliver presentations on the go. You can import presentations from different formats such as, PPTX and collaborate with remote users modifying the same presentation. It could be easily used as a backup means in case your local presentation goes haywire! Try for yourself Zoho's tool here.
Keeping an inventory of all software licenses is not just an exercise that helps organizations controlling software costs and adjusting future purchases, but it is a necessity for compliance requirements. A business may fail a software license audit and is asked to pay hefty sums, let alone the potential embarrassment if the news goes public! It is a good business practice to have an inventory of all software licenses used on the company's network, servers, desktops, laptops and mobile devices. Some software inventory tools provide additional functionality that helps IT staff resolve computer problems faster. For instance, when a user reports a problem to helpdesk support, the helpdesk personnel can inquire a software asset tool to verify the user's computer configuration rather than engaging in a long talk with the end user. Other functions may include software usage metering, software delivery and workflow automation. To get an idea of a typical solution, I suggest you read this guide from ScriptLogic.
Get a glimpse of Microsoft's new operating system by trying the pre-beta version of Windows 8 for developers. Though, it is nowhere near finished and should not be used in production environments, it would be quite interesting to know where Microsoft is heading with this new generation of Windows. You have the ability to try out both the touch-centric 'Metro' interface (if your hardware supports it) and the traditional desktop, while you can try it on both 64-bit and 32-bit machines. The Windows 8 Developer Preview can be tested on the same hardware that runs Windows Vista and Windows 7: Download 64-bit Windows 8 Developer Preview here. Download 32-bit Windows 8 Developer Preview here. The System Requirements are: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor 1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit) 16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit) DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver Taking advantage of touch input requires a screen that supports multi-touch. To run Metro style Apps, you need a screen resolution of 1024 X 768 or greater