ManageEngine announced a managed services edition of their help desk software – ServiceDesk Plus. The new release is a complete web-based integrated package, including incident and service request management, self-service portal, knowledge base, IT asset management, even purchase and contract management. The new software is available in either a Standard Edition, providing the full range of basic help desk management functions, with a knowledge base and self service portal; or Professional Edition, which includes all the features found in the Standard Edition plus complete asset management.

Managed services allow organizations outsource the regular tasks like IT/network/help desk management to third party service providers. This helps those organizations focus on their core business and keep costs low because someone else is taking care of those problems. With the right service levels, managed services can help reduce the ticket resolution times and bring expertise to the table, something which the regular organization does not have to invest in. The service provider, of course, gets the advantage to  share his expertise and costs among multiple accounts getting better ROI.

The new offering from ManageEngine gives the service provider the software to manage the help desk services of multiple accounts. It covers basic ticket management with service levels, knowledge base, self-service portal, asset management. Interestingly, the new edition derives from one of their flagship products that comes ready with ITIL modules like incident, problem and change management. But it looks like the new MSP edition will not have the ITIL modules built into it for now.

A simple Google search will tell you there are many companies who provide such services to their clients. One of them has been quoted in the official ManageEngine press release – “As a Managed Service Provider who has been in the IT helpdesk industry for over 18 years and used a number of different helpdesk applications to support over a hundred customers, we believe that we have finally found a solution that fulfills our requirements,” said Jason Roberts, Technical Manager for TCNS, an IT and Network Support provider. “ManageEngine allows our customers to be kept up-to-date on a three-tier level – telephone, web and email – provides excellent SLA options based on individual customers, allows our technical staff to be kept updated instantly on all requests, and most of all, provides an easy-to-use reporting facility, which can be pre-scheduled, giving me the time to concentrate on other business requirements! It has all the features an MSP needs at a very affordable price. Now I can focus on my customers without worrying about the software, features or prices.”

The economy, rising prices and how-do-you-keep-your-costs-low-question are helping managed services. Companies like ManageEngine make that process easier. What do you think? Do you think managed services in the help desk market will help? Have you thought of going the managed services route or are you already in the path? Let us know. We would love to hear your views.

This is interesting. I just made my post yesterday about Social Networking and the help desk and I hear about a vendor who has integrated some sort of social media into a help desk software product. In this case, ManageEngine integrated Twitter with the customer help desk software.

A little background first. When customers feel satisfied or frustrated, they generally vent out their feelings and opinions by calling support or emailing them. If they don’t get any response, they blog about their experiences. With Twitter, it just became easier. 140 characters is all it takes to capture the attention of an enterprise like Dell or Southwest. The Twitter revolution took enterprises by surprise when they were dragged into conversations they never initiated. The 140 characters customers and prospects were tweeting was all over the place and companies found themselves closely monitoring social networks like Twitter and LinkedIn to see what people were saying about them.

Companies like Comcast, Southwest and Dell have been known for tracking conversations in social media that involve their products or brand and responding to these users appropriately. If it is praise, a simple thank-you from the company can go a long way. But when addressing a complaint or an issue, the company can put out the flame before it becomes a fire.

But how do customer service departments keep track of such tweets? You can either hire someone to keep a watch on Twitter 24×7 and there are tools that can help you do that too (like Tweetdeck and Seesmic). But these tools don’t keep track (store) of these customer outbursts (not in all cases). So it made sense for customer support software to keep track of these tweets. That is exactly what ManageEngine is trying to do. ManageEngine SupportCenter Plus is a web-based customer support help desk software with request management, contact management, knowledge base, self service portal and remote control. The new version of SupportCenter Plus integrates with Twitter to keep track of relevant conversations that are happening on the social media platform.

Vinu Sreedharan, product manager at ManageEngine said in the company press release, “The new features in this release will help customer service departments reduce that time and increase overall effectiveness.  We have seen ManageEngine SupportCenter Plus transform customer help desk departments and the new enhancements are really our response to customer feedback. We are excited about the new Twitter integration as it allows not just the customer service department to keep track of questions but can also greatly aid organizations in their need to keep track of public image and branding.”

The new software helps support organizations identify and keep track of relevant conversations about their products and/or company. I personally think this is important because channels of communication have really opened up in today’s connected world. Keeping track of all your customer engagements is important and it is just a matter of time, when more vendors are going to integrate these channels into their offerings. This is going to benefit companies and enterprises keep track of all that the customers are saying wherever they are saying it. The best part is that end users are open to use any channel of communication they want and they can expect better customer service from organizations.

Pricing for the new software from ManageEngine starts at US$495 for two support reps.

How is Twitter affecting your organization? Are you seeing your customers use new social media to communicate across to you? If yes, what are you doing about it? Let us know in the comments below.

When talking about the advantages of the SaaS Service Desk, vendors often (appropriately) focus on Return on Investment, through the elimination of the infrastructure and maintenance costs associated with the service desk.  However, this neglects one of the most powerful selling points of the SaaS approach when applied to the Service Desk; specifically that it supports our mobile, distributed workforce much more effectively than the traditional approach.

First, let’s understand when we’re talking about the Mobile Workforce, we’re really talking about two different communities:

• Supporting the Telecommuting/Mobile End-User
• Supporting mobile Service Desk personnel

The SaaS model provides a huge benefit for the service desk supporting a mobile end-user base.  By putting the end-user or Self Service interface to the service desk on the web, SaaS puts the ability for end-users to enter, track, and correspond with tickets on any computer with a browser that they can access.   It’s outside the corporate firewall, so no complicated VPN software, or security set up is required for end-users gain access to the service desk.  Think through the scenario… A travelling sales person needs to get a laptop repair scheduled.  His/her laptop isn’t working, but they can still get all the information to the Service Desk to schedule the call via the publicly available computer located in their hotel’s business center.

A similar benefit is given to mobile service-desk personnel, however this time it extends to the ability to “work tickets” at any computer connected to the internet.   How many times has the person needing to update information on a ticket, or even get contact information for a user calling in found him/herself at a family member’s house on the weekend, without their company laptop.  But with SaaS, they can again get at the information they need to at least perform initial response to the call via whatever computer they can access, improving customer response times, even when support personnel are caught away outside business hours.

These benefits are in contrast to the traditional implementation, which usually involves setting up additional web server(s) in the corporate DMZ.  Handling all the security issues of poking holes through the corporate firewall to make the service desk visible to the web are also a concern in these instances.  Meanwhile, the SaaS model gives all of this functionality, accessible through a simple internet connection, “out of the box”.

So why should you be worried about this?  We’re living in a recession after all, right?  In the 2009 US Hiring Forecast by CareerBuilder.com, seven major hiring trends were identified.   Two are of great interest…

31% of US Employers say they plan to provide more flexible work arrangements in 2009.  40% of which include telecommuting.

13% of employers are also indicating that they are planning on adding “Green Jobs”.  Telecommuting is one of the most efficient ways to make a job “Green” by eliminating the carbon footprint associated with commuting.

So is your Service Desk organization ready to support a more mobile workforce?  As you consider your service desk software options is this part of your thinking?  Maybe it should be…

Vernon Palango is the Principle Consultant for InteQ Corporation’s On Demand ITSM & ITIL Solutions organization. www.inteqnet.com