We are closer to 2010 and the recession seems to have slowed down. But everyone is careful. Companies are still trying to keep costs low. Every expense needs to be justified. And that affects the IT department too. Technology is used to keep those costs down. The IT department needs to make the right choices in getting efficient technologies that will reduce the cost of IT.

Apart from the help desk that is implemented to keep track of requests, there are tools out there that can help the IT manager reduce the workload on his support team.

Here are some examples of where the right technology can help the IT support system of any organization reduce costs:

Knowledge Management: This really is not a very new concept. As part of the IT help desk, knowledge management helps the technicians and managers make better and efficient decisions when addressing an incident or a problem. This can be taken one step further where this information/database is made available to the end users – which means that the end users can search the knowledge base at any time, especially before they submit an incident or service request. Most service desk vendors implement this as part of their self service portal.

Self Service Portals: Self Service Portals give end users access to the common knowledge base and the ability to request services or log incidents directly with the IT support team. Self Service Portals are also evolving into Service Catalogs, an ITIL v3 concept, is like a restaurant menu, only in this case, the items on the menu are the services offered by the IT support team. End users can browse through the catalog and order the service they require. The advantage of having self service portals or service catalogs in place is that most of the recording and choosing the service is done by the end user. The IT support team needs only to fulfill the service.

Remote Control: Remote control allows support staff to connect to the end user’s desktop and troubleshoot an incident or fulfil a service. It can reduce the time taken to close a ticket. The idea being that the technician or representative does not have to go to the end user’s location can save time. It also helps support remote or traveling staff.

Asset Management: Keeping track of assets is becoming crucial in today’s economy and corporate goverance. Assets, both hardware and software, needs to be kept track of. There are two advantages of this – 1. Access to the data when a IT support staff needs it. Troubleshooting with details of the asset makes it easier. 2. License compliance. This is hot because nobody wants to get into trouble because they do not have the proper licenses. Asset management, especially Software Asset Management (SAM) also helps in the optimum use of these licenses.

What are the tools you are using to make your IT Support team more efficient and effective? Are there any other tools we should be talking about? Please add your views and thoughts in the comments below. Thanks!